Land of legends

West Penwith at Cornwall’s southwestern tip is a little land apart, with a landscape of craggy cliffs and windswept moors that swirl with myths and legends

ELIZABETH DALE

A few times a year, at particularly low spring tides, the remains of a prehistoric forest emerge from the sea at Mount’s Bay in Penwith, the farthest tip of Cornwall. These sunken tree trunks date from a time around 4000 years ago when sea levels were much lower than they are today and the island of St Michael’s Mount was just a rocky outcrop surrounded by woodland. The Cornish name for the Mount, ‘Carrek Los yn Cos’ meaning ‘grey rock in the woods’, is a vivid etymological reminder of that forgotten age; an age that some believe saw not only this forest submerged, but also Lyonesse, the ancient kingdom of Arthurian legend, disappear beneath the waves just off Land’s End. In Cornwall as a whole, but in Penwith in particular,…

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Britain (Digital) - 1 Issue, July/Aug 2024

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