Island Fortress: Panoramic’s of WW2 Coastal Defences in Cornwall

Fortress Cornwall was a documentary assignment that enabled me to research the strategic importance of Cornwall during WW2. Bodmin Keep Army Museum commissioned me to visualise these areas and the project was kindly funded by FEAST Bright Sparks Programme.

- Mark Pearson

Porthcurno was the central point for British communications that connected the empire with undersea telegraph cables that stretched the globe. The area was heavily defended with multiple pillboxes, flamethrowers on the beach and guarded by the newly… — Porthcurno was the central point for British communications that connected the empire with undersea telegraph cables that stretched the globe. The area was heavily defended with multiple pillboxes, flamethrowers on the beach and guarded by the newly formed Royal Marine Commandos. View from inside a type 24 pillbox guarding Porthcurno, Cornwall on Saturday 22 February, 2020. (Photo/Mark Pearson)

During World War Two, in an effort to prevent Nazi air and sea strikes, the strategicically important deep-sea port of Falmouth was heavily defended and played a massive part in the war effort. View of the dockyard during storm Jorge Falmouth, Cornw… — During World War Two, in an effort to prevent Nazi air and sea strikes, the strategicically important deep-sea port of Falmouth was heavily defended and played a massive part in the war effort. View of the dockyard during storm Jorge Falmouth, Cornwall on Sunday, 01 March, 2020. (Photo/Mark Pearson)

Fortress Cornwall

2020 marks exactly 80 years since the fall of France in June 1940 posed a very real threat of invasion of Britain and the British Government rapidly constructed many physical defences. While some of these structures have been re-purposed and others are acknowledged through interpretive signage, many are long-forgotten and half-hidden by encroaching nature. They are not valued in the same way as other built heritage in the landscape and our attitude towards them is often ambivalent. Their time is still within living memory, their Brutalist architecture ugly, and they are often not viewed as structures of true historic interest.

During the Second World War, Fowey was the centre for air-sea rescue and also one of the places from which the D-Day invasions were launched. View of the entrance to the deep sea port during a sudden hail storm, Fowey harbour, Cornwall on Saturday 2… — During the Second World War, Fowey was the centre for air-sea rescue and also one of the places from which the D-Day invasions were launched. View of the entrance to the deep sea port during a sudden hail storm, Fowey harbour, Cornwall on Saturday 29 February, 2020. (Photo/Mark Pearson)

“I wanted to explore our relationship with the space we inhabit within these often unforgotten, militarily altered landscapes. Panoramic images show the magnitude of the landscape and how these defensive structures sit amongst us, it also reflects the smallness and vulnerability of human life on earth.”

— Mark Pearson