Hotel Accommodation Charlestown. Hotel Accommodation St Austell. Cornwall. Holiday Accommodation in Charlestown

The Pier House Hotel - Charlestown

The Pier House Hotel - Charlestown

Hotel Accommodation Charlestown

St Austell

The Pier House Hotel is situated on the picturesque harbour of Charlestown with stunning views of the port and coastline of St Austell bay. It has been a hotel since 1920 and now incorporates the Harbourside Inn Public House since 2004.

The Pier House Hotel (originally called Charlestown Hotel) was built in 1794 and was originally two farm cottages. It became a farmhouse after the Rashleigh Arms was built in 1851. Then the occupants at the farm started taking in paying guests as farming prosperity declined before 1914-1918 war until the farm once again became a hotel.
Being in a prominent position the Hotel takes an active part in the activities as well as the day to day life in Charlestown for locals and visitors alike who come from all over the world as well as locally from within Cornwall.

The Hotel itself has 26 bedrooms, a bar/bistro and an a la carte restaurant which seats up to 115 people. The patio area which seats up to 90 people has wonderful views across the harbour and St Austell Bay. You can eat or just enjoy a drink whilst taking in the atmosphere surrounding the harbour. The hotel offers many different delights from cream teas to lobster caught locally here in Charlestown. Our hotel bar is a freehouse and serves a wide selection of locally brewed ales.

The Harbourside Inn which was opened in June 2004 also has eight real ales: many locally brewed and serves excellent food all day. All Sky Sport channels available on large screens.
Sunday lunch is served in all areas including the Harbourside Inn.

Our bedrooms are all en suite with colour televisions, direct dial telephones and tea/coffee making facilities. Many rooms have superb sea and/or harbour views and wireless internet access.
We are 3 1/2 miles away from the Eden Project and 6 miles away from the Lost Gardens of Heligan. There are many moors, gardens and places of interest, all within an easy drive.


Charlestown is a Georgian port remaining relatively unspoilt and undeveloped reflecting how many West Country ports and fishing coves looked prior to development being one of the finest late 18th and early 19th century industrial harbour sites in the country. Built for Charles Rashleigh, the port represents a rare example of a mineral port with it's own defences and is one of the best preserved china clay and copper ore ports of it's period anywhere in the world which is why it is now being protected by WORLD HERITAGE STATUS.

By 1867 Charlestown had a respectable population. Sailors were also catered for at houses of ill repute known to this day as "eleven doors". Smuggling was at it's peak between 1700 and 1850. Men known as "free traders" supplied every item. They would drop brandy kegs over the side to be recovered later (this was known as "saving the crop").

At the beginning of the 18th century china clay was found in Cornwall. The roads were inadequate and the railways non-existent until the latter half of the 19th century. So with the construction of the Charlestown harbour by Charles Rashleigh it became the only shipping outlet for the St Austell area.

In the year of 1876 Charlestown shipped over 34,000 tons of clay and china stone for foreign and domestic parts. The last China clay shipment from Charlestown was on the M.V Ellen on 13th December 1999.

In 1993 the harbour was purchased by Square Sail Shipyard and became the home of the tall ships which are used for many films, including:

• Moll Flanders
• Return to Treasure Island
  
• The Eagle Has Landed
• Shackleton's Endurance
  
• Frenchman's Creek
• Odyssey
  
• The Onedin Line
• The Three Musketeers
  Mansfield Park
• Longitude
  
• A Respectable Trade
• Rebecca
  

To name but a few. The ships are also used as training ships and can be chartered for sailing trips.
The history of the port together with the new heritage status can only enhance the attraction of visiting the port and staying in our historical hotel right on the harbour front.

Situated on the South West coastal path you can take a stroll over the cliff tops to Porthpean Beach and village or to Carlyon Bay in the opposite direction. Charlestown beaches are a pebbles throw from the hotel where swimming is safe and at low tide children can enjoy exploring the many rock pools.