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St Anthony Head

Carrick geography stubsHeadlands of CornwallNational Trust properties in CornwallTourist attractions in Cornwall
DSCN0870St.AnthonyLight
DSCN0870St.AnthonyLight

St Anthony Head is a National Trust property situated at the southernmost tip of the Roseland Peninsula, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, overlooking the entrance to one of the world's largest natural harbours: Carrick Roads and the estuary of River Fal. It preserves the former St Anthony Battery, built in 1895–97 to defend the estuary of the River Fal. The headland is designated as part of Carricknath Point to Porthbean Beach and Lower Fal & Helford Intertidal Sites of Special Scientific Interest. At its tip lies St Anthony's Lighthouse.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article St Anthony Head (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

St Anthony Head
Military Road,

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 50.141369 ° E -5.014958 °
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WW2 Observation Post for Coastal Gun Battery

Military Road
TR2 5HA
England, United Kingdom
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St Mawes Castle
St Mawes Castle

St Mawes Castle (Cornish: Kastel Lannvowsedh) is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Falmouth, Cornwall, between 1540 and 1542. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the Carrick Roads waterway at the mouth of the River Fal. The castle was built under the direction of Thomas Treffry to a clover leaf design, with a four-storey central tower and three protruding, round bastions that formed gun platforms. It was initially armed with 19 artillery pieces, intended for use against enemy shipping, operating in partnership with its sister castle of Pendennis on the other side of the estuary. During the English Civil War, St Mawes was held by Royalist supporters of King Charles I, but surrendered to a Parliamentary army in 1646 in the final phase of the conflict. The castle continued in use as a fort through the 18th and 19th centuries. In the early 1850s, fears of a fresh conflict with France, combined with changes in military technology, led to the redevelopment of the fortification. The out-dated Henrician castle was turned into a barracks and substantial gun batteries were constructed beneath it, equipped with the latest naval artillery. In the 1880s and 1890s an electrically operated minefield was laid across the River Fal, operated from St Mawes and Pendennis, and new, quick-firing guns were installed at St Mawes to support these defences. After 1905, however, St Mawes' guns were removed, and between 1920 and 1939 it was run by the state as a tourist attraction. Brought back into service in the Second World War, naval artillery and an anti-aircraft gun were installed at the castle to defend against the risk of German attack. With the end of the war, St Mawes again returned to use as a tourist attraction. In the 21st century, the castle is operated by English Heritage. The castle has elaborate, carved 16th-century decorations including sea monsters and gargoyles, and the historian Paul Pattison has described the site as "arguably the most perfect survivor of all Henry's forts". The castle is a scheduled monument and Grade I listed building.

Pendennis Castle
Pendennis Castle

Pendennis Castle (Cornish: Penn Dinas, meaning "headland fortification") is an artillery fort constructed by Henry VIII near Falmouth, Cornwall, England between 1540 and 1542. It formed part of the King's Device programme to protect against invasion from France and the Holy Roman Empire, and defended the Carrick Roads waterway at the mouth of the River Fal. The original, circular keep and gun platform was expanded at the end of the century to cope with the increasing Spanish threat, with a ring of extensive stone ramparts and bastions built around the older castle. Pendennis saw service during the English Civil War, when it was held by the Royalists, and was only taken by Parliament after a long siege in 1646. It survived the interregnum and Charles II renovated the fortress after his restoration to the throne in 1660. Ongoing concerns about a possible French invasion resulted in Pendennis's defences being modernised and upgraded in the 1730s and again during the 1790s; during the Napoleonic Wars, the castle held up to 48 guns. In the 1880s and 1890s an electrically operated minefield was laid across the River Fal, operated from Pendennis and St Mawes, and new, quick-firing guns were installed to support these defences. The castle was rearmed during the First World War but saw no action and was rearmed again during the Second World War when it saw action against the German Luftwaffe aircraft, but in 1956, by now obsolete, it was decommissioned. It passed into the control of the Ministry of Works, who cleared away many of the more modern military buildings and opened the site to visitors. In the 21st century, the castle is managed by English Heritage as a tourist attraction, receiving 74,230 visitors in 2011–12. The heritage agency Historic England considers Pendennis to be "one of the finest examples of a post-medieval defensive promontory fort in the country".