St Mawes Castle and its larger counterpart, Pendennis, were built by Henry the Eighth as part of a chain of defensive fortresses to protect the South Coast. The Castle was built between 1540 and 1545. It is owned and managed by English Heritage and looks much the same today as it did in Tudor times.

From here you can see the structure of the castle with it's central tower and side bastions providing artillery cover right around the headland and across the Fal estuary. If you look across the estuary in the direction of the canons on the lawn you can see Pendennis Castle - the leftmost of the two large buildings on the opposite headland. Pan right along the estuary and you'll see Falmouth. Use the shift key, your mouse wheel, or the panorama controls in the bottom right corner of the viewport to zoom in for a closer look.