Polperro

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About Polperro

Polperro is a picture-book Cornish fishing village squeezed into a steep, wooded valley opening onto a tiny harbour on the south coast. Its whitewashed cottages, narrow traffic-free lanes and working boats make it one of the most-photographed villages in Cornwall, with a smuggling and fishing past told in its heritage museum.

The story of Polperro

Polperro was a notorious smuggling centre in the 18th century, when contraband brandy, tea and tobacco from Guernsey and Roscoff were landed and distributed by local networks led by families such as the Quillers; Revenue officers recorded repeated seizures throughout the period. The pilchard seine fishery was the village's economic backbone, with seine nets and curing cellars employing hundreds before the shoals declined in the late 19th century. The Polperro Heritage Museum of Smuggling and Fishing, housed in the old pilchard-packing shed on the harbour, displays the village's smuggling ledgers, fishing gear and a model of the 'Llawnroc' lugger.

Visiting with care

Leave your car at the top car park and walk or take the tractor-drawn shuttle down the traffic-free street to the harbour. The heritage museum and the cliff walk to Talland Bay make a pleasant half-day, but expect large crowds in peak summer.

Interesting facts

• Polperro was a major 18th-century smuggling base, with contraband brought across from Guernsey and Brittany.
• The pilchard seine fishery employed hundreds of villagers before its decline in the late 1800s.
• The Polperro Heritage Museum occupies a former pilchard-packing shed on the harbour.
• The village is largely traffic-free, reached on foot or by a tractor-drawn shuttle from the upper car park.