Walk - Crantock & Penpol Creek

1.7 miles (2.7 km)

The Warren Car Park, Crantock Beach Crantock Car Park

Easy - Reasonably level, with one gentle climb at the start

A short walk offering beautiful views over a tranquil estuary and the sweeping Atlantic coast, as well as the chance to explore the pretty coastal village of Crantock. Children will love the long sandy beach backed by dunes, and the stories of ancient saints arriving on peculiar boats and a wicked population buried in sand! A great walk in springtime: listen out for kittiwakes nesting on the cliffs, corn buntings feeding in the fields and great spotted woodpeckers drumming in the woodland. Great in summer too: the sound of birdsong along this part of the walk on a sunny evening is a real treat.

There are a range of wonderful places to lay your head near the Coast Path for a well-earned sleep. From large and luxurious hotels, to small and personable B&B's, as well as self-catering options and campsites. The businesses that support the Path, where you've chosen to visit, are listed here.

Parkdean Resorts Crantock Beach Holiday Park

Overlooking the sea, the caravan park is just 5 minutes’ walk from the beach, the Path and the village of Crantock. A fantastic location with brilliant facilities.

Pentire Hotel Ltd

•Award-winning breakfasts and 75 rooms, some with Fistral Bay views. Relax in our indoor pool. Enjoy a drink with dinner. Some rooms are dog-friendly, so all welcome!

Blue Room Hostel Newquay

Hostel located near Grear Western Beach. Great access to the Gannel and/ or coast to Padstow. Dorm beds or double rooms.

Trevornick Holiday Park

Trevornick offers a range of 5* accommodation from camping to luxury lodges, onsite restaurant/cafe and bar, entertainment, golf courses, fishing, swimming pool and more.

Parkdean Resorts Holywell Bay Holiday Park

Whether you want peaceful relaxation or family fun, you’ll find it all here. Located just 10 minutes stroll from the beach.

Porth Sands Penthouse

Porth Sands Penthouse is a beautiful romantic beach apartment, situated right on Porth Beach in Porth, Newquay, Cornwall, with stunning views across the bay

Coastal Valley Camp and Crafts

Gold award winning rustic family eco campsite. Woodfired Horsebox catering Food and Cocktail barn. Holistic yurt. Topped off with Platinium awarded toilet and showers

Parkdean Resorts Newquay Holiday Park

An action packed site with 3 outdoor pools. Close to Newquay's 11 unforgettable beaches.
You'll be spoilt for choice for where to eat and drink along the Path. With lots of local seasonal food on offer, fresh from the farm, field and waters. Try our local ales, ciders, wines and spirits, increasing in variety by the year, as you sit in a cosy pub, fine dining restaurant or chilled café on the beach. The businesses that support the Path, where you've chosen to visit, are listed here.

Bowgie Inn Ltd

With unrivalled sea views, lots of seating inside & out, The Bowgie Inn & the surrounding area is the perfect place to explore all year round!

Beach Box, Morgan Porth

situated by the beach, we welcome you year-round with locally-made food and drinks from our St Minver prep kitchen. Enjoy a variety of options indoors or outdoors with stunning views. We offer vegan and GF options. so, come and say hi.

Jampen Cafe Newquay Football Golf

Licensed on the cliff Cafe on Trevelgue Head. Surrounded by beaches. Beach huts also available from £10.00 per day. We also have football and crazy golf for the energetic

What is on your list of things to do when you visit the Path? From walking companies, to help you tailor your visit, with itineraries and experts to enhance your visit, to baggage transfer companies and visitor attractions there are lots to people and places to help you decide what you'd like to do. The businesses that support the Path, where you've chosen to visit, are listed here.

Visit Newquay Tourist Information Centre

We are dedicated to both the promotion of Newquay and to help you make the most of your visit to Newquay and Cornwall! Open 7days a week.

Paul David Smith Photography Courses

Improve your photography whilst taking in some of Cornwall's best views with Paul's range of photography courses.

Interactive Elevation

Route Description

  1. From the car park entrance, walk back up the road into the village of Crantock.If time allows, take a few minutes to look around the historic buildings.

The Cornish coast is full of legends of ancient saints arriving in a variety of unusual vessels to set up hermitages and convert the locals to Christianity. Historians believe that there was an influx of Celtic missionaries from Ireland, Wales and Brittany in the fifth and sixth centuries when the area was under threat from pagan Anglo-Saxon invaders. A few miles to the south, St Piran arrived on a millstone from Ireland, landing on Perran Sands and subsequently becoming Cornwall's most famous saint. Here in Crantock, the saint was Carantoc, who is said to have arrived on an altar in the sixth century. Like St Piran, he built an oratory, a simple chapel near a well. The 'Round Orchard' in the centre of Crantock village is thought to be the site of this chapel, and in the centre of the village, there is a seventeenth-century well, known as St Carantoc's Well.

The stained glass windows in the parish church of St Carantoc depict St Carantoc's life story. The church is Norman, although it was restored at the start of the twentieth century, and it is well-known for its woodcarving.

There was another saint here in medieval days: St Ambrose, also known as St Ambrusca. His chapel was first recorded in 1309 when Bishop Lacy granted 40 days indulgence to all pilgrims visiting the chapel. Although the chapel ruins were still visible in the churchyard in the eighteenth century, there is no sign of them today. However, St Ambrusca's Well can be seen beside Beach Road, with a modern door depicting the Celtic saint in the style of the bohemian artist Modigliani.

  1. On reaching the village, fork left along Green Lane. Turn left after the bus shelter and then cross the road and onto Vosporth Hill.
  2. Having followed the lane up to the crest of the hill, climb over the stone stile that faces you as the road turns sharp right. (If you find stiles difficult, you can follow the lane around to the right and then turn left onto Penpol Hill to join the path at the other end of the field). Cross the field and climb over the stone stile at the other side before turning left down the lane.
  3. Keeping the beautiful old farm of Penpol on your left, follow Penpol Hill until you see the Coast Path sign on the left-hand side of the road. Take this path through the kissing gate and follow it across the field and through the copse alongside the creek. At another kissing gate, you will emerge from the wood onto a more open area beside the Gannel Estuary.

Penpol Creek ('penpol' in Cornish means 'head of the creek'), is an inlet off the River Gannel. It was once known as the Port of Truro, and goods landed here were taken by cart or packhorse up the track to Trevemper, an important commercial centre three miles upstream. At low tide, you can still see the quays, steps, mooring rings and chains along the wooded western shoreline of Penpol Creek. Other vessels brought their cargoes into Fern Pit, across the water from Penpol, and this was then transferred to shallow-draught barges to be carried on the flood tide up to Trevemper, at the tidal limit of the river, where there is still a packhorse bridge today.

Until as late as the end of the nineteenth century the Gannel was used extensively by shipping. Iron ore from the Great Perran Iron Lode was brought here to be shipped to Wales, and Welsh coal was brought back for the Truro smelting works. There was also a lead and silver smelting works on this bank of the river. A lime kiln at Penpol is still visible today, where coal and limestone were burnt together to make lime, used mainly as a fertiliser.

  1. Keep the estuary on your right-hand side and admire the fantastic location and views that the properties opposite command.
  2. Keep to the path and you will gently climb until you emerge at a crest of the hill and are rewarded with stunning views out over Crantock Beach to the Atlantic. Continue along the path until it drops down to the car park where you started.

Although you wouldn't believe it to look at the dunes today, this was once the site of the Lost City of Langarrow, buried by a sandstorm over 900 years ago. It is claimed to have been the largest city of its type in England. It had no fewer than seven churches, each with its own churchyard. Archaeologists have found extensive burial sites throughout the area, dating right back to prehistoric times, and human remains have been found in many of Crantock's cottage gardens. 

Langarrow was a land of plenty, with large tracts of richly productive agricultural land, mines yielding an abundance of tin and lead and a sea said to be overflowing with many different kinds of fish. Convicted criminals were brought here from all over the country to work in the fields and mines. They dredged the sand from the Gannel and built a harbour at its mouth. They lived in rough huts on the moorland outside the city and their principal food was the cockles and mussels they gathered from the shore. The landowners here, according to the legends, lived a life of luxury which soon turned to sin, calling down the wrath of God. A savage storm blew up, lasting for three days and three nights. The sand dunes from Crantock to Perran were formed. They wiped the city of sin from the face of the earth.

  1. Before dashing off, take a wander over the dunes to admire the beach or visit the little church up on the hill (to the left of the road up to the village).

There are a couple of pubs near the church too, which will enable you to quench your thirst!

Public transport

Bus services to Crantock run from Truro and from Newquay. For timetable information, zoom in on the interactive map and click on the bus stops, visit Traveline or phone 0871 200 22 33.

Parking

National Trust Car Park (on sand) at the start of the walk (Postcode for Sat Navs: TR8 5RB).

Nearby Events

  • Lucy Daniel Guide - Walks & Tours For All

    Various Dates Available  |  Organised by Lucy Daniel Guide

    Join award-winning walker and guide Lucy Daniel for pre-organised or bespoke tours in Cornwall. Whether you're an individual looking for someone to join you on a walk to help you gain confidence, a family on holiday looking for a fascinating insight into local life, or even a group of friends looking for insights into local TV filming locations, Lucy is committed to providing memorable experiences for all.

  • Macmillan Mighty Hikes - Cornwall Coast

    31 August 2024  |  Organised by Threshold Sports on behalf of Macmillan

    Hike a full or half marathon Mighty Hike through the fishing port of Padstow, passing spectacular coastlines and beaches finishing in Newquay

Nearby Walks

close
close

Walk Finder

Find...

Postcode, placename or click the icon to use current location

Click/hold and drag the map to set the centre point of your search location under the red crosshair

from this location

Difficulty

Length (miles)

Themes

close

Find somewhere to Eat & Drink, Sleep or Do

Find...

Postcode, placename or click the icon to use current location

Click/hold and drag the map to set the centre point of your search location under the red crosshair

from this location
close

Interactive Map

close

Latest news