Fowey
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 Fowey, Town Quay:Fowey Town Hall (grey stone on the centre left), The King of Prussia Public House (pink in the centre) and the Royal British Legion Club (red brick on right) | |
  Fowey Location withinCornwall | |
| Population | 2,315 (United Kingdom Census 2011) |
| OS grid reference | SX126516 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | FOWEY |
| Postcode district | PL23 |
| Dialling code | 01726 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Cornwall |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| 50°20′07″N4°38′14″W / 50.33528°N 4.63722°W /50.33528; -4.63722 | |
Fowey (/ˈfɔɪ/ ⓘFOY;Cornish:Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees'[1]) is a porttown andcivil parish at the mouth of theRiver Fowey in southCornwall,England,United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, with the local church first established some time in the 7th century; 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. TheLostwithiel and Fowey Railway brought China clay here for export.
TheDomesday Book survey at the end of the 11th century records manors at Penventinue and Trenant, and apriory was soon established nearby atTywardreath.c. 1300 the prior granted a charter to people living in Fowey itself. This medieval town ran from a north gate near Boddinick Passage to a south gate at what is now Lostwithiel Street; the town extended a little way up the hillside and was bounded on the other side by the river where merchants had their houses backing onto the waterfront. The natural harbour allowed trade to develop with continental Europe and local ship owners often hired their vessels to the king to support various wars, although the town also developed a reputation forpiracy, as did many others at this time. A group ofprivateers known as the 'Fowey Gallants' were given licence to seize enemy vessels during theHundred Years' War. In the 14th century the harbour was defended by 160archers; after these were withdrawn, two blockhouses were built, one on each side of the harbour entrance. Despite these defences the town was attacked byBreton pirates in 1457.[2]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 aDutch attack was beaten off in 1667.[3]
The people of Fowey generally sided with the Royalists during theEnglish Civil War, but in 1644 theEarl of Essex brought a Parliamentarian army toLostwithiel and occupied the peninsula around Fowey. In August, a Royalist army surrounded Essex's troops andKing Charles I himself viewed Fowey from Hall Walk above Polruan, where he came close to being killed by amusket shot. On 31 August, the Parliamentarian cavalry forced their way through the Royalist lines and retreated towardsSaltash, 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 nearGolant and were then marched toPoole, but most died before reaching there.[3]
The fortunes of the harbour became much reduced, with trade going toPlymouth and elsewhere instead. Fishing became more important, but local merchants were often appointed asprivateers 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 becomeCharlestown harbour circa 1800, as wasPentewan in 1826.[4]Joseph Austen shipped copper from Caffa Mill Pill above Fowey for a while before starting work on the newPar harbour in 1829.[5] Fowey had to wait another forty years 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 theGribben Head byTrinity House to improve navigation into Fowey and around Par bay.[4]
The Fowey Harbour Commissioners were established by anAct of Parliament in 1869, to develop and improve the harbour.[4] On 1 June in that year, the7 ft (2,134 mm)broad gaugeLostwithiel and Fowey Railway was opened to new jetties situated above Carne Point, and in 1873, the4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gaugeCornwall Minerals Railway (CMR) opened a line fromNewquay andPar 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 bringingchina clay from Par after which all trains had to run viaLostwithiel.[6]
TheRoyal National Lifeboat Institution establishedFowey Lifeboat Station near the Town Quay in 1922 to replace an earlier station atPolkerris. This was replaced in 1997, by a new facility in Passage Street.[7] Twolifeboats are stationed at Fowey:Maurice and Joyce Hardy, aTrent Class all weather boat that is kept afloat opposite the lifeboat station, andOlive Two, anIB1 inshore lifeboat kept inside the station and launched bydavit.[8]
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Fowey was the main port for loading ammunition for the US 29th Division that landed onOmaha Beach onD Day during the Second World War.[9] There was a munitions siding at Woodgate Pill just north of Fowey, originally built for theGreat War conflict.[10]
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The seal of the borough of Fowey was On a shield a ship of three masts on the sea her topsail furled with the legend "Sigillum oppidi de Fowy Anno Dom. 1702".[11]Fowey Town Hall, on the Town Quay, was completed in 1787.[12]
Fowey elected two members to theunreformed House of Commons until theReform Act 1832 stripped it of its representation as arotten borough, it having lost its borough corporation a few years before.[13] It was restored as amunicipal borough in 1913, and then was merged with the nearby and much largerSt Austell in 1968 to form the borough ofSt Austell with Fowey. This was itself in 1974 replaced with theRestormel Borough, which was replaced byCornwall Council in 2009.[14]
In local government terms, Fowey is now acivil parish with atown council and amayor. 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 theRiver Fowey andSt Austell Bay, includingGribben Head and the small settlements ofMenabilly,Polkerris,Polmear andReadymoney.[14][15][16]
The parish of Fowey lies within theSt Austell and Newquay constituency of theUnited Kingdom Parliament. Prior toBrexit in 2020, it was in theSouth West England constituency of theEuropean Parliament.[16]
Fowey is a smalltown,civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of theRiver Fowey in southCornwall, England. It is at the entrance to a large flooded valley created after the lastice age by the melt waters that caused the sea level to rise dramatically, creating a large natural harbour which is navigable for its last seven miles.[17][18]
Fowey is in the South Coast (Eastern Section) of the CornwallArea of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It lies at the end of theSaints' Way and has ferries across the river toPolruan (foot) andBodinnick (vehicle). There are many historic buildings in the town, including the ruins ofSt Catherine's Castle, whileReadymoney Cove possesses a localbeach.
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.[19] The Fowey electoral ward had a population of 4,690 in 2011.[20]
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.[citation needed] 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 fromTywardreath. The cross is known locally as "Punches Cross", supposedly derived from the name ofPontius 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 aMethodist preacher at the time when Nonconformism was persecuted.
TheChurch of St Fimbarrus, Fowey, also known as Fowey Parish Church, is agrade I listed building. It was built in the early 14th century and rededicated in 1336, replacing a previous Norman church. It is belongs to the Church of England's Diocese of Truro.
Fowey has thrived as aport for hundreds of years, initially as a trading andnaval town, then as the centre forchina clay exports. Today Fowey is busy withtrawlers andyachts. Tourism is also an important source of income, contributing £14m to the local economy and accounting for more than half of the jobs in the town.[21]
AlthoughFowey railway station closed to passengers in 1965, theLostwithiel to Fowey branch line remains open for goods traffic, carrying bulkchina clay to the jetties at Carne Point. The nearest passenger station is atPar, whence there are trains toPenzance,Newquay,Plymouth,Bristol andLondon Paddington.First Kernow operate regular bus services, numbered 24 andTransport for Cornwall operate services numbered 25 (also service 24 early, late and Sundays), between Fowey, Par station andSt Austell. The combined frequency varies from one bus per 1.5 hour on Sundays to two buses per hour on weekdays. FromSt 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 footferry services cross the river to Bodinnick and Polruan. A ship to shorewater taxi service operates from Easter until the end of October and a foot ferry to the fishing village of Mevagissey runs from 1 May to 1 October, weather permitting.[23]
Fowey has two schools: Fowey Primary School andFowey 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]
Fowey has been the inspiration for many authors, includingSir Arthur Quiller-Couch ('Q'), who lived in the town in retirement,[25] andDaphne du Maurier.[26] The du Maurier Festival Society runs the Fowey Festival of Arts and Literature each May, the month of her birth.[27]
Various visual artists have had close connection with Fowey and lived there, includingFred Yates (painter),[28]Andrew Litten[29] Amanda Hoskin who primarily paints the local coastline.[30] andMabel Lucie Attwell. Fowey holds an annual Christmas craft market.[31]
An engraving of a painting byThomas Allom entitled Fowey Harbour, St. Saviour's Chapel & Polruan Castle together with a poetical illustration byLetitia Elizabeth Landon, which recounts the repelling of the French 'out of her house' (that is,Place House) in Fowey by the wife of 'Thomas Treury, the 2d' in her husband's absence, around the time of Henry 6th, was published in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1832.[32]
The surrounding coastline of Fowey is popular with fishermen and spear-fishermen. Many sea creatures can be seen all around the Cornish shoreline, includingmullet,bass,mackerel,lobsters andcuttlefish.[33] Many of the species can be seen in the Fowey Aquarium in the heart of the town, which includes a very rare Albino Bull Huss.[34]
TheRoyal Fowey Yacht Club is based on the harbour front.[35] 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.[36] Fowey Golf Club was founded in 1894 and continued until the late 1940s.[37]
Cornish wrestling tournaments, for prizes, were held in Fowey at the Fowey Grammar School sports ground.[38]
A doctors' surgery called the 'Fowey River Practice' is situated in Rawlings Lane, and is part of a group including two other surgeries in the Fowey River Practice group, which are situated at Par and Polruan.[39]
A number of entertainers have primary and secondary residences around the town including:Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan,Gloria Hunniford, and formerBlue Peter presenterJanet Ellis.[49][50]
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