The target at St Agnes Head

The Target at St Agnes Head by Clive Benney

What was the purpose of this unusual structure?

For nearly 150 years a target stood on the cliff above St Agnes Head. The target consisted of a stone wall about nine feet wide with a cast iron plate in the middle. It was constructed in the Napoleonic period (c 1795–1815) for target practice, presumably by the local militia. The target was demolished in WW2 during the construction of Cameron Camp.

The below two photographs show the target c 1930.

St Agnes Head with the target in the top right corner c.1930
The target closeup c.1930

Images primarily from the Clive Benney Photographic Collection unless indicated and may be subject to copyright.

Clive Benney is a local historian, author and Bard of Gorsedh Kernow. He is Recorder of the St Agnes Old Cornwall Society and Vice Chairman of the St Agnes Museum Trust. Many of his books are available from the Kernow Goth website bookshop

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