Day Hiking Treryn Dinas to Mousehole in Cornwall

June 3, 2010

Day Hiking Treryn Dinas Mousehole Cornwall England UK

Day Hiking Treryn Dinas To Mousehole Cornwall was the fifth day hiking trip myself of a Holiday Fellowship (HF) Holidays St Ives Cornwall hiking holiday. The route was from Treryn Dinas To Mousehole, travelling 9 miles with ascents totalling 1625 feet. This was the toughest day hiking of the week due to the steep ascents.

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Route Description

We began by hiking from the junction of the B3315 and the road to Treen. We hiked up the lane to Treen village, past the Logan Rock Inn to the Iron Age castle of Treryn Dinas. We went to headland and viewed the famous Logan Rock. Returning to the coast path we turned eastward towards Pen Berth Cove and St Loy.

The coast path brought us around the rocky headland to Lamorna Cove, a small fishing village, and a haven for sub-aqua enthusiasts. We continued through Kemyel Crease Nature Reserve to reach Mousehole via the old Church Town of Paul. The Day Hiking Treryn Dinas To Mousehole Cornwall paths were varied, being good in places, with rocky and stony stretches and a few wet and muddy patches.

Treryn Dinas To Mousehole Day Hiking Local Information

Merry Maidens

The “Merry Maidens” is a Neolithic stone circle of 19 stones arranged in a perfect circle about 24 metres in diameter. Another popular term used “Dawn’s Men” which may be a corruption of “Dans Maen” which translates to “stone dance” in Cornish. A folk tale suggests that the 19 stones were maidens that were turned into stone as punishment for dancing on the Sabbath. This tale was probably encouraged by the early Christian Church in order to discourage the continuation of pagan habits on the site. It is also possible that this tale reflects the long preserved memories of rituals that may have been carried out here.

Treen

A small village, located about 3 miles inland from Land’s End off the B3315, Treen overlooks the Penberth Valley and sits about half a mile inland from the famous Logan Rock. It has a popular pub called “The Logan Rock Inn” together with a shop and cliff top campsite.

Treryn Dinas

Treryn Dinas is both a headland and a dramatic Iron Age cliff fort. It is defended by three pairs of ramparts and ditches on the landward sides which are still impressive today. With a narrow neck, the headland is defended by a ditch and stone wall. Close by there are traces of roundhouses. If you manage to get to the cliff fort, the coastal views are exceptional. Even though the fort is in a scenic location and worth visiting, the site is more famed for its rockable Logan Rock at the top of the fort.

Logan Rock

The majority of visitors to Treryn Dinas headland go there to view the “Logan Rock”. It’s an 80 tonne loganstone and is a very famous rocking stone. Goldsmith, a naval lieutenant dislodged the Logan Rock in 1824 to disprove a claim that is was impossible to move it. Local residents were upset because Logan Rock had been a tourist attraction and a good source of income. They demanded that Goldsmith be stripped of his commission unless he restored the boulder to its previous position at his own expense, which he duly did at great expense.

Penberth Cove

With around 10 stone cottages dotted along its length, the peaceful hamlet of Penberth is located in a protected valley and encircled by National Trust woodlands and cliffs. A river flows down through the woods to a cove with a pebble beach, which still supports a few local fishermen that derive their income from mackerel, lobster and crab fishing. These days, the open boats are hauled up the granite slip using an electric hoist instead of the old and impressive horse drawn winch. There is a car park about 200 metres from the cove with space for a few cars.

St. Loy

Said to be the warmest UK cove, St. Loy has the plan life to support such a statement. There is a variety of birdlife and basking sharks and dolphins often cruise the cove during warm weather. The woods of the valley reach right to the edge of a small boulder covered beach. A house above the beach serves cream teas in its garden with a view over the cove.

Lamorna Cove

Lamorna, or “Nansmornow” in Cornish, is both cove and also a fishing village with a small pebble beach below the quay. Lamorna was fashionable with a colony of artists from Newlyn during the late 1800′s and early 1900′s and above all linked with Samuel John “Lamorna” Birch, and artist who settled in Lamorna in 1902. These days the village is fashionable with visitors who appreciate the beautiful and rugged Cornish coastline, wooded valleys together with peace and quiet. On the quay there is a car park and also a small café, and a pub named the “Lamorna Wink” is only a short walk up the hill.

Kemyel Crease Nature Reserve

Kemyel Crease is a Trust reserve which was presented by a Mrs Leach in 1974. It comprises of 5 acres of steeply sloping, cliff woodland leading down to the rocky shore. There are 121 little fields, also known as “quillets”, which were previously used for growing bulbs and potatoes. The area needed to be terraced to stop erosion so a variety of conifers were grown to form a break from the wind. Because the conifers form a dense shade, the flora is a bit thin on the ground with only ferns growing fruitfully.

Church Town Of Paul

Paul is both a village and a civil parish, “Brewynni” in Cornish, and the alias St Paul, with most of its history being associated with its 15th century church being its focal point. Paul church is thought to have been founded in the 5th century by the Celtic saint, St Pol de Leon around 490, but there is no documentary proof. Paul village is located on the hill behind the fishing village of Mousehole to the north-west.

Mousehole

Mousehole is a large, important and charming fishing village in the parish of Paul, half a mile south-east of the church town of Paul. During July 1595 the Spanish sacked and burnt the whole village to the ground, with the exception of one house which remains standing today. A century ago, Mousehole was a lively fishing port, packed with local fishing craft, bringing in pilchards. Not far from the shore lies a small group of rocks called St. Clement’s Isle, where it is said, an ancient recluse used to live. There is a superb pier made from granite which was constructed in 1870 to 1871, which forms a completely protected harbour for small fishing boats. Today its narrow streets are packed with little shops, art galleries and restaurants. Local cottages constructed with finely grained Lamorna granite, line the inner edge of the harbour. Due to the very limited and narrow roads in Mousehole, visitors are encouraged to park on the fringes and walk into the village.

I did this hike with my partner Anne whilst on a St Ives Cornwall hiking holiday with HF Holidays (HF) in England during May 2010. We were driven by coach from our HF Holidays accommodation named “Chy Morvah” in St. Ives, first view the Merry Maidens stone circle next to the B3315 near Lamorna and then took on to the start location at the junction of the B3315 and the road to Treen.