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Local Information for Boscastle

Boscastle (Cornish: Kastell Boterel) is a small town on the north coast of Cornwall, in the extreme southwest of England. The name of the town derives from Bottreaux Castle, of which few remains survive. A flash flood on 16 August 2004 cause extensive damage to the town, but much of the damage has been repaired one year later.

Boscastle suffered extensive damage on Monday 16 August 2004 after a flash flood caused by an extraordinary amount of rain that fell over the course of 5 hours that afternoon. The floods were the worst in local memory, and a study commissioned by the Environment Agency from HR Wallingford concluded that it was the worst known flood in the village, among the most extreme ever experienced in Britain, and the chance of such heavy rainfall in any given year was around 1 in 400. The last time Boscastle had suffered notable flooding was in 1996 as a result of Hurricane Lili, but earlier floods are recorded in 1847, 1957, 1958 and 1963. Fifty-two years earlie...More