Porthleven


Porthleven is a town, civil parish and fishing port near Helston in Cornwall, England, UK. As the most southerly port on the island of Great Britain, it was originally developed as a harbour of refuge, when this part of the Cornish coastline was a black spot for wrecks in the days of sail. The South West Coast Path, which follows the coast from Somerset to Dorset passes through the town. An electoral ward called Porthleven and Helston South also exists. The population at the 2011 census was 3,059.

History

was the site of a fair and annual market from the year 1066. After the Norman Conquest, the Bishop of Exeter held the manor of Methleigh, but the Earl of Cornwall possessed the right to hold the fair. At the time of the Domesday Survey there were of arable land, of pasture and of underbrush. The population consisted of 15 villeins, 4 smallholders and 3 serfs.
Until 1844 Porthleven was within the parish of Sithney. The parish Church of St Bartholomew was built in 1842. The name Porthleven is probably connected with St Elwen or Elwyn, whose chapel existed here before 1270. It was rebuilt about 1510, but destroyed in 1549. There were also chapels at Higher Penrose and Lanner Veor and a holy well at Venton-Vedna. The Vicar of Porthleven in the 1850s was the Rev. Thomas Lockyer Williams, a Tractarian who introduced practices into the parish which provoked dislike in the Rev. Canon John Rogers of Penrose, Rector of Mawnan and a canon of Exeter.
For local-government purposes, Porthleven was included within the nearby town of Helston, until many years of growth gained it a town council of its own. Its population at the United Kingdom Census 2001 was 3,190.
Porthleven's most recognisable building is the Bickford-Smith Institute next to the pier and harbour entrance. With a clock tower about 70 feet high, which looks like a church, but is currently used as a snooker club and houses the town council offices. It featured as the incident room in an episode of the TV detective series Wycliffe. A picture of the building against a large breaking wave sometimes appears in the background of BBC UK weather forecasts, particularly when windy conditions and rough seas are expected. The Institute has a plaque to Guy Gibson VC, leader of the Dambuster Raid, on the wall facing the harbour. Gibson was born in India, but saw Porthleven – his mother's home town, where his parents were married – as a home town as well. He visited there while on leave during the war, sometimes attending the Porthleven Methodist Church. His name is marked on the community's war memorial and a street is named after him.

The harbour

acquired leases on the Tregonning Hill quarries and shipped china clay to his porcelain factory in Plymouth. In 1826, 150 tons of china stone and 30 tons of china clay were exported, and in 1838, 500 tons of china stone. By 1876, 970 tons were exported and in 1883, 1002 tons. Granite was also exported, from the quarries at Coverack Bridges and Sithney.
Fifty-two fishing boats were built between 1877 and 1883, employing at times up to twenty people. They ranged in length from to and were built not only for Mount's Bay ports, but for others in the UK and in South Africa.
Overnight on 12–13 December 1978, Police Constables Joseph James Childs and Martin Ross Reid of Devon and Cornwall Police were killed when their patrol car was swept into the harbour during a heavy storm. A stone memorial to them was erected on the south-facing harbour wall.

Lifeboat

Due to the prevailing westerly winds, it was easy for a ship under sail to be trapped in Mount's Bay and wrecked nearby. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution stationed a lifeboat at Porthleven in 1863. A boat house was built at Breageside, from where the boat was taken to the water on a carriage. The Agar Robartes was replaced by the Charles Henry Wright in November 1882. A boat house on the west side of the harbour entrance was opened in 1894, with a slipway to ease launching. The station was closed in 1929, as the neighbouring stations at and had been equipped with motor lifeboats that could cover the whole bay. The slipway was dismantled and the boat house used as a store for a while. It has since become the Shipwreck Centre museum.

Protected areas

Three of the four Sites of Special Scientific Interest sites close to Porthleven and Geological Conservation Review sites are designated of geological interest: Porthleven Cliffs SSSI, Porthleven Cliffs East SSSI, and Wheal Penrose SSSI. The Giant's Rock, within Porthleven Cliffs SSSI, is a glacial erratic of unknown origin and means of arrival at a site near the entrance of Porthleven harbour. Wheal Penrose SSSI is a disused lead mine to the south with "examples of typical lead zone mineralisation". The fourth, Loe Pool, is Cornwall's largest natural lake, formed by a barrier beach known as Loe Bar that dams the River Cober.
Porthleven lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Sport and leisure

Porthleven has exploited its location and powerful swells to become one of Britain's best-known surfing spots, described as "Cornwall's best reef break". Waves often exceeding break on a shallow reef that was shaped by blasting the harbour. Kayaking is also popular. RNLI lifeguards patrol the beach in the holiday season. The beach is separated from the harbour by a granite pier in front of the Porthleven Institute and clock tower. When the tide is out it is possible to walk about three miles east along Porthleven beach. There is also a coastal path with views of the beach below.
Porthleven Bowling Club is based at Methleigh Parc and affiliated to Bowls Cornwall and Bowls England. It was founded in 1959 and has lawn bowling and short-mat bowls facilities. The club and its members compete within Cornwall and nationally, and there are in-house competitions.
Porthleven has a non-league football club in the South West Peninsula League, which operates at levels 10 and 11 of the English football league system. The club's home ground is at Gala Parc.
The restaurateur Rick Stein has a restaurant in the town.

Twinning

Porthleven is twinned with Guisseny in Brittany, France.

Notable residents

Porthleven was the birthplace of the Victorian theologian Pender Hodge Cudlip and of David Jewell, an independent school headmaster in the late 20th century.
Porthleven was the home town of the Dambusters' Commanding Officer, Guy Gibson. There is a road named in his memory. The Porthleven-born motor racing driver Chris Craft competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans race for over a decade, including a third-placed finish in 1976, as well as two races in Formula One.

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