The County of Cornwall

Cornwall is famously the land beyond England and it tapers away to a rock-hard, windswept, sun-and-showers peninsula, with a long and spectacular coastline and a uniquely mild coastal climate. Most place names bear witness to its Celtic culture and reinforce the feeling that you have arrived somewhere else.

Fifteen thousand years ago, when the last Ice Age ended, Britain was still attached to the continental landmass. During the next eight thousand years this land became inhabited, then seven thousand years ago, rising sea levels made it an island. Just over 60% of the present population are descended from these first inhabitants but in Cornwall that rises to 80%. These recent advances in genetic tracing reveal there is more than just a cultural component to Cornish ‘otherness’.

The sea is central to Cornish life and is what unites the wreckers of yore, the revival of gig racing in beautiful 32-ft rowing boats, and surfing in the ‘extreme sports’ capital of Britain, Newquay, where Fistral Beach is a Mecca of the surfing world and the venue for the European Championships. Fishing boats still animate more ports in Cornwall than you will see elsewhere, and a feeling of romance attaches to the place.

It is 1,376 square miles in area with a population of half a million – about half that of Devon, in each case. It has correspondingly fewer pubs and great houses, but in the other categories of attraction that we cover it is at least Devon’s equal, exceeding it in the number of great gardens. Beaches are the heart of a family holiday, and nowhere has a greater variety or quality. The sporty, beach-life scene on the north coast has made it a teenage magnet where all-night beach partying is another sport. If the weather drives you off the beach, there is still more than enough to entertain all age groups, and interests. Cornwall is a cornucopia of possibilities – see family attractions.

From Rough (pronounced ‘Row’) Tor or Brown Willy on Bodmin Moor both the Atlantic and the English Channel are visible. For those fascinated by the remains of prehistoric cultures, from Bronze Age to early Iron Age and standing stones, the area near St Ives is peculiarly rich. Only Cornwall has such amazing one-offs as St Michael’s Mount, the Minack open-air theatre, the National Maritime Museum in Falmouth, or the Barbara Hepworth Sculpture Garden in St Ives. Tin mining has left a legacy of remarkable ruins and china clay mining created great white gashes in the landscape, one of which is now the site of a modern wonder – the Eden Project, a re-creation of the plant life of the planet with different climate zones in different bio-domes. For church-lovers, Launceston has a carved granite façade of such plasticity that you might think that carving granite was like making pastry. It is one of England’s treasures. St Neot’s has Britain’s second most complete set of medieval glass, a veritable jewel-case of religious art with a numinous feel.

The South West Coast Path is a walkers’ paradise and more than half of its 629- mile length is in Cornwall, much of it owned and well tended by the National Trust, away from roads but seldom far from a pub. For those who travel on their stomach, Cornwall has enhanced its already fine reputation. Few will need to be told of the impact the star chef Rick Stein has had on Padstow, with ‘foodies’ taking over where the beach crowds leave off, but good eating isn’t localised – the county’s three Michelin stars are well spread. It also has some delightful pubs, often with very good food, and nowhere on the coast is far from a good meal or well-priced accommodation.

Cornwall is a land of artists and writers. St Ives has the greatest concentration of artists outside London, along with galleries of the highest calibre. Daphne Du Maurier lived at Menabilly, near Fowey, and Cornwall’s genius comes alive in the pages of Jamaica Inn, Rebecca and Frenchman’s Creek. Virginia Woolf ’s acclaimed novel To the Lighthouse was inspired by Godrevy lighthouse, for she spent many childhood summers in St Ives. John Betjeman drew on the county’s magic and is buried at St Enodoc, which also has a lovely golf course.

Getting there is made easy by the muchimproved A30, a fast road compared with the A390 but short on filling stations. Even the most pluperfect, postcard-pretty villages are not ruined in high summer, but parking can be a problem; so think longer stays in high season, while in the off-season you can get around easily enough to do a lot over a long weekend. From Penzance harbour or heliport, the Isles of Scilly have their own magic, with some delightful accommodation and even a Michelin star. For a quiet, utterly relaxing holiday they are in a class apart.

To help enlarge your enjoyment of this much-prized county, we sought out the opinions of the experts and displayed them with symbols on the map.

Ross Harvey