Saints Way footpath at Trenance - geograph

The Saints' Way ( kw, Forth an Syns) is a

long-distance footpath A long-distance trail (or long-distance footpath, track, way, greenway) is a longer recreational trail mainly through rural areas used for hiking, backpacking, cycling, horse riding or cross-country skiing. They exist on all continents exce ...

in mid

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, UK.

History and description

The footpath runs from

Padstow Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parishes in England, 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, ...

parish church in the north via

Luxulyan Luxulyan (; kw, Logsulyan), also spelt Luxullian or Luxulian, is a village and civil parish in mid Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village lies four miles (6.5 km) northeast of St Austell and six miles (10 km) south of Bodmin. ...

Fowey Fowey ( ; kw, Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees') is a port town and 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, with the local ch ...

parish church in the south, a distance of 28.5 miles (45.6 km); if the route via

Lanlivery Lanlivery ( kw, Lannlyvri) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about west of Lostwithiel and five miles (8 km) south of Bodmin. The Saints' Way runs past Lanlivery. Helman Tor, Red Moor and Br ...

is followed the distance is 29 miles (46.6 km). The path is well marked and guide books are available. There are two main branches in the way. One starts at Fowey, runs west to

Tywardreath Tywardreath (; kw, Ti War Dreth, 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 ...

, then north through St Blazey, and Luxulyan. The other runs north from Fowey to

Golant Golant ( kw, Golnans) is a village in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is on the west bank of the River Fowey and in the civil parish of St Sampson. Golant is about two miles (3 km) north of Fowey and seven miles (11 km) east of S ...

and Lanlivery. The branches meet close to

Helman Tor Helman Tor ( kw, Torr Helman) is a granite hill in mid Cornwall, UK with several separated tors, and is designated as a (non-statutory) County Geology Site (with similar criteria to a County Wildlife Site). The hill also has a Scheduled Ancie ...

. Part of the route is a

bridleway A bridle path, also bridleway, equestrian trail, horse riding path, ride, bridle road, or horse trail, is a trail or a thoroughfare that is used by people riding horses, riding on horses. Trails originally created for use by horses often now s ...

so can be used by horse-riders. The Saints' Way follows a possible route of early

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

travellers making their way from

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

to the Continent. Rather than risk the difficult passage around

Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, 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 North Cornish coast and progress to ports such as

on foot. Between 55 - 50AD a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

trading centre was constructed at

Nanstallon Nanstallon is a village in mid-Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately two miles (3 km) west of Bodmin. Nanstallon is in the civil parish of Lanivet overlooking the River Camel valley and the Camel Trail long dist ...

(near

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

) and it is thought its purpose was to serve the main communication and trade route linking the north Cornish coast at 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 Cel ...

and the southern coast at the

River Fowey The River Fowey ( ; kw, Fowi) is a river in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It rises at Fowey Well (originally kw, Fenten Fowi, meaning ''spring of the river Fowey'') about north-west of Brown Willy on Bodmin Moor, not far from one of i ...

, the 'transpeninsular route'. However the centre was abandoned after only 20-25 years and it was never 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 Fo ...

peoples of Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany as Nanstallon was built close to major mineral bearing areas. The establishment of the way followed the discovery of a section of abandoned pathway surfaced with cobbles and featuring a series of

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained (phaneritic) 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 cools and solidifies undergro ...

stiles near the village of Luxulyan by two villagers (Cliff Townes and Alf Fookes) in 1984, but Luxulyan has a long history of producing high-quality granite, and cobbles are common on nearby Red Moor so the use of both materials is not necessarily significant, and stiles made of granite are traditional in the area. The way was created as part of the Cooperative Retail Services Community Programme and opened in 1986.Hannigan (1994), p. 193

References

External links

Saints' Way information at Cornwall County Council
Footpaths in Cornwall Long-distance footpaths in England {{Cornwall-geo-stub