Walk - Trelawne - Bishop's Walk

2.5 miles (4.0 km)

Trelawne Manor - PL13 2NA Trelawne Manor

Easy - A stroll through the woodland around Trelawne Manor and down to the West Looe River, returning along a quiet country lane.

A stroll through the woodland around Trelawne Manor and down to the West Looe River, returning along a quiet country lane. People have lived here since Stone Age times, and there are many historical features around the walk, including some from the days of Pelynt's most famous son, Bishop Trelawny, the central figure of Cornwall's national anthem.

 

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.

Talland Bay Hotel

Luxury hotel on a secluded stretch of Cornish coast The true spirit of Cornwall lies to the South East. Undiscovered and unspoilt. Away from the crowds, in a quiet nook.

Studio Cottage Talland Bay

Experience the Beauty of Cornish Coastal Living at its Best - Self-Catering in Talland Bay for 10 max

Old Vicarage Talland

Beautifully refurbished former Vicarage sleeping up to 15 in luxury, with direct access onto the SW Coast path.

Great Kellow Farm Caravan & Campsite

*Budget* Situated above the beautiful village of Polperro. We are a quiet family & dog friendly campsite. The campsite has sea views and easy access to country and coastal walks.

Bridgeside Guest House

A family run Victorian Guest House situated in the heart of Looe with bar, outdoor area and harbour views. A stone's throw from Looe's many shops and restaurants and 5 minutes from the coast path.

Room at number 9

Bedroom in a 2 bedroomed bungalow, access to a shared bathroom. Within 5 min walk from coast path. King sized bed, breakfast extra. .

House on the Props

B&B & Restaurant.16th Century timber building 'propped' up over the river on old ships timbers. On the Path overlooking Polperro Harbour & Quay

Landaviddy Farm B&B

Situated just a 10 minute walk from Polperro and close to beautiful Lansallos & Lantic beaches. 2 ensuite bedrooms, ample parking.

Hannafore Point Hotel, West Looe

Hannafore Point Hotel & Spa in Looe offering Well Appointed AA 3 Star Accommodation with Stunning Views across Looe Bay, Restaurant & Bistro for Residents and Non-Residents, Indoor leisure Facilities, Spa and Beauticians.

FOX VALLEY COTTAGES

Fox Valley Cottages, beautiful rural holiday cottages just a few miles from Lantivet, Lansallos & Lantic bays. With indoor pool, hot tub & sauna, plus dog & boot wash.

Highertown Farm Campsite

Campsite sits 3/4 of a mile from the secluded beach of Lansallos Cove. A simple site with basic facilities where guests can relax and enjoy the beautiful setting without distractions.

Looe Country Park

A quiet site with great views offering a choice of hard standing or grass pitches, camping pods and static caravans. Hot showers and a small shop for essentials.

East Trenean Farm Luxury Holiday Cottages

Four luxury holiday cottages sleeping 2-20, each with wonderful rural views, private hot tubs and gardens, storage for walkers equipment and EV charging.

Mount Brioni Holiday Apartments

Situated on the South West Coast Path and two minutes from Seaton beach , Mount Brioni is a collection of 1 or 2 bedroom holiday apartments with incredible sea views.

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.

Catch

Award winning Fish & Chip shop on Looe harbour with gluten-free and vegan options. Featured in Beyond Paradise TV show. Click & collect via website.

Rosslyn Café

Small café and take away situated in the heart of Lansallos servinging hot and cold drinks, sweet treats and savoury pastries.

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.

Looe Tourist Information

Find all the information you need on places to stay, eat and drink and visit in the Looe area

Motts Sauna

Beautiful wood fired sauna set in natural beach and river side locations in south east Cornwall. Find us on the south west coast path at mount Edgcumbe and Millendreath.

Interactive Elevation

Route Description

  1. Going through the main entrance into Trelawne Manor Holiday Park, take the second turning on the left and then fork right by the car park to take the path on the left a moment later.

The 1086 Domesday Book lists the manor of Trelawne as 'Trewellogen/Trevelloien: Reginald from Count of Mortain. Manor house, home of the Trelawney family, who settled here before the Conquest.' The Trelawny family tree in England runs from Eduni de Trelone, who was born in 1087, but it was not until 1600 that the family came to own the manor, when Elizabeth I sold it to Sir Jonathan Trelawny after it had been confiscated from Henry Grey (Duke of Suffolk and the father of Lady Jane Grey). The estate stayed in Trelawny hands after this until 1920.

In 1284 Trelawne was known as Trevelowen, meaning 'Elm Tree Farm' in Cornish, but by 1725 this had changed to its present name.

The current manor house was not built until 1450, although the north-west stair turret is though to be late thirteenth century. It was rebuilt in the eighteenth century, when Edward Trelawny erected a new wing after a fire, and remodelled again in the nineteenth century by the Cornish architect J P St Aubyn, who also reconstructed the chapel, built just after 1700. The bell in the clock tower is inscribed '1665 B P J Trelauny'.

This was the famous Bishop Trelawny, who was born here in 1650. After an illustrious academic career at Oxford, he was ordained in 1673 and appointed as Rector of Southill and then St. Ives in 1677. A staunch Royalist, he supported King James II in the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685 and was rewarded by the king with the Bishopric of Bristol.

However, when James granted religious tolerance to the Catholics in his 1687/8 Declaration of Indulgence, and ordered that it should be read out in every church in the land, Trelawny refused to do so. He was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London, along with six other bishops who also stood out against the declaration, and they were charged with 'seditious libel'. Three weeks later the trial was held, and there were celebrations throughout the country when he was acquitted and released.

Shortly afterwards, James again found his crown under threat, this time from William of Orange, and he offered Trelawny the Bishopric of Exeter. Sir Jonathan turned it down, instead offering his allegiance to William, who duly made him Bishop of Exeter himself in 1688, after defeating James. In 1707 he was appointed Bishop of Winchester, and he stayed there until his death in 1721, when his body was brought back to be buried in Pelynt.

  1. Follow the path through the holiday park, past the lake and the waterworks and around the edge of Ten Acre Wood.

In the Domesday Book, Trelawne Manor was rated at 'two carves and half, two servants, and ten acres of wood'.

There were inhabitants here long before the eleventh century, however. In the field above Ten Acre Wood, archaeologists investigated faint traces of a bank and ditch and found them to be the relics of an Iron Age or Romano British round, or fort, dating to somewhere between 800 BC and AD 409. There have also been many finds around Trelawne of leaf arrowheads, flint blades and other stone tools dating back to the Stone Age, and there are numerous ancient sites elsewhere around the district.

  1. When the path forks a little further on, take the left-hand path to walk downhill through the wood, curving around into Polzion Wood, until you come to a path running steeply downhill to the right.
  2. Turn right onto the track and follow it to the road.

This is Kiln Wood. On the river bank is an old lime kiln, once used to make fertiliser by burning limestone, which was brought here by boat.

To the south east, on your right as you walk downhill, is Kilminorth Wood, an ancient semi-natural woodland which has been continuously wooded since before Bishop Trelawny was born. A massive earthwork, known as the Giant's Hedge and thought to be a territorial boundary from the Dark Ages, stretches all the way from Kilminorth to Lerryn, a distance of some ten miles. Although much of it has disappeared over the centuries, in places it is up to 15 feet high and 24 feet wide.

  1. Turn left on the road, walking along the edge of the wood to the junction.

Here the West Looe River winds along beside you, rising from a series of springs near Dobwalls. Much closer is St Nonna's Well, just a mile or so upstream, one of Cornwall's many holy wells and a site for modern-day pilgrims, who tuck small offerings into the crevices around the site: money, ribbons, crystals, notes. Maybe this is because of an old rhyme attached to the well:

If you visit the well of St.Nonna,

be sure to leave a gift of pins,

for those who fail to place such items,

will be haunted by the moths of sin!

Another legend tells of a farmer who took a fancy to the granite basin in the well, but whose various attempts to steal it were thwarted by the well itself, resulting in his finally either him or his oxen being killed on the spot (depending on the version you hear!)

Overshadowed by an oak tree whose roots began to undermine it, the well was restored by the Trelawny family in the nineteenth century under the supervision of Cornish historian Arthur Quiller Couch. Like the chapel which once existed nearby, licensed in 1400, the well was dedicated to St Nonna, one of Cornwall's 200 Celtic saints and the mother of the Welsh saint, David.

  1. At the junction fork left to walk back to Trelawne Manor.

On the far side of the spur to your right as you approach Trelawne Barton is another Iron Age hillfort, known as Hall Rings, although, like the round at Ten Acre Wood, much of it has been eradicated through ploughing. There are a number of other possible sites for Iron Age or Romano British hillforts in the immediate area, including St Non's Camp, near St Nonna's Well, an enclosure built in a figure of eight and thought to have used to guard the river crossing below it. Archaeologists also suggested that Pelynt churchyard may have been built on a round, given its shape and location, but no trace of one was found when it was excavated for roadworks. There is another in a field at Barcelona which, although also heavily ploughed, is visible in aerial photographs.

Barcelona is thought to have acquired its name after Bishop Trelawny's second son, Harry, fought in the War of the Spanish Succession, defending Barcelona in 1705.

Trelawne Barton was built around 1690 by Bishop Trelawney and was the manor's home farm. It is now owned by local historian and Cornish Bard, Carol Vivian, author of many books on Cornish history, some of which are available in Trelawne Manor and Pelynt Church. Thanks go to Carol Vivian for her expert help.

Public transport

Frequent buses run between Polperro, Looe and Liskeard. For timetable information, zoom in on the interactive map and click on the bus stops, visit Traveline or phone 0871 200 22 33

 

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