Su Bayfield
Gurnard's Head
It's nice to know a bit of the history of a place I walk regularly.
Gurnards Head is a promontary north of the hamlet of Treen in the parish of Zennor, Cornwall and the strange name is supposed to reflect the fact that the rocky peninsula resembles the head of the gurnard fish. The South West Coast Path crosses the southern part of the headland in an area designated as part of the Penwith Heritage Coast and also is part of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The headland itself is the site of an Iron Age promontory fort known as Trereen Dinas and you can still make out the vague rocky shapes of hut platforms (a total of 18 have been identified) where people would have lived over 2000 years ago, as well as the defensive ramparts and ditches.
To the east of the headland is the remains of an engine house, now poorly preserved, belonging to Treen Copper Mine, later renamed Gurnard's Head Mine. There are two small coves to the east of, and sheltered by Gurnard's Head; Treen Cove and Rose-an-Hale Cove. In the late 1900s the Gurnard's Head seine fishery was flourishing and the company employed twenty-four men with ten boats and two seines, selling fresh pilchards locally. Today, the cove is popular with tourists and locals in the summer, but it's quite a treacherous climb down the cliffs to get to the beach.
Gurnard's Head
It's nice to know a bit of the history of a place I walk regularly.
Gurnards Head is a promontary north of the hamlet of Treen in the parish of Zennor, Cornwall and the strange name is supposed to reflect the fact that the rocky peninsula resembles the head of the gurnard fish. The South West Coast Path crosses the southern part of the headland in an area designated as part of the Penwith Heritage Coast and also is part of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The headland itself is the site of an Iron Age promontory fort known as Trereen Dinas and you can still make out the vague rocky shapes of hut platforms (a total of 18 have been identified) where people would have lived over 2000 years ago, as well as the defensive ramparts and ditches.
To the east of the headland is the remains of an engine house, now poorly preserved, belonging to Treen Copper Mine, later renamed Gurnard's Head Mine. There are two small coves to the east of, and sheltered by Gurnard's Head; Treen Cove and Rose-an-Hale Cove. In the late 1900s the Gurnard's Head seine fishery was flourishing and the company employed twenty-four men with ten boats and two seines, selling fresh pilchards locally. Today, the cove is popular with tourists and locals in the summer, but it's quite a treacherous climb down the cliffs to get to the beach.