Postcard from a working port
Mevagissey is very much a traditional Cornish fishing village, the largest in Mevagissey Bay. The name comes from the Cornish language for "Meva hag Issey", which means "Meva and Issey". Meva and Issey were two 6th century Irish missionaries who came to convert the area to Christianity.
The magic of the village lies in the labyrinth of tiny streets that twist and turn past ancient dwarf buildings of cob and slate, but the twin harbours are its nerve centre. They provide a place to watch the fisherman land their catch and mend their nets as they have since John Trewollas built the first pier in 1430.
By the 19th century, the most important catch was pilchards. Some 40 million a year were salted in special cellars and packed into barrels for export to France and Italy.
Earlier still, some of the crew doubled as smugglers or privateers, but today their secondary role is to introduce visitors to inshore fishing for mackerel or deep-sea shark-hunts.
Postcard from a working port
Mevagissey is very much a traditional Cornish fishing village, the largest in Mevagissey Bay. The name comes from the Cornish language for "Meva hag Issey", which means "Meva and Issey". Meva and Issey were two 6th century Irish missionaries who came to convert the area to Christianity.
The magic of the village lies in the labyrinth of tiny streets that twist and turn past ancient dwarf buildings of cob and slate, but the twin harbours are its nerve centre. They provide a place to watch the fisherman land their catch and mend their nets as they have since John Trewollas built the first pier in 1430.
By the 19th century, the most important catch was pilchards. Some 40 million a year were salted in special cellars and packed into barrels for export to France and Italy.
Earlier still, some of the crew doubled as smugglers or privateers, but today their secondary role is to introduce visitors to inshore fishing for mackerel or deep-sea shark-hunts.