Fowey
Fowey
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| Population | Expression error: "2,273 (Census 2001[1])" must be numeric |
| OS grid reference | SX126516 |
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| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | FOWEY |
| Postcode district | PL23 |
| Dialling code | 01726 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Cornwall |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
Fowey (; IPA /ˈfɔɪ/ (rhymes with "boy"); Cornish: Fowydh) is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, UK. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273.
Geography
Fowey is in the South Coast (Eastern Section) of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. It lies at the end of the Saints' Way and has ferries across the river to Polruan (foot) and Bodinnick (vehicle). There are many historic buildings in the town, including the ruins of St Catherine's Castle, while Readymoney Cove possesses a local beach.
Popular legend has it that Jesus visited Fowey as a child, along with Joseph of Arimathea who was a merchant visiting local tin mines in which he had a commercial interest. At the entrance to the River, on the eastern side below the cliffs to the south-west of St Saviour's Point, there is a cross to commemorate this supposed visit. This cross is marked on very early charts and was maintained by monks from Tywardreath. The cross is known locally as "Punches Cross", supposedly derived from the name of Pontius Pilate.
A hundred yards west of the lighthouse on the west of the harbour entrance, about thirty feet below the top of the cliff edge and broadly concealed, is a small grass area known as "Johnny May's Chapel". This name is believed to be that of a Methodist preacher at the time when non-Conformism was persecuted.
Economy
Fowey has thrived as a port for hundreds of years, initially as a military town, then as the centre for china clay exports (that business is slowly diminishing, as more and more of China Clay is being imported from Brazil)[citation needed]. Fowey is the home of the Treffry family who live in Place House, from whom prolific 1800s Cornish industrialist Joseph Treffry came.
Today Fowey is busy with trawlers and yachts, the Royal Fowey Yacht Club being on its front. The seafood served in many of its restaurants comes from the Fowey estuary, or the sea just outside it.
A few miles away from the town is Golant's 'Sawmill Recording Studios', which has been frequented by the likes of Oasis, the Stone Roses and Muse, as well as local bands.
Administration
Fowey elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons until the Reform Act 1832 stripped it of its representation as a rotten borough, it having lost its borough corporation a few years before [2]. It was restored as a municipal borough in 1913, and then was merged with the nearby and much larger St Austell in 1968 to form the borough of St. Austell with Fowey. This was itself in 1974 replaced with the Restormel Borough, and Fowey now constitutes a civil parish [3]
Education
Fowey has two schools: Fowey Primary School and Fowey Community College, both of which are in Windmill Road.
Culture
The Daphne du Maurier [1] Festival of Art and Literature [2] is held every May; this being her birth month, the dates for the 2008 Festival are Thursday 8th May to Saturday 17th May.
Fowey has a regatta in the third week of August every year. The town has held a Christmas Market since 2005. The Fowey Fringe Festival started in 2007, an acoustic musical festival takes place in the pubs, restaurants,sailing clubs and streets in the town of Fowey. Visiting musicians and other performers are invited to participate.
Fowey has been the inspiration for many authors including Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch ('Q'), Daphne du Maurier and Kenneth Grahame.
The surrounding coastline of Fowey is also popular with fishermen and spear-fishermen. Many sea creatures can be seen all around the Cornish shoreline, including mullet, bass, mackerel, lobsters and cuttlefish. Many of the species can be seen in the Fowey Aquarium in the heart of the town, which includes a very rare Albino Bull Huss.
Being situated in close proximity to the Sawmill Studios in Golant, Fowey often plays host to many musicians.
Residents
In common with most of Cornwall, Fowey's house prices have escalated as non-locals have bought holiday homes in the county. Residents with homes in or around Fowey include:
- Richard and Judy
- Janet Ellis
- Lenny Henry and Dawn French - paid £ 2.4 million for an 1865 seaside mansion in October 2006 [4]
- Gloria Hunniford [5]
- Cliff Richard
See also
References
External links
- Fowey to Mevagissey summer passenger ferry
- Restormel Council
- Fabulous Fowey: the visitor's guide to Fowey
- Fowey Market
- Informations, photos of Fowey
- Fowey Fringe Festival
- Fowey - commercial tourism site
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