Cawsand (; lit. ''Cow Cove'') and Kingsand ( Cornish: ''Porthruw'') are twin villages in southeast

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated on the

Rame Peninsula The Rame Peninsula () is a peninsula in south-east Cornwall. It is surrounded by the English Channel to the south, Plymouth Sound to the east, the Hamoaze to the northeast and the estuary of the River Lynher to the north-west. On a clear day, ...

and is in the

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

of Maker-with-Rame. Cawsand overlooks Plymouth Sound and adjoins Kingsand, formerly on the border of

Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...

and Cornwall (the border has since been moved and now is situated on the

River Tamar The Tamar (; ) is a river in south west England that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A large part of the valley of the Tamar is protected as the Tamar Valley National Landscape (an Area of Outsta ...

). Cawsand has two public houses: the Cross Keys Inn on Armada Road, not trading and for sale in September 2022, and the Bay bar, overlooking Cawsand beach. Cawsand is within Mount Edgcumbe Country Park. There are frequent bus services to the city of

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

which is three miles to the north across Plymouth Sound. There is also a ferry service in the summer (from Cawsand Bay to

Plymouth Hoe Plymouth Hoe, referred to locally as the Hoe, is a large south-facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth, Devon. The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and commands views of Pl ...

) and a pilot gig club (Rame Gig Club). The Rame Peninsula is considered part of the Forgotten Corner of Cornwall.

Geology

Cawsand Beach is sand and shingle with a network of rockpools and is found along The Bound.

History

The settlement is first recorded in 1404. In 1596, local militia repelled an attack by Spanish forces and defences were built soon after. Cawsand Fort (at ) is sited just above the village. The fort is an 1860s Royal Commission on the Defence of the United Kingdom fort built on the site of a 1779 battery to mount about 10 guns to cover the western entrance to Plymouth Sound by the breakwater. Released by the Ministry of Defence in 1926, it remained derelict until it was converted into residential accommodation. Correspondence from 1801 to 1803 shows that Admiral Nelson had stayed in Cawsand and it is rumoured that he had dined at the Ship Inn, which burned down in 2013 after several years of abandonment. The site has been cleared and is now being rebuilt by The Peninsula Trust which plans to turn the site into a cafe and affordable housing.

Religion

St Andrew's Church was built as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

in 1877–78. It is a Grade II listed building. Originally built in 1793, Cawsand also has a Congregational Church.

Notable people

* John Pollard, Royal Navy officer * Thomas Ball Sullivan, Royal Navy officer * Daniel Tyerman, missionary

Twinning

Cawsand is twinned with Porspoder in Brittany, France.Twinning Committee for Cornwall, www.twinningcommitteeforcornwall.weebly.com

References

External links

Victorian Forts data sheet on Cawsand Bay BatteryRame Heritage
{{authority control Villages in Cornwall Military history of Cornwall Forts of Plymouth, Devon Buildings and structures in Cornwall Forts in Cornwall