Description

PADSTOW

1525/0/10019 Harbour Walls at the 'Old Boat Yard'
06-MAR-09

GV II
Harbour Walls. Circa 1534.

MATERIALS: The two piers are constructed of horizontally coursed slate stone rubble

PLAN: The two piers enclose a small dock at St Saviour's Point and contain a later slipway to the south-west corner. Both piers curve inwards towards the land and provide a small opening to the dock. The walkway is protected from the sea by a seaward side shelter wall. The wall has been repaired with concrete block to the south pier.

HISTORY: The port of Padstow was already of some importance in the C13 and C14. In 1584 Norden described it as 'the best haven on the north part of the shyre'. During the C16 the chief exports were fish, tin and cloth and during the C17 slates were of considerable importance. Access to the port was aided in 1829 when the Padstow Harbour Association was formed to improve the entrance, setting up the capstans at Stepper Point. In 1844 the Padstow Harbour Commission was established to regulate and improve the harbour.

Shipbuilding was one of Padstow's ports main activities, and slipways were an important feature being cheaper than dry docks to construct and maintain. These harbour walls enclosed the Lower Yard. The last ship built at the Lower Yard was the Amaranth in 1886. The yard continued to repair and refit schooners and ketches into the 1890s. In the 1890s/1900s an ice factory and new fish packing shed was built in the Lower Yard.

REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The harbour walls at the Old Boat Yard in Padstow are designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* The mid-C16 harbour walls are contemporary with the Grade II listed walls to the north and south quay and form part of an unusually complete group of harbour structures in Padstow
* They survive as an early example and are substantially intact
* They are associated with Padstow's shipbuilding industry

Reasons for Listing

The harbour walls at the Old Boat Yard in Padstow have been designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* The mid-C16 harbour walls are contemporary with the Grade II listed walls to the north and south quay and form part of an unusually complete group of harbour structures in Padstow
* They survive as an early example and are substantially intact
* They are associated with Padstow's shipbuilding industry

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26672359

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  London 3: North West: North West v. 3 (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Liverpool: Pevsner City Guide (Pevsner Architectural Guides: City Guides)
• 
  Cork: City and County (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of Ireland)
• 
  Pioneers of Modern Design: From William Morris to Walter Gropius (Penguin Art & Architecture)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)