In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described St Mawes like this:
MAWES (ST.), a small town in St. Just-in-Roseland parish, Cornwall; on St. Mawes harbour, an offshoot of Falmouth bay, opposite Pendennis Castle, 3 miles by water E of Falmouth town r. and station. It may have got its name from St. Mawe or Machutus, an early hermit of Wales, but much more probably got it, by corruption, from St. ...
Mary. It belonged to Plympton abbey, which was dedicated to St. Mary; and it went, at the dissolution, to the Vyvyans, and passed, through various Hands, to the Duke of Buckingham. A castle was erected at it in 1 542, by Henry VIII., to protect Falmouth harbour against the French; and this stands on a solid rock, at an elevation of 117 feet above high-water mark; was bombarded and captured, in 1646, by Sir Thomas Fairfax; and was remounted, in 1855, with eight 65-pounder guns, and four 96-pounders. The town stands along the shore, at the foot of a precipitous hill; consists chiefly of one irregularly built street; is governed by a portreeve, chosen annually at a court leet; sent two members to parliament from 1562, till disfranchised by the reform act; and has a post office.‡ under Grampound, Cornwall, a coast-guard station, a chapel of ease, chapels for Independents, Wesleyans, and Primitive Methodists, and a national school. A small weekly market is held on Friday. The manufacture of cables and ropes for small craft is carried on; and a pilchard fishery was formerly important, but has completely declined. Pop., about 950.
St Mawes through time
St Mawes is now part of Carrick district. Click here for graphs and data of how Carrick has changed over two centuries. For statistics about St Mawes itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of St Mawes, in Carrick and Cornwall | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/20505
Date accessed: 26th April 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "St Mawes".