The Saints' Way () is a long-distance footpath in mid

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

in the United Kingdom that connects the coastal towns of

Padstow Padstow (; ) is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary, approximately northwest of Wadebridge, ...

and

Fowey Fowey ( ; , meaning ''beech trees'') is a port town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, ...

. The Saints' Way follows a possible reconstructed route taken by early traders and

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

travellers making their way between

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

and

Mainland Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by so ...

. Rather than risk the difficult passage around

Land's End Land's End ( or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

, they could disembark from ships on the coast of Cornwall and progress over land to other coast ports such as

on foot.

Description

The footpath runs North-West to South-East, from North

—on the North coast of Cornwall—to

—on South coast of Cornwall. The Saints' Way's symbolic trailheads are St Petroc's Church in Padstow (), and St Finbar's church in Fowey (). As the Way approaches Helman Tor from Lanivet, the Way diverges into two routes, both leading to Fowey. The eastern route passes Helman Tor, through Lanlivery, to Golant, and to Fowey. The western route passes through Luxulyan, to St Blazey, to

Tywardreath Tywardreath (; , meaning "House on the Beach" (or Strand)) is a small hilltop village on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, about north west of Fowey. It is located in a sheltered spot overlooking a silted-up estuary opposite ...

, to Fowey. The Saints' Way via the Luxulyan route is a total distance of 28.5 miles (45.6 km), and via the route Lanlivery totals 29 miles (46.6 km). Part of the route is a bridleway so can be used by horse-riders. The route passes many

Celtic cross upright 0.75 , A Celtic cross symbol The Celtic cross is a form of ringed cross, a Christian cross featuring a nimbus or ring, that emerged in the British Isles and Western Europe in the Early Middle Ages. It became widespread through its u ...

es and

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, Spring (hydrosphere), spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christianity, Christian or Paganism, pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualitie ...

History

Early seafarers travelling between

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, and

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

were often reluctant to travel around

and The Lizard peninsulas due difficult sailing conditions due to frequent storms. Instead, travellers disembarked along one of Cornwall's coasts, and travelled over the Cornish peninsula toward the opposite coast where they would then reëmbark. Such travellers included traders and religious figures took various transpeninsular routes across Cornwall. One such transpaninuslar journey was from

and Harlyn Bay by the Camel Estuary, then heading to

and St Austell Bay along the south. Between 55–50AD a Roman trading centre was constructed at Tregear near Nanstallon and it is thought its purpose was to serve the main communication and trade route linking the north Cornish coast at the River Camel and the southern coast at the River Fowey, the 'transpeninsular route'. However the centre was abandoned after only 20–25 years and it was not used again. It is thought that the trading route served the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

peoples of Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany as Nanstallon was built close to major mineral bearing areas.

Philip Payton Philip John Payton is a British-Australian historian and emeritus professor of Cornish and Australian studies. Payton is also Vice-President of the British Australian Studies Association at the University of Exeter and formerly director of the ...

. (1996). ''Cornwall''. Fowey: Alexander Associates The routes between Padstow and Fowey largely declined in use during the Roman period in Cornwall. In the post-roman perioid in Cornwall, cultural and religious exchange between Ireland, Wales, Brittany and Cornwall, as a part of the Age of the Saints in

Celtic Christianity Celtic Christianity is a form of Christianity that was common, or held to be common, across the Celtic languages, Celtic-speaking world during the Early Middle Ages. The term Celtic Church is deprecated by many historians as it implies a unifi ...

Modern reconstruction

In 1984, two villagers from Luxulyan—Cliff Townes and Alf Fookes—discovered of a section of abandoned pathway surfaced with cobbles and a series of

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

stiles that had been covered by overgrown vegetation. The Saints' Way was created as part of the Cooperative Retail Services Community Programme and opened in 1986.

References

Citations

Works cited

External links

Cornwall Council's official Saints' Way route page & guide information.
Footpaths in Cornwall Long-distance footpaths in England {{Cornwall-geo-stub