Raid on Mount's Bay
Who Fought
History & Significance
The Raid on Mounts Bay also known as the Spanish attack on Mounts Bay was a Spanish raid on Cornwall, England, that took place between 2 and 4 August 1595 in the context of the Brittany Campaign during the Anglo-Spanish war of 1585-1604. It was conducted by a Spanish naval squadron led by Carlos de Amésquita on patrol from Brittany, France. The Spanish made landfall in Mount's Bay, then sacked and burned Newlyn, Mousehole, Penzance, and Paul, beating a militia force under Francis Godolphin in the process.
In the wake of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, Philip II of Spain reorganised his navy. He was intent on establishing advanced bases in western France from which his navy could constantly threaten England and Ireland. In 1591 Blavet had been established by the Spanish in Brittany and news of this caused concern in England.
Carlos de Amesquita commanded three companies of arquebusiers and four galleys (Nuestra Señora de Begoña, Salvador, Peregrina and Bazana) from the fleet under Pedro de Zubiaur. He sailed from Blavet, on 26 July with the aim of raiding a part of the English coastline. There were a number of reasons - one was to regain the treasure and cargo ships captured by the English off Pernambuco four months earlier. There were also rumours that Francis Drake was preparing a major expedition against Panama and the Spanish action in England could delay or even defeat it.
Another was to hold an English port or coastline which would then be used as a base for raids and act as a powerful bargaining tool for future peace negotiations. Cornwall, since the Prayer Book Rebellion in 1549, offered hope to the Spanish that many of the Cornish might happily convert back to the Catholic faith.
After calling at Penmarch, they sank a French barque manned by an English crew and with a cargo bound for England.
Amesquita's 400 men strong force eventually sailed into Mount's Bay on 2 August. They were guided by English Catholic Richard Burley of Weymouth on to a rocky beach a few hundred yards west of Mousehole's harbour. A group of Spaniards led by Don Leon de Ezpeleta and Sergeant Major Juan De Arnica climbed a hill to gain a view of the country beyond. The Spanish galleys meanwhile came in close to shore and then bombarded the defenceless town — many houses were burned and three men were killed. Local resident Jenkyn Keigwin died from a cannonball while defending his house which was the only one to survive any damage.
A second group of Spaniards; the vanguard of the raid had struck inland and reached the Parish of Paul, half a mile inland. The village was defenceless and was promptly sacked and burned; the church St Pol de Léon in which Amesquita described in a taunting way as being a 'mosque' was burned down. Four residents were killed here and a number were taken prisoner before the Spanish marched back to their galleys and re-embarked.
The ground they fought on
The site of Raid on Mount's Bay lies on Triassic Rocks (Undifferentiated), bedrock that formed in the Triassic. The rock here is mudstone, siltstone and sandstone.
- England: 4 settlements razed; 3 ships sunk; 4 killed
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