Rock ( kw, Pennmeyn) is a coastal

fishing village A fishing village is a village, usually located near a fishing ground, with an economy based on catching fish and harvesting seafood. The continents and islands around the world have coastlines totalling around 356,000 kilometres (221,000 ...

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 ...

, England, United Kingdom. It is opposite

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

on the north-east bank of the

River Camel The River Camel ( kw, Dowr Kammel, meaning ''crooked river'') is a river in Cornwall, England. It rises on the edge of Bodmin Moor and with its tributaries its catchment area covers much of North Cornwall. The river flows into the eastern Ce ...

estuary. The village is in the

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 authorit ...

St Minver Lowlands St Minver ( kw, Sen Menvra) is the name of an ecclesiastical parish, a civil parish and a village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The civil parish of St Minver is in Bodmin Registration District and is nominally divided into St Mi ...

about north-west of

Wadebridge Wadebridge (; kw, Ponswad) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel upstream from Padstow.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' The permanent popul ...

.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' Ordnance Survey: Explorer map (scale 1:25000); Sheet 106 ''Newquay & Padstow''

Toponymy

The original name recorded in 1303 was , Cornish for 'the end or head of stones'. An alternative, ''Blaketorre'' ('Black Tor'), is found in 1337. This had become ''Black Rock'' by the 18th century and was subsequently shortened to Rock. The name of the ferry that operates between Rock and Padstow recalls the old place name.

Geography

The main residential area is set back from the coast along the road from

Pityme Pityme () is a small village at in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Pityme is at the junction of the road from Wadebridge to Polzeath and the road from St Minver to Rock. It straddles the boundary between the civil parishes of St ...

and St Minver. To the northeast, Rock is contiguous with the settlements of Splatt and Pityme. Stoptide is a southern extension of Rock. Rock is best known for its estuary frontage. To the northwest, the road runs beside the estuary as a cul de sac giving access to the ferry boarding point and an

intertidal The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species ...

beach 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 ...

which at low water extend for two miles past Brea Hill to

Daymer Bay Daymer Bay is a bay and a beach on the east side of the River Camel estuary in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately six miles (10 km) north of Wadebridge.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newqua ...

. To the south is the small coastal settlement of

Porthilly Porthilly ( kw, Porthhyli) is a small coastal settlement on the east side of the River Camel estuary in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated immediately south of the larger village of Rock approximately four miles (6.5 km) ...

with St Michael's Church situated on the bank of Porthilly Cove.

Rock Dunes

Rock Dunes, sand dunes to the west of the village on the banks of the

, are designated 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 ...

for their

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...

and

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

. These include various vegetation found in these embryo dunes as well as various types of

slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade regional metamorphism. It is the finest grained foliated metamorphic rock. ...

Tourism

Rock is popular with holidaymakers and in 1881 the hotel was enlarged, a new sea-wall built and a bathing house erected on the beach. In the same year

Silvanus Trevail Silvanus Trevail (11 November 1851 – 7 November 1903) was a British architect, and the most prominent Cornish architect of the 19th century. Early life Trevail was born at Carne Farm, Trethurgy in the parish of Luxulyan, Cornwall on 11 No ...

designed and built two large villas. It is now a well-established centre for water sports including

dinghy racing Dinghy racing is a competitive sport using dinghies, which are small boats which may be rowboats, have an outboard motor, or be sailing dinghies. Dinghy racing has affected aspects of the modern sailing dinghy, including hull design, sail materia ...

waterskiing Water skiing (also waterskiing or water-skiing) is a surface water sport in which an individual is pulled behind a boat or a cable ski installation over a body of water, skimming the surface on two skis or one ski. The sport requires suffici ...

windsurfing Windsurfing is a wind propelled water sport that is a combination of sailing and surfing. It is also referred to as "sailboarding" and "boardsailing", and emerged in the late 1960s from the aerospace and surf culture of California. Windsurfing ga ...

, and

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, windsurfer, or kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (land yacht) over a chosen cour ...

. Rock Sailing Club's headquarters, in a converted warehouse on a wharf, is a local landmark. Rock has Cornwall's highest proportion of second homes in the county. The

Black Tor Ferry The Black Tor Ferry, also known as the Padstow to Rock Ferry, is a passenger ferry which crosses the tidal River Camel in north Cornwall, United Kingdom. The ferry carries pedestrians and cyclists only (not vehicles). History There has been a fe ...

operates across the river to the town of

, and this is a major source of tourist traffic through Rock. The early 21st century has seen extensive building work and increased prosperity for Rock, there a large number of holiday homes, as well as a number of retail outlets. Rock is also home to

Sharp's Brewery Sharp's Brewery is a British brewery founded in 1994 in St Minver Lowlands, Rock, Cornwall, by Bill Sharp. Since 2011, the brewery has been owned by Molson Coors. It is best known for its flagship ale Doom Bar, named after the notoriously per ...

, a

real ale Real ale is the name coined by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA) for beer that is "brewed from traditional ingredients, matured by secondary fermentation in the container from which it is dispensed, and served without the use of extraneous car ...

brewery established as an independent in the mid 1990s, but taken over by

Molson Coors The Molson Coors Beverage Company is an American-Canadian multinational drink and brewing company incorporated under Delaware General Corporation Law and headquartered in Golden, Colorado and Montreal, Quebec. Molson Coors was formed in 2005 ...

in 2011 to secure the Doom Bar

bitter Bitter may refer to: Common uses * Resentment, negative emotion or attitude, similar to being jaded, cynical or otherwise negatively affected by experience * Bitter (taste), one of the five basic tastes Books * '' Bitter (novel)'', a 2022 nove ...

brand. Rock has been referred to as 'Britain's

Saint-Tropez , INSEE = 83119 , postal code = 83990 , image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Saint-Tropez-A (Var).svg , image flag=Flag of Saint-Tropez.svg Saint-Tropez (; oc, Sant Tropetz, ; ) is a commune in the Var department and the region of Provence-Al ...

' and the '

Kensington Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...

of Cornwall' due to its popularity with affluent holidaymakers. The Daily Telegraph has also called it Chelsea-on-Sea and stated that David Cameron's favourite beer is brewed there. Affluent visitors such as

Mohamed Al-Fayed Mohamed Al-Fayed (; arz, محمد الفايد ; born 27 January 1929) is an Egyptian-born businessman whose residence and chief business interests have been in the United Kingdom since the late 1960s. His business interests include ownership of ...

and

Jay Kay Jay Kay (born Jason Luís Cheetham; 30 December 1969) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as the co-founder and lead vocalist of the acid jazz and funk band Jamiroquai, which was formed in 1992. Early life Jay Kay was bo ...

Jamiroquai Jamiroquai () are an English funk and acid jazz band from London. Formed in 1992, they are fronted by vocalist Jay Kay, and were prominent in the London-based funk and acid jazz movement of the 1990s. They built on their acid jazz sound in the ...

often arrive by helicopter.

References

External links

*
Rock Tourist Information available from Padstow TIC
{{authority control Beaches of Cornwall Fishing communities Populated coastal places in Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall Villages in Cornwall