Crantock
Crantock is one of the best preserved country villages in Cornwall and one which captures the imagination of an increasingly large number of visitors.
Crantock Bay boasts one of the best beaches in Cornwall, with its massive expanse of golden sand, offering ideal conditions for both swimming and surfing. Apart from its beauty it is full of legends and ancient history. Tales of ‘lost cities’ never fail to stir the imagination and Crantock, according to tradition, is built above the lost city of Langarroc, which is supposed to have been the largest city in Britain and is reputed to have covered an area extending over Crantock and Cubert and probably almost as far as Perranporth.
Cubert
The high hedges of Cornwall’s by-ways make it difficult sometimes to get a panoramic view showing the beauty of the countryside as a whole; but the village of Cubert, four miles from Newquay, is built on high ground and from the little churchyard you can see for miles around, over the sandhills, where the ancient oratory of St. Piran stands and out across the sea to St. Ives Bay, where the reflections of the town lights twinkle and dance on the sea.
The little village has much of the dim and distant past still in evidence today, and John Wesley was a frequent visitor to Cubert, where he stayed with his great friend, Mr. Hosken at Carines Farm. The Hoskens were than large landowners, whose estate included the manor of Ellenglaze.
Holywell
Just west of Cubert and on the way to Holywell Bay is the restored fourteenth century Holy Well at Trevornick Farm. According to the inscription above the well it is believed to have been the well of St. Cubertus, from whom the village of Cubert (‘City on a Hill’) derived its name.
On the beach at Holywell, which is one mile from Cubert, is the cave which gave the neighbourhood its name. It consists of a series of natural rock basins and can only be reached at low tide by a natural flight of steps which lead up to it from the mouth of the cave. At one time pilgrims made the journey to the well from all parts of Cornwall, especially the infirm, as the waters were said to have miraculous healing properties.
When visiting the holy well, please make sure you have checked the tide times so as not to be cut off by the incoming tide.
