Cornwall boasts some of the most beautiful and picturesque villages in Britain, whether it's a tiny fishing port or a community sheltering in the shadow of Bodmin Moor. Here are some of the villages our family has enjoyed visiting most over the years.
I thought of trying to rank them from 15 down to 1, but, honestly, that would be ridiculous - they all deserve a visit! So this is an A-Z list of some of our favourite Cornish villages (literally A to Z as it starts with Altarnun and ends with Zennor).
[All these are villages, with nary a town to be seen. Towns are for another post!]
Altarnun is a small village on the northern fringe of Bodmin Moor and is the focal point of the largest parish in Cornwall, covering some 15,000 acres. The parish church of St Nonna is known as the Cathedral of the Moors for its size. In the churchyard stands a 6th-century Celtic cross, a reminder of Altarnun's long history.
Inside the church is a stunning Norman font carved with bizarre faces on each corner, and a late medieval chancel screen. A stone's throw from the church is an ancient packhorse bridge. Just outside Altarnun is Jamaica Inn, the inspiration for Daphne Du Maurier's novel of the same name.
This delightful little village near Bodmin is one of the very few in Cornwall to have a village green. On one side of the green is the Blisland Inn, a former winner of the CAMRA (Campaign for Real Ale) National Pub of the Year Award known for its oak-aged beers and ciders.
On the other side of the green is the 12th-century parish church, dedicated to the 3rd-century brothers St Protus and St Hyacinth (known locally as 'Pratt and Hatt').
Outside the village is a holy well dedicated to St Protus/Pratt and the Neolithic henge of Stripple Stones. The stately home of Pencarrow House is four miles away and there are very good walking trails onto Bodmin Moor.
This picturesque village on Cornwall's north coast is known for its Elizabethan quay, built to handle the transport of slate from the Delabole quarries. Trails lead up from the harbour to an Iron Age promontory fort and the Willapark headland where you will see a coastal lookout tower made from a castellated folly. Beyond Willapark are the remains of an ancient field system known as the Forraburry Stitches.
Nestled into the cliff beside the harbour is the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, covering all forms of witchcraft in cultures across the world. Here you can see everything from broomsticks to potions, spell books to crustal balls and divination tools.
A trail leads along the rocky coastline to the hanging valley of Pentargon, where a dramatic waterfall plunges almost straight down the sheer cliffs. Just inland of Boscastle is the Valency Valley, where an aspiring young architect named Thomas Hardy met his first wife Emma. Hardy, of course, became one of England's best-loved novelists.
Arguably the most beautiful village in Cornwall, Cadgwith is a deliciously picturesque fishing village on the Lizard Peninsula, south of Helston. Pretty cottages of cob and thatch cluster around the harbour and fishing boats are drawn up on the shore.
There are two beaches, known as The Cove and Little Cove, separated by a rocky promontory known as The Todden. A passage runs through The Todden and links the two beaches.
The South West Coast Path runs directly through the village, and many walkers stop for refreshment at the Cadgwith Cove Inn. If you fancy fresh crab or lobster, then Cadgwith is the place to come.
There is a visitor car park at the top of the cliffs, and walking trails lead down to the harbour, past St Mary's Church, a prefabricated metal building erected in 1895.
(Tresillian)
Sleeps: 22
From: £2337.00
(Mawgan Porth)
Sleeps: 22
From: £3165.00
(Mevagissey)
Sleeps: 16
From: £1595.00
Gweek is a rambling village on the Helford Estuary in southern Cornwall, set in beautiful woodland and stunning coastal scenery. Gweek is best known for its National Seal Sanctuary, where injured, sick or distressed marine mammals of any kind are nurtured back to health.
Gweek was a centre of the tin trade as long ago as 450 BC. The Romans used the natural harbour here, and during Tudor times the port was so busy that it needed its own customs house.
Those days are long gone and today the harbour is home to recreational sailing craft. A few miles away is the historic Poldark Mine, and the National Trust's Glendurgan Gardens is slightly further afield.
This pretty little village lies on the east coast of the Lizard Peninsula and faces Helford Passage across the mouth of the Helford River. Author Daphne Du Maurier spent her honeymoon here and was inspired by the village's history as a haven for smugglers to write her novel Frenchman's Creek.
The real Frenchman's Creek can be reached by a footpath from the village centre. You won't find any mysterious ships moored there today; the creek is now a haven for birds, including a large population of herons.
There was once a busy port at Helford, but now only pleasure yachts moor offshore. A seasonal pedestrian ferry takes visitors across the River to Helford Passage on the north bank.
The thatched village pub is known as the Shipwrights Arms and is just one of numerous pretty thatched and cob buildings, some of them dating to the 18th century or earlier.
Part of Helford's charm is that no vehicles are allowed in the village. There is a parking area at the top of the hill overlooking the shore, and from there you follow the road down to a picturesque footbridge over the creek, with a whitewashed thatched cottage on the far bank. This is, in my view, one of the most beautiful sights in Cornwall, a classic, timeless view.
There is not one Looe but two, East Looe and West Looe, on opposite sides of the Looe River. East Looe is larger, has a better beach, and gets more visitors while West Looe is quieter, more traditional and more relaxed. On the quay is the 13th-century church of St Nicholas, which at one time served as the guildhall.
In East Looe is the Old Guildhall, built around 1500 and now serving as a wonderful museum of local heritage. A few steps away is Smugglers Cott, a popular inn built in 1430 and restored in 1595 using timbers from the Spanish Armada.
Offshore is St George's Island, home to a medieval monastery but later used as a secret landing place by smugglers. The island can be reached by a causeway at low tide.
Mevagissey is a traditional Cornish fishing village in St Austell Bay. It is named for two 6th-century Irish missionaries, Meva and Issey. The streets of Mevagissey are a delightful maze of whitewashed buildings lining meandering passageways.
You can hire boats for excursions around the bay or even take a shark fishing trip. Housed in a historic building on the water's edge is the Mevagissey Museum, devoted to the Victorian heritage of the village.
Also by the harbour is the Sealife Aquarium, housed in a former lifeboat. Just outside Mevagissey are the Lost Gardens of Heligan, a 19th-century garden 'lost' for 70 years and now rescued from decay and restored to its former glory. A bit further afield is the Eden Project, a giant series of biodomes housing collections of plants from around the world.
One of Cornwall's most popular traditional fishing villages, Polperro is set in the rocky coastline of south Cornwall near Looe. Narrow, cobbled streets lead down to a pretty harbour, with whitewashed cottages perched on the surrounding hills. Polperro dates to the 13th century and was a centre of the pilchard fishery. Now the old fishermen's cottages are used by holidaymakers.
One thing that makes Polperro so attractive is that so many of the quaint old cottages near the harbour have remained unaltered by time. No cars are allowed, and visitors must walk half a mile from the car park.
Near the harbour is the Heritage Museum of Fishing and Smuggling, where you can discover Polperro's history as a centre for smugglers. Here you can learn about Zephaniah Job (1749–1822), a merchant known as 'The Smuggler's Banker' during the Napoleonic Wars. Also near the harbour is The House on Stilts, a picturesque cottage supported on timber posts, overhanging the River Pol.
This pretty fishing village on the north Cornwall coast is perhaps best-known today as the setting for the popular Doc Martin television series starring Martin Clunes. Much of the filming is done in and around the harbour and regular viewers will quickly recognise many of the buildings. One of those buildings is Fern Cottage on Roscarrock Hill, which acts as Doc Martin's House.
Port Isaac was also the setting for the original Poldark television series.
There is much more to the village than popular TV series, though! Port Isaac was a centre for the pilchard fishery as early as the 16th century. You can watch fishermen unload their daily catch of crabs, fish, and lobsters at The Platt, a cobbled area sloping down to the tidal harbour.
Most of the buildings clustering around the pretty harbour date to the 18th and 19th centuries. The harbour area has been named a Conservation Area to preserve its heritage ambience. A few steps from The Platt leads you to Squeezy Belly Alley, a ridiculously narrow passageway between a pair of cottages.
Though traffic is - technically - allowed near the harbour, I strongly recommend you use one of the clifftop parking areas and walk down into the village.
