Crantock ( kw, Lanngorrow) is a coastal

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authorit ...

and a village 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 Atlantic ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

. The village is approximately two miles (3 km) southwest of Newquay. Crantock dates back to 460 AD when a group of Irish hermits founded an oratory there. The village lies to the south of the

River Gannel The River Gannel ( kw, Dowr Gwyles, meaning '' lovage river'') rises in the village of Indian Queens in mid Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It flows north under Trevemper Bridge and becomes a tidal estuary, the Gannel ( kw, An Ganel, meaning ...

which forms a natural boundary between the parishes of Newquay and Crantock. The River Gannel is tidal and ferries operate on a seasonal basis from Fern Pit to Crantock Beach. The River Gannel runs along Crantock Beach and joins the Atlantic Ocean. The village can be reached from the A3075 road via the junction at Trevemper. The hamlets of Treninnick and West Pentire are in the parish. Large parts of the parish are now in the ownership of the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, including West Pentire headland which is a Site of Special Scientific Interest noted for its wild flowers and rare plants.

History and antiquities

The older part of the village is situated around its church which is dedicated to St Carantoc, founder of the village. At one time the parish was known as ''Langurroc'' which translates as – ''The Dwelling of Monks''. There is a Langurroc Road in the village. Langurroc was infamously (among locals) covered up in a sandstorm and may well lie beneath the sand dunes which back Crantock Beach. St Carantoc's Church was founded in Norman times and was originally cruciform, but was reconstructed in the 14th and 15th centuries: restoration was carried out during the period 1899–1902 by E. H. Sedding, who died in 1921 and is buried in the churchyard. The font is Norman and the rood screen is much restored. The church was collegiate from ca. 1236 to the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

. Treringey Round near Treninnick is an ancient Iron Age settlement.Treringey Round
The Megalithic Portal

Village hall and annual events

The local village hall has recently undergone a transformation, with money from the National Lottery, the awarding of which was featured on ITV's ''Westcountry Live'' television programme. The playing field on which the hall is situated was also given a new lease of life and now includes a basketball hoop, climbing facilities, and cricket and football pitches. The village hall is now three times larger than it was and was the centrepiece of 2007's annual "Jazz in the Park". The village also hosts a street fair known as the "Crantock Summer Fiesta" which has a coconut shy, tombola, raffle and many other stalls. In 2006, the village held its second annual ''"big bale push"'' involving locals pushing tightly packed straw cylinders around the roads of the village, which are closed for the event. Crantock now holds the

Guinness record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

for bale pushing.The first event raised over £800 and in the ensuing years the total has grown to over £50,000 which has been donated to key charities close to the heart of the local community.

Beaches

Carving of woman and inscription at Crantock Beach, Cornwall

Like several other sandy beaches in the Newquay area, Crantock Beach is popular for surfing. There are car parks at Crantock Beach and West Pentire. The beach is backed by sand dunes. At the left hand side of the beach, low tide reveals a carving into a rock, showing a picture of a woman's face, and the inscription "Mar not my face but let me be, Secure in this lone cave by the sea, Let the wild waves around me roar, Kissing my lips for evermore". Supposedly, in the early 20th century a woman was horse riding along Crantock Beach. She and her horse were cut off as the tide came in and the rough seas swept them away, drowning them both. Her distraught lover carved a poem into a rock in a cave on the beach, along with a portrait of his lost love and her horse. The carvings are said to be the work of a local man, Joseph Prater. The coastal footpath skirts all along the west side of the parish. Walking from Crantock the path leads to a sandy cove called Porth Joke, also known as "Polly Joke". Its name comes from the Cornish "''porth lojowek''" meaning "cove abounding in vegetation". In later Cornish this became ''Por Lejowak''. This cove is entirely surrounded by National Trust land and has been virtually unchanged over the centuries. Further along the coast path is the village of Holywell, with a larger sandy beach at Holywell Bay.

Twinning

* Karanteg, Brittany, France

References

* Henderson, Charles (1928) ''St Carantoc'' * Doble, G. H. (1965) ''The Saints of Cornwall'', Part 4. Truro: Dean and Chapter * Bowen, E. G. (1969) ''Saints, Seaways and Settlements in the Celtic Lands''. Cardiff: University of Wales Press

External links