Falmouth (/ˈfælməθ/ FAL-məth; Cornish (SWF): Aberfala[2]) is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

The name Falmouth is of English origin, a reference to the town's situation on the mouth of the River Fal.

A late-16th century map shows 'Arweneck' manor house with some ordinary dwellings at 'Smithick, alias Pennycomequick' near today's Market Strand.

In the late 16th century, under threat from the Spanish Armada, the defences at Pendennis were strengthened by the building of angled ramparts.

[9] The seal of Falmouth was blazoned as "An eagle displayed with two heads and on each wing with a tower" (based on the arms of Killigrew).

thereon surmounting the tail of the eagle a staff also proper flying therefrom a pennant Gu[les]".

[10] Being the nearest large harbour to the entrance of the English Channel, two Royal Navy squadrons were permanently stationed here.

The crews were hand picked and both officers and men often made large fortunes from the private contraband trade they took part in, while under the protection of being a Government ship, free from customs and excise searches and therefore payment of duty.

In 1805 news of Britain's victory and Admiral Nelson's death at Trafalgar reached Falmouth from the schooner Pickle and was taken to London by post chaise.

On 2 October 1836 HMS Beagle anchored at Falmouth at the end of her noted survey voyage around the world.

[14] That evening, Charles Darwin left the ship and took the Mail coach to his family home at The Mount, Shrewsbury.

[15] The ship stayed a few days and Captain Robert FitzRoy visited the Fox family at nearby Penjerrick Gardens.

Penmere railway station opened on 1 July 1925 towards the north of Falmouth and within easy walking distance of the top of The Moor.

An anti-submarine net was laid from Pendennis to St Mawes, to prevent enemy U-boats entering the harbour.

There are commemorative plaques at Turnaware Point, Falmouth Watersports marina, Tolverne and Trebah gardens.

The SS Flying Enterprise, a cargo vessel that had sailed from Hamburg on 21 December 1951, ran into a storm on the Western Approaches to the English Channel.

A number of vessels went to her aid including the tug Turmoil which was stationed in Falmouth, but they found it initially impossible to take the Flying Enterprise in tow.

Two other tugs joined the battle to save the ship and cargo, but the Flying Enterprise finally sank later that day.

Captain Carlsen and the tug's mate Kenneth Dancy, the only crew members still on board, were picked up by Turmoil and taken to Falmouth to a hero's welcome.

While Falmouth's maritime activity has much declined from its heyday, the docks are still a major contributor to the town's economy.

The town was the birthplace of Toad, Mole and Rat: Kenneth Grahame's classic The Wind in the Willows began as a series of letters sent to his son.

Poldark author Winston Graham knew the town well and set his novel The Forgotten Story (1945) in Falmouth.

[30] Stars from the BBC TV serial The Onedin Line stayed in the town during filming in the late 1970s.

The Falmouth Art Gallery is a public gallery with a diverse 19th and 20th century art collection including many notable modern Cornish artists exhibited in four to five seasonal exhibitions a year, as well as a "family friendly and free" community and schools education programme.

[36] It has been the start or finish point of various round-the-world record-breaking voyages, such as those of Robin Knox-Johnston and Dame Ellen MacArthur.

Falmouth is a terminus of the A39 road, connecting to Bath, Somerset some 180 miles (290 km) distant although such a route has now been surpassed by the A303, A37 and A367.

Falmouth has regular ferry routes connecting to St Mawes,[37] Flushing[38] and Trelissick, Malpas and Truro.

The University of Exeter, Cornwall Campus offers a range of undergraduate and postgraduate courses, often with a particular focus on the environment and sustainability, and also hosts the world-renowned Camborne School of Mines (formerly located nearby in Camborne), which specialises in the understanding and management of the Earth's natural processes, resources and the environment.

It is, for example, a centre of Cornish pilot gig rowing, the home of Gyllyngvase Surf Life Saving Club (founded 2008)[45] and a popular location for sea swimming.

[53][54] Falmouth is twinned with Douarnenez in Brittany, France and Rotenburg an der Wümme, in Lower Saxony, Germany.