CAPE CORNWALL

CAPE CORNWALL

Cape Cornwall is a small headland four miles north of Land's End and is the point at which Atlantic currents split, either going south up the English Channel, or north into the Bristol Channel and Irish Sea. A little known fact is the definition as to what a "cape" really is. It is a headland where two oceans or channels meet.

The whole area is littered with the picturesque ruins of the mining industry. And the Cape is recognisable by the old chimney on its summit, a relic from the tin-mining days when mine shafts extend out under the sea for hundreds of metres.

HISTORY

Cape Cornwall Mine, a tin mine on Cape Cornwall, operated intermittently between 1838 and 1883. The mine's 1864 chimney near the peak of the cape was retained as an aid to navigation, and in the early 20th century the former ore dressing floors were for a time converted into greenhouses and wineries.

The name Cape Cornwall appeared first on a maritime chart around the year 1600 and the original Cornish name Kilgodh Ust has fallen out of use. In English it translates to "goose-back at St Just", a reference to the shape of the cape.