Love in the Walls
Words by Hannah Tapping
A drawbridge between you and the rest of the world. Polhawn Fort’s Teresa Wicksteed on why more couples are choosing a longer, softer wedding.
Combining heritage and hospitality
Built 160 years ago to defend Britain from invasion by France, Polhawn Fort was bought by John and Teresa Wicksteed in the 1980s. After undergoing a full restoration, it became one of the first dedicated licensed wedding venues in the UK, with the first couple to be married there by a registrar in 1995 returning in 2025 to celebrate their 30th anniversary. Its history can be felt in the very walls, and in conversation with Teresa I discover why it has become such a sought-after venue for those looking for more considered nuptials.
This Victorian granite fort, with eight-foot-thick walls in places, arched and vaulted brick ceilings, a drawbridge, moat, turrets and impressive spiral staircases, frames a softer interior, as Teresa explains: “Inside, Polhawn Fort is warm, comfy and very welcoming. One of our couples said: ‘There is Love in the Walls.’ It’s surrounded on three sides by the sea, has breathtaking wild landscape and gardens, and its own beach and sauna accessed privately from the lawns.”
With the rise of slow weddings, Polhawn Fort fits the bill perfectly. “We have been running weddings for 30 years, so have experienced some of the anxiety and stress that a wedding celebration can entail. The bridal couple and bridal party is on show to their guests and sometimes wider world, especially now in the age of Instagram. Couples now want to feel relaxed, prepared and supported on their wedding day,” says Teresa.
Instead of tightly packing all the celebrations into one day, at Polhawn Fort you can soak up the magic over a number of days and nights. A slow wedding here is one with more time, more relaxation and more opportunities to connect and create memories with friends and family. “Each wedding stay involves at least two nights,” adds Teresa, “often with requests for longer, meaning there is time for rest and relaxation and being in the moment either side of the big day. Cornish registrars can also build slow rituals into the legal ceremony; for example, warming the rings, stop the clock or tying the fisherman’s knot, all making time to take a breath and reflect.”
With more couples swapping fly-away honeymoons for post-wedding mini-moons, I’m keen to hear Teresa’s thoughts on the matter. “We’ve noticed this shift during the last year and it’s influencing couples booking for 2027 and 2028. Many couples mention that they might have thought of a “destination wedding” abroad, but tricky situations in airports and the costs associated with their whole family getting out there, have encouraged them to seek Cornwall as an alternative destination.
With this year’s climate being positively Mediterranean, almost every wedding this summer has been outside in the sun! Some couples may book four nights, get married on the first day, and then once their guests have left, spend the remaining days enjoying a private mini-moon at Polhawn Fort where they can be Prince and Princess of their very own castle.”
Views across the bay
Every aspect of a Polhawn Fort wedding is considered from the moment of arrival. The experienced team assists guests with settling in, making sure that all is as expected and hearing any last-minute requests or issues: “Many couples will have visited the fort a few times between their booking and their wedding stay, so most already feel as though it is their own familiar special place,” says Teresa. “For midweek weddings, Tuesday is often the day of the wedding ceremony, but couples can choose any days of their stay. The morning can often be filled with the hustle and bustle of hair and make-up and preparation alongside caterers, videographer and photographer, while some couples opt for a calmer approach with an early morning swim and sauna or a gentle walk to Rame Head. Ceremonies can be arranged from early morning to evening, with many taking place in the beautiful gardens and couples will almost always go down to the beach for some quiet time together after the event. The evening is usually a traditional wedding party celebration inside the fort with the team on hand throughout ensuring everything runs smoothly.”
Once the wedding is over, there’s no prescription for how the remaining days are spent, as Polhawn Fort becomes a totally private space to be enjoyed by the wedding party. “Many groups will rise late and enjoy brunch together. Some may go out for a run along the coast path, or take a leisurely walk to the medieval ruined chapel on Rame Head, while others will enjoy time around the wood fire in the Great Hall. There’s the option to venture down to the beach for a wild swim and sauna, or enjoy a game of tennis overlooking the sea or some lawn games. We now have an iconic red telephone box in our grounds, filled with books, providing an escape of a different kind. There are many idyllic secluded spots inside and outside, where you can sit or lie and soak up the sounds of the sea, without traffic or outside intrusion. Every couple is unique and this time is all their own; sometimes it’s really refreshing not to have a timetable,” says Teresa.
The wellness offerings come in many guises at Polhawn Fort. Bespoke couples’ massages are a wonderful chance to dispel tension and connect, with yoga, held both inside and out, being very popular. A group Sound Bath can be organised, while local sauna masters can createtailored couples’ sauna rituals. For a more active approach, a local expert can lead an exhilarating coast-path walk to forage for wild plants and flowers, which are then woven into a delicious, nutritious lunch. For the most energetic, a specialist paddleboarding instructor can lead a couple or group from the beach, and can also guide individuals or groups running along the coast path. In fact, most activities can be catered for, as the Rame Peninsula is a chosen area for many wellbeing practitioners.
I ask Teresa what it is about Polhawn’s setting that suits a slower approach to a wedding and honeymoon: “Polhawn Fort’s location on the Rame Peninsula is something of a forgotten corner of Cornwall; an area bypassed by most driving west towards Land’s End. At the end of its half-mile private drive, there is no intrusion from external visitors, except the occasional wild ones! Badgers, foxes, deer, many rare bird species, dolphins and the occasional non-threatening basking shark are sometimes spotted. Being surrounded by water at Polhawn Fort, you benefit from that blue-space wellness which encourages calm, slowing breathing, lowering cortisol and blood pressure.”
Teresa tells me of a recent wedding at Polhawn Fort which truly embodied this spirit of slowing down. It included two ceremonies: one intimate affair at sunset and one with more guests on the beach on a low spring tide the following day. As it was the joining of two families with children, time was spent chatting, swimming and playing on the beach, with games on the lawns. But the story is best told in the words of the bride herself: “It felt like the happiness and excitement of Christmas morning, mixed with the emotion of one of the most important moments of your life. Everything seemed to happen at once, and you wanted to hold on to every second. Having four days to celebrate gave us so much more than a wedding day; it gave us memories, moments with the people we love and an experience we’ll carry with us long after the celebrations were over.”
The whole building and its grounds are within a designated National Landscape (formerly an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), with the famous South West Coast Path running above and behind. The climate here is affected by the Gulf Stream, meaning extreme weather is rare, but when it does happen it’s exciting, as inside the fort you can’t fail to feel safe and protected by its thick walls. Couples come from near and far to Polhawn Fort. For those with friends and family in far-flung places, a longer stay works well, as the fort sleeps up to 24, with capacity for up to 100 guests at the wedding itself.
The usual lead time from booking to wedding stay is around two years, but Teresa tells me that 2026 has seen some wonderful last-minute weddings, just a few months in advance. “There’s still plenty of time to plan your wedding in that time, especially if you are flexible about dates, and we can help with recommendations and plans for everything you may need. Our long weekends are still usually the first to book, so a midweek stay is sometimes available as a last-minute special deal.”
For couples considering a slower wedding, I ask Teresa for her thoughts on planning the days either side of the ceremony so the whole stay feels unhurried: “My best advice is to take advantage of our many years of experience of weddings and plan only a few things for those extra days in advance. After all, you may just want to quietly soak up the atmosphere, sit on the beach, or order fish and chips, or pasties on a whim! Polhawn Fort is a blank canvas, so you can arrange your wedding stay exactly as you wish, and every wedding here is special and different. Our experienced team can help you plan your wedding day, with advice at every stage, and you can visit Polhawn Fort as many times as you like between booking and arrival, so by the time of your celebration, you are stress-free and familiar with everything. Many couples say that makes Polhawn Fort their very own home-from-home.”
