Cornwall's Hidden History Blog
Imagine yourself standing on the clifftop at Bass Point, not far from the Lizard Lighthouse. It’s May, the sea is smooth, you can hear gentle waves flopping onto the rocks below. But it’s not a clear night. There is a thick, damp mist hanging in the almost still air. Then, quite suddenly, a ship in […]
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This story is part recorded fact and part local legend. And what makes it all the more fascinating is that this tale of buried treasure didn’t happen back in the mists of time. It happened only around 50 years ago. On the 15th November 1973 the West Briton newspaper ran a front page story about […]
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There are many objects that have been found in Cornwall lurking in vaults and display cases inside the British Museum. Treasures that I would just love to see with my own eyes . . . or better still, hold in my hands. The intricate Anglo-Saxon silver from the Trewhiddle hoard for example, or the huge […]
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Over a period of twenty years at least eight men and one woman are known to have escaped from Helston Prison. Considering the gaol was only open for twenty-nine years in total that seems a pretty poor track record. In fact, while compiling this article I haven’t really come across many other instances of prison […]
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The church of St Grada and the Holy Cross stands on high ground above Cadgwith Cove. Surrounded by fields with a view of the sea, it is a peaceful place that can only be reached on foot. Although it has been dedicated to Saint Grada since 1310, the church is thought to have had an […]
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Not far from the village of Coverack is an open stretch of moorland called Crousa Downs. This rough ground is a home to adders, thick with knee-deep undergrowth and dotted with large boulders. But hidden amongst these natural stones is an ancient man-made structure called the Three Brothers of Grugwith (sometimes Grugith). In an area […]
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“There is no sight like a sailing vessel ashore, nothing so eloquently tragic . . . Mechanically propelled vessels have not the personality and even when stricken upon the rocks they do not make an appeal to the heart as do their more graceful sisters of the wind.” Western Morning News, 27th April 1936 When […]
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Loe Pool is Cornwall’s largest natural lake but the curious uncertainty over its formation and the myths and legends associated with it make this mysterious body of water so much more than a picturesque nature reserve. It may be a haven for wild birds, trout and otters but this lake gathers stories too . . […]
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At one time the area now known as Goonhilly Downs, and indeed most of the Lizard, was called the Meneage. How exactly the area came by this name is the subject of some debate. Folliott-Stokes writes in 1928: In olden days it [the Lizard] was called Meneage from the Cornish word ‘maenic’ (rocky) though certain […]
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We already know that Cornwall is pretty special. The sublime scenery, the temperate climate, the precious wildlife . . . the pasties. But in the Bronze Age it was something else that drove the economy. The tin and cooper found close to the surface and running through the veins of Cornwall’s bedrock. And the unique […]
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