Penhale Sands ( kw, Peran Treth, meaning ''St Piran's sands''), or Penhale Dunes, is a complex of

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 ...

and a protected area for its wildlife, on the north

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

coast in England, UK. It is the most extensive system of sand dunes in

and is believed to be the landing site of Saint Piran. Dating from the 6th century,

St Piran's Oratory Perranzabuloe (; kw, Pyran yn Treth) is a coastal civil parish and a hamlet in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Perranzabuloe parish is bordered to the west by the Atlantic coast and St Agnes parish, to the north by Cubert parish, to the eas ...

is thought to be one of the oldest Christian sites in Britain. The remains were discovered in the late 18th century, and in 2014 the covering sand was removed to reveal a building more than a thousand years old, in a reasonable state of preservation. A restricted military area dating from 1939, Penhale Camp, is found on the northern part of the dunes. The area has been designated as 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 ...

(SSSI) since 1953 and became a

Special Area of Conservation A Special Area of Conservation (SAC) is defined in the European Union's Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), also known as the ''Directive on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora''. They are to protect the 220 habitats and a ...

(SAC) in 2004. 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 ...

runs through the dunes.

Geography

The sands are located south-west of the town of Newquay, in the civil parish of Perranzabuloe, stretching for over between

Perranporth Perranporth ( kw, Porthperan) is a seaside resort town on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 1 mile east of the St Agnes Heritage Coastline, and around 8 miles south-west of Newquay. Perranporth and its long beach ...

in the south and Holywell to the north, with the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

and Perran Beach to the west. The Cornish sand dunes are thought to have formed over 5,000 years ago as sea levels rose to approximately their present levels. Penhale Sands are the largest dune system within Cornwall and has a maximum depth of of sand. The system, of over , extends for more than inland and includes Reen Sands, Gear Sands and Perransands. The

runs through the dunes.

History

St Piran

Penhale Sands and Perran Beach are believed to be the 6th century landing site of Saint Piran from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

, regarded the bringer of

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global popula ...

to, and the patron saint of Cornwall. On this site, situated in a hollow, St Piran's Oratory was built around this time. It is thought to be the oldest Christian site in Cornwall and one of the oldest in Britain. The church was abandoned in the tenth century due to the encroachment of sand. A replacement church was built further inland and abandoned in 1795. The oratory site was excavated in 1835 and 1843 before the remains were encased in a large concrete structure in 1910. The concrete structure was removed in 1980 and the delicate site buried in sand for its protection. In 2014 the sand was removed to reveal the remains of the church.

Penhale Camp

Penhale Camp was established in 1939, to the north of the dunes, as a

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

emergency measure to train anti-aircraft gunners. There still remains evidence of the gun sites, searchlight batteries and defensive positions such as pillboxes and trenches. On 7 June 1940 the camp was bombed by a single German bomber, probably looking for the nearby St Eval airfield; twenty-two British soldiers were killed in the raid, most were subsequently buried in nearby

. In 1943 the camp was occupied by the

United States Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

as part of the buildup to

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...

, the D-Day landings. The engineers built the fourteen Nissen huts on the Camp; still used today as accommodation for training units. In 1955, three

Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...

men drowned while swimming in the sea at Perran Corner. These dangerous waters, with treacherous rip tides, have also claimed the lives of at least two civilians. The sand dunes have for many years been used by naturists, as an unofficial naturist beach. Over the years, the

Ministry of Defence {{unsourced, date=February 2021 A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is an often-used name for the part of a government responsible for matters of defence, found in state ...

have complained about nude sunbathers, but a compromise was reached with the land owner in 2007 In April 2010, the camp was closed by the

and was sold in September that year for £1.5million. However, the area is still governed by

Byelaws Today, Penhale Camp and the associated training area are available to all Arms and Services wishing to carry out low level infantry skills training, cadre courses, communications and CPX training. The surrounding area provides opportunities for all recognised adventurous training activities and the newer extreme sports such as

power kiting A power kite or traction kite is a large kite designed to provide significant pull to the user. Types The two most common forms are the foil, and the leading edge inflatable. There are also other less common types of power kite including ri ...

and coasteering. Now established in Penhale Camp is EBO Adventure Centre which provides a diverse range of training activities including Military Resettlement.

Protected area

In 1953 the area was designated as the ''Perran Dunes''

(SSSI), changed to ''Penhale Dunes'' in 1967 after a site expansion. It is designated because it is an outstanding example of a sand dune system and has a rich flora, including four very rare species of plants and other rarities. In 2004 it was designated as a

(SAC). The SSSI is contiguous with

Kelsey Head Kelsey Head is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and headland in north Cornwall, England, UK, noted for its biological interest. The site contains an Iron Age hill fort. Geography The SSSI, notified in 1951, is located on ...

SSSI, to the north.

Wildlife and ecology

The dune soil is

calcareous Calcareous () is an adjective meaning "mostly or partly composed of calcium carbonate", in other words, containing lime or being chalky. The term is used in a wide variety of scientific disciplines. In zoology ''Calcareous'' is used as an ad ...

because of the high percentage of seashell fragments which leads to a flora with lime-loving plants that are otherwise rare in Cornwall. The flora also includes at least sixty-six species of

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta ('' sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and ...

, making it one of richest sites in Cornwall. A number of rare plant species have been recorded on the site, these include Babington's leek ('' Allium babingtonii''), brackish water buttercup ('' Ranunculus baudotii''), Cornish gentian (''

Gentianella anglica ''Gentianella anglica'', the early gentian, is a species of flowering plant in the genus '' Gentianella'', native to Great Britain. ''Gentianella anglica'' is endemic to Great Britain and its centre of distribution is in Dorset, Wiltshire, an ...

'' subsp. ''cornubiensis''), fragrant evening-primrose ('' Oenothera stricta''), Italian lords-and-ladies ('' Arum italicum''), Portland spurge ('' Euphorbia portlandica''), shore-dock (''

Rumex rupestris ''Rumex rupestris'', commonly known as shore dock, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the family Polygonaceae. Its native range is Western Europeand is one of the world's rarest dock species.Lousley JE, Kent DH. 1981. ''Docks and Knotwe ...

''), slender spike rush ('' Eleocharis acicularis''), variegated horsetail (''

Equisetum variegatum ''Equisetum variegatum'', commonly known as variegated horsetail or variegated scouring rush, is a species of vascular plant in the horsetail family Equisetaceae. It is native to the Northern Hemisphere where it has a circumpolar distribution ...

'') and wild leek ('' Allium ampeloprasum''). Due to its importance as a site for

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a composite organism that arises from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species in a mutualistic relationship.Plantlife has designated the dunes an Important Plant Area. It is also an important site for its insect fauna, especially

Lepidoptera Lepidoptera ( ) is an order of insects that includes butterflies and moths (both are called lepidopterans). About 180,000 species of the Lepidoptera are described, in 126 families and 46 superfamilies, 10 percent of the total described speci ...

, with the

silver-studded blue The silver-studded blue (''Plebejus argus'') is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae. It has bright blue wings rimmed in black with white edges and silver spots on its hindwings, lending it the name of the silver-studded blue. ''P. argus'' can be ...

butterfly sometimes counted in thousands. Twenty-seven species of

butterfly Butterflies are insects in the macrolepidopteran clade Rhopalocera from the order Lepidoptera, which also includes moths. Adult butterflies have large, often brightly coloured wings, and conspicuous, fluttering flight. The group compris ...

and one hundred and seven species of

moth Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies, with moths making up the vast majority of the order. There are thought to be approximately 160,000 species of moth, many of w ...

have been recorded on the dunes. The exclusion of the public in the restricted military area of Penhale Camp has protected the nature conservation interest of this area.

Radio receiver station

Penhale Sands is home to a

high frequency High frequency (HF) is the ITU designation for the range of radio frequency electromagnetic waves (radio waves) between 3 and 30 megahertz (MHz). It is also known as the decameter band or decameter wave as its wavelengths range from one to ten ...

receiver station forming part of the Defence High Frequency Communications Service. The station is operated by

Babcock International Group Babcock International Group plc is a British aerospace, defence and nuclear engineering services company based in London, England. It specialises in managing complex assets and infrastructure. Although the company has civil contracts, its main b ...

on behalf of the

Folklore

Langarroc

Penhale Sands is said to be the site of the legendary sunken town of Langarroc. On stormy nights the bells of Langarroc's seven churches are still heard to toll beneath the dunes.

References

External links

St Piran Trust

List of species groups on the National Biodiversity Network's Gateway
{{SSSIs Cornwall biological Special Areas of Conservation in Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest notified in 1953 Dunes of England Cornish coast