Editing Falmouth, Cornwall (section)

== History ==
{{see also|Miss Susan Gay's Falmouth chronology}}

=== Early history ===
[[File:The Old Town Hall, Falmouth.jpg|thumb|left|The [[Old Town Hall, Falmouth|Old Town Hall]]]]
In 1540, [[Henry VIII of England|Henry VIII]] built [[Pendennis Castle]] in Falmouth to defend [[Carrick Roads]]. The main town of the district was then at [[Penryn, Cornwall|Penryn]]. A late-16th century map shows 'Arweneck' manor house with some ordinary dwellings at 'Smithick, alias Pennycomequick' near today's Market Strand.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=D.G. |title=Falmouth Haven |date=2008 |publisher=Tempus Publishing |location=Stroud |isbn=978-0-7524-4226-6 |page=19}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title =Falmouth Town| publisher =GenUKI | url =http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/Falmouth/index.html | access-date =2008-07-14 }}</ref> Pennycomequick is an Anglicisation of the Celtic {{lang|kw|Pen-y-cwm-cuic}} 'head of the creek';<ref>{{cite book |last1=Murray |first1=John |title=Murrya's Handbook for Devon and Cornwall |date=1859 |publisher=John Murray |page=269}}</ref> there is still a [[Pennycomequick]] district in [[Plymouth]].

In the late 16th century, under threat from the Spanish Armada, the defences at Pendennis were strengthened by the building of angled ramparts. During the [[English Civil War|Civil War]], Pendennis Castle was the second to last fort to surrender to the Parliamentary Army.<ref>{{cite news| title =Castle recreates Civil War strife| work =BBC News| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/5266208.stm |date=2006-08-19 |access-date = 2010-12-10}}</ref>
Sir John Killigrew created the town of Falmouth shortly after 1613.<ref>{{cite web| title =Falmouth 1837| work =Old Towns of England| url =http://www.oldtowns.co.uk/Cornwall/falmouth.htm| access-date = 2007-05-25}}</ref>

[[File:Monument in Falmouth (8786).jpg|thumb|upright|Killigrew monument in Arwenack Street]]
After the Civil War, Sir [[Peter Killigrew]] received royal patronage when he gave land for the building of the [[Church of King Charles the Martyr, Falmouth|Church of King Charles the Martyr]], dedicated to [[Charles I of England|Charles I, "the Martyr"]].<ref>Guide to the Parish Church (No date, after 1997)</ref>

The seal of Falmouth was blazoned as "An eagle displayed with two heads and on each wing with a tower" (based on the arms of Killigrew). The arms of the borough of Falmouth were "Arg[ent]. a double-headed eagle displayed Sa[ble]. each wing charged with a tower Or. in base issuant from the water barry wavy a rock also Sa. thereon surmounting the tail of the eagle a staff also proper flying therefrom a pennant Gu[les]".<ref>{{cite book|last=Pascoe|first=W. H.|title=A Cornish Armory|page=132|year=1979|publisher=Lodenek Press|location=Padstow, Cornwall|isbn=0-902899-76-7}}</ref>

Being the nearest large harbour to the entrance of the English Channel, two Royal Navy squadrons were permanently stationed here. In the 1790s one was under the command of [[Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth|Sir Edward Pellew]] (later Viscount Exmouth) and the other under the command of [[John Borlase Warren|Sir John Borlase Warren]]. Each squadron consisted of five frigates, with either 32 or 44 guns. Pellew's flagship was [[HMS Indefatigable (1784)|HMS ''Indefatigable'']] and Warren's [[HMS Révolutionnaire (1794)|HMS ''Révolutionnaire'']]. At the time of the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], battle ships and small vessels were continually arriving with war prizes taken from the French ships and prisoners of war. Near [[Penryn, Cornwall|Penryn]], at [[Tregellick]] and [[Roscrow]], were two large camps for the French prisoners.<ref name="cman212">{{cite news |title=The Flushing Boy Who Became A Great Traveller |work=The Cornishman |issue=212 |date=3 August 1882 |page=6}}</ref>

The [[Old Town Hall, Falmouth|Old Town Hall]] in the High Street was completed in 1710.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=The Old Town Hall|num=1270068|access-date=8 June 2024}}</ref> The corporation moved to a new town hall on The Moor, now the [[Palacio Lounge]], in 1866.<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Former town hall and attached former fire station|num=1269980|access-date=8 June 2024}}</ref>

The Falmouth [[Post Office Packet Service|Packet Service]] operated out of Falmouth for over 160 years between 1689 and 1851. Its purpose was to carry mail to and from Britain's growing [[British Empire|empire]]. At the end of the 18th century, there were thirty to forty, small, full rigged, three-masted ships. The crews were hand picked and both officers and men often made large fortunes from the private contraband trade they took part in, while under the protection of being a Government ship, free from [[HM Customs|customs]] and [[HM Excise|excise]] searches and therefore payment of duty.<ref name="cman212"/> Captain John Bullock worked in the Packet Service and built [[Penmere Manor Hotel, Cornwall|Penmere Manor]] in 1825.

=== 19th and 20th centuries ===
[[File:Falmouth Lifeboat (DSCN0324).jpg|thumb|left|The [[Falmouth Lifeboat Station|Falmouth Lifeboat]] moored by the docks with the old town and The Penryn River in the background]]
In 1805 news of Britain's victory and Admiral Nelson's death at [[Battle of Trafalgar|Trafalgar]] reached Falmouth from the schooner ''Pickle'' and was taken to London by [[post chaise]]. On 2 October 1836 {{HMS|Beagle}} anchored at Falmouth at the end of her [[second voyage of HMS Beagle|noted survey voyage]] around the world.<ref>{{cite book  | last= FitzRoy  | first= Robert  | author-link=Robert FitzRoy  | year= 1839  | title=Narrative of the surveying voyages of His Majesty's Ships Adventure and Beagle between the years 1826 and 1836, describing their examination of the southern shores of South America, and the Beagle's circumnavigation of the globe. Appendix to Volume II  | publication-place= London  | publisher=Henry Colburn | url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?itemID=F10.2a&viewtype=text&pageseq=1 }}</ref> That evening, [[Charles Darwin]] left the ship and took the [[Mail coach]] to his family home at [[The Mount, Shrewsbury]].<ref>{{cite book |url=http://darwin-online.org.uk/content/frameset?viewtype=text&itemID=F1925&pageseq=479 |title= Charles Darwin's Beagle diary |first=R. D. |last=Keynes |author-link=Richard Keynes |year= 2001 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=447}}</ref> The ship stayed a few days and Captain [[Robert FitzRoy]] visited the Fox family at nearby [[Penjerrick]] Gardens. Darwin's shipmate Sulivan later made his home in the nearby waterside village of [[Flushing, Cornwall|Flushing]], then home to many naval officers.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

In 1839 Falmouth was the scene of a [[gold dust robbery]] when £47,600 worth of gold dust from Brazil was stolen on arrival at the port.<ref>''[[The Times]]''; Saturday, 29 June 1839; pg. 6: ''The Gold-Dust Robbery''</ref>

The [[Falmouth Docks]] were developed from 1858,<ref>{{cite web| title =Falmouth Docks| work =Falmouth Packet Archives 1688–1850| url =http://www.falmouth.packet.archives.dial.pipex.com/id121.htm| access-date =2008-07-14| url-status =dead| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080705112726/http://www.falmouth.packet.archives.dial.pipex.com/id121.htm| archive-date =5 July 2008| df =dmy-all}}</ref> and the [[Royal National Lifeboat Institution]] (RNLI) opened [[Falmouth Lifeboat Station]] nearby in 1867. The present building dates from 1993 and also houses [[His Majesty's Coastguard]].<ref>{{cite book |last= Morris |first= Jeff |title= The History of the Falmouth Lifeboats |edition= 2nd |year= 2002 |publisher= Lifeboat Enthusiast's Society |location= Coventry }}</ref> The RNLI operates two [[Lifeboat (rescue)|lifeboats]] from Falmouth: ''Richard Cox Scott'', a {{Convert|17|m|ft|adj=on}} {{sclass2|Severn|lifeboat|0}} all-weather boat,<ref>{{cite book |last= Denton |first= Tony |title= Handbook 2009 |year= 2009 |publisher= Lifeboat Enthusiasts Society |location= Shrewsbury }}</ref> and B-916 ''Robina Nixon Chard'', an [[Atlantic 85-class lifeboat|Atlantic 85]] inshore lifeboat.

[[File:Jacob's Ladder - geograph.org.uk - 726196.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Jacob's Ladder, an 1840s flight of mostly dressed granite steps, rises from Killigrew Street to Vernon Place.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1270008?section=official-list-entry|title= Jacob's Ladder|website= historicengland.org.uk|publisher= Historic England|access-date= 17 May 2022}}</ref>]]
Near the town centre is Kimberley Park, named after the Earl of Kimberley who leased the park's land to the borough of Falmouth. Today the park has exotic and ornate plants and trees.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.falmouth.co.uk/see-and-do/parks/kimberley-park |title=Kimberley Park |publisher=Falmouth.co.uk |access-date=2014-07-21}}</ref>

Falmouth was connected to Plymouth and the rest of the United Kingdom by electric telegraph on 30 August 1857.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Falmouth. Completion of the Electric Telegraph |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005038/18570902/063/0004  |newspaper=Penzance Gazette |location=England |date=2 September 1857 |access-date=23 March 2025 |via=British Newspaper Archive }}</ref> The telegraph office was adjoining the Custom House and Globe Hotel. In 1869 the telegraph office moved to the new Falmouth Post Office on Church Street.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Falmouth Post Office and Telegraph |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0005038/18570902/063/0004  |newspaper=Commercial, Shipping & General Advertiser for West Cornwall |location=England |date=27 November 1869 |access-date=23 March 2025 |via=British Newspaper Archive }}</ref>

A telephone trunk line to Falmouth was opened in January 1899. It was noted in Lake’s Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser of 14 January 1899 that “the tariff for conversations carried on over any distance is too high to suggest the use of the telephone for anything except urgent business”.<ref>{{cite news |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |title=Telephonic Communication |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000620/18990114/069/0004  |newspaper=Lake's Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser |location=England |date=14 January 1899 |access-date=23 March 2025 |via=British Newspaper Archive }}</ref> The exchange was over the Post Office on The Moor.

The [[Cornwall Railway]] reached Falmouth on 24 August 1863. The railway brought new prosperity to Falmouth, as it made it easy for tourists to reach the town. It also allowed the swift transport of the goods recently disembarked from the ships in the port. The town now has three railway stations. [[Falmouth Docks railway station]] is the original terminus and is close to Pendennis Castle and Castle beach. [[Falmouth Town railway station]] was opened on 7 December 1970 and is convenient for the [[National Maritime Museum]] Cornwall, the waterfront, Gyllyngvase beach and town centre.

[[Penmere railway station]] opened on 1 July 1925 towards the north of Falmouth and within easy walking distance of the top of The Moor. All three stations are served by regular trains from [[Truro]] on the [[Maritime Line]]. Penmere Station was renovated in the late 1990s, using the original sign and materials.

The town saw a total [[Solar Eclipse|eclipse of the Sun]] at 11:11&nbsp;[[Ante Meridiem|a.m.]] on 11 August 1999. [[Solar eclipse of August 11, 1999|This eclipse]] lasted just over two minutes at Falmouth, the longest duration in the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jonesbryn.plus.com/astrophenom/eclipse1999/eclipse1999falmouth.html|title=THE 1999 TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE OBSERVED FROM FALMOUTH|author=Bryn Jones|publisher=Jonesbryn.plus.com|access-date=20 September 2014|archive-date=2 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120402191151/http://www.jonesbryn.plus.com/astrophenom/eclipse1999/eclipse1999falmouth.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==== Second World War ====
[[File:DSCN1679StNazaireMemorialFALMOUTH.jpg|right|thumb|upright|St Nazaire memorial]]
During [[World War II]], 31 people were killed in Falmouth by [[Nazi Germany|German]] [[The Blitz|bombing]]. An anti-submarine net was laid from Pendennis to St Mawes, to prevent enemy [[U-boat]]s entering the harbour.

It was the launching point for the [[St Nazaire Raid]] in 1942. Between 1943 and 1944, Falmouth was a base for American troops preparing for the [[D-Day]] invasions.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Wilson |first1=Viki |title=What happened on D Day in Cornwall |url=https://cornwalltoday.co.uk/what-happened-on-d-day-in-cornwall/ |publisher=Cornwall Today |access-date=30 October 2018 |archive-date=30 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181030170439/https://cornwalltoday.co.uk/what-happened-on-d-day-in-cornwall/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>  Many of the troops involved embarked from Falmouth harbour and the surrounding rivers and creeks. There are commemorative plaques at Turnaware Point, Falmouth Watersports marina, [[Tolverne]] and [[Trebah]] gardens.<ref>{{cite web |title=War in Cornwall |url=https://www.intocornwall.com/features/war-in-cornwall.asp |publisher=IntoCornwall.com |access-date=30 October 2018}}</ref> The [[United States Navy]] had a large base in Falmouth harbour as well.

====Post War====
The ''[[SS Flying Enterprise]]'', a cargo vessel that had sailed from [[Hamburg]] on 21 December 1951, ran into a storm on the Western Approaches to the English Channel. A crack appeared on her deck and the cargo shifted. A number of vessels went to her aid including the tug ''Turmoil'' which was stationed in Falmouth, but they found it initially impossible to take the ''Flying Enterprise'' in tow. The ship was finally taken in tow on 5 January 1952 by the ''Turmoil'' when she was some {{convert|300|nmi|km}} from Falmouth. It took several days to reach port. On 10 January the tow line parted when the ship was still {{convert|41|nmi|km}} from Falmouth. Two other tugs joined the battle to save the ship and cargo, but the ''Flying Enterprise'' finally sank later that day. Captain Carlsen and the tug's mate Kenneth Dancy, the only crew members still on board, were picked up by ''Turmoil'' and taken to Falmouth to a hero's welcome.

=== Historic estates ===
* [[Arwenack]], of which a small portion remains, was the estate which occupied the site before the development of the town of Falmouth; it was long the seat of the Killigrew family.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Lysons |first1=Daniel |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ucU_AAAAcAAJ |title=Magna Britannia: Being a Concise Topographical Account of the Several Counties of Great Britain. Containing Cornwall. Volume the third |last2=Lysons |first2=Samuel |date=1814 |publisher=T. Cadell and W. Davies |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Cornwall |first=Royal Institution of |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gXBIAAAAYAAJ&dq=Killigrew+++Arwenack&pg=RA2-PP52 |title=Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall |date=1881 |publisher=Workers of Cornwall Limited |language=en}}</ref>