St Mawes & Pendennis Castles

In the late 1530's Henry VIII was under threat of war from France and Spain because he had divorced his Catholic wife, Catherine of Aragon. He immediately set about the fortification of the south coast.

Between 1540 and 1545 the River Fal was given two forts to protect it, St Mawes on the east bank and Pendennis on the west.

St Mawes castle stands on the low Roseland Peninsula and its main building consisted of a central tower entirely surrounded by three lobes shaped like a clover leaf.

Pendennis castle was a simple round tower and gate enclosed by a lower curtain wall.

In Elizabethan times an encircling wall and bastions were built at Pendennis. Of the two St Mawes had more care spent on it with good quality stone and decorative carvings. In 1595 the Spanish attacked Penzance and the River Fal's garrisons were hurriedly reinforced. However the Spanish invasion never came and the only attack on the castles came during the Civil War.

Pendennis being on high ground, dominating its peninsula, held out for six months in 1646 against the Parliamentarians. Apart from Raglan Castle was the last to surrender to Cromwell's forces. St Mawes, in contrast was in a weak position half way up a hill with no defence from a landward attack. The governor immediately surrendered.

In more recent times the two forts were used as barracks and in both World Wars were included in Britain's coastal defence.

Opening Times shown is for St Mawes castle