England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Falmouth King Charles

The Parish

The parish of Falmouth lies in southern Cornwall forming a stretch of the county's coastline with the English Channel. Falmouth is located roughly 8 miles south of the county town of Truro on the banks of Carrick Roads one of the county's finest deep water harbours. Falmouth sits at the southern end of the A39 road which connects it with Truro and the national road network. For such an important port Falmouth came late to the scene, as stated below Falmouth is not recorded in Domesday Book and maps as late as the mid-16th century show only a few scattered huts for fisherman at the site. In the 1530s, Tudor times, the strategic value of Carrick Roads was finally realised and the twin defensive forts at Pendennis & St Mawes were constructed to defend the harbour. These fortifications led to the founding of modern Falmouth as a 17th century "new town" with the royal charter granted in 1661. Falmouth's population grew from virtually nothing in the early 17th century to over 2,000 by the start of the 18th, rising to almost 5,000 by the time of this transcript. Falmouth's port also grew substantially supporting merchant trade and pilchard fishing before emerging as one of the navy's most important bases and a centre for ship-building in later times. The arrival of a railway line in 1863 sparked tremendous expansion albeit Falmouth's location trapped between the sea and the steep ground inland created a linear town along the shoreline rising in terraced steps inland. Today Falmouth is both a port, a naval base and also a tourist destination with both Swanpool and Gyllyngvase beaches popular with tourists. The town has grown, absorbing nearby Penryn to become the third largest in Cornwall. As a coastal settlement most drainage is short and swift to the nearby sea. Falmouth sits at between sea level and 70 metres above the same, land rises inland to over 100 metres within a mile or two. Falmouth parish was carved from the rural parish of Budock and covers barely 700 acres but within that acreage a population of almost 5,000 would have resided by the end of this transcript period. As already mentioned Falmouth is not recorded in Domesday Book.

The Church

King Charles' church was built between 1661 and 1665, the period of the restoration and partly funded by the newly restored King Charles 2, and sits on a steeply sloping site between Arwenack Street and New Street. The original church was an odd square of 66 feet square divided by granite columns into nave & chancel. In 1684, however, a chancel was added lengthening the church by almost a third, at the same time the oddly asymmetrical tower was added, this tower is narrower on its east to west axis than the corresponding north to south. The tower was granted its top stage and pinnacles in work of 1800 whilst the chancel was replaced and further lengthened in 1813. A substantial restoration in late Victorian times, 1897-1898, made further sweeping changes to both the exterior fabric and also to the internal fittings. Parking in Falmouth is in short supply so visitors to the church should approach on foot. From Arwenack Street the church looms above the shoreline with steep steps rising to the site from street level. Given the constrained setting it is a difficult challenge for the photographer to adequately captur.