Cadgwith was established in medieval times as a collection of fishing cellars in a sheltered south-east facing coastal valley with a shingle cove to subsidise local farmers' livelihoods by fishing Cadgwith was originally called Caswydh or Porthcaswydh (thought to be derived from the Cornish word for 'a thicket'; probably because the valley was densely wooded). From the 16th century, the village became inhabited, with fishing as the main occupation. Subsequently, buildings were established as homes, lofts, capstan houses, and cellars constructed of local stone or cob walls, and thatched or slated roofs; which were built along the beach and up the sides of the valley leading to Cadgwith's characteristic Cornish fishing village appearance. Cadgwith owes its existence to the fishing industry. Pilchard fishing occurred until the 1950s using large seine boats and seine nets, which was a system used to enclose the large shoals of pilchards, and coordinated by the use of lookouts, known as huers (from the Cornish 'Hevva, Hevva!' ('Here they are!)), positioned on the cove's two headlands. In 1904, a record 1,798,000 pilchards were landed over four days. Due to overfishing and climate changes pilchards are no longer found in large enough numbers to sustain pilchard fishing in Cadgwith, instead crab and lobster fishing occurs. Brown edible crabs, spider crabs, lobsters, sharks, monkfish, and conger eel are regularly landed with most being sold abroad through fish merchants but some being sold locally by the fishmonger, the café, public house, and seafood snack shop.
