Rame Head or Ram Head ( kw, Penn an Hordh) is a coastal headland, southwest of the village of

Rame "Rame" is a rare word in English which means branch. Rame is also the name of two villages in Cornwall: Rame may also refer to: Geography * Rame, Maker-with-Rame, in southeast Cornwall **Rame Head, a coastal headland near the first of these, as we ...

in southeast

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 ...

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 ...

. It is part of the larger Rame Peninsula.

History and antiquities

The natural site was used for a

promontory fort A promontory fort is a defensive structure located above a steep cliff, often only connected to the mainland by a small neck of land, thus using the topography to reduce the ramparts needed. Although their dating is problematic, most seem to da ...

('cliff castle') in the

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age (Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age (Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly appl ...

and the narrow neck of land was further excavated on the landward side with a central causeway, still visible. The eastern part retains traces of round house platforms, though damaged by wartime construction. The headland has a prominent

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common typ ...

, dedicated to

St Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

, as are many early Christian headland sites in the region, accessible by a steep footpath. The chapel was first licensed for

Mass Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different element ...

in 1397 and is on the site of a much earlier and ancient,

Celt The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...

ic, hermitage. It remains as an intact shell and was originally lime-washed so that it stood out on the headland.

Ordwulf Ordwulf (died after 1005) was the son of Ordgar, Ealdorman of Devon (died 971). His sister was Queen Ælfthryth, third wife of King Edgar (born 943, died 975; ruled 959-975)'' The Peaceful'' and mother of King Æthelred II (c. 968-1016) ''The ...

, who was the owner of vast estates in the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glouce ...

and was the uncle of King Ethelred the Unready, gave

Tavistock Abbey Tavistock Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Saint Mary and Saint Rumon, is a ruined Benedictine abbey in Tavistock, Devon. Nothing remains of the abbey except the refectory, two gateways and a porch. The abbey church, dedicated to Our Lady and S ...

(which Ordwulf had founded) in 981, meaning the parish was technically in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

until the modern period.

Rame Head in modern times

Around the head, Dartmoor ponies are kept to graze. This area is also frequented by deer, sheep and cattle which can often be viewed from the sea. Due to its exceptionally high and panoramic vantage point, there is a volunteer

National Coastwatch Institution The National Coastwatch Institution is a voluntary organisation and registered charity providing a visual watch along the UK's coasts, and is not to be confused with HM Coastguard. History The National Coastwatch Institution (NCI) was found ...

lookout on the top of the headland (next to the car park). Rame Head is a part of Mount Edgcumbe House and Country Park which is jointly owned and run by Cornwall Council and Plymouth City Council. The headland is prominent to

sailors A sailor, seaman, mariner, or seafarer is a person who works aboard a watercraft as part of its crew, and may work in any one of a number of different fields that are related to the operation and maintenance of a ship. The profession of the s ...

and

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recre ...

leaving

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymout ...

through

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

. It is often the last piece of land they see leaving

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, and the first they see when returning home; Rame Head thus appears in the

sea shanty A sea shanty, chantey, or chanty () is a genre of traditional folk song that was once commonly sung as a work song to accompany rhythmical labor aboard large merchant sailing vessels. The term ''shanty'' most accurately refers to a specific st ...

Spanish Ladies "Spanish Ladies" ( Roud 687) is a traditional British naval song, describing a voyage from Spain to the Downs from the viewpoint of ratings of the Royal Navy. Origins A ballad by the name "Spanish Ladies" was registered in the English St ...

". The headland forms part of ''Rame Head & Whitsand Bay'' SSSI ( Site of Special Scientific Interest), noted for its

geological Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...

as well as

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...

interest. The SSSI contains 2 species on the Red Data Book of rare and endangered plant species; early meadow-grass (''

poa infirma ''Poa infirma'' is a species of grass known by the common names early meadow-grass and weak bluegrass. It was first described from a specimen found in Colombia, but it is actually an introduced species in the Americas and is native to Europe. It ...

'') and slender bird’s-foot-trefoil (from the

lotus Lotus may refer to: Plants *Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly: ** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae **Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...

genus).

References

External links

Village Holiday Information

National Coastwatch Institution - Rame Head

Rame Head Wildlife

Old Photographs of Rame Headland

Protest Site for Rame Wind Turbines
{{Headlands of Cornwall Headlands of Cornwall Hill forts in Cornwall Iron Age sites in Cornwall Military history of Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1996

History and antiquities

Rame Head in modern times

See also

References

External links