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There was certainly a working quay at Morwellham from as far back as the 13th century, however most of the infrastructure seen today dates from the period 1780 to 1860.
In 1967 Frank Booker in ‘Industrial Archaeology of the Tamar Valley’ wrote
‘Few of these quays and crossings have a more crowded history than Morwellham, 1 1/2 miles below Gunnislake where the Tamar mingles with tidal water. One hundred years ago, borne on the wings of Victorian mining enterprise, it was the busiest inland river port in Devon and Cornwall’.
He then goes on to describe Morwellham (as seen in 1967) as ‘a ghost village, lost amid a desolation of weed and ooze....’
By 1970 the Morwellham and Tamar Valley Trust was formed and work started to clear the site in preparation for opening the quays as a visitor centre.
What you see today is the result of more than 30 years of hard graft and many millions of pounds of public funding.
Sadly, years of neglect, underfunding and mismanagement combined with the changing tastes of consumers and competition from other tourist attractions has resulted in a year on year decline in visitor numbers, leaving Morwellham Quay looking rather shabby and in deep financial crisis.
Recent investments from the Tamar Valley Mining Heritage Project have allowed some improvements to be made however the money appears to be running out fast with many of the original refurbishment plans scaled down or abandoned altogether.
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