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 authority ...

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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

. The village is approximately two miles (3 km) southwest of

Newquay Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...

. 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

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 Treninnick is a southeastern suburb of Newquay, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, near Trencreek. It is in the civil parish of Crantock Crantock ( kw, Lanngorrow) is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The vi ...

and

West Pentire West Pentire ( kw, Pentir, meaning ''promontory'') is a hamlet on the north coast of Cornwall in England, United Kingdom. It is located within the civil parish of Crantock, west of the town of Newquay.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 '' ...

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 A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

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 Saint Carantoc ( cy, Carannog; ga, Cairnech; br, Karanteg; la, Carantocus), also anglicization of names, anglicized as Carantock, Carannog and by other spellings, was a 6th-century abbot, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, and list of Welsh sai ...

, 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 The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, Duchy of Brittany, Breton, County of Flanders, Flemish, and Kingdom of France, French troops, ...

and was originally cruciform, but was reconstructed in the 14th and 15th centuries:

restoration Restoration is the act of restoring something to its original state and may refer to: * Conservation and restoration of cultural heritage ** Audio restoration ** Film restoration ** Image restoration ** Textile restoration * Restoration ecology ...

was carried out during the period 1899–1902 by E. H. Sedding, who died in 1921 and is buried in the churchyard. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a typeface. Each font is a matched set of type, with a piece (a "sort") for each glyph. A typeface consists of a range of such fonts that shared an overall design. In mod ...

is Norman and the

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, or ...

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

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 Surfing is a surface water sport in which an individual, a surfer (or two in tandem surfing), uses a board to ride on the forward section, or face, of a moving wave of water, which usually carries the surfer towards the shore. Waves suitabl ...

. There are car parks at Crantock Beach and West Pentire. The beach is backed by

sand dunes A dune is a landform composed of wind- or water-driven sand. It typically takes the form of a mound, ridge, or hill. An area with dunes is called a dune system or a dune complex. A large dune complex is called a dune field, while broad, fl ...

. 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 Holywell may refer to: * Holywell, Flintshire, Wales * Holywell, Swords, Ireland * Holywell, Bedfordshire, England * Holywell, Cambridgeshire, England * Holywell, Cornwall, England * Holywell, Dorset, England * Holywell, Eastbourne, East Susse ...

, with a larger sandy beach at Holywell Bay.

Twinning

* Karanteg, Brittany, France

References

* Henderson, Charles (1928) ''St Carantoc'' *

Doble, G. H. Gilbert Hunter Doble (26 November 1880 – 15 April 1945) was an Anglican priest and Cornish historian and hagiographer. Early life G. H. Doble was born in Penzance, Cornwall, on 26 November 1880. His father, John Medley Doble, shared his enth ...

(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