Welcome to the Huer's Hut Project website
HEVVA, HEVVA!
The call that emptied the town onto the beach
One of only two surviving huers’ huts in the country stands on the headland above Porthminster. St Ives Town Council is bringing it back into use.
Baulking House
For centuries the huer stood here and called the town to work. When the shoals stopped coming the building was blocked up, patched badly, and slowly saturated by the ground raised behind it.
The 2026 feasibility study sets out how to repair it properly and open the ground floor to the public for the first time, with an artist and crafter’s residence above.
Four hundred years, briefly
C.1650
Built into the rock
01
Earth mortar and local stone, laid on a shelf cut into the headland. The listing says early nineteenth century, but the construction suggests it could be far older.
1841
Mapped as a Fisherman's Beacon Station
02
The Tithe Map records it by name. Two floors, no internal stair, and a first floor reached only by a door in the back wall.
1904
Hains Shelters
03
Sir Edward Hain funded the south shelter and reshaped the headland. The ground raised behind the building has been soaking its rear wall ever since.
1908
The Last Enclosure
04
The final pilchard enclosure at St Ives. Sporadic use followed: squatters, a garden store, council storage. None of it kind to the fabric.
2026
A new future
05
Stage 1 is complete and the preferred option confirmed: repair the building, open the ground floor to the public for the first time, and put an artist and crafter in residence above.
