|
|
 |
|
|
The very essence of the Poldark novels, the images, feelings and history they draw upon are to be found here in St .Agnes.With the lee of a hill
for a pillow and with its feet in the sea, St. Agnes lies comfortably in the heather like an old country giant listening to a distant cuckoo. It is both a country village founded on tin mining and a coastal resort, a
dual character reflected in its history and fine vernacular architecture. Miners cottages, mine owners and agents houses, small farmsteads, the sea captains' cottages of "Stippy Stappy", picturesque engine
houses and mine buildings, the lost harbours of Trevaunance Cove, the old market standings of Churchtown, all evoke times when values and fortunes were different. Today's businesses, shops and hotels, fishing boats,
village events and deep family ties, maintain continuity with this past. |
|
|
|
The visitor to St. Agnes cannot fail to be impressed by St. Agnes Beacon. Now owned by the National Trust, St. Agnes derives its old
Cornish name, Bryanick (pointed or prominent hill), from this dominant landmark, its 629 feet appearing all the greater because of its isolation in the landscape. |
|
|
|
|
|
St. Agnes is often described as a friendly retreat. Its people have a strong sense of history and a great love of home; perhaps it is this pervading
warmth that affects those who stay here.Topped by bronze age barrows and once part of the chain of beacon fires apparently used to warn of the Spanish Armade, St. Agnes Beacon represents the antiquity of the area
both in geological and human terms. From its summit may be seen 30 parish churches, both Cornish coasts, part of Devon and, at night, the lights of 12 lighthouses. As one passionate 19th century St. Agnes man put it
"... and theere you can see oal the world to waunce a 'moast." Without doubt the cliffs and coves of the nationally recognised St. Agnes Heritage Coast and the mix of wildlife that meets at its interface
with the sea, represent one of St. Agnes's greatest assets. Swept by thousands of miles of ocean winds, sometimes visited by turtles, sunfish, porpoises and dolphins, this home of seals and seabirds is sometimes grand,
always wild, rocky and precipitous and highly romantic. |
|
|
|
|
|
Free car parking at St. Agnes makes any shopping trip to the village an added pleasure. The range of shops at St Agnes is much greater
than might be expected for its size and all the daily needs of the visitor may be met, including opportunities to purchase that special holiday souvenir or example of locally produced art or craft work.
|
|
|
|
|
There are four pubs full of character in and around the village which together with over ten restaurants and cafes make it impossible to sample from
over two dozen menus in the area. |
|
