The parish lies at the south-easterly; tip of Cornwall land is bounded by water on three sides. With the sea to the south and east and Millbrook Lake (a tidal arm of the River Tamar) to the north, its only neighbours are the parishes of Millbrook and St John. The parishes of Maker with Rame, St John and Sheviock are collectively known as the Rame Peninsula. |
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Maker with Rame was formed in 1941 by the amalgamation of the ancient parishes of Maker and Rame when they ceased to be viable as separate entities. The parishes population of 870 registered electors is concentrated in the twin villages of Cawsand and Kingsand which occupy a position, sheltered from the prevailing south-westerlies, on the western shores of Cawsand Bay. |
Visit our Photo Gallery. Historically the inhabitants lived in farmsteads clustered around the two medieval parish churches. The churches were built on land, relatively high and remote from a beach, which reflects the unsettled social conditions of that period. The bronze age cliff castle at Rame Head reflects even more troubled times.Today it comes as a surprise to realise what hardships our ancestors endured. Up until the mid 1700s the seas around Cornwall were infested with pirates, any fisherman venturing too far offshore risked being abducted to North Africa and sold into slavery. The wars of the 1700s caused a gradual build-up of the Royal Navy and the Navy chased the pirates from our seas.
Once they were freed from molestation by pirates hitherto vulnerable coastal settlements could thrive and the local fishing industry, which included boatbuilding, took-off.
This new prosperity was boosted, in no small way, by the proceeds of smuggling for which Cawsand was notorious in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The villages, situated as they are on the doorstep of an insatiable customer in the port of Plymouth, were ideally suited for 'free trading' as this enterprise was euphemistically called. Smuggling, boatbuilding, fishing and farming all went hand-in-glove and the villages' greatest prosperity and growth date from this time.
Ironically, as the navy indirectly assisted the rise of smuggling it likewise assisted in its demise in the form of the Coastguard. And just as smuggling died so too did fishing and boatbuilding. Farming has declined also, once employing dozens of men and women only a bare handful remain, a depressing nationwide pattern. Another traditional employer was the armed forces but numbers here also have diminished in recent years and most people nowadays seek employment in Plymouth.
Set against this backdrop of change the social structure of the parish is also in transition. Increasing numbers of people seeking retirement or holiday homes in the parish have inflated house prices to a level which local young folk are unable to afford. This has resulted in a haemorrhage of young families from the parish with schools and similar institutions particularly suffering.
One area that the MCTRI is focussing upon is the promotion of high quality tourism within the area. In this respect we are well blessed. As a high quality tourist destination the Rame Peninsula, or Cornwall's Forgotten Corner, as it is locally known can have few rivals. The combination of secluded coves, sandy beaches, rugged cliffs and vernacular architecture contrasting with stately homes and luscious parkland have few equals with all of it easily accessible from the South Coast Footpath with all the big city attractions of Plymouth a mere ferry boat or bus ride away. |
