St Mawes is a village on the Roseland Peninsula, on the east bank of the Carrick Roads, looking across the water to Falmouth. In Kernewek it is Lannvowsedh, Mowsedh's holy enclosure. It was made a borough in 1563 and sent two members to Parliament until it was disfranchised in 1832; the village that remains is a good deal quieter than its political past.
The castle
St Mawes Castle, a coastal fortress from the time of Henry VIII, guards the harbour entrance, facing Pendennis Castle across the water. It was built to keep the French out, and it still holds the headland.
The village
The church opened in 1884. A year-round ferry crosses to Falmouth, under a mile by boat and some thirty miles by road, which has kept the village's habits closer to the water than the highway. The films Murder Ahoy and Crooks in Cloisters were shot here in 1964, and the village has been quietly hospitable ever since.
Sources
Last checked: 2026-10-11