The Harbour
In bad weather, the waters of Mount’s Bay are a treacherous place. The stretch of sea off Porthleven, between Land’s End and the Lizard, is a vicious trap to shipping. When the wind blows from the south west it mercilessly drives vessels onto the shore. Thousands of mariners have drowned on this stretch of coast. Prior to Porthleven harbour being proposed, there was no safe haven east of Penzance.
An Act Of Parliament
This image gives a very clear picture of how Porthleven looked prior to the construction of the Harbour Head buildings.
When the harbour officially opened on 16 August 1825 the directors held a fine feast with plenty of roast beef and plum pudding for the whole village. In 1811 an Act of Parliament, signed by King George III, was passed “for constructing a harbour, in Mounts Bay in the county of Cornwall”, offering a place of refuge to ships of up to 200 tons caught here in storms. Porthleven was chosen as the location and the Act enabled the Porthleven Harbour Company to compulsorily purchase the land. The original estimate for the harbour was £60,000 and five years. In the end it took more than £200,000 and almost 15 years to complete. When the harbour officially opened on 16 August 1825 the directors held a fine feast with plenty of roast beef and plum pudding for the whole village, as well as a celebration with fireworks, bonfires and cannon fire. And four more…
On the world stage Napoleon was defeated at the battle of Waterloo in 1815 and some sources say many of the 70 workmen who worked on Porthleven harbour were French prisoners of war. The men used barrows to shift 380,000 tonnes of sand and gravel that had formed a Bar at the entrance to the harbour. Porthleven before the harbour would have had a large expanse of standing water, much like Loe Pool further along the coast, with the sea blocked from entering. A 465-foot long pier and breakwater was then built to prevent this blockage from returning. It had to be constructed from the sea inwards after several attempts to build it out from the land were washed away. In total four Acts of Parliament were needed before the harbour was completed. These allowed the company to raise more funds and take more time. The early shareholders didn’t have much fun. They were asked for additional money no less than ten times in the first five years and in 1822 were warned that if money was not raised immediately the project would cease and all capital and employment would be lost. The shareholders had to seek Exchequer Loans and only then, halfway through construction, were professional surveys and reports obtained. Noted engineer Thomas Telford and his assistant were then asked to look at the project and report back for the money to be released.
Early days
For the first 30 years the harbour failed to make money. One of the key reasons was that it was ‘open’ and when the weather came in from the south west ships could be wrecked in port!
In 1855, Harvey & Co purchased the harbour. They had many interests locally including coal and general merchants, rope & sail makers, shipbuilders, mining, sailing and steam ships and more. One of the first things they did was to build an inner harbour that could be protected and maintained. To do this they added the breakwater that marks the entrance to the inner harbour. This had a gap for access that could be closed using baulks – the same gap you see today. This work was completed in 1858 and prompted a further Act of Parliament in 1869 that, among other things, revised the harbour tariffs.
Raising the baulks at Porthleven Harbour. Imports for the Harvey & Co mines came in through Porthleven and the additional methods of closing the harbour off to protect boats made the port a safer one, attracting more business. Imports were always more significant than exports at Porthleven and ships often left port under ballast (ie. with rubble rather than cargo making them heavy enough to sail properly).
Boatbuliding and fishing
At the turn of the 20th Century there were four boatbuilding firms operating in Porthleven and it had a fine reputation for the trade. At the peak of production, a new vessel was being launched each month, on average, with huge crowds turning out to each event. Fishermen had their boats, nets, sails and ropes made in the village and a host of trades from cobblers to coopers and bakers to barbours plied a trade in the shops and houses here. Fishing was a big trade here with fishermen mainly bringing home mackerel, pilchards, herrings and crab. In 1885 Porthleven’s fishing fleet was recorded as 80 pilchard drivers, 23 mackerel drivers, and 20 smaller crabbers. Today there are less than half a dozen fishing boats.
Today
A photograph from around 1900 shows a harbour that’s still very recognisable over 100 years later. Porthleven harbour is still full of character and, as you can see from early photos, the main buildings haven’t changed all that much since the late 1800s. The harbour shape is unusual and can be observed well by taking one of the higher roads around the sides – these are also a great place for storm watching and taking in the awesome power of nature at a safe distance.
Busy Porthleven harbour.