Willapark Lookout (Tonemapped) -
http://www.britainexpress.com/counties/cornwall/countryside/willapark-forrabury-stitches.htm
On the summit of Willapark is a striking whitewashed lookout tower, decorated like a small fortified castle tower. The tower is now used as a coastguard lookout, but it was originally bult by a 19th century merchant as a 'pleasure house'; a pleasant place to sit and watch the sea.
It was later leased to the Board of Trade and used by Revenue men to watch for smugglers. When trade restrictions wee lifted and smuggling became less profitable it was converted to serve as a coast guard lookout. It continued as a lookout until the 1970s when it was purchased by the National Trust. Since 2002 it has been leased to the National Coastwatch Institute, and a group of volunteers keep a lookout along the rocky coast below.
It is just as well that they do keep watch, for this area of the Cornish coast has a reputation for being hazardous to shipping. The bay immediately below the southern cliffs of Willapark is known as Western Blackapit, and was a notorious spot for shipwrecks.
One of the worst tragedies struck in 1843 when the Jessie Logan ran aground on the rocks, killing all the crew. The cargo washed ashore, and the impoverished locals descended en masse to gather what they could. Customs officers and coast guards tried to defend the cargo from the locals, but large quantities of cotton, sugar, and rice was carried off. The ringleaders were captured and sentenced to a year of hard labour.
