Cornwall Penzance Harbour vintage railway poster – Jack Merriot
This is a superb Cornwall poster portraying the old Penzance Harbour in Cornwall. It was was created by Jack Merriot for British Railways circa 1949. The poster provides a remarkable insight to the hustle and bustle of harbour life in the 1940s.
The image portrays the time of the evening when the fishing boats have made their way back to dock. The small fishing boat is being cleaned and readied for the next fishing trip. The fish is unloade into carts and baskets. The lobster pots era sitting on the quayside. Judging by the way the seagulls are picking at the fishheads on the floor, it looks as though the fish have already been gutted.
There is a relaxed atmosphere now that the day is done, with several fishermen sitting around wagging the chin, probably discussing the one that got away! The rows of houses on the other side of the quay climb back up the hill.
Everywhere we’ve looked claims that the image on this poster is of Penzance Harbour. However, we are inclined to disagree for the following reasons. Photographs of Penzance pier in the 1940s show that the harbour was much larger than the one depicted in this picture. And as far as we can go back there doesn’t ever seem to have been a large hill next to the quay with rows of houses on it! So, we’re going to go out on a limb and say thatthe harbour painted by Jack Merriot is that of the quaint and traditional Cornish fishing village of Mousehole in Penzance. If you know better please let us know.
The Cornwall Penzance Harbour poster was part of British Railways ongoing Travel By Train marketing campaign. It was created to encourage those posh London types to escape ‘The Smoke’ and take in some good old bracing Cornish air.
Penzance Harbour
As far back as the early 14th Century Penzance harbour was supporting a small fishing fleet. Penzance harbour had for hundreds of years been the lifeblood of the town. Along with Newlyn, it is the first secure harbour and anchorage on the coast of the English Channel on entering from the Atlantic Ocean. Penzance harbour had a long fishing and trading tradition. Records show that there was a pier in existence during the reign of Henry VIII. Over the centuries the pier has been maintained, partially rebuilt and extended on many occasions. The Lighthouse was added in 1855.
The South Pier at Penzance is reputed to be the site of some historical significance. According to the Cornwall Harbours website. The first is the claim to be the first place in England that tobacco was smoked by Walter Raleigh, the second as the site of the last invasion of England, by the Spanish, in 1595 and the third where news of Nelson’s victory and death at Trafalgar was first received.
Mousehole, Penzance
Mousehole is a sa historic fishing village dating back to the 13th century. The small fishing village and port is located between Land’s End and Penzance, about two and a half miles south of Penzance on the shore of Mount’s Bay. The villages ancient name was Porth Enys, the “port of the island”, a reference to St Clement’s Isle, the low rocky reef that lies just offshore and where a hermit is said to have once tended a guiding light. The charming village with its small granite cottages, narrow streets and working harbour filled with small wooden fishing boats, is considered to be one of the most beautiful in the country and the proud locals pronounce the name ‘Mowzel’.
Back in the 13th century, Mousehole was a much more significant area than either Penzance or Newlyn. It was the main port in Mounts Bay and remained so well into the 16th century. It was a bustling port, filled with local fishing boats, famous for landing huge catches of Pilchards. In 1292 a charter was granted for a market and a 3 day fair at the harvest festival of St Barnabus. The existing South Pier was built in 1393 and during the Middle Ages the harbour was used for the embarkation of Pilgrims via St Michael’s Mount en route to Santiago de Compostela.
In July 1595, the fishing village was sacked by the Spaniards when the entire village, apart from one house, was burnt to the ground. The surviving property was then a Tudor Manor House belonging to Squire Jenkyn Keigwin. It was later converted into a pub named the Keigwin Arms. Now known as Keigwin House, the inn has been a private home for many years and in 2022 came up for sale with an asking price of £750,000.
After the village was destroyed, the village never fully recovered it status. Penzance and Newlyn had developed and were able to outgrow Mousehole. Today around 640 people live in the village that has returned to being a small fishing village. It also benefits from the tourism industry although is not as popular as its neighbours. It is a jewel of a place for those that know it.
Other Cornwall Railway Posters
Cornwall was a railway destination that featured heavily in both Great Western Railways and British Railway’s poster output and many famous and less well-known artists have created posters to get tourists to make the journey there by train. Posters include the 1953 British Railways poster by Gyrth Russell, that depicts the harbour at Polperro. The 1940s poster by Jack Merriot, that portrays the scene at Penzance Harbour. A personal favorite is the 1960 poster by Arthur Wilcox, that offers a beautiful beach scene at Cornwall’s Sennon Cove. Alker Tripp‘s 1938 railway travel poster depicts Kynance Cove and Leonard Cusden‘s 1937 poster showing the beach at Newquay to name but a few. We currently list around thirty Cornwall posters on our website.
If you can’t make it to Cornwall this year, bring a bit of Cornwall to your home with our superb reproduction print. You won’t be disappointed!
