Pentire Head

Pentire Head is a small headland on Cornwall’s Atlantic coast, about one mile square. Pentire Point marks its north-west corner and The Rumps its north-east. The River Camel estuary lies between Pentire Point and Stepper Point to the south-west. The coastline belongs to the National Trust, though most of the land is farmed by Pentire Farm. The headland forms a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its rare plants and geology. The headland’s rocks include pillow lavas and altered dolerite, with veins of prehnite on the cliffs. Two old lead and silver mines once worked here, starting in the late 16th century. By the mid 19th century they had produced over 1,000 tons of lead ore and 540 kilograms of silver. The engine house at Engine Shaft is now a ruin and the site is a National Trust car park. A small island called Newland or Puffin Island lies a mile north-west of Pentire Point. An Iron Age cliff castle stands on The Rumps, built around the second century BC. The Cornwall Archaeological Society excavated it between 1963 and 1967, finding hut platforms and evidence of a timber gate. The South West Coast Path follows the cliffs, and boat tours from Padstow pass along the shore. The poet Laurence Binyon wrote part of ‘For the Fallen’ here in 1914, and a stone plaque marks the spot.