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Boscastle
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Boscastle is a village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England in the civil parish of Forrabury and Minster.
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Encyclopedia
Boscastle is a village and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England in the civil parish of Forrabury and Minster. It is situated 14 miles (23 km) south of Bude and 5 miles (8 km) north-east of Tintagel.
The name of the village derives from Bottreaux Castle, a 12th century motte-and-bailey fortress, of which few remains survive.
Boscastle harbour is a natural inlet protected by two stone harbour walls built in 1584 by Sir Richard Grenville (of HMS Revenge). It is the only significant harbour for along the coast. As well as being a fishing harbour, Boscastle was once a small port (similar to many others on the north coast of Cornwall) importing limestone and coal and exporting slate and other local produce.
The oldest part of Boscastle surrounds the harbour; more modern residential building extends up the valleys of the River Valency and River Jordan.
Tourism
The village with its picturesque harbour is a very popular tourist destination. Among the attractions are the Museum of Witchcraft and the Boscastle pottery shop. Boscastle is also the location of a youth hostel, popular with walkers on the South West Coast Path. Much of the land in and around Boscastle is owned by the National Trust, including both sides of the harbour, Forrabury Stitches, high above the Boscastle and divided into ancient "stitchmeal" cultivation plots, and large areas of the Valency Valley, known for its connections to Thomas Hardy. The National Trust runs a shop at the harbour,
and a visitor centre in the Old Smithy.
A Seaside Parish
In 2004 British television channel BBC 2 began broadcasting A Seaside Parish, a weekly series focusing on the life of the newly-appointed Rector of Boscastle, Christine Musser.
The Rector of Boscastle is responsible for seven churches in the district: Forrabury (St Symphorian), Minster (St Merthiana), St Juliot, Lesnewth (St Michael and All Angels), Trevalga (St Petroc), Otterham (St Denis) and Davidstow (St David).
St Juliot is of particular interest to devotees of the works of Thomas Hardy since he acted as the architect for the church's restoration in March 1870 and this is where he met his first wife, Emma Gifford, who was the Rector's sister-in-law. Their love affair was the inspiration for his novel A Pair of Blue Eyes and in, later in life, some of his poetry.
Boscastle floods
A flash flood on 16 August 2004, caused extensive damage to the village. Residents were trapped in houses as the roads turned into rivers: people were trapped on roofs, in cars, in buildings and on the rivers' banks.
Two Royal Air Force Sea King rescue helicopters from Chivenor, three Royal Navy Sea Kings from Culdrose, one RAF Sea King from St Mawgan and one Coastguard S61 helicopter from Portland searched for, and assisted, casualties in and around the village. The operation was coordinated by the Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC) based at RAF Kinloss in Scotland. A total of 91 people were rescued and there were no fatalities.
Boscastle was flooded again on 21 June 2007 although the scale of devastation was not nearly as bad as in 2004.
Folk music
In October 1943, one of the oldest examples of English folk dance music was recorded - "Boscastle Breakdown" (a hornpipe). It is easy to hear a similarity between this and American square dancing, and even through to line dancing, with an infectious swing to it. The musicians were from Boscastle and Tintagel accustomed to accompanying at local dances and much later Topic Records issued a selection of the 1943 sessions in this LP: Various Artists Boscastle Breakdown Topic 12TS240 1974.
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