Tintagel

About 10 miles north of Trebetherick is the village of Tintagel and nearby Tintagel Castle – the home of King Arthur and the knights of the Round Table. A must for a day-trip – the Merlin Burger and Chips are a local culinary highlight!

Tintagel was used as a locus for the Arthurian mythos by the poet Alfred, Lord Tennyson in the poem “Idylls of the King”. The village also features the 'Old Post Office', which dates from the 14th Century and is now in the hands of the National Trust.

Major excavations on and around the site of the 12th century castle have revealed that Tintagel headland was the site of a high status Celtic monastery, a princely fortress or trading settlement dating to the 5th and 6th centuries, in the period immediately following the withdrawal of the Romans from Britain. Mediterranean oil and wine jars show there was even trade in high value goods. In 1998, excavations discovered the "Arthur stone" which has added to Tintagel's Arthurian lore.

The coastline around Tintagel is significant because it is composed of old Devonian slate a hard-wearing roofing surface. The turquoise green water around this coast is caused by the slate/sand around Tintagel which contains elements of copper: strong sunlight turns the water a light turquoise green colour in warm weather. Although there is no beach at Tintagel, Trebarwith Strand is just half an hour's walk south of Tintagel and is probably Cornwall's finest beach, boasting clear seas, golden sands, and superb surf.

Tintagel has the Catholic Church of St Paul the Apostle which has a 30,000 piece mosaic within its walls .People worldwide also come to Tintagel to view the names of their babies who have been lost due to miscarriage, stillbirth or other causes. The names are kept in the Miscarriage & Infant Loss Memorial Book which is kept at the church.