Vault Beach near Gorran Haven - geograph

Vault Beach (also Bow Beach) is situated on the south 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, UK, near

Gorran Haven Gorran Haven () is a fishing village, in the civil parish of St Goran, on the south coast of Cornwall, England, UK. It is about south of Mevagissey and lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Overview The villag ...

.Ordnance Survey ''One-inch Map of Great Britain; Truro and Falmouth, sheet 190''. 1961 The beach consists mainly of shingle but does have some sand at low tide. Vault Beach faces southeast onto the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

and lies between Cadythew Rocks in the north and

Dodman Point Dodman Point (Cornish: Penn Den Varow) near Mevagissey is the highest headland on the south Cornwall coast, measuring . It is also known by its earlier names of the Deadman and Deadman's Point. It hosts the remains of an Iron Age promontory fo ...

at the southern end. Car parking is available in

and Lamledra which are both some distance from the beach. Toilet facilities are available at Gorran Haven. The southern end of the beach tends to attract naturists. Vault beach was named Vault as during the wind powered days of sail should a ship or boat mess up its navigation and flounder upon the Dodman (Deadman) the bodies would normally wash up on this stretch of beach. The Dodman was quite easy to mistake with Lands End and with the wrong winds could end up with disastrous consequences.

Notes

Beaches of Cornwall Nude beaches {{Restormel-geo-stub