Raid on Looe - Looe, Cornwall, UK
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MoreOutdoor
N 50° 21.175 W 004° 27.194
30U E 396617 N 5578880
Recordings of Pirates ransacking Cornish coastal village. Many Cornish coastal villages have indeed associations with Pirateering and Smuggling. One such place is Looe Cornwall.
Waymark Code: WM16GZC
Location: South West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/31/2022
Views: 0
During the Golden Age of Pirates, smuggling and piracy went together. If it didn’t go together, then how would the pirates be able to make any money on the treasures and loot that they stole without being noticed by the authorities?
What is smuggling? Smuggling is importing goods to a country without legal permission, and this could be to avoid any taxes, to bring items into a country that are illegal (in many cases with pirates), and to avoid people asking where the products came from and why the items are for sale. A lot of smugglers were entwined with a big corruption that involved governors and the port supervisors. The authorities would look the other way when it came to the operations of smugglers, then smaller scaled smuggler operations imported items to purchasers in the dark of night and in very quiet areas.
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As Pirates are, by virtue, seafarers predominately did their deeds on the high seas. Raiding ships and taking their ill-gotten gains. Landing their trove at their home port or wherever they could trade. Smuggling their cortiband ashore, avoiding the customs men.
17th Century
In June 1625, the fishing port of Looe was raided by Barbary Pirates
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,who streamed into the cobbled streets and forced their way into cottages and taverns. Much to their fury; they discovered that the villagers had been forewarned of their arrival and many had fled into the surrounding orchards and meadows to escape. Yet the pirates still managed to seize eighty mariners and fishermen. These unfortunate individuals were led away in chains to North Africa to be enslaved and the town itself was torched.
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Present Day
Within the narrow street of Looe is an old Inn, known as "Smugglers" Cott, which when whilst refurbishing uncovered a secret tunnel in the basement.
The Smugglers Tunnel
The Smugglers is so named beacause of the old hidden stone staircase and the old Smuggling tunnel that lead to the quayside.
In 1932 Part of the Cellar was discovered to be partitioned off and when the wall was removed the old tunnel was discovered along with a small room. In 1990 master Carpenter Ivor Toms was undertaking refurbishment work at the restaurant and comfirmed the story.
Ivor lived in part of the Smuugglers building from the late 1920's to the mid 1930's when he was a small boy and remembered well the workmen breaking through the wall.
He recalled: Everybody in the building watched as the room was uncovered, anticipating a hoard of treasure or Goodies would be uncovered. But to no avail.... there were a few old rotton wooden boxes and some old wooden barrels.
In 1984 an attempt was made by the owner at the time to open up the tunnel as a feature. After removing the mirror and stone wall the tunnel could clearly be seen. It was in a poor state and filled with sand, after excavating a few feet there was an enormous pile of sand, but the shoring beams of the tunnel could clearly be seen. It was at this time that the tunnel was shored up and made safe. The tunnel was 3ft x 3ft.
The old Tunnel entrance can still be seen today in the cellar part of the restaurant and is located behind the old Dome top Mirror.
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