The parish of Gorran is a reminder that fishing villages in Cornwall were relative latecomers in the historic landscape. The parish church on the plateau, with its handful of houses standing sentinel and the scattering of tre- placenames around it indicate the earliest settlements. Fishing villages such as Gorran Haven, in the 1300s known in … Continue reading Gorran: more than just a haven
Category: social history
Gerrans: a restless farmer and a mystery
Gerrans, a coastal parish on the Roseland, has a particular place in Cornish history. It shares its name with one of the three historical figures who are definitely attested to be Cornish kings. Gerent was King of Cornwall around 700, when he resisted the peremptory demands from the English kingdom of Wessex to abandon the … Continue reading Gerrans: a restless farmer and a mystery
Germoe: coping with crisis
After a run of coastal parishes, we’re back in mining country. Germoe is a small parish in terms of area, almost entirely surrounded by its big brother Breage and consequently often ignored. However, the struggle of Germoe folk after the 1860s is indicative of the adaptations that Cornish people had to undertake when mining began … Continue reading Germoe: coping with crisis
Fowey: pirates and policemen
Another parish, another port. Well before Falmouth was anything more than a profitable dream in the minds of the Killigrews, Fowey, 71 nautical miles up the coast, was Cornwall’s major port. Even in the ‘age of the saints’ in post-Roman times, Fowey was well-placed. It was at the southern end of the route across Cornwall … Continue reading Fowey: pirates and policemen
Forrabury: a tale of migrating blacksmiths
Forrabury in the nineteenth century was a small parish which supplied just three entries for our database. Two thirds of parishioners lived in the village of Boscastle, which it shared with the slightly bigger parish of Minster. On the clifftop near Boscastle is Forrabury Stitches, a surviving open field. Similar open fields would have been … Continue reading Forrabury: a tale of migrating blacksmiths
Feock’s hidden past
Feock is now one of Cornwall’s posher parishes, with more than its fair share of upmarket housing, retirees and Truro commuters. It wasn’t always so. In 1861 a range of more proletarian occupations were represented in the parish. These included the familiar farmers, agricultural labourers, miners, mariners and shipwrights - with none of these groups … Continue reading Feock’s hidden past
Welcome to Harriet’s house
He stepped ashore on Falmouth’s Town Quay one murky afternoon in January just as the light was beginning to fade. After six months or more at sea the solid ground was a stranger. Learning to walk like a landsman again, he and his mates headed for a drink. The seaport had a good choice of … Continue reading Welcome to Harriet’s house
Shipwrights
Given its maritime connections, it’s not surprising that, in the 1800s Falmouth and its neighbouring villages was a shipbuilding location. Yet before the 1850s, in the days of sail, most shipbuilding operations in the Fal estuary were relatively small scale. In Falmouth itself they were located mainly in the area between the present-day Maritime Museum … Continue reading Shipwrights
The call of the Carrick Roads
Falmouth’s deep natural harbour, the growth of the Atlantic trade and the presence of the Post Office’s packet ships had led to boom times in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Ships called in from all over the world, their crew and passengers disembarking in the town. As a result, it’s sometimes claimed that Falmouth … Continue reading The call of the Carrick Roads
A bird of passage
As a break from the succession of miners and agricultural labourers who have a heavy presence in these blogs let’s look at the life of someone who appeared in the Victorian Lives database but whose connection with Cornwall was only fleeting. Moreover, although not quite Downton Abbey territory, it takes us into the world of … Continue reading A bird of passage
Cornish studies resources 