Cornish Smuggler Jewel
by Hanny Heim
Title
Cornish Smuggler Jewel
Artist
Hanny Heim
Medium
Photograph - Art Photography
Description
Polperro is a small town in Cornwall, United Kingdom which is a real jewel. Situated on the river Pol was it a smuggling town in the past and its todays main industry is tourism. Of touristic interest is also the smuggler-museo, which belongs to the town, and documents the history of the once very lucrative smuggling at the south coast of Cornwall.
Smuggling is understood to have prospered since Polperro developed as a port in the 12th century. It reached its zenith in the late 18th century when Britain's wars with America and France precipitated the high taxation of many imported goods, making it worthwhile for the local fishermen to boost their income by the covert importation of spirits, tobacco and other goods from Guernsey and elsewhere. By the late 18th century, much of the success of the smuggling trade through Polperro was controlled by Zephaniah Job, a local merchant who became known as "The Smuggler's Banker". A more organised Coast Guard service was introduced in the 19th century together with the deterrent of stiff penalties, leading to much less smuggling. Part of the South West Coast Path was originally used by Revenue Officers as they patrolled the coast in search of smugglers. Whilst the South West Coast Path is maintained by the National Trust, the foreshore belongs to the Duchy of Cornwall.
Uploaded
April 14th, 2015
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