Editing Falmouth, Cornwall (section)

=== 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.