Newquay, United Kingdom

In 1439, Edmund Lacey, Bishop of Exeter granted an indulgence to build a new quay from which the town would later derive its modern name. However, this appeal did not succeed, and the harbour remained largely undeveloped until the early 17th century, although it is thought to have had a succession of short wooden piers since the 15th century, and possibly before that.

The origins of modern Newquay can be traced back to the medieval period to a small cluster of cottages known as "Towan," located where the Central Inn now stands. About 200 metres (660 ft) away was another settlement called "New Quay," referring to a small harbour within the Manor of Towan Blystra. Despite occasional confusion, "Towan Blystra" is not a Cornish equivalent of Newquay, and there is no historical record of the name "Newquay" being rendered in Cornish. The two settlements were connected by a track that eventually became today's Fore Street. The local economy at the time relied primarily on fishing, agriculture, and some mining activity

The earliest mention of a fish market in the area dates back to 1571, found in the Arundell papers. It is believed that this market may have been located in what is now Central Square, though fish trading also likely took place directly at the quay and in nearby cellars. The public house later known as 'The Central' (rebuilt in 1859) became a hub of local trade, with farmers parking wagons of grain in the square and conducting business inside the inn.

According to the accounts and financial reports of the Arundell papers from 1575, there is a mention of 'fysh bought at Newkaye,' which is likely one of the earliest recorded references to Newquay.

Richard Carew's Survey of Cornwall, published in 1602, includes the lines: "Neyther may I omit newe Kaye, a place in the North coast of this Hundred, so called, because in former times, the neighbours attempted, to supplie the defect of nature, by Art, in making there a Kay, for the Rode of shipping, which conceyt they still retayne, though want of means in themselves, or the place, have left the effect in Nubibus [unfulfilled]."

In 1615, Thomas Stuer, who was Lord of the Manor, applied for permission to build a single pier, and the development of the modern harbour then began.

The Huer's Hut at Newquay, Cornwall served as a lookout point from which a man known as a huer could keep watch for the arrival of the pilchards. They could be discerned by the water turning a dark reddish-brown and by the flocks of seagulls which dived down to feed on the fish. The huer would announce the arrival by shouting "hevva, hevva" or through the use of a trumpet after which he would direct the townsfolk to the fish by waving tree branches above his head. The word huer has the same derivation as the "hue" in hue and cry, after this action.

The Huer's Hut at Newquay has been described as "a particularly fine late mediaeval specimen". The listed building description states that the current structure dates from the late 18th and early 19th centuries, though a plaque on the structure claims 14th-century origins. The plaque also states that the structure may have been used at an earlier time as a hermitage and lighthouse.

The structure was restored in 1836, at which point the fireplace may have been significantly altered. It received protection as a listed building (under the name "Huer's House") on 24 October 1951 and is currently categorised as grade II*

The origins of the original inn on the site of the present Central Inn are unclear. An inn was recorded on this site in 1755, which was probably built of freestone and topped with a thatched roof, later slate. It served as an early place of trade. In her publication "Old Newquay," Sarah Teague Husband described the inn in the 1850s as being "two or three hundred years old" and in a state of disrepair,.

The inn was rebuilt in 1859, and was known as the Commercial Inn until early in the 20th century.

Dr William Borlase, who was a Cornish antiquarian and the Rector of Ludgvan, visited Towan Blystra in 1755 during a tour of Cornwall. He wrote: "Passed the Ganel and went about a mile further to a place of about twelve houses called Towan Blystra, a furlong further to the New Quay in St Columb Parish, here is a little pier, the north point of which is fixed on a rock, the end in a cliff; at the eastern end there is a gap cult [cut] about 25 feet wide into the slaty rock of the cliff: This gap lets small ships into a basin which may hold about six ships of about 80 tons burthen and at spring tides has 18 feet of water in it, upon the brow of the cliff is a dwelling house and a commodious cellar lately built."