Pretty Fowey is an old town, filled with historical buildings in a gorgeous setting at the mouth of the River Fowey in South Cornwall. The town has been in existence since before the Norman invasion, with the local church first established in the 7th century.
From pre Roman times until the 13th century ships came to Fowey to trade rye tin that was panned throughout Cornwall. Just before reaching the town are docks of Imerys Minerals Ltd from which 450,000 tonnes of China Clay were exported last year to all parts of the world and just over 150 ships visited the docks under the flags of many nations.
Fowey has a long and complicated history, but it is also a picturesque town by the sea where it is possible to spend a relaxing time wandering among its many delights.
We stayed at The King of Prussia. It is the probable site of an Elizabethan poor house, named after Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, whose victories in the Seven Years War had made him a hero in Britain. Originally it was the Old Compting House or Municipal Hall built over the columns of the old market. It was pulled down in 1886 and the Inn rebuilt on similar lines.
We had a great view of the harbour from our window.
Come for a walk through Fowey…
Rook with a Book celebrates author Daphne du Maurier’s legacy, inspiration and love of Fowey where she lived. She is famous for writing many wonderful books, including ‘The Birds’ which was adapted for Alfred Hitchcock’s film of the same name in 1963.
Nearby Church of St Fimbarrus, known as Fowey Parish church, was built in the early 14th century, replacing a previous Norman Church.
In 1857 Admiral Robert Fitzroy designed the robust and simple storm barimeter and devised a system whereby the instruments would be placed around the coast and local agents would communicate weather observations to Firzroy’s London office by telegraph. His resulting storm predictions were found, after his death, to have been 75% accurate and laid the foundations of modern weather forecasting.
Around 200 of the “Fitzroy Storm Barimeters” were placed around the coast. The one in Fowey is number 103.
We walked past some beautiful houses and garden to a tiny beach.
The plants in the garden were huge and spectacular.
A tiny bird joined us at the beach.
We spotted interesting house decoration and narrow paths to the water.
There are lots of pretty shops and restaurants.
We had a delicious lobster dinner at North St Kitchen.
At Captain Hanks we enjoyed a delicious crab sandwich for lunch.
Dinner at the King of Prussia.
We could not be in Cornwall and not eat a Cornish pasty. It did not disappoint.
Our favourite meal was at Nala.
We took a boat to a neighbouring town (more on that later). The view of Fowey from the water was stunning in a gorgeous,sunny spring day.
Thank Raffaela and Stephen for organising the wonderful Fowey visit. It was great fun!