Padstow boats

A working harbour  Padstow had considerable importance in the Middle Ages as a manor belonging to Bodmin monastery and as the site of a safe haven (one of the few on the north coast). So it became a busy fishing port.

Padstow prospered through trade with Ireland and the English and Welsh ports on the Bristol Channel. Later trade was the export of tin, copper, lead, slate, cured fish and dairy products, as well as the importing of timber from Norway and Sweden, salt and wine from France, and hemp, iron and jute from Russia. Shipbuilders in the area also benefited from the quality of their cargoes.