Fowey

Fowey (/ˈfɔɪ/ ( listen) FOY; Cornish: Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees'[1] ) is a

small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south
Fowey
Cornish: Fowydh
Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since
before 1300; the estuary of the River Fowey forms a natural harbour which
enabled the town to become an important trading centre. Privateers also made
use of the sheltered harbourage. The Lostwithiel and Fowey Railway brought
China clay here for export.

Contents
History Fowey, Town Quay
Early history
Later history
Governance
Geography
Religious sites
Fowey Parish Church
Economy Fowey
Transport
Education
Culture
Sports
Fowey shown withinCornwall
Public services
Notable people Population 2,315 (United
Kingdom
References Census 2011)
Further reading
OS grid reference SX126516
External links
Civil parish Fowey
Unitary authority Cornwall
History Ceremonial county Cornwall
Region South West
Country England
Early history Sovereign state United
The Domesday Book survey at the end of the 11th century records manors at Kingdom
Penventinue and Trenant, and a priory was soon established nearby at Post town FOWEY
Tywardreath. c. 1300 the prior granted a charter to people living in Fowey itself. Postcode district PL23
This medieval town ran from a north gate near Boddinick Passage to a south gate Dialling code 01726
at what is now Lostwithiel Street; the town extended a little way up the hillside Police Devon and
and was bounded on the other side by the river where merchants had their houses Cornwall
backing onto the waterfront. The natural harbour allowed trade to develop with Fire Cornwall
Europe and local ship owners often hired their vessels to the king to support Ambulance South Western
various wars, although the town also developed a reputation for piracy, as did EU Parliament South West
many others at this time. A group of privateers known as the 'Fowey Gallants' England
were given licence to seize French vessels during the Hundred Years' War. In the UK Parliament South East
14th century the harbour was defended by 160 archers; after these were Cornwall
withdrawn, two blockhouses were built on either side of the harbour entrance.
Despite these defences the town was attacked by French forces in 1457. Place House, by the church, was successfully defended
against the French but subsequently strengthened. This building still exists, but much remodelled. A small castle was built on St
Catherine’s Point, the western side of the harbour entrance, around 1540. The defences proved their worth when a Dutch attack was
beaten off in 1667.[2]

The people of Fowey generally sided with the Royalists during the English Civil War, but in 1644 the Earl of Essex brought a
Parliamentarian army toLostwithiel and occupied the peninsula around Fowey.In August, a Royalist army surrounded Essex’
s troops
and King Charles I himself viewed Fowey from Hall Walk above Polruan, where he came close to being killed by a musket shot. On
31 August, the Parliamentarian cavalry forced their way through the Royalist lines and retreated towards Saltash, leaving the foot
soldiers to be evacuated by sea from Fowey. Essex and some officers did indeed escape, but the majority of the force surrendered a
few days later near Golant and were then marched toPoole, but most died before reaching there.[2]

Later history
The fortunes of the harbour became much reduced, with trade going to Plymouth
and elsewhere instead. Fishing became more important, but local merchants were
often appointed as privateers and did some smuggling on the side. Tin, copper and
iron mines, along with quarries and china clay pits became important industries in
the area, which led to improvements at rival harbours. West Polmear beach was dug
out to become Charlestown harbour circa 1800, as was Pentewan in 1826.[3] Joseph
Austen shipped copper from Caffa Mill Pill above Fowey for a while before starting
work on the new Par harbour in 1829.[4] Fowey had to wait another forty years Fowey Harbour
before it saw equivalent development, but its natural deep-water anchorage and a rail
link soon gave it an advantage over the shallow artificial harbours nearer to the
mines and china clay works. Meanwhile, a beacon tower was erected on the Gribben
.[3]
Head by Trinity House to improve navigation into Fowey and around Par bay

The Fowey Harbour

Commissioners were established by
an Act of Parliament in 1869, to
develop and improve the harbour.[3]
On 1 June in that year, the 7 ft
(2,134 mm) broad gauge
Fowey view
Lostwithiel and Fowey Railway
Loading china clay circa 1904 (jetty was opened to new jetties situated
number 1 in foreground) above Carne Point, and in 1873, the4 ft 81⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge Cornwall
Minerals Railway (CMR) opened a line from Newquay and Par to further jetties
between Caffa Mill Pill and Carne Point. Both of these railways initially carried just
goods, but on 20 June 1876, a passenger station was opened on the CMR on land reclaimed from Caffa Mill Pill. The Lostwithiel line
closed at the end of 1879 but was reopened by the CMR as a standard gauge line in 1895, and the short gap between the two lines at
Carne Point was eliminated. Passenger trains from Par were withdrawn after 1934 and from Lostwithiel in 1965. The Par line was
subsequently converted to a dedicated roadway for lorries bringing china clay from Par after which all trains had to run via
Lostwithiel.[5]

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution established Fowey Lifeboat Station near the Town Quay in 1922 to replace an earlier station
at Polkerris. This was replaced in 1997, by a new facility in Passage Street.[6] Two lifeboats are stationed at Fowey: Maurice and
Joyce Hardy, a Trent Class all weather boat that is kept afloat opposite the lifeboat station, and Olive Two, an IB1 inshore lifeboat
kept inside the station and launched bydavit.[7]

Fowey was the main port for loading ammunition for the US 29th Division that landed on Omaha Beach on D Day during the Second
World War.[8] There was a munitions siding at Woodgate Pill just north of Fowey, originally built for theGreat War conflict.[9]

Governance
The seal of the borough of Fowey was On a shield a ship of three masts on the sea
[10]
her topsail furled with the legend "Sigillum oppidi de Fowy Anno Dom. 1702".

Fowey elected two members to theunreformed House of Commonsuntil the Reform

Act 1832 stripped it of its representation as a rotten borough, it having lost its
borough corporation a few years before.[11] It was restored as a municipal borough
in 1913, and then was merged with the nearby and much larger St Austell in 1968 to
form the borough of St Austell with Fowey. This was itself in 1974 replaced with
the Restormel Borough, which was replaced byCornwall Council in 2009.[12]
Bodinnick ferry, Fowey, Cornwall
In local government terms, Fowey is now a civil parish with a town council and a (1889).

mayor. Local government responsibilities are shared by the town council and
Cornwall Council. Besides the town of Fowey itself, the parish includes the coastal
area between the mouth of the River Fowey and St Austell Bay, including Gribben Head and the small settlements of Menabilly,
Polkerris, Polmear and Readymoney.[12][13][14]

The parish of Fowey lies within the St Austell and Newquay constituency of the United Kingdom Parliament, and the South West
England constituency of the European Parliament.[14]

Geography

Fowey Harbour panorama

Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of theRiver Fowey in south Cornwall, England. It is at the entrance to
a large flooded valley created after the last ice age by the melt waters that caused the sea level to rise dramatically, creating a large
[15] [16]
natural harbour which is navigable for its last seven miles.

Fowey is in the South Coast (Eastern Section) of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It lies at the end of the Saints'
Way and has ferries across the river to Polruan (foot) and Bodinnick (vehicle). There are many historic buildings in the town,
including the ruins of St Catherine's Castle, while Readymoney Cove possesses a local beach.

At the time of the 2001 census, Fowey had a population of 2,273. This had increased slightly at the 2011 census to 2,395[17] The
1.[18]
Fowey electoral ward had a population of 4,690 in 201

Religious sites
Popular legend has it thatJesus visited Fowey as a child, along withJoseph of Arimathea who was a merchant visiting local tin mines
in which he had a commercial interest. At the entrance to the River, on the eastern side below the cliffs to the south-west of St
Saviour's Point, there is a cross to commemorate this supposed visit. This cross is marked on very early charts and was maintained by
monks from Tywardreath. The cross is known locally as "Punches Cross", supposedly derived from the name of
Pontius Pilate.
One hundred yards west of the lighthouse on the west of the harbour entrance, about thirty
feet below the top of the cliff edge and broadly concealed, is a small grass area known as
"Johnny May's Chapel". This name is believed to be that of a Methodist preacher at the time
when Nonconformism was persecuted.

Fowey Parish Church

The church is dedicated to Saint Finbarr and is listed Grade I. It was built in the early 14th
century and rededicated in 1336, replacing a previous Norman church. The church was
damaged by the French in 1457, and repaired in 1460 by the Earl of Warwick, when the
clerestory and the north and south aisles were rebuilt. There is a nave and two aisles with a
clerestory, and the aisles are unusually wide; the aisles and the clerestory may be additions of
the 15th century. The tower, of the 16th century, is of four stages and has buttresses and bands
of ornament. There is an exceptionally fine 15th-century carved wagon roof. The south porch Fowey Parish Church
has open arches to the west and east and an eight-ribbed vaulted roof. The font is Norman, of
Catacleuze stone, and similar to those of Ladock, Feock and St Mewan. The hexagonal pulpit
was made in 1601. The monuments include two brasses of the mid 15th century and those of John Rashleigh, 1582, and Alice
Rashleigh, 1602. The most interesting are two later Rashleigh monuments: John Rashleigh, c. 1610, and another of 1683.[19] The
church was used as a town hall for a period up to 1684. SirArthur Quiller-Couch is buried in the churchyard.[20]

Economy
Fowey has thrived as a port for hundreds of years, initially as a trading and naval
town, then as the centre for china clay exports. Today Fowey is busy with trawlers
and yachts. Tourism is also an important source of income, contributing £14m to the
[21]
local economy and accounting for more than half of the jobs in the town.

Transport
Although Fowey railway station closed to passengers in 1965, the Lostwithiel to
Fowey branch line remains open for goods traffic, carrying bulk china clay to the
Loading china clay at Carne Point
jetties at Carne Point. The nearest passenger station is at Par, whence there are trains
to Penzance, Newquay, Plymouth, Bristol and London Paddington. First South West
operate regular bus services, numbered 25, 524 and 525, between Fowey, Par railway station and St Austell. The combined frequency
varies from one bus per hour on Sundays to four buses per hour on weekdays. From St Austell Bus Station connecting buses operate
to other places in Cornwall. Town Bus is a frequent and regular service running from outside the church in the town centre to the
main car park on Hanson Drive.[22]

Both vehicle and foot ferry services cross the river to Bodinnick and Polruan. A ship to shore water taxi service operates from Easter
, weather permitting.[23]
until the end of October and a foot ferry to the fishing village of Mevagissey runs from 1 May to 1 October

Education
Fowey has two schools: Fowey Primary School and Fowey River Academy, both of which are in Windmill Road. Fowey Grammar
School, for which its architectSilvanus Trevail received a silver medal, was demolished in 1999.[24]

Culture
Fowey has been the inspiration for many authors, including Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch ('Q'), Daphne du Maurier, Leo Walmsley and
Kenneth Grahame.
Fowey was Quiller-Couch's main residence from 1892 onwards, and a number of his stories are set in 'Troy Town', a thinly disguised
,[25] the month of her birth.
Fowey. The du Maurier Festival Society runs the Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature each May

Various visual artists have had close connection with Fowey and lived there, including painters Fred Yates[26] Andrew Litten[27] and
[28] . Fowey holds an annual Christmas craft market.
Amanda Hoskin who primarily paints the local coastline. [29]

Sports
The surrounding coastline of Fowey is popular with fishermen and spear-fishermen. Many sea creatures can be seen all around the
Cornish shoreline, including mullet, bass, mackerel, lobsters and cuttlefish.[30] Many of the species can be seen in the Fowey
[31]
Aquarium in the heart of the town, which includes a very rare Albino Bull Huss.

The Royal Fowey Yacht Club is based on the harbour front.[32] A Pilot Gig Rowing Club races in and around Cornwall, with an
event at Fowey being held the same week as the Regatta. The club launches from Caffa Mill slip.[33] Fowey Golf Club was founded
in 1894 and continued until the late 1940s.[34]

Public services
A doctors' surgery called the 'Fowey River Practice' is situated in Rawlings Lane, and is part of a group including two other surgeries
[35]
in the Fowey River Practice group, which are situated at Par and Polruan.

Notable people
Charles Fitzgeoffrey an Elizabethan poet and clergyman was the son of the Rector of Fowey.
Hugh Peters (or Peter), a 17th-century preacher, was born at Fowey.
Mary Bryant (born 1765) was born in Fowey before beingtransported as a convict to the colony of New South
Wales, where she became one of the first escapees. [36]

Kenneth Grahame (1859–1932) most famous forThe Wind in the Willows (1908) lived for part of the year in Fowey
.[37]
during the 1890s and into the early part of the 20th century
Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch(1863–1944) settled in Fowey in 1891 and remained there for the rest of his life. [38] Quiller-
Couch was an author and professor of English literature primarily recalled for his influential literary criticism.
Mabel Lucie Attwell (1879–1964) was a British illustrator. She was known for her cute, nostalgic drawings of children,
based on her daughter, Peggy. Her drawings are featured on many postcards, advertisem ents, posters, books and
figurines. She settled in Fowey, dying here in 1964.
Leo Walmsley (1892 – 1966) was an English writer. He died in Fowey, Cornwall, on 8 June and his house 21
Passage Street was namedBramblewick after his popular book series.
Clarence F. Leary a United States Navy officer and Navy Cross winner was born here on 11 January 1894.[39]
Daphne du Maurier (1907–1989) English author and playwright; lived in Fowey . Her works include Rebecca, an
adaptation of which won the best Picture Oscar in 1941,Jamaica Inn and numerous short stories includingThe Birds
and Don't Look Now that were turned into films.
Antony Hewish (born 1924), co-recipient of the 1974Nobel Prize for Physics, was born here.
Gordon Waller (1945-2009), of the singing duoPeter and Gordon, resided in Cornwall for eight years during his
[40]
children's youth. His family maintains a lifelong association with the village.
A number of wealthy entertainers have second homes around the town including Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan, Dawn French,
Gloria Hunniford, and former Blue Peter presenter Janet Ellis [41][42]

References
1. "List of Place-names agreed by the MAGA Signage Panel"(https://web.archive.org/web/20140729194902/http://ww
w.magakernow.org.uk/pdf/placename_masterlist.pdf)(PDF). Cornish Language Partnership. May 2014. Archived
from the original (http://www.magakernow.org.uk/pdf/placename_masterlist.pdf)(PDF) on 29 July 2014. Retrieved
11 January 2015.
2. Keast, John (1987) [1950].The Story of Fowey. Redruth: Dyllansow Truran. ISBN 1-85022-035-2.
 3. Ward-Jackson, C. H (1986).Ships and Shipbuilders of a Westcountry Seaport: Fowey 1786–1939. Truro:
Twelveheads Press. ISBN 0-906294-11-8.
4. Keast, John (1982). The King of Mid-Cornwall. Redruth: Dyllansow Truran. ISBN 0-907566-29-4.
5. Vaughan, John (1991). The Newquay Branch and its Branches. Sparkford: Haynes/Oxford Publishing Company
.
ISBN 0-86093-470-5.
6. Leach, Nicholas (2002).Fowey Lifeboats, an Illustrated History. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2378-9.
7. Denton, Tony (2009). Handbook 2009. Shrewsbury: Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society
.
8. Kirsty Fergusson (2015).Cornwall (Slow Travel) (https://books.google.com/books?id=mU9hCgAAQBAJ&pg=P
A151).
Bradt Travel Guides. p. 151. ISBN 978-1-84162-864-6.
9. Bennett, Alan (1988). The Great Western Railway in Mid Cornwall. Kingfisher Railway Publications.ISBN 0-946184-
53-4.
10. Pascoe, W. H. (1979). A Cornish Armory. Padstow, Cornwall: Lodenek Press. p. 133.ISBN 0-902899-76-7.
11. Fowey – LoveToKnow 1911 (http://13.1911encyclopedia.org/F/FO/FOWEY .htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/we
b/20051206223600/http://13.1911encyclopedia.org/F/FO/FOWEY .htm) 6 December 2005 at theWayback Machine.
12. St Austell RD Cornwall through time | Administrative history of Local Government District: hierarchies, boundaries
(ht
tp://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/relationships.jsp?u_id=10055088)
13. "Fowey Town Council" (http://www.foweytowncouncil.gov.uk/). Fowey Town Council. Retrieved 12 October 2010.
14. "Election Maps" (http://www.election-maps.co.uk/electmaps.jsf). Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 12 November 2010.
15. Eric C. F. Bird (2011). Coastal Geomorphology: An Introduction(https://books.google.com/books?id=raVksgTZQSA
C&pg=PT361). John Wiley & Sons. p. 361.ISBN 978-1-119-96435-3.
16. Landranger map sheet 200Newquay & Bodmin. Ordnance Survey. ISBN 978-0-319-22938-5.
17. "Fowey Parish population following 2011 census"(http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/Morwenstow/index.htm
l#Population). Retrieved 5 February 2015.
18. "Fowey electoral ward population following 2011 census"(http://www.ukcensusdata.com/fowey-e05008225#sthash.fI
33E0of.dpbs). Retrieved 5 February 2015.
19. Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed. rev. Enid Radcliffe. Penguin; p. 70
20. "Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch - Find a Grave"(https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/17945638). findagrave.com.
Retrieved 29 November 2013.
21. "South West Business Figures reveal Foweytourists are worth £14m to the town"(http://www.southwestbusiness.co.
uk/news/Figures-reveal-Fowey-tourists-worth-163-14m-town/article-2485936-detail/article.html)
.
22. "Bus routes in Cornwall"(https://www.firstgroup.com/cornwall). First Group. Retrieved 13 August 2016.
23. "Boddinick Ferry" (http://www.ctomsandson.co.uk/bodinnick-ferry/). Retrieved 13 August 2016.
24. "Silvanus Trevail" (http://www.passmoreedwards.org.uk/pages/Architects/Trevail.htm). Dean Evans. 7 July 2008.
25. Fowey Festival website(http://www.foweyfestival.com/)
26. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/jul/31/art
27. http://www.manifestgallery.org/inpa/inpa5/43.html
28. http://www.beside-the-wave.co.uk/artists/6979/biography/amanda-hoskin
29. http://www.foweymarket.co.uk/
30. "Lanteglos" (http://www.lanteglos.org.uk/things-to-do/fishing/). Retrieved 13 August 2016.
31. "Fowey Aquarium" (http://www.foweyaquarium.co.uk/). Retrieved 13 August 2016.
32. Coombs, Joan (2000).A Fowey Jig-Saw: the History of the Royal Fowey Y
acht Club. Fowey: RFYC Books.ISBN 0-
9539622-0-2.
33. "River Fowey Gig Club"(https://foweygigclub.org.uk/). Retrieved 13 August 2016.
34. "Fowey Golf Club" (http://www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1016)
,
"Golf’s Missing Links".
35. Fowey River Practice Patient Leaflet
36. "Australian Dictionary of Biography (The: Online Edition)"(http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A010157b.htm).
37. "The Literature Network"(http://www.online-literature.com/grahame/).
38. Brittain, F. (1948) Arthur Quiller-Couch. Cambridge: University Press
39. http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/l5/leary-i.htm
40. Las Vegas tribute to sisters' pop star dad, Gordon Waller (http://www.cornwalllive.com/las-vegas-tribute-sisters-pop-s
tar-dad/story-11495227-detail/story.html); cornwalllive.com, May 12, 2010.Retrieved 2015-05-25.
41. Kirby, Terry; Roberts, Geneviève (4 November 2006)."The two faces of Cornwall"(https://www.independent.co.uk/ne
ws/uk/this-britain/the-two-faces-of-cornwall-while-riviera-towns-flourish-inland-villages-are-dying-6230266.html)
.
London: The Independent. Retrieved 2 May 2010.
42. Fowey Hotel (The). "The Fowey Hotel—Archive for January 2007"(https://web.archive.org/web/20080908101732/htt
p://www.thefoweyhotel.co.uk/blog/index.php?blog=2). Archived from the original (http://www.thefoweyhotel.co.uk/blo
g/index.php?blog=2&m=200701)on 8 September 2008.

Further reading
Henderson, Charles (1935) Fowey. In: Essays in Cornish Historyedited by A. L. Rowse and M. I. Henderson;
pp. 26–43

External links
Fowey at Curlie (based on DMOZ)

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