Polruan Blockhouse
Polruan-by-Fowey, PL23 1ET
The blockhouse is one of a pair of ruins, the other being on the other side of the estuary at Fowey, built in the 14th century to defend the entrance to the estuary from pirates and the French. A chain reached across the water between the two blockhouses and could be raised to stop ships entering the estuary. The boom tower was built after a raid by the French in 1457. The Polruan ruin is much better preserved than the one on the Fowey side, which is not accessible. The blockhouses were superseded by St Catherine’s Castle, built by Henry VIII in the 1530s, which can also be visited for free and access is by footpath from Fowey.
