Charlestown
Once a thriving working port, constructed to export copper and china clay, Charlestown’s principal industry is now as a film set and to welcome visitors who want to follow in the footsteps of sailors from the past.
Beautifully preserved, the pretty pastel fishermen’s cottages line the harbour, with a nice range of places to eat, drink and shop dotted around as well.
A charming Grade II listed harbour and a Poldark connection are just a couple of the reasons that you’ll want to head to Charlestown. The beautiful harbour and surroundings retain much of their Georgian character with beautiful period properties sitting side by side with traditional stone fishermen’s cottages and harbourside inns.
Built by local landowner Charles Rashleigh, hence Charlestown, he needed a port to ship copper from Cornwall to South Wales and also to bring coal in. It later went over to China Clay and the remains of the shuts can be seen on the east side of the harbour.
Nowadays tourism is the main business in Charlestown with a nice selection of shops and café’s scattered around the harbour.
The Shipwreck Treasure Museum is a must visit whilst in Charlestown, providing a unique insight into the history of Charlestown and with an opportunity to venture through underground tunnels that were once used to load clay onto ships moored in the harbour. You will also be able to view the largest private collection of shipwreck artefacts in Europe, with nearly 8,000 artefacts from over 150 shipwrecks.
Meanwhile, around the harbour you might be lucky to view visiting craft or Charlstown’s very own Anny, a Danish tall-ship built in the 1930s. The long-term plan for the harbour is to create a base for all manner of traditional and sailing vessels, with a view to helping young people become part of a multi-talented and flexible crew for the crafts based here.
Leading film website IMDb list over 20 films and tv series that have been shot at Charlestown. Perhaps the most famous these days is Poldark, but it can also be seen in the award winning Cornish film Bait, Tim Burton’s 2010 version of Alice in Wonderland, the 1976 war film, The Eagle has Landed and Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto, where it doubled as a Central American harbour!
It’s also been used for a recent episode of Dr Who, featured in BBC’s sci-fi drama Tripods in the 1980s and before that in the historical series The Onedin Line.
You may be lucky to catch filming taking place when you visit, and who knows which stars might be walking around?
Harbour Lights – Charlestown
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This luxury holiday home invites you to relax and unwind in the historic and pretty harbour village of Charlestown. The open plan living area with log burning stove is the perfect place to spend time together.
