Millook is a deep coastal valley and

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in the parish of

Poundstock Poundstock ( kw, Tregorlann) is a civil parish and a hamlet on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated four miles (6.5 km) south of Bude half-a-mile west of the A39 trunk road about one mile from the coa ...

, on the north coast of

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 ...

, England. In 2014 the cliffs at Millook Haven were voted by the Geological Society of London as one of Britain's top 10 geological sites, leading the "folding and faulting" category. The cliffs display an impressive series of recumbent chevron folds, in

Carboniferous The Carboniferous ( ) is a geologic period and system of the Paleozoic that spans 60 million years from the end of the Devonian Period million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Permian Period, million years ago. The name ''Carbonifero ...

age

killas Killas is a Cornish mining term for metamorphic rock strata of sedimentary origin which were altered by heat from the intruded granites in the English counties of Devon and Cornwall. The term is used in both counties. Origin The deposition of t ...

of inter-bedded

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

s and

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

s, originally deposited in deep water. The stony beach is popular with surfers despite there being few parking spaces and 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 a ...

passes through the seaward end of the valley. The ancient semi-natural woodland has been described as the best ravine wood in Cornwall and along with the coast is within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Millook Valley Woods

The woodland runs roughly north-south from the A39 at Wainhouse Corner to the coast at Millook Haven. It consists of four separate properties now owned by the

Woodland Trust The Woodland Trust is the largest woodland conservation charity in the United Kingdom and is concerned with the creation, protection, and restoration of native woodland Natural heritage, heritage. It has planted over 50 million trees since 1972 ...

; Crannow Coombe and Lundy Woods, Tamps and Landy, Trebarfoote and Trengayor Copse, as well as some private owners. With the exception of Trebarfoote the woods are mainly on the western slopes of the valley. Described in a 1993 report to the JNCC as the “best ravine wood in Cornwall” the site was previously listed as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Most of the woods are ancient semi-natural woodland but only Trebarfoote and the valley bottoms are officially designated as such. When compared to the

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map published in the 1930s the woodland is now much larger.

Flora and fauna

Adjacent to the streams there is a wet alluvial soil and willow carr. The trees in the valley bottoms are mainly old coppice and maiden oak ('' Quercus petraea'') with some ash ('' Fraxinus excelsior'') and sycamore (''

Acer pseudoplatanus ''Acer pseudoplatanus'', known as the sycamore in the British Isles and as the sycamore maple in the United States, is a species of flowering plant in the Sapindus, soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is a large deciduous, broad-leaved ...

''). On the mid to upper slopes there is increasing amounts of sycamore with a mixture of blackthorn ('' Prunus spinosa'') and hawthorn (''

Crataegus monogyna ''Crataegus monogyna'', known as common hawthorn, one-seed hawthorn, or single-seeded hawthorn, is a species of flowering plant in the rose family Rosaceae. It is native to Europe, northwestern Africa, and West Asia, but has been introduced in ...

'') on clayey loam, and at the top invading bracken ('' Pteridium aquilinum''), bramble ( ''Rubus fruticosus'') and gorse ('' Ulex europaeus''). The surrounding area is mainly agricultural. Other tree species found are alder (''

Alnus glutinosa ''Alnus glutinosa'', the common alder, black alder, European alder, European black alder, or just alder, is a species of tree in the family Betulaceae, native to most of Europe, southwest Asia and northern Africa. It thrives in wet locations whe ...

'') in the wetter areas and a few small areas of wild cherry (''

Prunus avium ''Prunus avium'', commonly called wild cherry, sweet cherry, gean, or bird cherryWorld Economic Plants: A Standard Reference, Second Edition'. CRC Press; 19 April 2016. . p. 833–. is a species of cherry, a flowering plant in the rose family, ...

'') and wild service ('' Sorbus torminalis''). Aspen ('' Populus tremula'') and beech ('' Fagus sylvatica'') on old boundary hedges are presumed to be planted.

References

{{Coord, 50.7713, -4.5759, type:city(100)_region:GB-CON, display=title Hamlets in Cornwall Beaches of Cornwall Geology of Cornwall