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Stormy weather over St Mawes on a return boat trip from Falmouth. A bit choppy but some lovely light too (and luckily not too far!).
We've just come back from a week in Cornwall.
Whilst there, in order to avoid spending too much time in our damp and dingy holiday chalet (it was meant to be silver standard; I dread to think what the bronze, or even the budget, chalets looked like), we went on several day trips.
on our first day we went to St. Mawes Castle on the mouth of the Carrick Roads opposite Falmouth. It's only small but is still almost complete and has lots of cannons on display. It was very windy the day we went so we didn't climb to the very top.
Pendennis Castle is in the background, on the far bank of the River Fal.
St Mawes Castle (Cornish: Kastel Lannvowsedh) is an artillery fort built for Henry VIII near Falmouth, Cornwall, between 1540 and 1542. The castle was established as part of the King's Device programme for defense against potential invasions from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and was intended to protect the Carrick Roads waterway at the mouth of the River Fal.
Thomas Treffry oversaw the construction of the castle, which features a cloverleaf design with a central four-storey tower and three round bastions used as gun platforms. Originally armed with 19 artillery pieces to defend against enemy ships, it worked alongside Pendennis Castle across the estuary. During the English Civil War, St Mawes was held by Royalists supporting King Charles I, but surrendered to Parliamentary forces in 1646.
The castle served as a fort through the 18th and 19th centuries. In the early 1850s, renewed conflict fears and advances in military technology prompted its redevelopment as a barracks, with new gun batteries and modern naval artillery. During the 1880s and 1890s, an electrically controlled minefield was installed across the River Fal, managed from St Mawes and Pendennis, and supported by new quick-firing guns at St Mawes. After 1905, the guns were removed, and from 1920 to 1939 the site operated as a tourist attraction.
St Mawes Castle was rearmed with naval artillery and an anti-aircraft gun during the Second World War to defend against German attacks. After the war, it became a tourist site again and is today managed by English Heritage. The castle features ornate 16th-century carvings, including sea monsters and gargoyles, and historian Paul Pattison calls it "arguably the most perfect survivor of all Henry's forts".
The castle is a scheduled monument and Grade I listed building.
St Mawes Castle has appeared in TV dramas. It appeared as a French fort in both the original Poldark (second series) and in one of the final episodes of the Hornblower TV Series.
Click here for more photographs of St Mawes Castle:
St Mawes is a delightful small coastal town opposite Falmouth, on the beautiful Roseland Peninsula in south-west Cornwall. There is a regular ferry service between the two. St Mawes lies on the east side of the Carrick Roads, otherwise known as the Fal estuary. This is an immense natural harbour - said to be the third largest in the world - created after the last Ice Age, as melt-water and rising sea levels flooded ancient river valleys. St Mawes was once a busy fishing port, but the trade declined during the 20th century and it now serves as a popular tourist location with several very upmarket hotels, including the Idle Rocks, which was built in 1913 on the site of the town's old bakery.
I was once told that there were more millionaires per head of population living in St Mawes than in any other place in England. I can believe it
Had to take the opportunity to capture this well known scene that so often can be seen on post cards , calendars and jig-saws . The light was just right and after quite a time of waiting I got the shot . There was the odd person or two and various vehicles but mostly a couple and the lady had to have a photograph taken looking over the sea , with St,Mawes Castle in the background and then to top it all she had to stand in the doorway of the old thatched cottage in all sorts of poses - goodness knows what the owners of the place make of folk like that !!
However , all of a sudden the coast was clear and here is the result !!
We called in at St Mawes when we paid a visit to the far west of Cornwall in June 2019. We are members of English Heritage so were able to visit St Mawes Castle without additional cost.
St Mawes Castle in the south-west of Cornwall is one of the chain of forts equipped with cannon and built by King Henry VIII between 1539 and 1545 to counter an invasion threat from Catholic France and Spain. It guarded the important anchorage of Carrick Roads, sharing the task with Pendennis Castle on the other side of the Fal estuary.
The gun shown in the picture is a typical ship's cannon, and much larger guns would almost certainly have been installed here in the 16th century.
St Mawes Castle is among the best-preserved of Henry VIII's coastal artillery fortresses, and the most elaborately decorated of them all. One of the chain of forts built between 1539 and 1545 to counter an invasion threat from Catholic France and Spain, it guarded the important anchorage of Carrick Roads, sharing the task with Pendennis Castle on the other side of the Fal estuary.
A charming clover-leaf shape originally surrounded by octagonal outer defences, St Mawes was designed to mount heavy 'ship-sinking' guns. But particular care was also taken with its embellishment, and it is still bedecked with carved Latin inscriptions in praise of King's Henry VIII and his son Edward VI. It owes its fine preservation to the fact that unlike Pendennis Castle, it saw little further development after its completion.
In the distance can be seen the lighthouse at St Anthony Head on the Roseland Peninsula.
This narrow road is the main A3078 which loops around through the town at the end of a 10 mile cul-de-sac. St Mawes is located on a peninsula in Falmouth Harbour and as such is fairly remote from neighbouring places
St Mawes Castle looking across to St Anthony Head and its lighthouse , and further out into the English Channel .
Built by Henry VIII, this castle along with its sister fortess Pendennis Castle across the estuary in Falmouth, guards the entrance to the River Fal. One from the archives... HFF!
A bit of colour from the summer to brighten another grey weekend. These boats arrived at lunchtime. One of the sailors headed off in search of a pasty as someone had made off with his sandwiches in another boat. I still can't work out why he left his sandals on the beach . . .
St Mawes is the principal village on the Roseland Peninsula, in South Cornwall, and is situated on the mouth of the Percuil River which flows into the Carrick Roads. An immense natural harbour, which is often claimed to be the third largest in the world, was created after the Ice Age from an ancient valley which flooded as the ice melted, causing the sea level to rise dramatically.
An important port in medieval times, it now serves as a popular tourist location, with many properties in the town functioning as holiday accommodation. The village is also a centre for a range of water sports activities and offers two fine sandy beaches, a range of pubs, cafes and restaurants, and some interesting shops and galleries.
A year-round ferry provides a service to Falmouth, which is less than a mile away by boat, but due to its proximity to the Fal estuary it is some 30 miles (48 km) away by road.
Nanven Bay Cot Valley Cornwall.
One I shot back in September. This part of the bay look's completely different after the storms
There is no sand left, the beach is covered with huge boulders. Cornwall is being battered once agin by massive waves and wind as I type this. Have look at this You Tube video of my village St Mawes as it is being swamped by sea water. www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWdRiFR8v7s
My Web Site. www.raymondbradshawphotography.co.uk/