St Catherines Castle

St Catherine’s Castle is one of a pair of small artillery forts, built by Thomas Treffry approximately 1540. The D-shaped, stone fortification, equipped with five gun-ports for cannon, overlooked the mouth of the River Fowey. It was protected by a curtain wall and the surrounding cliffs.

The castle was closed at the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815, although brought back into service in 1855 during the Crimean War, but it soon became obsolete and was abandoned. During the Second World War the castle was refortified and used to house a battery of naval guns, protecting the coast against the threat of attack. At the end of the conflict the castle was restored to its previous condition and is now managed by English Heritage as a tourist attraction.