The Percuil River is an estuary and stream draining the southern part of the Roseland Peninsula of Cornwall, UK and is one of three major tidal creeks of the River Fal. The small port and holiday destination of St Mawes is on the western shore and is linked to Place Creek on the eastern shore by the Place Ferry.[1] The ferry is used by walkers on the South West Coast Path.
The Percuil River is one of three major tidal creeks of the River Fal which flows into the deep tidal basin of Carrick Roads and out into Falmouth Bay. The creek is actually a ria, or drowned river valley which started to form in the Quaternary period. Sea-level rise during the Ipswichianinterglacial flooded the valley, followed by the Devensian glacial, where sea-levels fell to 42 m below today's tides and the River Fal cut a deep sinuous valley into the bedrock. As the climate warmed, sea-levels rose again and the arctic tundra gave way to woodland. The sea continued to rise drowning the trees, leaving peat deposits which have been exposed nearby at Maenporth and Famouth.[2]
The stream and estuary combined is 11 kilometres (6.8mi) long and rises to the north of the A3078 near Treworthal. The highest tidal limit is at Trethern Mill where the streams runs for 6 kilometres (3.7mi) to enter the River Fal between Castle Point and Carricknath Point. At Trethern Mill the river is known as Trethem Creek (grid referenceSW860350) and there are four named minor creeks on the eastern side of the Percuil River where the valley of small streams enter the estuary. From north to south they are Polingey Creek (grid referenceSW863350), Pelyn Creek (grid referenceSW861339), Porth Creek (grid referenceSW860334) and Place (grid referenceSW853324). Within the estuary the steep-sided banks provides a sheltered harbour in contrast to the exposed coast of Falmouth Bay, and the eastern coast of Roseland. The land around is largely anciently enclosed farmland containing well-drained, fine loamy soils with both arable and pastoral farming. Of similar early origin are the network of roads, tracks and farmsteads which surround the stream, with the exception of the lower eastern bank from St Mawes Castle to beyond Povarth Point, which is mostly late 20th-century housing.[1][3]
Looking across the Percuil River estuary from St Mawes
First mentioned in 1284 as Lavada or Lavousa (Cornish) and containing the element lann indicating an Early Christian enclosure, St Mawes never became a parish despite, in 1381 having a licensed chapel, cemetery and holy well. The village became a borough in the early 14th-century and the quay was first mentioned in 1539. From medieval times St Mawes was a busy fishing village and port despite being vulnerable to attack from Breton raiders. With the building of St Mawes Castle, one of Henry VIII'sdevice forts which was constructed to the south-west of the village between 1540 and 1542, the open sea became safer. Crab, oyster and the pilchard fisheries developed and pilots could reach incoming ships before their Falmouth rivals. As the port expanded supporting industries such as ropewalks, pilchard cellars and inns developed, and a watch-house was provided for the coastguard service. Maritime industries declined with the opening of the railway to Falmouth in 1863, to be replaced with a passenger steamer service, holiday destination and an exclusive residential and retirement village in the 20th-century.[3]
Place
Opposite St Mawes is the small tidal creek of Place, which is the destination of the Place Ferry from St Mawes, and the departing or landing point for walkers on the South West Coast Path. The boathouse and slipway was used by the Percuil and St Mawes Ferry, for the twice daily steamer from Falmouth and the rowing ferry to St Mawes. Passenger traffic was mainly for estate workers and to take children to school. With the increasing use of roads the ferry became redundant but the service restarted in the 1980s, with the support of the Countryside Agency following the designation of the coast path as a National Trail.[4] The sheltered beach on the southern shore, known as Cellar Beach was once the landing place for large catches of pilchards. Cellar refers to the spot where the pilchards were salted as a winter food for local consumption and for export to Mediterranean countries.[5] Much of the wealth of the Spry family came from their fishing fleet, pilchard cellar and boatbuilding.
The parish of St Anthony in Roseland is mentioned in the Domesday Book when it then belonged to the Bishop of Exeter. Place House is on the site of a small monastic cell which housed an Augustinianpriory and one monk dating to sometime after 1140 when the parish was given to the Priory of Plympton in 1288. Place Priory was destroyed by French pirates in 1338 and dissolved in 1538; it is said the stone was quarried for the building of St Mawes Castle.[3] A map of 1597 shows what appears to be an Elizabethan mansion built on the site and belonging to a Mr Davies. The house has been altered and enlarged over the years, and in 1851 remodelled by Sir Samuel Spry, the MP for Bodmin to give Place House its present-day appearance of a French chateau.[6] In front of the house was the pond of a tidal mill which was known to have been in existence in 1540, and would have been used to mill grain for the priory. It was still working in 1812 and the lease was advertised in 1848. The pond was reclaimed from the sea in circa 1860 when the house was rebuilt, and is now the lawn in front of the house.[7] The house was requisitioned by the War Office during World War II.
St Anthony's church
St Anthony's church has been described, by Nikolaus Pevsner, as the best example of what a Cornish parish church looked like during the 12th and 13th-centuries. The church is almost unique because it retains it original medieval cruciform plan despite a 19th-century restoration by the Reverend Clement Carlyon, who was employed by his cousin Sir Thomas Spry. Carlyon rebuilt the chancel, designed the pulpit and pews and put in the floor tiles, stained glass and new wooden roof.[8] Place House is next to the church and a room at the back of the house, with large rough carved beams, is said to be the rectory. It is connected to the nave by a door and short flight of steps.[6]
There are a series of small quays on the west side of the creek which served the farms, and were places where boats could moor while waiting to go upstream on the rising tide. At the head of the estuary was Trethem Quay (grid referenceSW861364), where there was a water mill, and coal was still being unloaded well into the 20th-century. There was a lime kiln and pilchard cellars at Trewince Quay (grid referenceSW860335) and on the opposite shore at The Priory (grid referenceSW857338) was a coal store, lime kiln, malthouse and a quay. As well as the tidal mill, mentioned above, at Point there were another two at the head of Polingey and Porth Creeks.[3]
To the north of Place, and up river, is Percuil (grid referenceSW858340) which is the destination of the road which links the river to Gerrans and Portscatho. There were pilchard cellars here in the late 16th-century and during the 19th-century there was a malthouse and coal store. Coal, guano for manure, oysters and roadstone were discharged from barges and ketches on to the beach, which was also used for ship repair and cleaning. The St Mawes steamer was met twice daily by a wagonette from Gerrans for mail and passengers and the 19th-century slipway still exists. To the south is an oyster keep.[clarification needed][3]
In the 19th-century there were boatyards with associated quays and pilchards cellars around Polvarth Point (grid referenceSW854327), and at Freshwater Beach to the north there was a boatyard founded by the Peters family in 1790. The Freshwater Beach yard built working boats and was famous for their six-oar pilot gigs. World War II D-Day landing craft were converted and maintained at Polvarth. During the 20th-century St Mawes expanded along the west side of the estuary and Polvarth is now part of the village.[3]
Recreation
The St Mawes to Place ferry links the two shores of the Percuil River and is necessary for those walking the 630 miles (1,014km)South West Coast Path, which runs from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. The ferry can also be used for shorter walks along the river and creeks and to visit Portscatho and St Anthony Head.[11]
The River Camel is a river in Cornwall, England. It rises on the edge of Bodmin Moor and with its tributaries its catchment area covers much of North Cornwall. The river flows into the eastern Celtic Sea between Stepper Point and Pentire Point having covered about 30 miles, making it the second longest river wholly in Cornwall. The river is tidal upstream to Egloshayle and is popular for sailing, birdwatching and fishing. The name Camel comes from the Cornish language for 'the crooked one', a reference to its winding course. Historically the river was divided into three named stretches. Heyl was the name for the estuary up to Egloshayle, the River Allen was the stretch between Egloshayle and Trecarne, whilst the Camel was reserved for the stretch of river between its source and Trecarne.
The River Fal flows through Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, rising at Pentevale on Goss Moor and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. On or near the banks of the Fal are the castles of Pendennis and St Mawes as well as Trelissick Garden. The River Fal separates the Roseland peninsula from the rest of Cornwall. Like most of its kind on the south coast of Cornwall and Devon, the Fal estuary is a classic ria, or drowned river valley. The Fal estuary from Tregony to the Truro River was originally called Hafaraell.
St Mawes is a village on the end of the Roseland Peninsula, in the eastern side of Falmouth harbour, on the south coast of Cornwall, England. The village, formerly two separate hamlets, lies on the east bank of the Carrick 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. The immense natural harbour thus created is claimed to be the third largest in the world. St Mawes was once a busy fishing port, but the trade declined during the 20th century and the village now serves as a popular tourist location, with many properties functioning as holiday accommodation. The village is in the civil parish of St Just in Roseland and lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
The Helford River is a ria in Cornwall, England, fed by small streams into its many creeks. There are seven creeks on the Helford; from west to east these are Ponsontuel Creek, Mawgan Creek, Polpenwith Creek, Polwheveral Creek, Frenchman's Creek, Port Navas Creek, and Gillan Creek. The best known of these is Frenchman's Creek, made famous by Daphne du Maurier in her novel of the same name. A little further up river is Tremayne Quay, built for a visit by Queen Victoria in the 1840s which she then declined to make, allegedly because it was raining.
Zone Point is the southernmost extremity of the Roseland peninsula extending into Falmouth Bay near St Mawes in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at grid reference SW8430.
St Anthony-in-Meneage is a coastal civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish is in the Meneage district of the Lizard peninsula. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 171, decreasing to 168 at the 2011 census.
St Just in Roseland is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is 6 miles (10 km) south of Truro and 2 miles (3 km) north of St Mawes, a small village within the parish of St Just in Roseland. The 2011 Census recorded the parish population as 1,158.
Fishing in Cornwall, England, UK, has traditionally been one of the main elements of the economy of the county. Pilchard fishing and processing was a thriving industry in Cornwall from around 1750 to around 1880, after which it went into an almost terminal decline. During the 20th century the varieties of fish taken became much more diverse and crustaceans such as crab and lobster are now significant. Much of the catch is exported to France due to the higher prices obtainable there. Though fishing has been significantly damaged by overfishing, the Southwest Handline Fishermen's Association has started to revive the fishing industry. As of 2007, stocks were improving. The Cornwall Sea Fisheries Committee is one of 12 committees responsible for managing the corresponding Sea Fisheries District. The Isles of Scilly Sea Fisheries Committee is responsible for the Scilly district.
Restronguet Creek is a tidal ria in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a tributary of Carrick Roads, the estuary of the River Fal, and is situated approximately four miles (6.5 km) south of Truro and three miles (5 km) north of Falmouth.
Chycoose, Point and Penpol form a coastal settlement around Penpol Creek in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Cornwall: Cornwall – ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a peninsula bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall is also a royal duchy of the United Kingdom. It has an estimated population of half a million and it has its own distinctive history and culture.
Presented below is an alphabetical index of articles related to Cornwall:
References
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