Cornwall is quintessentially a maritime region. Almost an island, nowhere in it is further than 25 miles from the sea. Cornwall’s often distinctive history has been molded by this omnipresent maritime environment, while its strategic position at the western approaches—jutting out into the Atlantic—has given this history a global impact. It is perhaps surprising then, that, despite the central place of the sea in Cornwall’s history, there has not yet been a full maritime history of Cornwall. The Maritime History of Cornwall sets out to fill this gap, exploring the rich and complex maritime inheritance of this unique peninsula.
In a beautifully illustrated volume, individually commissioned contributions from distinguished historians elaborate on the importance of different periods, from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century.
The Maritime History of Cornwall is a significant addition to the literature of international maritime history and is indispensable to those with an interest in Cornwall past and present.
Introduction and Acknowledgements
Chapter 2. The Origins of Maritime CornwallPre-medieval Settlements and Seaways
Chapter 3. Coastal Communities in Medieval Cornwall
Chapter 4. Overseas Trade and Shipping in Cornwall in the Later Middle Ages
Chapter 10. Cornish Tin Ships, 1703–1710
Chapter 11. Cornwall and the Royal Navy in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Chapter 12. Cornish Ports in the Eighteenth Century
Chapter 13. Smuggling and Wrecking
Chapter 17. The Cornish Sea Fisheries in the Nineteenth Century
Chapter 18. Cornwall: An Inside-out Industrial Region
Chapter 19. The Coastal Trade in Cornish China Clay
Chapter 20. Cornish Maritime Steam
Chapter 20. Yachting in Cornwall before the First World War
Chapter 21. The Smuggler and the WreckerLiterary Representations of Cornish Maritime Life
Chapter 22. Cornish Ports, Shipping and Investment in the Nineteenth Century
Chapter 24. Cornwall and the Decline of Commercial Sail
Chapter 25. Maritime Cornwall in the Era of Two World Wars
Chapter 26. Cornwall’s Trading PortsTwentieth-Century Decline into Diversity
Chapter 27. Twentieth-Century Maritime Tourism and Recreation
Chapter 28. Cornish Fisheries in the Twentieth Century