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St Mawes Castle (Cornish: Kastel Lannvowsedh) and its larger sister castle, Pendennis, were built as part of a defensive chain of fortresses by Henry VIII to protect the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
St Mawes is a small town opposite Falmouth, on the Roseland Peninsula on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the east bank of the Carrick Roads, a large waterway created after the Ice Age from an ancient valley which flooded as the melt waters caused the sea level to rise dramatically, creating an immense natural harbour, often claimed to be the third largest in the world. It was once a busy fishing port, but the trade declined during the 20th century and it now serves as a popular tourist location, with many properties in the town functioning as holiday accommodation. The town is in the civil parish of St Just in Roseland.
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.
St Mawes castle is a Device fort built between 1540 and 1545 as part of Henry VIII's south coast fortifications. Together with its sister castle at Pendennis, St Mawes defended the approaches to Carrick Roads, one of the largest natural harbours in the country. It was built just above an earlier fortification dating to the late 1530s. The building work was supervised by Thomas Treffry, who supervised the building of Pendennis Castle at about the same time. St Mawes was constructed with a central tower overlooking three huge circular bastions attached on the sides in a clover leaf pattern, providing a wide area for gun placements, with gun ports covering every angle of approach to the estuary. The clover-leaf plan was originally designed to mount "ship-sinking" guns. The castle was occupied by the Royalists in the English Civil War, but it was not defensible from land attack, and it surrendered to Parliamentary forces in 1646. In the late 17th century a lead-covered dome (cupola) was added to the castle's stair turret as a navigational aid or daymark.
At the end of the 18th century, a lower gun battery beneath St Mawes castle was built during the Napoleonic Wars – it was armed with twelve guns and built with three flanks. In about 1870, the battery was armed by four 64 pounder guns, but the battery was remodelled in 1898 to house two 6 pounder quick-firing guns and a heavy machine gun. These were served by a new underground magazine situated beneath the battery. The lower battery was superseded by a more powerful battery built on higher ground by 1903. During World War II, the battery was part of an extensive system of defences set up on the headland.
Lokking down to part of the waterfront and one of the beaches in St. Mawes - plenty of people taking advantage of the warm and often sunny weather here!
We were saying how that water colour could come as a shock to anybody raised near the Bristol Channel, where sea comes in a choice of brown or ... well ... brown. Not to mention the fact that you can actually see through it.
St Mawes is usually a bustling town in Cornwall, full of tourists. The harbour here is a very busy harbour full of boats, not in winter….a lone kyak enjoys the peace.
This photo links to my travel blog at www.heatheronhertravels.com/
Heather and family stayed at Dreamcatchers in St Mawes, Cornwall with www.stmawesretreats.co.uk who offer luxury holiday accommodation
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