Ertach Kernow - Cornish shipbuilding from prehistoric times

Truro still a port into the late 19th century

Cornish shipbuilding and maritime industries were always bound to become an important part of Cornwall's economy with it jutting out into the wider Atlantic Ocean and its western extremity lying roughly halfway between Ireland and Brittany, into the Celtic Sea. Long ago before the sea rose over 8,000 years ago the land stretched out in some places a further nearly 200 miles from the current coastline, joining Cornwall to Ireland and the European mainland. When this land was inundated it created a Cornish coastline with many coves, with some larger inlets at Carrick Roads, Rivers Fowey, Camel and Helford along with opportunities for boat and later larger shipbuilding. Many of these smaller coves were places where smaller fishing villages became established and in due course even there boat and shipbuilding taking place. This strategic position led in time to larger vessels arriving in Cornwall for trading purposes both here and as a stop off point before travelling further along the coast of Britain and across to Europe. Wharfs, jetties and harbours were built and in due course even larger vessels were constructed exporting Cornish mining and agricultural produce around the British coastline and French, Irish and European markets.

Looking far back in time to the Stone Age there were no horses or good transport links in Britain. Small horses only appeared during the early Bronze Age about 2700BCE remaining rare until the Iron Age. Water transportation for larger loads was not just a lot less effort but, excluding the perils of the weather, somewhat safer from predatorial tribes and some wild animals such as the wolf and brown bear. Flint tools found in Cornwall must have come from elsewhere as flint is not a naturally occurring Cornish stone. The Bronze Age saw plank boats being built and this was the extent of Cornish built watercraft for hundreds of years. Many coastal cliff forts have been recorded along with settlements close to the seashore and it must be assumed that the folk living there constructed small boats for fishing and local transportation.

Britain's first ever full-size reconstructed sea-going Bronze Age boat (National Maritime Museum, Falmouth)

As always click the images for larger view

By the late Iron Age and the coming of the Romans to Britain Cornish tin and other minerals were being exported throughout Europe by larger sailing vessels. The Age of Saints saw peoples from Ireland and Wales travelling to Cornwall and the exodus of peoples fleeing the Anglo-Saxons via Cornwall to Amorica, now known as Brittany, illustrates the use of larger vessels. In an early written history of St Samson of Dol he was recorded as arriving from Wales to the shores of the Camel estuary. Later during earlier medieval times visiting vessels manned by Viking raiders were less welcome. Following Norman invasion the saints trails became even more popular with many arriving in north Cornwall by boat from Wales and Ireland and after travelling down to Marazion leaving to continue their journey to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northern Spain. Into the mid-medieval period with the growth of ports round Cornwall’s coastline there begins a recorded history of local Cornish shipping.

One of the major areas of shipping and shipbuilding was in one of those flooded valleys from prehistory with its entry deep into Cornwall’s interior along the River Fowey. During the reign of Edward III and the Hundred Year War there is a record of thirteen Cornish cogs as part of a fleet in 1345 and it is around this period that Fowey became Cornwall’s premier shipping port. It can be concluded this included all the requirements for not just building but maintaining and supplying vessels. In 1337 Fowey supplied nineteen ships of its own and 1342 twenty-nine vessels fully manned, albeit not necessarily all the men originated from Fowey. We should also be wary of assuming that all these vessels came from Fowey itself and should perhaps term it Fowey waters, for this included all the various creeks and ports along the river up to what was then the important port and town at Lostwithiel.

River Fowey with merchant vessels
Fowey from Bodenick 1828

Cogs were the main type of vessel during the early to mid-medieval period with a clinker, overlapping plank design and rarely exceeded 300 tons. The mid-15th century saw the development of the carvel design with Fowey at the forefront of this development from the original Portuguese vessels. The first mention in Britain regarding the more versatile and larger carvel design was the vessel owned by John Stevens between 1443 and 1450 in Fowey, and the waterway was the pre-eminent Cornish port for shipbuilding and shipping. The wider Fowey waterway as a port had the advantage of being on the south coast facing France and none of the disadvantages of the north coast issues of Padstow on the Camel estuary with its shifting sands and Doombar. In time it would be Polruan which would become known for shipbuilding especially into the 19th century.

As yet Carrick Roads had not developed as a rival to the Fowey waterway community. There were also ports with shipbuilding facilities at Saltash and the ports at Penzance and the twin towns of Looe. Padstow would in time develop but was not a major player in the game yet due to its location away from the action within the Channel and Western Approaches. Falmouth, not the town as we know today, was often referred too but as a general term for the numerous ports along the length of the Fal and Truro rivers. These estuarine Fal ports besides Truro included Penryn a historic borough and the smaller settlements at St Mawes, Tregony and St Feock. The advantage to all of these smaller ports in respect of any ship and boat building was that within the larger estuary they were protected from the worst ravages of the weather. This protection was mentioned by John Leland in his travels through Cornwall in the 15th century and he also noted that besides adverse weather conditions there was danger of attacks by foreign pirates and enemy nations.

Falmouth engraved by John Sadler circa 1850
South East view of Fowey Castle 18th century engraving

Enemy action especially during the Hundred Year War saw the town of Fowey attacked and partially destroyed in 1378 and 1457, this also included the Fowey waterway ports of Bodinnick and Polruan. The two blockhouses were constructed and a chain across the river provided to help prevent future attacks on what had become a major port providing shipbuilding facilities for both naval and mercantile vessels. Later Henry VIII would build a further smaller castle at Fowey and the two larger ones at Pendennis and St Mawes to protect Carrick Roads. With regard to the smaller coastal communities where larger shipbuilding wasn’t possible smaller fishing vessels suitable for their own locality were being built. Although the Black Death of the mid-fourteenth century had the greatest effect on the ports and harbours around the coast with higher numbers dying the economy and shipbuilding soon recovered. Fish exports were an important part of the larger Cornish and English economy and this would help drive the demand for larger vessels to export to European destinations.

Moving into the seventeenth century the major exports were as might be expected tin and fish especially pilchards. The growth of the pilchard fishing industry with all the processing in fish cellars around the coast would continue and boom into the late 19th century after which there was a marked decline. This encouraged not just construction of local fishing boats but larger vessels. During the 19th century Cornish shipbuilding and vessel maintenance had become an important industry. Small shipyards abounded all around the coast often in harbours but also in those small, sheltered coves. The roads within Cornwall remained poor well into the century and the only way of getting large amount of supplies in and out was through some of the ports and harbours that had grown out of the early fishing villages. The industrialisation of Cornish mining led to a boom in import and export of goods based on industrial produce and the supplies needed to feed the increased expansion of the mines.

Louise being built at Gannel Shipyard in Newquay 1876 (Newquay Museum)
Built in Padstow Schooner Katie a Newquay owned Ship
Padstow Harbour circa-1890-1900

The increase in maritime trade led to entrepreneurial mariners to often join in associations to build vessels many capable of ocean travel across the Atlantic to the west coast of Canada and the USA. The cost of building vessels was shared by dividing the ship into sixty-four parts and investors would take a number of parts to benefit from the profits. Small villages like Towan which became Newquay would suddenly begin building larger vessels of up to around 100 tons in four shipyards. This was helped by investment by Richard Lomax and then J T Treffry in harbour expansion there. Newquay’s coastal maritime trade taking minerals from the north coast of Cornwall to the English ports of Runcorne via Liverpool and trade with south Wales was lucrative and safer than going around Land’s End. Ships built in Newquay also traded with France and Ireland and records show how busy this was and how these vessels transported goods all around the coastline of Britain. Padstow had now become an important port and shipbuilding yard with people like John Tredwin a timber merchant, shipbuilder and salvager becoming wealthy. Tredwin’s ships travelled across the Atlantic taking emigrees from Cornwall and bringing back timber.

The days of timber sailing vessels were numbered. Iron vessels with steam engines had evolved from the early part of the 19th century. Brunel was building huge Iron vessels dwarfing the timber ships of the 19th century. The Royal Navy’s wooden walls which had defeated the French at Trafalgar were gradually replaced and HMS Warrior the first of a new breed of British warship launched in 1860 would ring the death knell for ships like HMS Victory. Likewise the small shipyards around the Cornish coast gradually declined and now few remain.

Cornish shipbuilding from prehistoric times
Cornish shipbuilding from prehistoric times
Ertach Kernow Heritage Column 23rd October 2024 – Mullion mini-museum, Cornwall Youth Folk Ensemble
Ertach Kernow shared in VOICE, Cornish Times, Cornish & Devon Post newspapers
Ertach Kernow shared in VOICE, Cornish Times, Cornish & Devon Post newspapers