St Mawes - Cornwall Online Portloe St. Mawes, is a pretty harbourside village that looks out over the River Fal towards the busy maritime town of Falmouth. The dramatic Cornish coastline around St. Mawes was used as the setting for the popular television series Poldark. This is very much a sea faring community, with boats and yachts continually setting anchor in the calm waters just beyond the main harbour. St. Mawes' sheltered location creates a a safe anchorage with easy access to the coast, the Fal and the Carricks 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, the world's third largest, which is navigable from Falmouth to Truro). St. Mawes is an ideal spot for a family holiday. The village has two very good beaches,on either side of the harbour, both beaches are excellent for swimming and benefit from a southerly aspect - making them ideal for sunbathing. St. Mawes has several shops, a bank, cafes and hotels around the harbour as well as a Sailing Club.

Tennis courts can be hired in the recreation ground nearby. Ferries leave the main harbour at regular intervals - taking people on the short trip across the Percuil River to Anthony Head or across the Fal to the busy town of Falmouth. The area also includes part of the coastal footpath and visitors can enjoy many lovely coastal and inland walks. St. Mawes Castle (English Heritage) Built in the reign of Henry VII as a defense against invasion by France. The attack never came, but the Castle, with its three huge circular bastions (like a clover leaf) and gun ports covering every angle of approach, is a fine example of Tudor military architecture. The Castle offers some of the finest views of Falmouth and its situation on the waters edge make it a must to visit. The Castle is now in the custodianship of English Heritage and open to the public all year round. The impressive St. Mawes Castle, and its larger sister castle, Pendennis, just add to the drama of this evocative landscape. Both Castles were built between 1539 and 1545 by Henry VIII as part of a defensive chain of fortresses to protect the south coast of England.

The Castle, with its three huge circular bastions (like a clover leaf) and gun ports covering every angle of approach, is a fine example of Tudor military architecture. The Castle offers some of the finest views of Falmouth and its situation on the waters edge make it a must to visit. The central tower was designed with four floors. You enter the tower by a bridge to the third level. The elaborate decorations were continued inside the tower, with wooden carvings of a cherub, a monk, Tudor roses and fleur-de-lis surviving to the present day. The gun platforms at St. Mawes, were like Pendennis, well designed, with the towers upper gun deck being built with ventilation shafts above the gun placements to disperse the smoke. The forward gun room at the castle has several canons on display to the general public; you can still see the sockets in the walls that held the large beams to support the gun tackle needed to manoeuvre the large cannon. St. Mawes, like its neighbour Pendennis did not see action against the French or the Spanish during the Tudor period.

The defenses were improved by Elizabeth I following the Spanish landings and subsequent raid on Penzance and Mounts in 1595; as a precaution against a possible full scale invasion. St. Mawes and Pendennis, were both Royalist strongholds during the English Civil War. The Royalist commander at St. Mawes, realised that the castle, located part way down the hillside - was impossible to defend from a land attack, so he surrendered the garrison to the Roundheads shortly after being confronted. Pendennis, commanded by Sir John Arundel and assisted by Sir Henry Killigrew, was in a much better strategic position, perched securely on top of the hill and although completely cut off by Parliamentarian forces, resisted the siege for six months. St. Anthony Lighthouse A coal Beacon burned here for centuries until , the present lighthouse was built in 1834. It snares the entrance to the Carrick Roads, and seeps ships clear of the infamous Manacles Socks. Although automated the light house is often open for visitors during the summer. The lighthouse was also the set for the television series 'Fraggle Rock'. St. Anthony Battery The strategic importance of St.

Anthony Head for the defense of Carrick Roads and Falmouth is testified by the remains of many fortifications. During WW I the area was used for Army training and in WW II gun batteries were stationed here. The Headland is owned by the National Trust - an interpretative panel is situated by the toilets and a leaflet giving further information is for sale during the summer. FERRY SERVICES The peninsula shape of the Roseland makes travel by ferry the most convenient and quickest way of visiting from many parts of the County - saving many miles on round trips in the car. The St. Mawes - Place Ferryboat The St. Mawes - Place ferryboat take passengers to St. Anthony in Roseland, a remote and unspoilt part of the Roseland. The ferry takes about 10 minutes and visitors should come prepared with stout footwear for walking. A leaflet highlighting walks on St. Anthony in Roseland is available (see under walks). Falmouth - St. Mawes A regular ferry service operates from Falmouth's Prince of Wales Pier to St. Mawes. The trip lasts 25 minutes and offers excellent views of some of the areas best landmarks including Pendennis and St.

Mawes Castles, Black Rock and St. Anthony Lighthouse. The service runs half hourly in the season. Further details are available from the Tourist Information Centre in Truro (01872) 274555. Pendennis Castle, Cornwall, England Pendennis Castle, Cornwall, England history Pendennis Castle, Cornwall, England Pendennis Castle (Cornish: Kastel Penndinas)[1] is a Device Fort, or Henrician castle, on the west side of the estuary of the River Fal, near Falmouth in Cornwall. Together with St Mawes Castle its companion fort on the opposite east bank, it was built by King Henry VIII between 1539 and 1545 to guard the entrance to River and to defend Carrick Roads from the perceived French and Spanish threat of naval attack.[2] The castle comprises a simple round tower and gatehouse enclosed by a lower curtain wall. It is now in the ownership of English Heritage. Construction Pendennis Castle was built as one of a chain of forts running along the coast of the southern half of Great Britain from Hull in the east to Milford Haven in the west.

The building programme was in response to the threat of invasion by the French and Spanish, following the rejection of the Roman Catholic religion by King Henry VIII and the adoption of Protestantism at the Reformation. The Pope had asked the catholic kings of France and Spain to invade England to perform a restoration of the Catholic faith. The English were aware that the French and Spanish were familiar with the strategic area of the Carrick Roads, perhaps as an anchorage from which to launch a land invasion, having had a naval battle there shortly before, and knew it to be largely unprotected. It thus appeared urgent to Henry that defences were required. Photo Credit Siege of 1646 Pendennis Castle played an important role in the Civil War and was the last Royalist position to be held in the Westcountry and was the last Royal castle to fall in England. A Royalist garrison withstood there a five-month siege (March 1646 to 17 August 1646) from Parliamentarian forces before surrendering with honour.

The Parliamentarian forces attacked the castle from both land and sea, when the Royalist garrison at Pendennis, largely formed of Cornishmen was under the command of the 70-year-old John VII Arundel (1576-1654) of Trerice. Pendennis was the third from the last stronghold, before Raglan Castle and Harlech Castle, to hold out for the Royalists. About 1,000 men, women and children survived the 155-day siege at the castle before being forced to surrender due to of starvation.[3] Previously it had given sanctuary to Queen Henrietta Maria, and the Prince of Wales (the future King Charles II), before their escape to France.[4][5] List of Governors The first Governor appointed by King Henry VIII was John III Killigrew (d.1567) of Arwennack, Falmouth[6] whose monumental brass survives in Budock Church. The Governorship became virtually hereditary in his family for several generations.

John III Killigrew (d.1567) of Arwenack, Falmouth, first Governor, appointed by King Henry VIII.[1] His monumental brass survives in St Budock's Church, Budock Water, near Falmouth, inscribed as follows: "Heere lyeth John Killigrew, Esquier, of Arwenack and lord of ye manor of Killigrew in Cornewall, and Elizabeth Trewinnard his wife. He was the first Captaine of Pendennis Castle, made by King Henry the eight and so continued untill the nynth of Queene Elizabeth at which time God tooke him to his mercye, being the yeare of Our Lord 1567. Sr John Killigrew, Knight, his son(n)e succeeded him in ye same place by the gift of Queene Elizabeth". 1567–1583/4: Sir John IV Killigrew (d.1583/4) of Arwenack, son, 2nd Governor,[3] appointed by Queen Elizabeth I, as stated on his father's brass in St Budock's Church.

1584–1598: John V Killigrew (c.1557-1605), of Arwennack, son, 3rd Governor.[4] 1598–1603: Sir Nicholas Parker (d. 1603)[5] An inscribed slate ledger stone in his memory exists against the south wall of the chancel of St Budock's Church.[6] Sir John Parker Sir Nicholas Hals 1628-April 1635: Sir Robert Killigrew (d.1633/5) of Hanworth, Middlesex, jointly with his eldest son Sir William Killigrew (1606–1695)[7] of Kempton Park, Middlesex, a grandson and great-grandson respectively of John Killigrew (d.1567) of Arwennack, the first Governor.[8] April 1635-1643: Sir Nicholas Slanning (1606-1643),[9] a Royalist commander during the Civil War.

His widow Gertrude Bagg remarried to Richard Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Trerice (c.1616-1687), the 2nd son of the next Governor. c.1643–1646: Sir John VII Arundell (1576–1654), of Trerice, nicknamed "Jack-for-the-King". During the Civil War in 1646 he held the castle for King Charles I, and withstood a five month long siege by Parliamentarian forces, at the end of which his forces were reduced by hunger to eating their horses. He obtained an honourable surrender. 1646–1648: Col. Richard Fortescue (d.1657), for Parliament. His relationship to the prominent Devonshire family of Fortescue of Filleigh and Weare Giffard is unclear.

He was seated at Hickfield in the county of Southampton, and was later Commander-in-Chief in Jamaica, where he died in 1657.[10] 1648-1649: John Fox, for Parliament/Commonwealth.[11] 1649–1658?: Sir Hardres Waller, for Parliament/Commonwealth.[12] 1659–1660: Anthony Rowse, for Parliament/Commonwealth. 1660–1662: Sir Peter Killigrew, 2nd Baronet (c. 1634-1704), appointed at the Restoration of the Monarchy in 1660, by General George Monck.[13] A grandson of the 3rd Governor John V Killigrew (c.1557-1605), of Arwennack.

1662: Richard Arundell, 1st Baron Arundell of Trerice (c.1616-1687), 2nd son of Governor Sir John VII Arundell (1576–1654), of Trerice, "Jack-for-the-King". 1680–1696: John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628-1701), of Stowe, Kilkhampton, Cornwall, who played a leading role in the Restoration of the Monarchy of 1660.

He was a cousin of the Arundells of Trerice.[14] 1696–1703: Bevil Granville (d.1706), a nephew of the previous Governor John Granville, 1st Earl of Bath (1628-1701) 1703–1714: George Granville, 1st Baron Lansdowne, successor to his brother, Governor Bevil Granville (d.1706) 1714–1725: Richard Munden 1737–1749: William Barrell[15] 1749–1753: John Laforey 1753–1774: Arthur Owen[16] 1774–1775: Charles Beauclerk[17] 1775–1793: Robert Robinson 1823–1832: Sir Martin Hunter 1832–1837: Paul Anderson[18] office abolished 1749–1769: Richard Bowles[20] 

1769–1776: William Fawcett 1776–1797: Nevinson Poole[21] 1797–1811: Philip Melvill 1811–1814: James Considine[22] 1814–1832: William Fenwick[23] 1832–1835: Loftus Grey Flying Past - The Historic Environment of Cornwall: The Threat from the Sea Introduction Pendennis Castle guarding the approaches to Falmouth.

This artist’s reconstruction shows Henry VIII’s fort enclosed by the Elizabethan curtain wall and six-point bastion, and Pendennis Point with its blockhouse at the bottom right corner of the image. © English Heritage Photo Library From the Norman invasion of England until the fifteenth century, castles were sites from which a small number of militia could control the surrounding area. They were strategically placed throughout the country in order to control it from within. They also served as protection from neighbouring hostile groups in a politically unstable realm. By the Tudor period, from the reign of Henry VIII to that of Elizabeth I, the main threat to England’s security was from abroad. The position of Cornwall and Scilly was of immense strategic importance, guarding the western approaches to the Channel. From the Tudor period onwards, continual programmes of defence building along the Cornish coasts were undertaken. During the first half of the sixteenth century Henry built a string of small artillery forts, known as blockhouses, stretching from Scilly in the west to Mount Edgcumbe in the east. The deep water harbour at Falmouth was protected with two larger fortresses at Pendennis and St Mawes.

Elizabeth strengthened the fort at Pendennis by adding a massive bastioned earthwork, and commissioned the construction of Star Castle on Scilly. These fortifications were enhanced during the eighteenth century, when many of the nationally important defences on St Mary’s, Scilly’s main island, were built. The threat of invasion by France at the end of the eighteenth century led to the rearming of existing coastal fortifications, the building of a series of redoubts at Maker Heights, overlooking Plymouth Sound and the construction of a new coastal battery on St Anthony Head to bolster the defences of Falmouth. Start of page ^ The Tudors: Henry VIII The well-preserved blockhouse known as Little Dennis, at the foot of Pendennis Headland, formed part of the defences of the natural harbour at Falmouth. This artillery fort was built by Henry VIII during the 1540s. Photo © Cornwall County Council Historic Environment Service Increasingly during the late medieval period, English security was threatened from abroad. During and beyond the Hundred Years War (1338 – 1453), the towns on the Channel coast were frequently raided by the French.

Later in the sixteenth century there was a constant, if low level threat from Barbary Corsairs from North Africa predating on the fishing fleets and coastal trading ships. This prompted the building of coastal defences in Cornwall and elsewhere. The most substantial of these were small artillery towers known as blockhouses. They are among the earliest examples of fortifications purpose-built to house artillery. Blockhouses were sited to cover strategic positions, and at least three in Cornwall were built before 1500. One, built around 1490, was situated on St Ives Island but has now been demolished. Two others still survive; these are the pair of structures that defend the entrance to the harbour at Fowey. They are two-storey, stone-built structures each with two gun-ports. They were built in the late fifteenth century and sat at either end of a heavy chain stretched across the harbour. Their construction was funded by the Treffrys, a wealthy local family. Elizabeth Treffry is said to have poured boiling oil over the heads of French pirates when they attacked the port. The blockhouse at Old Grimsby, Tresco, Isles of Scilly.

The blockhouse is positioned to guard the natural harbour at Old Grimsby and was re-used by Royalist forces during the Civil Wars (1642 – 1651). © English Heritage: NMR23934/19 A new blockhouse overlooking the two earlier structures at Fowey was built at St Catherine’s Point (c.1540) during the main phase of blockhouse construction in the first half of the sixteenth century. A small square tower was constructed on the shore at Mount Edgcumbe around 1540. Most were built by Henry VIII, the second Tudor king. During his reign from 1509 to 1547, he energetically built up an effective navy which began to challenge the maritime supremacy of Spain. He also oversaw an extensive programme of coastal defence building. As part of this programme blockhouses were sited all along the south coast of Cornwall and in the Isles of Scilly. St Mawes Castle guarded the east side of the harbour entrance at Falmouth. From the late 1500s, St Mawes Castle became less important than Pendennis because it was indefensible from landward attack.

Despite this, St Mawes has been used as a defensive base continuously since the sixteenth century. Photo © Cornwall County Council Historic Environment Service In the 1530s and 1540s Henry built a series of forts, known as Device Forts, along England’s southern coasts. Unlike earlier castles these were definitely not intended to double as high-status residences. Their purpose was to make use of naturally defensive features along the coastline to protect important strategic centres from attack. The forts were designed to house heavy artillery and at the same time blend into the landscape, making them difficult targets for enemy vessels. About thirty forts were built altogether along England’s south coast; those at St Mawes and Pendennis, guarding the deep water harbour at Falmouth were among the most important. The Isles of Scilly were particularly important as the most westerly anchorage and first landfall for naval ships and merchantmen. King Charles Castle was built between 1548 and 1554 to defend the anchorage at New Grimsby. The construction of a fort (Harry's Walls) was begun on St Mary’s to defend the harbour but was never completed, and three blockhouses were built on the Islands.

A large blockhouse or artillery fort on Castle Down, Tresco. The fort is known as ‘King Charles’s Castle because it was re-used during the Civil Wars (1642 – 1651). It was built during the early 1550s to defend the harbour at New Grimsby. The fort was semi-hexagonal in shape; a design which provided a wide field of fire. It was originally two-storeyed to accommodate two tiers of guns covering the harbour entrance. Photo © Cornwall County Council Historic Environment Service The increased use of heavy canon during the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries led to a new style of fortification. Curved or angled sections of walling that projected from an enclosing curtain wall provided flanking fire from gun emplacements set within them. This type of projection from a primary wall is known as a bastion. The greater the range of fire from each bastion, the more effective a defence it provided. The bastion design is characteristic in several of Cornwall’s fortresses from this time. The partially built sixteenth century fort on Mount Flagon, St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly.

Although named ‘Harry’s Walls’ the building dates from 1551, during the reign of Edward VI. Its plan – square with angled bastions at each corner - was based on an Italian design reflecting the increasing use of canon. Poor siting is probably the reason why work was abandoned on the fort. © English Heritage: NMR 23940/09 Start of page ^ The Tudors: Elizabeth I Pendennis Castle. The headland has been repeatedly refortified over the centuries. The massive earthworks comprise a six-point bastion dating from the reign of Elizabeth I. Heavy canon would have been mounted on each point of the bastion, thereby affording huge firepower over a wide area. © English Heritage: NMR18430/16 Major enhancements of the coastal defences were undertaken during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558 – 1603) the last of the Tudors. In the 11 years since the death of her father, Henry VIII, England had become torn by opposing factions, the Treasury was empty, and the country was riven by religious fears and differences.

Elizabeth was a moderate Protestant; following the massacre of the Huguenots she sent an army to support the French Protestants and she assisted the Spanish Netherlands (present-day Belgium) in its struggle for independence from Catholic Spain. She also refused an offer of marriage from Philip of Spain. Enraged, Philip saw the defeat of England as a crusade and launched the Armada in 1588. Following its defeat Elizabeth embarked on a substantial programme of fortifications. Plymouths’ defences were updated and guns installed at Mount Edgcumbe and Cawsand on the Cornish side of Plymouth Sound. Existing defences elsewhere on the coast were strengthened. At Pendennis (1598 - 1600), for instance, an outer line of defence on the landward side of the castle was constructed and the Henrician Device Fort was surrounded by a massive bastioned earthwork and curtain wall. This type of fortification is known as an ‘enceinte’. During this period a bastioned defence was built on St Ives Island facing the town and a battery constructed to control the channel to the entrance of Padstow harbour.

By the 1590s the existing defences of Scilly were clearly inadequate in the face of Spanish privateering and the threat of a second invasion fleet. From this date onwards the focus of military activity on the main island, St Mary’s, was The Hugh, a promontory overlooking the deep water channels to the island’s main harbour. This is reflected in the promontory subsequently being renamed the ‘Garrison’ Star Castle, St Mary’s. Each of its eight points provided oblique fire covering the ground immediately in front of the works, so that a complete blanket of fire could be achieved. Star castle served as a prison as well as a fortress and is now a hotel. © English Heritage: NMR 23939/25 In 1593 an artillery fort, Star Castle was built on the Garrison for Elizabeth by Francis Godolphin, the island’s governor. The castle is in the shape of an eight-pointed star surrounded by a dry moat. A stone bridge over the moat leads through a projecting gatehouse which would have been closed by a portcullis. The Garrison is connected to the rest of St Mary’s by a narrow isthmus.

Around 1600 a curtain wall was built across the land approach from the isthmus. A number of gun batteries were incorporated into the line of the curtain and it had a gateway, and three sally ports (discreet exits which allow the defenders to "sally forth" and engage the attackers), one of which is still in use. Start of page ^ The Eighteenth Century: the rise to Empire The eighteenth century Garrison walls, St Mary’s, showing King George’s battery. Photo © Cornwall County Council Historic Environment Service Throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries Britain was involved in many colonial and continental wars; most of these conflicts were with France. In the early 1700s a new battery was established at Crab Quay on Pendennis Headland and existing defences here and elsewhere were refurbished in response to successive invasion scares. Eighteenth century military works are particularly well-preserved on the Garrison in the Isles of Scilly. During the Spanish Wars of 1715–1750 the defences of the Garrison were transformed. The Elizabethan curtain wall dividing the Garrison from Hugh Town was rebuilt and was extended around most of the headland.

The curtain wall was capable of mounting 120 guns, and the sea approaches were covered by batteries and large bastions. The Garrison Gate was rebuilt in 1742 as was the magazine, known as the Rocket House, a sunken building surrounded by a blast wall. The curtain wall on the southern side of the Garrison. The approaches to Hugh Town are covered by two large bastioned gun batteries; Woolpack Battery (in the centre of the photo) and Morning Point Battery (to the right). In between these batteries are a series of ‘redans’; mini-bastions or salient angles from which soldiers could provide flanking fire. Outside the walls, between the redans are overgrown plots used by the soldiers to cultivate crops. © English Heritage: NMR 23938/11 Substantial improvements were also made at Falmouth with new batteries at Pendennis and St Mawes. Three new batteries were added to the Fowey defences including an improved one at St Catherine's Castle, and the Plymouth defences strengthened at Cawsand and at Redding Point, Mount Edgcumbe.

Start of page ^ Revolution and War Cornwall’s defences were strengthened by the Duke of Richmond in the 1770s and 1780s as a precaution against the rise of the American Navy during the American War of Independence. He built redoubts and barracks at Maker Heights in East Cornwall, and these were further strengthened during the Napoleonic wars. Maker Heights were considered a vulnerable point in the defence of Plymouth because their raised position could be utilised by an attacking force to bombard the docks. Carrick Roads and the approach to Falmouth Harbour from the southeast. In the foreground is St Anthony Head which held a coastal gun battery from the eighteenth century. Photo © Cornwall County Council Historic Environment Service The French Revolution of 1789-1799 saw radical changes in French government. France had previously been an absolute monarchy. Idealist principles of citizenship and democracy, fed by the Age of Enlightenment, led to the Reign of Terror of 1793-4. This was a year of mass executions and violent upheaval throughout the country. An initially sympathetic response in Britain to the French Revolution turned to alarm at the executions of French aristocrats and clergy.

In 1793 the French ambassador was expelled and France declared war on Britain. The rise of Napoleon Bonaparte during this period led to him heading an army poised to invade Britain at the end of the eighteenth century. Napoleon’s invasion plans suffered a severe setback in 1805 when his fleet was defeated at the Battle of Trafalgar, and were ended in 1815 by the French defeat at Waterloo. Preparations in Britain against a French invasion led to the strengthening and modernising of existing defences, and the building of new defences. Coastal batteries were built at Padstow, Portreath, St Ives, Whitesand Bay, Penzance, Mousehole, Mount's Bay, St Michael's Mount, Mevagissey, Charlestown and Looe. At Falmouth, Crab Quay battery was rebuilt, the blockhouse at Little Dennis was rearmed, as was that below St Mawes Castle, and a new, crescent-shaped battery, Half Moon battery, was built on Pendennis Headland.

A naval dockyard was built at Mylor in the Fal Estuary and this served as a base for blockades of the French Breton ports. A new coastal battery was built at St Anthony Head which substantially increased the covering fire over Falmouth Harbour. The Fowey defences were substantially upgraded with six operational batteries ready for action, whilst the defences at Plymouth were massively expanded on the Cornish shore. The pre Napoleonic redoubts on Maker Heights were extended and waterline batteries built to protect Cawsand Bay as well as the approaches to Plymouth Sound. Many of these still survive to be explored. Maker Heights, overlooking Plymouth docks. two centuries of fortifications. A large eighteenth century redoubt is visible in the lower centre of this photo. In the left is a line of three more redoubts. Later fortifications at Maker Heights include late Victorian batteries and a Second World War anti-aircraft battery. © English Heritage (NMR) RAF Photography: CPE/UK/1890/2137 A characteristic of defences from the Napoleonic period, and the late eighteenth century generally, is the use of redoubts as strongpoints.

A redoubt is an enclosed defensive work lying outside a fort, and without angular projections (bastions) in its outline. Redoubts were most commonly four or five-sided, and were usually earthworks, although some later ones were of stone or brick. The advantage of the redoubt design is that it was relatively easy to lay out on the ground and could be constructed quite quickly. The 1860s saw the beginning of a huge fort building programme around the major ports and naval bases. Before this, a series of coastal batteries manned by volunteer companies (to match the volunteer rifle and cavalry companies) were formed around the coast of Cornwall. In some cases such as at Padstow, Looe, Fowey, Charlestown, Penzance and St Ives existing batteries were re used whilst at Marazion, Hayle and St Just new batteries were constructed. The batteries at St Ives, Padstow, Charlestown, Fowey and St Just still survive. History of Pendennis Castle | English Heritage Family Guide History of Pendennis Castle Pendennis Castle is one of England’s finest surviving coastal fortresses.

Together with the fortress at St Mawes, Pendennis guarded the anchorage of Carrick Roads and the port of Falmouth for over 400 years. The castle began as a gun fort in the mid-16th century. Bastioned defences were added in the 1590s following the threat of Spanish invasion and were periodically updated, notably during the Second World War when the guns again saw action. Henry VIII’s Artillery Fort Henry VIII’s gun tower, begun in about 1540. The forebuilding on the right is a later Tudor addition Pendennis Castle was built from 1539 to 1545 when England faced a possible invasion from the united powers of Catholic Europe. To defend against this, Henry VIII implemented a national programme of military and naval preparations, including new ‘castles’ or coastal artillery forts equipped with guns to shatter enemy warships and troop transports that might attempt to capture English ports. [1] The important anchorage of Carrick Roads, a deep estuary at the mouth of the river Fal, was a perfect location for an enemy to establish a base.

To protect it, Henry built gun forts on opposite shores, at Pendennis and St Mawes . Pendennis Castle had a circular design that afforded all-round fire from guns mounted at several levels. The fort was fully garrisoned by up to 100 men only when there was an imminent threat, notably during the planned Spanish invasions of 1574, 1579, 1588 (the ‘Great Armada’) and 1596–7. On the last occasion a Spanish fleet intended to land troops at Pendennis and capture Carrick Roads. The attack never came but the threat forced Elizabeth I to review the defences. [2] Aerial view of Pendennis, looking south-east. The bastions surrounding the castle are clearly visible The Bastioned Fortress In 1597 the soldiers and courtiers Sir Nicholas Parker, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Sir Walter Raleigh surveyed the defences of Pendennis. By 1600, the engineer Paul Ive had enclosed Henry VIII’s castle within a much larger fortress to defend the whole of Pendennis headland.

[3] It was an elongated pentagon in plan, defined by a high rampart and ditch, with a bastion projecting at each angle. The large triangular salient overlooked Pendennis Point, where a smaller fort included the earlier gun tower known as Little Dennis. The bastions had heavy guns to protect against attack by land and sea. They also defended the fort against a close assault, to which the circular form of Henry VIII’s castle was vulnerable. Reconstruction of Pendennis as it may have appeared during the siege of 1646 © Historic England (illustration by Ivan Lapper) The Siege of Pendennis, 1646 Between 1625 and 1630 England made a catastrophic attempt to influence the course of the Thirty Years War in continental Europe, mainly in opposition to Spain. This prompted new improvements to Pendennis and in 1627 the engineer Sir Bernard Johnson constructed a new bastioned rampart and ditch (the Hornwork) across the peninsula, replacing a neglected Tudor earthwork and strengthening the land defences to the north.

[4] Pendennis was tested during the First Civil War (1642–6) when Falmouth was an important port for King Charles I’s army. In 1646 Pendennis was one of the last Royalist garrisons to hold out against the Parliamentary army: about 1,000 men endured a three-month siege, agreeing an honourable surrender in August when food supplies ran out. [5] The Pendennis Artillery Volunteers in the castle, c.1800 © Council of the National Army Museum (painting by Charles Tomkins) Georgian Modernisation Although there were no major events at Pendennis after 1646, continuing warfare with the Dutch and the French ensured that a small garrison was maintained, on and off, with a new guard barracks and gateway built in about 1700. After peace with France in 1714, coastal defences were reviewed and the engineer Colonel Christian Lilly reported Pendennis ‘neglected’ and ‘in a very ruinous condition’.

His recommendations for repairs were implemented from 1732 to 1739 when the old rampart was re-formed, new guns were installed, and new buildings erected, including a storehouse, powder magazine and gunners’ barracks. [6] From 1775 to 1780, in the American War, the locally raised Miners’ Militia garrisoned Pendennis and new barracks were built. During the long wars with Napoleonic France (1793–1815) the garrison became permanent and the defences were strengthened by five raised gun batteries (cavaliers) on the rampart overlooking the landward approaches. A new sea battery, Half-Moon Battery, was built outside the fort on the south, while a host of barracks, a hospital and store buildings were erected both inside the fortress and on Hornwork Common to the north. [7] The sunken magazine (foreground) and deep gun put (centre) of One-Gun Battery.

The original six-inch gun was installed in 1895 but removed by 1913 – the gun on display today shows the original firing position Decline and Rearmament After the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo in 1815, Pendennis was neglected and many of the temporary buildings were removed. By the late 1850s, however, England and France were rivals again in a race for military and naval advantage, and more powerful guns were installed at Pendennis from 1854, [8] notably at Half-Moon Battery and at Crab Quay. Yet the fortress received little attention in the nationwide programme of fort-building in the 1860s, being considered a lower strategic target for the enemy than many other locations around the coast. Nonetheless, the outdated defences were gradually improved from 1880 to 1900, a period of revolutionary change in military technology. The first major improvement was a submarine minefield laid across the entrance to Carrick Roads in 1885.

But it was Falmouth’s designation as a Defended Port in 1887 [9] that resulted in many new defences for the estuary, commanded from Pendennis. These comprised breech-loading guns, accurate range-finders, searchlights to aid night fighting, and telephones and electricity to enable efficient communication. Six-inch guns were intended to engage warships from new positions in One-Gun Battery inside Pendennis and from Half-Moon Battery, while light quick-firing 6- and 12-pounder guns to counter fast torpedo boats were fitted in East Bastion, [10] Carrick Mount Bastion [11] and Crab Quay. Such intricate defences required a permanent staff and in 1902 new barracks were built at Pendennis for the 105th Regiment Royal Garrison Artillery. [12] Many other new buildings included a War Signal Station on the roof of the Henrician castle to control shipping movements. [13] The Battery Observation Post, arranged as it may have been during the Second World War.

It was built to control the six-inch guns of Half-Moon Battery The World Wars During the First World War (1914–18) Pendennis was the command centre of coast artillery defences for West Cornwall. [14] Strongpoints and trenches defended it and thousands of troops came for training before going to war in France and Belgium. The Royal Navy used the anchorage for convoys, minesweepers and anti-submarine vessels. [15] In 1939 Pendennis resumed control of coast defences. [16] The threat from torpedo boats was countered by twin 6-pounder guns, while long-range defence against ships came from guns in new covered positions at Half-Moon Battery. From 1943 these were the latest 6-inch mark 24 models, operating with precision under radar control. Huts and temporary buildings were erected, the Pendennis Fire Command Post enlarged, and a Battery Plotting Room was established, from which the fire commander could control all action. After the war Pendennis Castle continued to be used for training until 1956 when the Coast Artillery Branch of the Army was disbanded.

A year later, it was returned to the guardianship of the Ministry of Works for opening to the public, a status it had been given in 1921. St Mawes Castle, Cornwall, smaller of Pendennis pair St Mawes Castle, Cornwall St Mawes Castle grounds are now a pretty garden, but the fortification continues and there is a large nineteenth century magazine as well as a tiny shoreline fort to complement that of Little Dennis across the sea at Pendennis Castle . is Henry VIII's smaller fort with its three huge circular clover leaf bastions. It now stands in sub tropical gardens, and from the battlements you can see across the estuary to Falmouth and Pendennis. If you want to make the trip the little ferry boats ply back and forth. St Mawes Town is within a few hundred metres. St Mawes Castle and its larger sister castle, Pendennis in Falmouth, is part of a chain built by Henry VIII along the south coast of England between 1539 and 1545. The central tower was designed with four floors. You enter the tower by a bridge to the third level.

The elaborate decorations were continued inside the tower, with wooden carvings of a cherub, a monk, Tudor roses and fleur-de-lis surviving to the present day. It is the most intricately decorated of Henry VIII's castle forts. The stonework is embellished by string courses, gargoyles and detailed windows. The decoration survived probably because of this fortress surrendered to Fairfax's Parliamentarian in 1646 without a siege. Above the entrance is a carved Royal Coat of Arms. The gun loops on either side of the door offer a very restricted field of fire and appear sited more for decorative effect than for defence. The kitchen is in the basement, lit by windows at ground level in the side bastions. The water for the fort would have been obtained from a well here. The gun platforms at here, were like Pendennis, well designed, with the towers upper gun deck being built with ventilation shafts above the gun placements to disperse the smoke. The forward gun room has several canons on display to the general public; you can still see the sockets in the walls that held the large beams to support the gun tackle needed to maneuver the large cannon. St.

Mawes Castle, like its neighbour Pendennis did not see action against the French or the Spanish during the Tudor period. The defenses were improved by Elizabeth I following the Spanish landings and subsequent raid on Penzance and Mounts in 1595; as a precaution against a possible full scale invasion. The defences here were designed to protect Falmouth Harbour, but were vulnerable to an attack from the land. When the castle came under attack during the Civil War, the governor surrendered without a shot being fired, realising it was hopeless to try and defend against an attack from the land. It continued to be used as a gun emplacement protecting the harbour at Falmouth until the Second World War. St Mawes Castle information in English Haritage Two castles in one day - Review of St. Mawes Castle, St Mawes, England - TripAdvisor Review of St.

Mawes Castle St Mawes TR2 5DE, England +44 1326 270526 More attraction details Attraction details Owner description: This round stone artillery fortress was built for Henry the Eighth in 1542, using a cloverleaf plan with a four-storied round tower. Take the free audio tour to discover life at the castle during the Civil War and explore the castle and grounds with its stunning views out to sea. Child friendly and dog friendly. There are newer reviews for this attraction

Question: St Mawes and Pendennis Castles in Cornwall were built by which English monarch to defend the coast against a French invasion?
Answer: Henry VIII