Where is the start of Treasure Island set?

Question

Robert Louis Stevenson's famous novel *Treasure Island* opens somewhere in Britain, at and around the Admiral Benbow inn. **Where exactly is this meant to be?**It seems to be relatively near to Bristol, so I'd guess somewhere in the West Country of England. I've also heard it said that it's meant to be in Cornwall, but I'm not sure what the textual or extratextual evidence is for this. I've even been to a *real* Admiral Benbow inn in Penzance, but that's presumably named after the fictional one rather than the other way round.

Answer 1

The novel Treasure Island is set in two separate locations in the mid 18th century. The e book opens at the Admiral Benbow, a small sea-side inn located in Black Hill Cove, close to Bristol at the Southwestern coast of England. It is at the Admiral Benbow Inn where Jim, at the request of Dr. Livesey and Squire Trelawney, statistics the story of their adventure to Treasure Island.

Most of the novel, however, takes area on Treasure Island (surely named Skeleton Island) and the ocean that surrounds it. The island is a big stretch of land within the West Indies, inhabited on the whole through wild animals and birds. Most of the island is covered with grey coloured woods, filled with tall pine trees, hills, and stones spires. The tallest hill, about 300 to 400 ft tall, has a bizarre blunt pinnacle and is referred to as spy-glass.