CHARLESTOWN

 The harbour village of Charlestown was a Georgian 'new town', a port development planned by local landowner Charles Rashleigh (after whom it was named) and built between 1790 and 1810 for the export of copper and china clay. Before that, it was a tiny pilchard fishing village known as West Polmear, with no harbour and only 3 cottages.

Throughout the nineteenth century the little dock was packed with ships and the harbourside sheds and warehouses thronged with complementary businesses: boatbuilding, ropemaking, brickworks, lime burning, net houses, bark houses and pilchard curing.

Today there are two remarkable things about Charlestown. One is that, against all the odds, it has survived as a working port and a small amount of china clay is still exported in an average of 30-40 ships a year, and this saves the place from becoming a cosy caricature of itself with plenty of 'heritage appeal' but no real life.
The second is that - again, against all the odds - it has largely escaped 'development' and remains one of the finest and most fascinating places on the Cornish coast.
Perhaps the words "so far" should be added to these two observations, for who knows what will happen to Charlestown in the future?
The harbour is the home port for a famous collection of old ships which are employed in film projects all over the world - they have brought work and life to the quays and harbour buildings and are a particular draw for visitors.
We do wonder though, how they get such large sailing ships through the tiny harbour entrance!

The harbour is officially Grade II listed. The listing gives a summary of the harbour's history, and it is a worthy read. You can find it on the Historic England site here

The picture above shows the gantry and chute used in loading china clay onto the boats below