Port Isaac, Cornwall

Port Isaac is one of the oldest fishing villages in Cornwall with written information about a settlement where the current village lies dating back to 1338. It quickly established itself as a fishing village because the entrance to the sea was very sheltered and provided easy and safe access to the sea, unlike so many other places up and down the Atlantic coastline. The name Port Isaac gets its name from the old Cornish ‘Porth Issek’ meaning Corn Bay.

In 1536, John Leland wrote “There restoreth a brook to Portissek; and there is a pier and some succour for fisher boats.” In the next fifty years the population and size of the town increased quite dramatically leading Norden to write “...wonderfully increased in buildings”. Port Isaac become a very important sea port exporting Delabole slate to Europe and importing coal, timber, limestone and salt. However it was fish where Port Iasac really made its wealth and in particular fishing for pilchards.

In the early part of the nineteenth century there were about fifty boats operating out of Port Isaac. Boat building was also a popular trade for the locals but as fish stocks dwindled in the twentieth century, life changed in Port Isaac but it still remained very unspoilt with its narrow streets and old buildings full of character.

Fishing still carries on in Port Isaac today, with wet fish such as cod and mackerel and shellfish such as crab and lobster providing an income for the inhabitants from the many tourists that flock to this picturesque Cornish town every year. Indeed Port Isaac has been made even more famous now as the setting for the popular ITV series ‘Doc Martin’ starring Martin Clunes. Looking across the harbour at Port Isaac, Fern cottage can clearly be recognised as the doctor’s surgery in the series.

This entry was posted on Monday March 24th, 2008 at 6:18 PM and is filed under Places to Visit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response.

Port Isaac, Cornwall

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