Lamorna

This isolated hamlet is set in the craggy Lamorna Cove, immortalised by the artist ‘Lamorna Birch’ (real name Samuel John Birch) and author Derek Tangye, who were among several artists attracted to this area between 1880 and 1910. Birch died in 1955, and Tangye, who wrote the immensely popular Minack Chronicles, died in 1996. Once only licensed to sell beer, Lamorna’s pub, The Wink, got its name from the old custom of winking to the landlord to obtain contraband spirits from under the counter.

From the village it is easy to visit the Merry Maidens, a ring of stones in an open field. The rough-hewn circle is said to be all that remains of a group of local women turned to stone as a punishment for dancing on Sunday. Other than the likelihood that the ring dates from some time between 2400 and 800 BC, nothing is known about their origins or significance though they were probably the focus of some ceremonial function. Just 275 yards from the Merry Maidens are the largest standing stones (or ‘menhirs’) in Penwith, called The Pipers, the tallest being 16 feet. Both stones, one of which has a definite slant, are within a couple of hundred feet of each other.

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