Falmouth is a harbour town on the south coast of Cornwall, standing at the mouth of the river Fal. In Kernewek it is Aberfal, the mouth of the Fal. The water it sits around is one of the deepest natural harbours in the world, and that fact explains most of the town's history: Falmouth was a port before it was anything else, and its Packet ships once carried mail to the Americas and the Mediterranean.
The harbour mouth
Pendennis Castle and St Mawes Castle face each other across the entrance to the harbour, built in the reign of Henry VIII to guard it, and both are cared for by English Heritage today. Between them, the water is deep enough for the largest ships, which is why Falmouth spent centuries as a place of arrival and departure, mail, freight and passengers all passing over the same quay.
The town
The town grew in rows behind the harbour, and the sea is never far from the streets. The harbour is still working water, shared by ferries, fishing boats and visiting yachts. The National Maritime Museum Cornwall opened on the waterfront in 2003, and Falmouth University, which began as the Falmouth School of Art, keeps the town's other old trade: looking closely at things and drawing them well.
The coast
West of the town, the beaches run in a sheltered line along the bay: Gyllyngvase, Swanpool and Maenporth, each with its own habits of tide and season. The coast path passes through, as it does everywhere on this shore.
Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falmouth,_Cornwall
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendennis_Castle
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Maritime_Museum_Cornwall
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Falmouth_University
Last checked: 2026-10-11