Shipwreck AHOY!

Rambunctious tale of shipwrecks and smugglers and the booty from both, this challenging walk brings its own rewards

In the 18th and 19th century the Cornish coast was alive with bands of smugglers landing their contraband in just about every remote cove from Plymouth to Bude (and in many coves either side of the county borders too). Everyday goods as well as luxuries were heavily taxed in Britain and whole communities were engaged in the Free Trade, with the gentry turning a blind eye, and the local parson often embroiled himself. With the crippling tax on tea, a brew cost six times as much in Britain as it did on the continent, and brandy was five times as expensive. Gin, rum and tobacco were other commodities brought quietly ashore in the dead of night and carted up cliffs and through passages carved in the rock. In addition, ships returning from the Far East with exotic cargoes would often have to offshore and sell their wares to the locals tax-free – usually china, silk and cotton.

It has been estimated that by the middle of the 18th century 50-65 per cent of the spirits consumed in Britain was imported illicitly, and it has been said that the activity was so profitable for France that Napoleon set up a depot for smugglers!

Customs officers were duly appointed at ports, and certain goods could only be imported at particular places. The small fleet of Revenue sloops were no match for the larger ships of the smugglers, and so the Board of Customs invested in bigger and better cutters. By 1782 there were 40 vessels in service with 700 crewmen and 200 guns, and after the Napoleonic Wars, in 1816, the Coast Blockade Service was formed. By 1831, the newly streamlined Coastguard Service had 6,700 men at its disposal. Coastguard cottages were built around the coast, and the customs men patrolled the shoreline on foot, which is how the South West Coast Path came into being.

BOOTS ON, LET’S GO