Editing Looe (section)

===19th century===
[[File:Looe (2023-04-08) 11.jpg|thumb|left|upright|The new [[Looe Guildhall]] in Fore Street]]
By the start of the 1800s, Looe's fortunes were in decline. The [[Napoleonic Wars]] had taken their toll on the country; in 1803, the town formed a volunteer company to man guns in defence against attack from the French. The blockade of 1808, which prevented the Looe fleet from reaching their pilchard-fishing areas, also put considerable financial strain on the community. In 1805, the old St. Mary's Chapel (apart from the [[Bell tower|tower]]) had to be demolished due to dilapidation, and in 1817, the town was badly damaged by heavy storms and flooding.

With the building of the [[Liskeard and Looe Union Canal]] linking Looe to [[Liskeard]] in 1828, and the development of booming [[copper]] mines in the [[Caradon]] area from 1837, Looe's fortunes began to revive. The Herodsfoot mine produced 13,470 tons of lead between 1848 and 1884 and more than 17 tons of silver between 1853 and 1884. The canal was used first to transport [[Lime (mineral)|lime]] from [[Wales]] for use in Cornish farming, and later to carry copper and granite between the railhead at Liskeard (from where rail links reached to the [[Cheesewring]] on [[Bodmin Moor]]) and the port of Looe. In 1856 the large quay of East Looe was built to handle the demands of the shipping trade, and in 1860, with the canal unable to keep up with demand, [[Looe Valley Line|a railway]] was built linking Looe to [[Moorswater]] near Liskeard, along the [[towpath]] of the canal, which was used less and less until, by 1910, traffic ceased entirely. The railway was later linked to Liskeard proper, and as the mining boom came to an end, it adapted to carry passengers in 1879.

In 1866, a [[Lifeboat (rescue)|lifeboat]] station had been established on East Looe Beach, and in 1877 a new town hall was built: the new [[Looe Guildhall]].<ref>{{NHLE|desc=Guildhall|num=1280863|access-date=9 August 2023}}</ref> Around this time recommendations were made that the two towns be merged under one governing body, and despite much protest '''Looe Urban District Council''' was formed in 1898<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Byron|first1=G.W.|title=Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom|date=1977|volume=57|issue=1|pages=75–92|doi=10.1017/S002531540002124X |s2cid=84478616 |url=http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=4318260&fileId=S002531540002124X|access-date=21 July 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150725114607/http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=4318260&fileId=S002531540002124X|archive-date=25 July 2015|doi-access=free}}</ref> with jurisdiction over the communities on both sides of the River Looe.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=u45nAAAAMAAJ   |title=A History of East and West Looe|first= John|last= Keast |year= 1987|page=79|publisher=Phillimore|isbn=978-0850336153|quote=in 1898 the Looe Urban District Council came into being, comprising East and West Looe and part of the parish of Talland, and taking over management of the East Looe Town Trust}}</ref>