Fowey

Port and resort on the south coast of Cornwall, southwest England, on the west bank of the Fowey estuary, 45 km/28 mi southwest of Devonport; population (2001) 2,270. It is administered with St Austell. Fowey is the principal outlet for the Cornish china clay mining industry based at St Austell, and is also a centre for recreational sailing.

The port has a deep, sheltered harbour and a lifeboat station. Ferries operate to Brodinnick and Polruan across the river.

History Fowey was once an important seaport which fitted out ships for the Crusades. During the reign of Edward III the town equipped a fleet of 47 vessels and supplied about 800 men for the siege of Calais in 1347, and Fowey's seafarers continued to raid the coast of France throughout the Hundred Years' War. The inhabitants were later convicted of piracy by Edward IV, and deprived of their vessels.

The writer and scholar Arthur Quiller-Couch settled here in 1891, and referred to the place as ‘Troy Town’ in many of his books. Daphne Du Maurier's locally based work, including Rebecca, is celebrated at an annual arts and literature festival based in Fowey. Her first novel, The Loving Spirit (1931), was written while she lived at Brodinnick.