The Maritime History of Cornwall

The first study of its kind. The book explores the rich, complex maritime inheritance of Cornwall on a national and international scale, considering the importance of the different historical periods from the medieval to the twentieth century.

Cornwall is quintessentially a maritime region.  Almost an island, nowhere in it is further than 25 miles from the sea.  Cornwall’s often distinctive history has been moulded by this omnipresent maritime environment, while its strategic position at the western approaches—jutting out into the Atlantic—has given this history a global impact.

It is perhaps surprising then, that, despite the central place of the sea in Cornwall’s history, there has not yet been a full maritime history of Cornwall.  The Maritime History of Cornwall sets out to fill this gap, exploring the rich and complex maritime inheritance of this unique peninsula.

In a beautifully illustrated volume, individually commissioned contributions from distinguished historians elaborate on the importance of different periods, from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century.

The Maritime History of Cornwall is a significant addition to the literature of international maritime history and is indispensable to those with an interest in Cornwall past and present.

Winner of the Holyer an Gof Non-Fiction Award 2015.

List of Editors and Contributors

List of Illustrations

List of Tables and Figures

Foreword

Introduction and Acknowledgements

Part I: 'Window to a Wider World': Early and Medieval Cornwall

1: Introduction   Philip Payton, Alston Kennerley, Helen Doe

2: The Origins of Maritime Cornwall: Pre-Medieval Settlements and Seaways   Caradoc Peters

3: Coastal Communities in Medieval Cornwall   Maryanne Kowaleski

4: Overseas Trade and Shipping in Cornwall in the Later Middle Ages   Wendy R. Childs

Part II: 'The Age of Turbulence': Maritime Disorder in Tudor and Stuart Cornwall

5: Introduction   Philip Payton, Alston Kennerley, Helen Doe

6: Plunder and Prize: Cornish Piracy and Privateering during the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries   John C. Appleby

7: 'His Majesties Sea-Service in the Western Parts': Maritime Affairs in Cornwall during the English Civil War   Mark Stoyle

8: Corruption and Inefficiency in the Cornish Customs Service in the Later Seventeenth Century   W.B. Stephens

Part III: 'A Time for War and Trade': Cornwall in the Eighteenth Century

9: Introduction   Philip Payton, Alston Kennerley, Helen Doe

10: Cornish Tin Ships, 1703-1710   John Symons

11: Cornwall and the Royal Navy in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries   N.A.M. Rodger

12: Cornish Ports in the Eighteenth Century   Helen Doe

13: Smuggling and Wrecking   John Rule

14: The Cornish Arundells and the Right of Wreck: A Case Study in Landlord-Tenant Relations in the Long Eighteenth Century   Cathryn Pearce

15: Navigation   Adrian James Webb

Pat IV: 'Global Reach and Industrial Prowess': Cornwall in the Nineteenth Century

16: Introduction   Philip Payton, Alston Kennerley, Helen Doe

17: The Cornish Sea Fisheries in the Nineteenth Century   Tony Pawlyn

18: Cornwall: An Inside-out Industrial Region   Bernard Deacon

19: The Coastal Trade in Cornish China Clay    John Armstrong

20: Cornish Maritime Steam   Roy Fenton

21: Yachting in Cornwall before the First World War   Janet Cusack

22: The Smuggler and the Wrecker: Literary Representations of Cornish Maritime Life   Simon Trezise

23: Cornish Ports, Shipping and Investment in the Nineteenth Century   Helen Doe

Part V: 'Inventing "The Cornish Riviera"': From Twentieth to Twenty-first Century Cornwall

24: Introduction   Philip Payton, Alston Kennerley, Helen Doe

25: Cornwall and the Decline of Commercial Sail   Alston Kennerley

26: Maritime Cornwall in the Era of Two World Wars   G.H. and R. Bennett

27: Cornwall's Trading Ports: twentieth-Century Decline into Diversity   Terry Chapman

28: Twentieth-Century Maritime Tourism and Recreation   Philip Payton

29: Cornish Fisheries in the Twentieth Century   Paul Willerton

30: Epilogue   Philip Payton, Alston Kennerley, Helen Doe

Select Bibliography

Index