08/09/2020
We are continuing with a series of posts on the Watch House to mark 60 years of it being available as a holiday let. This time we are looking at the Watch House and the development of the Gorran Haven waterfront since 1800.
It is well known that the current quay in Gorran Haven is not the first and various earlier versions were washed away. Indeed, it appears that from around 1840 until the later1880s the Haven did not have an operating quay at all (some records suggest it was badly damaged in 1820 and never really repaired and plans to redevelop it started soon after). When the Preventative Service based a boat on the beach it was originally stored in an old fish cellar and salt house. The Union Cellar – now the Big Cellars next door to the Watch House- was built in 1815 on the site of old cellars but it is likely that the original Boat House was already in operation before that date. Neither of these buildings were properly protected by a quay so storm damage appears to have been common. Two village men trying to moor up the Revenue boat were drowned a few yards off shore in the 1830s. Also, the Boat House itself was damaged again in 1836. This led to the construction of the current Watch House in 1837/8.. However we suspect that many of the original foundations of the old building were re-used and maybe some of the wood for the front doors (which then survived till the Valentines Day storm of 2014). The new Watch House was a standard design which was narrower than the old fish cellar, leaving a small strip between the new building and the next door site which remains to this day. Overall, it is not surprising that plans to build a new quay started in 1820 when a company was formed and eventually with the generosity of the Williams’ family this led to the construction of the current structure in November 1886.
While some of the timeline for the development of Gorran Haven quay prior to 1840 are unclear, we do know about the Cellars and the Watch House and both have changed very little from the early 1830s to the present day. However, the waterfront between the Watch House and the Mermaid has a much less certain history. The limekiln was built in the early 1880s but much of the uncertain history of this area has arisen as some studies have confused this site with earlier limekilns elsewhere in the village (especially near the Grist Mill). In fact, the bottom of Canton prior to the 1880s was actually the site of three fishing lofts -probably with cellars- built at right angles to the beach. The rear of these buildings backed on to the Watch House. They eventually faced on to the Queen’s Head (now the Mermaid and Beach Cottage but built later). The site of the Beachcomber was a further block of fishing lofts which extended out to the end of the low wall still visible by the turning space at the bottom of Foxhole Lane (making the bottom of Canton a huddle of small dwellings and narrow streets, a bit like Rattle Street).
While all these properties were occupied in the 1850s and most were part of the Caerhays sale shortly after, by the late 1870s at least the two closest dwellings to the beach were derelict (where the current large store under the lime kiln is located).This is very clearly shown by a very early and rare post card of the village by Coath. It appears a huge storm in 1867 caused significant damage to this area. It damaged the Mermaid block as well as the three properties opposite. The same storm may also have damaged the Beachcomber block as we know that Dick Pill moved from Portmellon to the village to open up his boatyard on the site. Later pictures of the boatyard show it as being based within older damaged walls.
The 1867 storm appears to have effectively freed up the site at the bottom of Canton for a new limekiln which was built in the early 1880s before the reconstruction of St Just church in 1885. In fact, the new limekiln was probably one of the last ever built in Cornwall and had a very short operational life. Sources suggest this may have been as little as 10-20 years. By the 1930s, it had already become the first village car park after kiln was filled in and the lower part converted to storage.
The Watch House appears to have avoided serious damage from the 1867 storm. However, in the 1880s- according to some reports- the Vicar moved his small congregation to the Watch House for services when St Just was closed for rebuilding, indeed the 1965 church history suggests the Watch House was “abandoned” at this time. Staffing records for the Coastguard station do not back this description both in terms of overall complement size and roles, including the services of a Chief Boatman on site. However, with larger boats and better communication the upstairs Watch Office on the beach may have operated shorter hours. The new Coastguard cottages and officers house up Church Street, completed in 1867 as well, included an office (used as a local Sector Office well into the 20th century long after the Watch House and cottages had been sold). Indeed, rather than closing the site the Admiralty negotiated a new lease with the Caerhays estate in the 1880s and we believe the property remained operational in some form until it came into our family ownership in the 1920s.
