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Falmouth |
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Falmouth
originated in the early 17th century as a village established
close to the medieval manor house. It developed rapidly and was a
borough from 1661. It became an international port, particularly
through its role in the packet trade with the Americas, developing
additional functions as a dockyard and as a resort in the 19th
century.
Falmouth is on Cornwall’s southern coast and, as its name
indicates, is near the opening into the English Channel of the
long complex ria system of the tidal Fal River. It has a near
urban neighbour in Penryn, just four kilometres up the Penryn
River. The curve of land protected from off-sea southerlies by the
Pendennis promontory and next to the natural deep-water harbour at
the mouth of the Penryn River seems to be a perfect place for a
port. It is a position as attractive as that of the much more
ancient harbour town of Fowey. A great sheltered stretch of deep
water, the Carrick Roads, lies to the east and only a narrow ridge
of land separates Falmouth from the Channel to the south. Less
than a mile to the west is the deep valley of Swan Vale, now
partly filled with silt and the natural Swan Pool, but probably
once a long narrow tidal creek extending as far as Penmere.
River, roads and creek cut Falmouth’s undulating promontory off
from land to the west except at the linking ridge to the
north-west near Trescobeas. While the Truro branch railway line
(with its stations at Penmere, Town/Dell and Docks) and the A39
road, both running into the town from this north-westerly
direction, now give the town reasonably good land communications,
Falmouth was formerly mainly reached by water. The great Victorian
docks with their eastern breakwater attached to the Pendennis
peninsula succeeded a line of smaller wharves, quays and slips
running along the waterfront. The town’s main street ran parallel
with this and settlement climbed up the steep slopes, virtually
cliffs, immediately inland, and along the sides of another former
inlet, now the Moor. Beyond the cliff crests were rounded hills
(Beacon and Marlborough Road) up to 60 metres high from which
glorious views can be had over the multi-armed Fal to the
Roseland, Lizard and Carnmenellis The southern hill, formerly part
of Arwenack’s deer park, was upland rough ground until early
modern enclosure, but further west and north in Budock parish is
anciently enclosed land with a typically Cornish scattering of
farms and hamlets. The character of Pendennis headland is
dominated by former military installations and now through use as
an area of recreation, emphasised visually by the modern Ships and
Castles leisure pool. The southern strip of hotels and beach
amenities is continued to the west by a golf course at Pennance.
Downloads:
The downloads offered below represent the different elements of the CSUS
Falmouth Report including the core text, seven illustrative figures and
six character area summaries. The majority of the downloads are large
files (to maintain some quality of image resolution) and therefore may take
time to download.
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Title |
Description |
Format |
Size |
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CSUS Falmouth Report |
REPORT text detailing the results of the historic
character study for the town of Falmouth. Graeme Kirkham,
Historic Environment Service.. |
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4536kb |
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Figure 1 - Location & Topography Map |
Map showing the location of Falmouth and its immediate
topography. |
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919kb |
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Figure 2a/b - OS 2nd Edition 1:2500 Map (c1907) |
Map showing the town of Falmouth in c1907. |
2a |
2b |
329/332kb |
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Figure 3 - Historic Development Map |
Map showing the historic development and expansion of
Falmouth. |
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1187kb |
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Figure 4 - Historic Settlement Topography Map |
Map showing the historic topography of
Falmouth with key
areas of historic activity. |
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1158kb |
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Figures 5 - Surviving Historic
Components Maps |
Three maps showing the surviving historic buildings of
Falmouth. |
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1302kb |
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Figure 6 - Urban Archaeological Potential Map |
Map showing the areas and sites of archaeological potential
in Falmouth. |
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1149kb |
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Figure 7 - Character Areas Map |
Map showing the seven character areas identified by the
survey of Falmouth. |
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308kb |
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Character Area 1. Main commercial axis |
An area of memorably high-quality townscape making up
Falmouth’s primary retail and commercial focus. It incorporates the oldest
portions of the town and its distinctive form – a series of narrow streets
on varying alignments connecting end-to-end and strongly enclosed by tall,
predominantly historic buildings – has a unique interest and charm. |
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736 kb |
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Character Area 2. The Moor |
Falmouth’s busy civic centre and former market area, with a
cluster of large historic institutional buildings around an extensive open
public space recently the subject of a major environmental scheme. With the
adjacent streets it forms an important urban focus and a key entrance to
the town. |
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473kb |
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Character Area 3. The waterfront |
Falmouth’s historic working focus and raison d’être. Its
historic topography and fabric form a striking and distinctive area of
townscape, both from land and water. Large-scale modern developments are
visually prominent but the area remains particularly notable for the fine
grain, diversity and charm of its historic components. |
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510kb |
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Character Area 4. ‘The cliff’ |
This area represents secondary expansion from Falmouth’s
historic core. It has an intriguing topography, some good historic fabric
and much evidence of past activity. However, there has been extensive
removal of historic structures and much of the area now appears as badly
degraded townscape, with an air of neglect and inappropriate interventions
in the treatment of spaces, the public realm and the design of modern
components. It has high potential for making a substantive contribution to
regeneration. |
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622kb |
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Character Area 5. The terraced suburbs |
A large area of terraced suburbs of varying social status in
a grid of streets on the higher ground around the historic core of the
town. Stucco is the dominant finish, but there is wide diversity in form
and detail and the high degree of variation within the area is a
significant element of its character. |
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649kb |
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Character Area 6. Seaside resort and wooded suburbs |
A polite green suburban and seaside area covering much of
Falmouth’s southern extent. Its character derives from a scatter of large
eighteenth and nineteenth century houses and their wooded grounds, sited to
take advantage of the wide views. Larger buildings and gardens continue to
be dominant, despite greater density in later expansion of visitor
accommodation and housing. |
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468kb |
