Southwest trail
Castle Pencaire
Castle Pencaire is an Iron Age hillfort on the summit of Tregonning Hill. This northwest of Breage and north of the A394 off a minor road north of Tresowes Green. It is oval with two ramparts and ditches with east and west entrances. Click here for more on Castle Pencaire
Marazion/Marghasyow
Marazion/Marghasyow is west along the A394 from Breage, about two miles east of Penzance and on the shore of Mounts Bay. The town is recorded in the 1088 Domesday Book. It is a popular tourist destination with a number of art galleries. Click here for more on Marazion/Marghasyow
St Michaels Mount/Karrek Loos y'n Koos
St Michaels Mount/Karrek Loos y'n Koos is offshore from Marghasyow and reached by causeway or ferry at high tide. Linked to the tin industry as a port the island took on a religious significance by the sixth century. Following the Norman Conquest it was granted to the monks of Mont St Michel (on which it is modelled) in France after the support they had given to the Dukes of Normandy. Click here for more on St Michaels Mount/Karrek Loos y'n Koos
Penzance/Pensans
Penzance/Pensans is situated in Mounts Bay facing southeast to the English Channel and bordered to the west by Newlyn. The economy of Penzance is a mixture of tourism, retail and light industry. There are some Georgian and Regency buildings in the town and parts of the Penzance Parish are classified as local conservation areas which also cover Newlyn and Mousehole. Click here for more on Penzance/Pensans
Newlyn/Lulynn
Newlyn/Lulynn is a fishing port and the immediate neighbour of Penzance and fishing continues to be of prime importance today. It is known as the last stopping point for the Mayflower in 1620 before leaving British waters. It was also known in the 1880s and 1890s for The Newlyn School of artists. Click here for more on Newlyn/Lulynn
Mousehole/Porthynys
Mousehole/Porthynys is a Mount Bay fishing village with a very pretty harbour about two and a half miles south of Penzance. The small St Clements Isle lies offshore from the harbour entrance. Mousehole, Penzance, Newlyn and Paul were destroyed in the 1595 raid by Spaniards on Mounts Bay. It is currently known for holding a number of festivals. Click here for more on Mousehole/Porthynys
Lamorna/Nansmornow
Lamorna/Nansmornow is a fishing village and cove on the Penwith Peninsula about four miles south of Penzance and southwest along the coast from Mousehole. It was popular with Newlyn artists. Click here for more on Lamorna/Nansmornow
Merry Maidens Stone Circle
The Merry Maidens or Dans Maen is made up of nineteen granite stones. It is a Neolithic stone circle with the highest stone being 1.4 metres. The diameter is about twenty-four metres and circles of this type are thought to serve a ritual purpose and placed relative to relate astronomical features. Click here for more on Merry Maidens Stone Circle
Tregiffian Burial Chamber
This Neolithic or early Bronze Age chambered tomb. A chamber and passage is covered and walled by stone slabs. A cup marked stone, now in the Royal Cornwall Museum in Truro, was found in the chamber. Click here for more on Tregiffian Burial Chamber
St Buryan/Eglosborrie
St Buryan/Eglosborrie is on the B3283 north of the Merry Maidens circle and about five miles west of Penzance towards Landsend. It is situated in an area with a history of settlement stretching back to the Neolithic period where stone circles and standing stones remain. Other sites relate to the Bronze, Iron Ages and through to the Middle Ages. Click here for more on St Buryan/Eglosborrie
Porthcurno
Porthcurno is a small village off the B3283 southwest from St Buryan and about nine miles west of Penzance close to Lands End. Porthcurno beach is some yards south of the village with Logan Roch headland in the distance. The coastline around the bay is popular with walkers and seen as an area of outstanding beauty. Click here for more on Porthcurno
Porthgwarra
Porthgwarra is a small coastal village between Portcurno and Lands End with access to the beach via a lane off the B3283. The South West Coast Path goes through Portgwarra. Click here for more on Porthgwarra
Lands End/Pedn an Wlas
Lands End/Pedn an Wlas is the extreme south westerly point of the British mainland with the Isles of Scilly about 28 miles to the south west. Offshore are the Longships which are a group of rocks just over a mile west of Lands End. The three largest are Meinek, Tal-y Maen and Carn Bras with two nearer the coast and are a popular location for diving. Click here for more on Lands End/Pedn an Wlas
Sennen/Sen Senan
Sennen/Sen Senan is a village close to Lands Ends. The church is dedicated to St Sinninus with a church of the site dating back to the fifteenth century. Click here for more on Sennen/Sen Senan
Carn Euny
Carn Euny is the remains of a settlement dating from the Iron Age into the Romano-British period. There are several buildings consisting of a dry stone wall around an open courtyard with a dwelling house built into the wall opposite the entrance with lean-to structures along either side. Adjoining the one of the courtyard houses is a fogou. Click here for more on Carn Euny
Boscawen-un Stone Circle
Boscawen Stone Circle is situated beneath the southern slopes of Creeg Tol. An enclosed circular bank built in the 19th century to replace an earlier boundary that bisected the circle. The oval shaped circle is made up of nineteen large upright stones. In the centre of the circle lies a tall stone with two axe carvings on it's north-east face. Click here for more on Boscawen-un Stone Circle
Ballowall Barrow or Carn Gluze
Ballowall is a prehistoric cairn which incorporates other phases of use in the Neolithic and Middle Bronze Age periods. It is located on Ballowall Common on the cliff top south of St Just. The barrow is 72 feet in diameter and is a protected Scheduled Monument. Click here for more on Ballowall Barrow or Carn Gluze
St Just/Lannyust
St Just/Lannyust is a town north of Ballowall Barrow and on the B3306 and is about eight miles west of Penzance. The settlement has a long mining history. The church of St Just was built in 1334 but only part of the chancel remains from that period with the current building dating from the fifteenth century. Click here for more on St Just/Lannyust
St Just Plain-an-Gwarry
Plain-an-Gwarry is a medieval site in the centre of St Just and consists of a large circular enclosure surrounded by a dry stone wall, with entrances on the north and south-east sides. It was used as a meeting place and for entertainment and is the venue for miracle plays performed in the Cornish language. Click here for more on St Just Plain-an-Gwarry