Editing Looe (section)

===Prehistory and foundation===
Archaeological evidence indicates that the area around Looe has been inhabited since the [[Neolithic]] period (although a possible series of ancient field systems, south of nearby Penarthtown, could suggest earlier [[Paleolithic|Palaeolithic]] activity).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heritage Gateway - Results |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO38859&resourceID=1020 |access-date=12 October 2022 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref> A Neolithic stone axe, made of [[Elvan|greenstone]], was found in 1978 on a tidal gravel bank in the bed of West Looe River.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heritage Gateway - Results |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO1828&resourceID=1020 |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref> Further Neolithic finds, such as flint arrow heads, have also been found in the fields above Trenant Point.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heritage Gateway - Results |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO39881&resourceID=1020 |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref> Furthermore, the site of a large perfect [[Bronze Age]] [[tumulus]] and most likely the site for a post medieval [[beacon]]<ref name="pastscape.org.uk">{{Cite web|url=https://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=434864|title=Pastscape - Detailed Result: MONUMENT NO. 434864|website=www.pastscape.org.uk|access-date=21 January 2020}}</ref> was located in a field just north of Hillcrest Nursing home in East Looe. Unfortunately, some time after 1823 the site was levelled,<ref name="pastscape.org.uk"/> thus leaving no trace of the large barrow to be seen today. Additional [[Tumulus|tumuli]] have also been noted in the area of Looe, such as at the locally known Wooldown field<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heritage Gateway - Results |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO3061&resourceID=1020 |access-date=11 October 2022 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref> and at the base of Shutta hill,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heritage Gateway - Results |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO61393&resourceID=1020 |access-date=12 October 2022 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref> however neither of the tumuli are visible today. Throughout the Looe area, there are also numerous [[Iron Age]] and [[Romano-British culture|Romano-British]] forts. These include the nearby forts/settlements near [[Trelawne]] and Great Tree.

Additionally, there are some archaeological evidence to suggest there was some small scale [[Roman Empire|Roman]] influence and possible occupation in Looe. For example, during the early 1800s, a very probable Roman [[urn]] was found whilst developing the road on St Martins hill. It is said that the urn was brown in colour, was about 10 inches high and contained several burnt human bone fragments.<ref name="auto">{{Cite web |title=Heritage Gateway - Results |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO61395&resourceID=1020 |access-date=15 October 2022 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref> Close to the spot where the urn was found, a rock containing numerous specimens of [[bivalve shell]]s, most likely [[Terebratula]], was found. Unfortunately however, the exact location of the burial and the whereabouts of the urn has been lost to time.<ref name="auto"/> Subsequently, earthwork remains, of two rectilinear enclosures, can be seen using [[Lidar|LiDar]] in fields near [[Trelawne]] just outside Looe. [[Morphology (archaeology)|Morphology]] suggests that the southern enclosure could possibly be a Roman signal station however the site has never been formally excavated.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heritage Gateway - Results |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO67280&resourceID=1020 |access-date=15 October 2022 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref> Furthermore, pieces of a [[Roman Britain|Roman]] [[amphorae]], stone boat anchors, Roman coins and a number of late prehistoric or Romano-British finds have been made in the vicinity of nearby Looe Island. A large bronze ingot was found by divers to the south of the island. This has led to a number of historians to suggest that the island could possibly be [[Ictis]], the tin trading island seen by [[Pytheas]] in the 4th century BC and recalled by [[Diodorus Siculus]] in the 1st century BC. Additionally, a small hoard of eight late Roman coins was recovered in 2008. These coins were recovered from one of the shallow ditches forming a 'pear-shaped enclosure' which encompassed the top of Looe Island and the later Christian chapel site. All eight coins date to the late 3rd or early 4th century AD.

One of Looe's greatest archaeological mysteries is the so called 'Giant's Hedge', which is an ancient earthwork which runs over 9 miles between the Looe and [[Fowey]] Estuaries. In some places it is still twelve feet high, and where it is best preserved (for example, in Willake Wood) it is stone-faced and flanked by a ditch. Over the years, there have been many theories to what the ancient earthwork may have been or its intended purpose. While the name and early folklore suggests it was built by a giant, as the rhyme goes ''"One day, the Devil having nothing to do, built a great hedge from Lerryn to Looe"'', the general consensus is that this linear earthwork marked the boundary of a post-Roman kingdom.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Giant's Hedge Cornwall, tourist guide & map, events, accommodation, businesses, history, photos, videos |url=https://www.intocornwall.com/engine/azabout.asp?guide=Giant%27s+Hedge |access-date=19 October 2022 |website=www.intocornwall.com |language=en}}</ref> During the mid-18th century, British antiquarian [[William Copeland Borlase|William Borlase]] believed the earthwork to be the remnants of a [[Roman roads|Roman road]], that would connect Looe to the [[Fowey]] estuary.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Grigg |first=Erik |title=Dark Age dykes of Cornwall |url=https://www.academia.edu/37647962}}</ref> Whilst this theory is now disputed by some historians, there has been some archaeological finds, such as a hoard of Roman coins found at [[Lerryn]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heritage Gateway - Results |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO48664&resourceID=1020 |access-date=19 October 2022 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref> and a possible Roman fort at [[Lanreath]],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heritage Gateway - Results |url=https://www.heritagegateway.org.uk/Gateway/Results_Single.aspx?uid=MCO40100&resourceID=1020 |access-date=19 October 2022 |website=www.heritagegateway.org.uk}}</ref> that could back this theory. Other theories suggest that 'Giant's Hedge' is actually far more ancient and may even date back to the [[Bronze Age|bronze age]]. For example, Dr Keith Ray, the County Archaeologist for Oxfordshire, who is making a special study of the Giant's Hedge, is convinced that it originally continued on the west side of the [[River Fowey]] and was defended there by [[Castle Dore]]. Along the Hedge, there are numerous [[Bronze Age|bronze age]] [[Tumulus|barrows]], [[hillfort]]s and ancient enclosures.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Giant's Hedge |url=https://www.themodernantiquarian.com/site/766/giants_hedge.html}}</ref> Such as the Hall Rings, Kilminorth fort, the fort at Yearle's Wood and many more. It is likely that the secrets behind 'Giant's Hedge' may never be known, perhaps the history of the Hedge could even be a combination of different time periods.
[[File:The Giant's Hedge, near Lanreath - geograph.org.uk - 1139260.jpg|thumb|Image of part of the Giant's Hedge, taken near Lanreath]]
At the time of the [[Domesday Book]] in 1086 the [[Manorialism|manor]] of Pendrym, which included much of the site of modern-day East Looe, was still held by [[William the Conqueror]], as part of his own [[demesne]], which he later devolved to the Bodgrugan ([[Bodrigan]]) family. Land across the river belonged to the manors of Portalla (or Portallant) and Portbyhan (variously spelt Portbyan, Porthbyghan, Porthpyghan, among others).

Shutta, on the steep hillside over East Looe, is recorded as being inhabited by the 12th century.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ilovelooe.co.uk/looe/|title=Looe Cornwall geography, history, accommodation, events and Looe guide|website=www.ilovelooe.co.uk|access-date=26 March 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327090056/https://ilovelooe.co.uk/looe/|archive-date=27 March 2018}}</ref> Between 1154 and 1189 [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] granted a [[Royal charter|charter]] in favour of [[Henry Bodrugan|Sir Henry Bodrugan]] as [[Mayor]] of East Looe. West Looe was given free [[borough]] status sometime after this (the first known historical mention of the town dates from 1327) and in the 1230s East Looe secured the right to hold a weekly market and a [[Michaelmas]] [[fair]]. East Looe's layout looks like a "planted borough", a concept similar to modern [[new town]]s, since most of its streets form a grid-like pattern.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/parking/cornwall-council-car-parks/car-park-locations-charges-and-facilities/looe-area/|title=Looe area - Cornwall Council|first=Cornwall|last=Council|website=www.cornwall.gov.uk|access-date=26 March 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180327084243/http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/transport-and-streets/parking/cornwall-council-car-parks/car-park-locations-charges-and-facilities/looe-area/|archive-date=27 March 2018}}</ref>

Low-lying parts of Looe continue to suffer frequent [[flooding]] when the [[tide]]s are very high. For practical reasons, most [[fishermen]]'s houses in ancient Looe, like elsewhere along the south coast, were constructed with their living quarters upstairs and a storage area at [[Storey|ground level]] below: for [[boat]]s, [[tool]]s and [[fishing tackle]], ''etc''; these are termed "fishermen's [[Basement|cellars]]".<ref>[http://sine.ncl.ac.uk/term_definitions.asp?thesaurus_code=ty&term_id=3699 www.ncl.ac.uk] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141129083555/http://sine.ncl.ac.uk/term_definitions.asp?thesaurus_code=ty&term_id=3699 |date=29 November 2014 }}</ref>