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The Great Britain Guide

Beaches · South West England

Porthgwarra

Free admission

Porthgwarra is a beach in the United Kingdom.

Porthgwarra, beaches in South West England

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
1 h–3 h
Best time of year
Summer (Jun–Aug)
  • Free entry
  • Family-friendly
  • Dog-friendly

About

Porthgwarra is a named beach on the United Kingdom coastline. Coordinates: 50.0371°, -5.6722°. This entry is part of The Great Britain Guide, a free, ad-free, open-data tourist directory.

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Protected designations

  • Site of Special Scientific Interest: Porthgwarra to Pordenack Point SSSI
  • Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty: Cornwall

Designations sourced from Natural England open data under OGL v3.

From the Wikipedia article

Porthgwarra (Cornish: Porthgorwydhow) is a small coastal village in the civil parish of St Levan, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom situated between Land's End and Porthcurno. Access to the cove is via a minor road off the B3283 road at Polgigga and leads to the car park in the village. Public conveniences include a pay telephone, a small shop and café. The South West Coast Path passes through Porthgwarra, approximately 90 minutes walk from Land's End and 45 minutes from Porthcurno. The cove and slipway are privately owned, but the public are permitted to quietly and respectfully enjoy them. Swimming in the cove is quite safe, provided swimmers do not go beyond the headland where there are dangerous, strong sea currents. At the foot of the cove's slipway is a tunnel dug by tin miners from St Just to give farmers horse-and-cart access to the beach to collect seaweed to use as a fertiliser. A second tunnel, leading seawards, is the fishermen's access to the tidal 'hulleys' built in the rocks to store shellfish. The 'hulleys', which ceased being used about 20 years ago, had wooden floors and topcovers with trapdoors and were used to store shellfish prior to taking the catch to market once or twice a week. The rope laid down the beach is used to steady boats while landing.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Coordinates
50.0371, -5.6722
District
Cornwall
Parish
St. Levan
Postcode
TR19 6JR
Parliamentary constituency
St Ives

Sources

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Porthgwarra?
Porthgwarra is in South-West England, United Kingdom (postcode TR19 6JR), in the parish of St. Levan.
Is Porthgwarra a protected site?
Yes — Porthgwarra is part of the Porthgwarra to Pordenack Point SSSI Site of Special Scientific Interest and the Cornwall National Landscape (AONB).
Is Porthgwarra free to visit?
Yes, Porthgwarra is free to enter.
How do I get to Porthgwarra?
Drivers can navigate to postcode TR19 6JR. It sits within the St Ives parliamentary constituency.