Cornwall and Devon

As you approach the westernmost tip of the Cornish peninsula, the picturesque landscape takes on a wilder and more windswept appearance. The land splits into two peninsulas, Penwith and the Lizard, each facing the full force of the Atlantic. The Penwith peninsula is home to two of Cornwall’s most famous landmarks; Land’s End and St Michael’s Mount, both locations high on the list for visitors to the county.

The coast throughout this area is spectacular and always dramatic, with soaring granite cliffs facing angry Atlantic waves. Away from the rugged cliffs, some of Cornwall’s most beautiful golden sandy beaches can be found at Porth Leven, Sennen Cove and all around St Ives.

Further south, the geology of the Lizard peninsula is quite unlike Penwith’s blocky granite coast.The rocks here are mostly serpentinite, giving the cliffs a distinctive jagged appearance. Notable locations along this stretch of coastline are the beautiful National Trust owned Kynance Cove and nearby Mullion Cove, as well as Lizard Point, the most southerly point of mainland Great Britain.

After rounding the Lizard, the south coast begins its long journey north east towards the border of Devon. Although dramatic cliffs and headlands occur all throughout the south coast, generally speaking it has a much softer feel than the exposed Atlantic coastline. Large estuaries and pretty coastal towns such as Fowey, Mevagissey and Polperro add extra flavour to Cornwall’s distinctive south coast.

Dramatic cliffs, crashing Atlantic waves and pristine sandy beaches; these are the ingredients that make North Cornwall one of the UK’s most spectacular coastal locations.

The beaches along the seaside of North Cornwall draw visitors every summer, eager to enjoy the sun and surf that this coastline offers in abundance. From Bude near the Devon border down to Newquay and beyond every beach is a winner for both holidaymakers and photographers alike, consisting of golden sands and dramatic cliffs.

Without question one of North Cornwall’s most photogenic locations is the stretch of coastline between charming Padstow and its noisier neighbour Newquay. Around Trevose Head alone no less than seven glorious sandy beaches can be found, the difficulty for any visitor is choosing which beach to visit.

Away from the beaches, the cliffs are no less spectacular and thanks to the South West Coast Path are freely accessible to visitors. One highlight of this area is the incredible Bedruthan Steps, a dramatic series of rock stacks running parallel to the cliffs. At high tide these stacks take a pounding from the fierce Atlantic rollers, while at low tide they become stranded on one of the most beautiful beaches to be found anywhere.

In a county renowned for its tin mining past, the Towanroath Engine House at Wheal Coates is perhaps the most iconic and recognisable reminder of Cornwall’s mining heritage. This abandoned building, now preserved by the National Trust, guards the cliff tops overlooking the Atlantic and is the subject of countless iconic Cornish postcards.

Devon’s north coast shares many similarities with neighbouring Cornwall; sweeping sandy beaches and towering cliffs are to be found in abundance along this coast. Away from the towns this area has the same wild remoteness that is to be found all along the Atlantic coast, and forms a large part of its appeal.

Our chapter begins with the incredibly rugged Hartland Quay close to the Cornish border, and then sweeps around the coastline following some beautiful beaches before reaching Exmoor. At Exmoor, things change quite suddenly and dramatically. Although already high, the cliffs surge upwards making them the highest cliffs in England. With such high cliffs and fewer openings to the sea, much of the Devon stretch of the Exmoor coast is the remotest in England. Eventually, Devon gives way to Somerset and before long a wide pebble beach at beautiful Porlock Bay replaces the towering headlands of before.

Although one of the UK’s least visited national parks Exmoor surely boasts some of the greatest variety. As well as its incredible coastline the National Park, which straddles both Devon and Somerset, is famous for rolling moorland, idyllic rural countryside and wooded combes. Although being fairly close in proximity to neighbouring Dartmoor, the national parks bear little similarity. Exmoor features far larger areas of rolling countryside, and while it still contains large areas of moorland the distinctive heather covered hogsback hills have no granite tors in sight.

At over 350 square miles, Dartmoor National Park contains southern England’s largest remaining area of wilderness. The landscape is most famous for its vast areas of windswept rolling moorland, crested by hundreds of remote granite outcrops known as tors. This dark brooding landscape with its dramatic weather has for long been associated with many myths and legends; haunting tales of headless horseman, hell hounds and many stories of the Devil himself have made the moor an ominous location for superstitious visitors over the years. Taking inspiration from such legends, Arthur Conan Doyle’s famous novel, The Hound of the Baskervilles was largely based on Dartmoor.

Although Dartmoor is closely associated with its characteristic open moorland, the National Park includes a gentler side which may elude first time visitors; large areas of patchwork rolling countryside are interspersed with idyllic villages while fast moving rocky rivers rush through verdant deep wooded valleys.

While much of Dartmoor’s moorland is now remote and empty, evidence is spread all over the moor of previous human habitation. Megalithic stone circles, standing stones and stone rows can be found throughout the moor, as well as remains of Bronze Age settlements and smaller hut circles, all pointing to a time when the climate was far more forgiving than the present day. In fact Dartmoor contains the highest concentration of Bronze Age artefacts in Europe; put a pin anywhere on an Ordnance Survey map of Dartmoor and you will be close to some ancient remnants of the past.

As with Cornwall, the south Devon coast is in large part much more gentle than its northern counterpart, and holds considerably more variety. From Plymouth on the Cornish border down to Start Point in the South Hams, the coastline is a strange mixture of both gentle estuaries and dramatic cliffs.

After rounding Start Point, the long shingle beach at Slapton Sands signals a change in both the nature and direction of the coastline. From here until reaching Exmouth, the coastline heads northwards taking in the hugely popular seaside towns of Paignton and Torquay then the lesser known Teignmouth and Dawlish. Orcombe Point in Exmouth marks the western end of the spectacular Jurassic Coast, Britain’s second natural World Heritage Site. The bright red cliffs found in this area such as at Sidmouth and Ladram Bay are characteristic of this coastline and date back to the Triassic period. Further along the coast, at Beer the cliffs change again both in colour and consistency, this time to white dating from the more recent Cretaceous period.