ON THE EIGHTH of September 1846, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert disembarked at Fowey in Cornwall. To commerote this momentous occasion, a stone obelisk was erected on Albert Quay (formerly named ‘Broad Slip’), where the royal couple landed. For many years, it lay on the seabed of Fowey’s harbour.

However, it was recovered from beneath the water in 1977, and re-erected to commemorate the visit to Fowey of queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip in 1962. It was not put in its original location, but at the Caffa Mill car park, which stands on the site of former shipyards. The name, Caffa Mill, comes from the river Caff or Cough which flowed here and the 2 water mills recorded as early as 1272.

Although not one of Fowey’s main attractions, this stone monument is of interest because of its curious history of submersion and recovery.