Tregirls ( kw, Tregryllas, meaning ''farmstead of the ruins of an ancient dwelling'') is a farmstead 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. It is situated approximately half-a-mile (1 km) north of

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 ...

. The settlement consists of a farm and converted cottages which are let as holiday accommodation. Tregirls beach (which takes its name from the settlement) is 500 metres north at . The north-facing beach is in the River Camel estuary and is backed by dunes with a small stream trickling across the sand at low tide from the corner of the beach tucked hard behind Stepper Point known as Harbour Cove. Beyond Harbour Cove towards Stepper Point is Hawkers Cove, previously the location of the RNLI Padstow lifeboat, now too shallow even at high tide and dry sand at low tide, the result of the sands shifting over the years. The South West Coast Path runs behind the beach before climbing above the rocky side of the river at Hawkers Cove on its way to the Daymark on Stepper Point. Today at

low water Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon (and to a much lesser extent, the Sun) and are also caused by the Earth and Moon orbiting one another. Tide tables ca ...

Tregirls beach extends half-a-mile into the estuary and at its northeast point forms the

Doom Bar The Doom Bar (previously known as Dunbar sands, Dune-bar, and similar names) is a sandbar at the mouth of the estuary of the River Camel, where it meets the Celtic Sea on the north coast of Cornwall, England. Like two other permanent sandbanks ...

, a spit of sand across the river mouth. However this was not always so as the deep water channel used to run close to Stepper Point, as is evidenced by the old lifeboat station being located at Harbour Cove. The settlement of Tregirls takes its name from the manor of Grylls or Tregrylls of which it was a parcel along with Crugmeer, Treator, and Trenio.

References

Villages in Cornwall Beaches of Cornwall {{Cornwall-geo-stub