Polhawn Fort is the sort of place that makes people go quiet on the last bend of the drive. It stands on the cliff below Rame Head at the western end of Whitsand Bay, a long, low Victorian fort built in 1867 as a deterrent to Napoleon III, with strength and longevity in mind rather than romance. It has ended up with both. The seaward wall follows the line of the cliff, the windows look at nothing but water and weather, and from the garden a path with steps drops down to Polhawn Cove — the fort’s own beach, which is a sentence very few wedding venues get to write.
It has been a private house, a guest house and a hotel in its time, and for three decades now it has been a wedding venue run by the family who live on site. They are refreshingly open about keeping the rules to a minimum, and the place is only ever let exclusively — a minimum of two nights midweek or three across a weekend — so there is never another party arriving. It sleeps 16 comfortably with room for another 8 by arrangement, which means the people closest to you wake up inside the wedding rather than driving to it.
The Grand Napoleonic Hall is the heart of the building, taking 100 seated or standing under its old vaulted ceiling, with the smaller Ocean Room for an intimate 30. Outside, the summerhouse and lawn are licensed for ceremonies of up to 100, cliffside between the fort and the sea, while the roof terrace carries a stretch tent, fairy lights and tables laid for 64, 75 or 80. Food comes from the in-house kitchen or a handpicked list of Cornish and Devon caterers, and there is no corkage if you would rather stock the bar yourselves.
Where the band plays
The Grand Hall is the obvious home for live music, and it has the two things a band most wants: a full alcohol and entertainment licence, and no neighbours. Thick masonry and a vaulted ceiling give a warm, slightly reverberant sound that suits a soul or funk band beautifully, though it does mean a good engineer earns their fee. At 100 guests you are in the sweet spot for a four or five-piece with horns, with room for the sound to go somewhere without swamping the conversation at the edges.
How the evening tends to run
Because the whole site is yours for several days, the day has an unusually relaxed shape. Ceremonies happen on the lawn or in the hall, drinks drift out onto the terrace with the bay laid out below, and dinner and dancing fold back inside as the light goes. Nobody is watching the clock for a taxi and the party carries on until it is ready to stop, though it is still worth agreeing the music finish time with the team when you book so the band can plan their sets around it. One practical note: the fort is reached by its own drive down from the coast road and the doorways are 19th-century rather than purpose-built, so any band should call ahead about access and unloading, and most couples keep the full line-up indoors and leave the roof terrace to the softer end of the day.
Bands available in Cornwall and perfectly at home in a venue like this.
More live music in Cornwall.
- Cornwall Wedding Bands
- Cornwall Events Bands
- Tribute Acts in Cornwall
- Wedding DJs in Cornwall
- Corporate Entertainment in Cornwall
Worth reading before you book: Sound Limiters Explained. More questions answered on our England & Wales FAQs.