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Published: November 1st 2007
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Unbelievable
Standing at the tip of Tintagel Island was incredible. No fences around the sheer cliffs, just grass, stones, sky and the sea boiling against the rocks below. The stunned expression didn't leave my face all day! If you haven't been, you should plan a trip to Tintagel. If you've been lucky enough to visit, then like me, you probably hope to return one day. It's just that sort of place.
When I started planning my travels, a friend gave me very firm advice to visit. The castle had made such an impression on her that I was intrigued, and never having heard of it, looked it up in my guidebook to learn more. Very shortly it was high on my "must see" list. It was a bit of a mission to get to without a car - people with vehicles will find it within easy reach, but there aren't really any major nearby towns for public transport links. I was travelling from Penzance, so had to catch a coach early in the morning, then change to a local bus in Wadebridge.
The town, now called Tintagel after the castle, is small and pretty - a row of small houses and shops all leading down the high street towards the sea. Cornish flags (black with a white cross) flutter above many of the doorways. The Tourist Information Centre is crammed full of eye-catching boards displaying the
Ancient cliff dwellings
on Tintagel Island, further around than the castle, and much more exposed. history and geology of the area, and the staff there are lovely. They took care of my big bag for me, allowing me to skip off down the street to the castle, footloose and fancy free with only my daypack on my back. At the end of the road, a steep path dips down, and I wondered as I descended whether I would have to return by the same route...
The walk down is pleasant, beside a stream running through scrub, heather and the footprints of ruined cottages - but English Heritage, who look after the castle, do operate a landrover pickup service for people unable or unwilling to take the 15 minute-ish walk. (You do indeed have to return by the same path, and my 10 minutes skipping downhill equalled 15 minutes hard slog back up!) The path leads down to the cafe and shop on the edge of a small cliff. Below, the swirling waters are an impossible brilliant green-blue, and on the rocky outcrop far above is the place you have come to see.
High on a dramatic headland and joined to Tintagel Island by a narrow neck of rock and hundreds of wooden stairs,
If Dr Suess were to model a castle...
Tintagel ruins do have a rather cartoonish aspect, in comparison with some of the stately ruins I have seen - but standing next to them on their clifftop setting they are majestic. the ruins are the remains of Richard, Earl of Cornwall's thirteenth century castle. It's in two halves, with the entrance and some buildings on the mainland and the rest of the castle, including the Duke's rooms and the Great Hall, on the island. Any disabled access ends here - the castle is reachable only by step steps on either side, a tough climb, since the views take your breath away just as much as the exercise.
I started with the island, finding a guardroom and then the ruins of the Great Hall right at the top of the steps. The walls here have a lean to them - as the sides of the cliff errode, the castle has been gradually slipping into the sea. Conservation work helps keeps the cliffs stable, but no amount of work human hands can carry out is going to stop the eventual decay in this inhospitable environment - the wind, waves and rain lash invincibly at the stone and rock day in, day out.
Further around the island is evidence of dwellings prior to the Earl's castle. Archaeologists have uncovered remains from settlements here as early as the fifth century, including some pottery
Natural spire
A finger of rock sticking out of the cliff. The background shows the coast of Cornwall stretching south. Somewhere past the distant blue blur are the Land's End and Lizard peninsulas. of foreign make, proving it was a wealthy, well connected community. A latin inscription has also been uncovered, although so far there is no reason to believe any Roman occupiers lived here. Stories of the area include the Celtic tale of Tristan and Iseult's doomed love, but the greatest and most enduring legend of Tintagel is its status as the birthplace of the mighty King Arthur. This would certainly have given the Earl extra prestige when he lived here, and could even have been the reason he chose this place for his early mediaeval stronghold.
The mainland half of the castle has a heavily fortified (although mostly collapsed) gateway, and probably served as a guardroom and quarters, to further protect the entrance to the castle on the island. Further along the cliff is the church: gaily coloured processions of monks and castle folk would have processed along the windy clifftop on holy days above the raging seas - this really is a place where fantasy and legend collide with historical fact.
Tintagel is the kind of place where anything might be possible. Zig-zagging over the green turf, my hair flying in the wind, I believed in Arthur, and
his knights, Richard's mediaeval court seemed only a hair's-breadth away in another dimension, and faith in God and life and love was easy. I admired the contrasting skies and seas in this place where the two crash together... and if you think I am going a bit over the top in rapture, you clearly need to plan your visit to Tintagel now. I loved every minute I was there, and was very sorry to leave the enchanted castle.
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