Land’s End

A curious mix of natural spectacle and man-made indulgence, Land’s End, England’s most westerly point, is certainly one of the country’s most famous landmarks. Notwithstanding the commercialisation and the dubious tourist trappings, it is still a spectacular place. You cannot fail to feel a sense of awe and wonder as you stand on the 200 feet high granite rocks that gaze out on the Atlantic and the lost land of Lyonesse. Known to the Romans as Bolerium, or Seat of Storms, from this headland can be seen Longships Lighthouse, which protects shipping from the Longships reef just offshore and Wolf Rock Lighthouse, some 7 miles away.

The scenery is the amazing natural attraction here, but there’s much more to interest the visitor. The Land’s End centre features the history and heritage of Cornwall and Land’s End, including tales of the sea and smuggling. Attractions include ‘The Curse of Skull Rock’ a 4-D adventure film for all the family, an Air Sea rescue film, a new exhibition for 2011, The Monsters of the Deep, and the free exhibition ‘The End to End Story’. The West Country Shopping Village sells a range of clothing, West Country foods, gifts and souvenirs. But for those who wish to ‘get away from it all’, the tourist complex can soon be left behind as the moors and the cliffs are ever-present close by. A short walk northwards over the cliffs at Land’s end brings the visitor to Sennen Cove (see also Sennen), a wide sandy beach backed by sand dunes, where the stron Atlantic breakers make it very popular for surfing.

Naturally, this place has given rise to numerous legends over the centuries and one claims that Land’s End was once the entrance to Lyonesse, the fertile kingdom that stretched from here to the Isles of Scilly some 28 miles to the southwest. With great cities and 140 churches, it is said to have been engulfed by a great wave on 11th November 1099, taking with it all the fine buildings and all its inhabitants bar one man - Trevilian, who escaped from Lyonesse riding a white horse. The Trevilian family crest still depicts a horse rising from the waves.

For many years afterwards, sailors would tell of hearing bells ringing beneath the waves, and fishermen would claim that doors, furniture and pottery had been brought up in their nets. In the 1930s a journalist actually claimed he had heard the bells in the night, and people still say that occasionally they have made out walls and battlements beneath the waves. It goes without saying that the legend of King Arthur has been caught up in all this.