Until very recently, Golant has been almost unknown except to the people who live there and pilgrims and other walkers of the Saints' Way. Nearby, there is a little used ford across the Fowey estuary. In late summer 1644, during the first English Civil War, war came to Golant and the area around the village. A large group of about 10,000 Parliamentary soldiers fought against the forces of King Charles on the peninsula between Lostwithiel, St Blazey and Fowey. King Charles was in the area at the time.