Coverack ( kw, Porthkovrek, meaning ''cove of the stream'') is a coastal village and fishing port in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, England. It lies in the parish of

St Keverne St Keverne ( kw, Pluw Aghevran (parish), Lannaghevran (village)) is a civil parish and village on The Lizard in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. In addition to the parish, an electoral ward exists called ''St Keverne and Meneage''. This str ...

, on the east side of the

Lizard peninsula The Lizard ( kw, An Lysardh) is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at SW 701115; Lizard village, also known as The Lizard, is the most souther ...

about south of Falmouth. Coverack has several hotels and a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory, with shared use of a lounge and sometimes a kitchen. Rooms can be mixed or single-sex and have private or shared ...

. The area is a centre for watersports, particularly

wind surfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' ( sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' ( iceboat) or on ''land'' ( land yacht) over a chose ...

and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

. The nearby rocks known as

the Manacles The Manacles ( kw, Meyn Eglos, meaning ''church stones'') () are a set of treacherous rocks off The Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. The rocks are rich in marine wildlife and they are a popular spot for diving due to the many shipwrecks. Traditio ...

have been the site of many shipwrecks and as a consequence are now a favourite diving destination.

Geography

Near the

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises ...

is Poldowrian Garden which includes a prehistoric settlement discovered in 1965, dated by archaeologists at 5500 BC. Finds from the site are available for viewing. The roads to Coverack cross

Goonhilly Downs Goonhilly Satellite Earth Station is a large radiocommunication site located on Goonhilly Downs near Helston on the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall, England. Owned by Goonhilly Earth Station Ltd under a 999-year lease from BT Group plc, it ...

(famous for the BT satellite earth station). "Coverack Cove and Dolor Point" SSSI ( Site of Special Scientific Interest) is one of the most famous geological localities in Cornwall, providing an almost continuous section across a mantle-crust boundary. Other nearby SSSI are

Coverack to Porthoustock Coverack to Porthoustock is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Cornwall, England, UK, noted for both its biological and geological characteristics. The site contains four Red Data Book plant species. Geography The site, n ...

and

Kennack to Coverack Kennack to Coverack is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, England, UK, noted for both its biological and geological interest. It is of botanical importance, with 8 Red Data Book of rare an ...

Coverack, Cornwall, England 11Sept2017 arp

Coverack harbour, Cornwall, England 11Sept2017 arp

Coverack lies within the

Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers in Cornwall, England, UK; that is, about 27% of the total area of the county. It comprises 12 separate areas, designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 for ...

(AONB).

History

St Peter's Church

St Peter's was consecrated on 20 August 1885 by the

Bishop of Truro The Bishop of Truro is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Truro in the Province of Canterbury. History There had been between the 9th and 11th centuries a Bishopric of Cornwall until it was merged with Credito ...

. The church overlooks the cove on land donated by Mr Trevennen and cost £500. Built in the Early English style, the footings are in local granite, the walls of red,

Bridgewater Bridgewater or Bridgwater may refer to: Companies * Bridgewater Associates, global investment manager * Bridgewater Systems, Canadian software company Education * Bridgewater College, Virginia, United States * Bridgewater High School (disambi ...

brick, with the dressings of

Breage Breage or Breaca (with many variant spellings) is a saint venerated in Cornwall and South West England. According to her late hagiography, she was an Irish nun of the 5th or 6th century who founded a church in Cornwall. The village and civil par ...

granite. The village hall was built in 1885.

Coverack lifeboat

The

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...

(RNLI) stationed a

lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

at Coverack in 1901 following the wreck of the SS ''Mohegan'' on The Manacles in 1898 with the loss of more than 100 lives. A boat house with a slipway was built on the harbour. The all-weather lifeboat was withdrawn in May 1972 and replaced by a D-class inshore inflatable. The station was closed completely in October 1978 following the allocation of a faster boat to

Falmouth Lifeboat Station Falmouth Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Falmouth, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. The first lifeboat was stationed in the town in 1867 and the present station was op ...

. A coxswain of the Coverack lifeboat, Archie Rowe, was a subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1958 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ A ...

at the BBC Television Theatre. The following lifeboats were stationed at Coverack:

Christmas swim

Every year on Christmas Day, the villagers and holiday makers turn out to watch volunteers swim in the harbour in aid of charity. This tradition has gone on for nearly 50 years and has raised thousands of pounds for Cancer Research.

July 2017 flash flood

On 18 July 2017 the village was hit by a flash flood. Roads were blocked and hailstones the size of 50 pence pieces (30 mm) smashed windows. Heavy rainfall hit at about 15:00 BST. The coastguard was needed to airlift two people who were trapped on the roof of a house.

References

External links

Coverack village web site
{{authority control Villages in Cornwall Populated coastal places in Cornwall Ports and harbours of Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall St Keverne