The history of Looe, as a smuggling port, is inexorably linked to Looe Island,  this Island, known variously as St Michael's , St George's and St Nicholas' is better known, worldwide as Looe Island. 

It has had various owners, it was an ecclesiastical centre, then it passed to  the Mayows in the 16th century and the Trelawneys from c 1600, and it was tenants of Trelawney who ran the trade in smuggled goods from the Channel Islands to Looe for over 80 years from the 18th to the 19th century.