Prussia Cove
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Prussia Cove ( kw, Porth Legh), formerly called King's Cove, is a small private estate on the coast of
Mount's Bay Mount's Bay ( kw, Baya an Garrek) is a large, sweeping bay on the English Channel coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom, stretching from the Lizard Point to Gwennap Head. In the north of the bay, near Marazion, is St Michael's Mount; the origin o ...
and to the east of Cudden Point, west
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, United Kingdom. Part of the area is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (
SSSI 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 of ...
), a
Geological Conservation Review The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee and is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological a ...
site and is in an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is an area of countryside in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland, that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Areas are designated in recognition of thei ...
(AONB). It consists of four small coves and several cottages and houses. The names of the coves from west to east are Piskies, Bessy's, King's and Coule's. The area is accessible by foot from 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 a ...
The cove is known for the 18th-century ship-wrecker and smuggler John Carter, also known as the "King of Prussia".


History

Prussia Cove is known for the 18th-century ship- wrecker and
smuggler Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...
John Carter (born 1738), also known as the "King of Prussia"; thought to be from a childhood game he played and the origin of the name for the area. Evidence of smuggling can be inferred by the building of the terrace of seven
listed Listed may refer to: * Listed, Bornholm, a fishing village on the Danish island of Bornholm * Listed (MMM program), a television show on MuchMoreMusic * Endangered species in biology * Listed building, in architecture, designation of a historicall ...
cottages overlooking Coule's Cove and Mount's Bay. They were built in 1826 by the
Coastguard A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
and are known as Coastguard Cottages.
'Calamity at Prussia Cove' Subscriptions advertised on 21 April 1841 amounted to £279-11-51/2d. More are listed, including £1 from the Bishop of Oxford. The sum collected will be lodged in the saving's bank, Penzance, in the names of the Rev. M.N. Peters, Capt. Alexander Shairp, R.N. Capt. Thomas Mathias, R.N., and the Inspecting Commander of the Coast Guard in the Penzance district, for the time being, as Trustees for the distribution of the fund. It will be applied to apprentice, and put out to service, the children that are, and may be, of a suitable age, – in the meantime the widows (under certain regulations) will receive £1 annually for the support of each of the children, and the same for themselves. Provision is made for the parties not becoming chargeable to any parish to which they do not belong. The sum of £12 will be awarded to the parents of John Carter Richards of Prussia Cove, who lost his life on the same occasion. The parties for whom this sum has been collected, impressed with a deep sense of the great benefits conferred on them, most humbly beg to express their very grateful acknowledgement for the generous relief extended to them. Penzance Gazette 28 April 1841. On Sunday last, the bodies of Lieut. Smith and Wellspring, the chief boatman, who were so unfortunately drowned at Prussia Cove, in nobly attempting to render assistance to their fellow mariner, were picked up – the bodies were disfigured. Yesterday, that of Lieut. Smith was interred at Breage, and that of Wellspring, at Madron – the latter was carried from Penzance there by eight bearers, preceded by about twenty teetotalers, wearing white ribbon with a teetotal medal suspended – and a white flag, borne by the front member of that body: the whole joining in singing an appropriate hymn. The coffin was covered with a large flag. As the solemn and affecting procession proceeded up causewayhead, hundreds of individuals had assembled, whose mourneful countenances spoke audibly of their inward feeling and many were the expressions of sorry, regret and pity which involuntarily escaped them. The liberal manner in which subcribers have come forward toward the pecuniary relief of the poor widows and children is a sufficient proof that all entertain the greatest sympathy for the afflicted.
Prussia Cove once had a small fishing industry. Mackerel were caught by seine net and seven of its small fleet of fishing boats were destroyed by a storm on 7 October 1880. Built above and overlooking the coves is a Victorian house built in 1885 for
du Boulay Du Boulay is a surname, and may refer to: * Arthur du Boulay (1880–1918), British military officer * César-Egasse du Boulay (died 1678), French historian * Clair du Boulay, British expert in pathology and medical education * F. R. H. Du Boulay ...
, former
Archdeacon of Cornwall The Archdeacon of Cornwall is a senior cleric in the Church of England Diocese of Truro. History and composition The archdeaconry of Cornwall was created in the Diocese of Exeter in the late 11th century. The area and the archdeacon remained p ...
in his retirement. The coastal path passes through a "circus" formed by the listed buildings of Porth-en-Alls and include a crescent shaped "Lodge". The complex was designed and built by
Philip Tilden Philip Tilden (31 May 1887 – 25 February 1956) was an English architect, active in the early twentieth century, who worked for some of the most prominent members of English society, including Winston Churchill, David Lloyd George, Lord Beaverb ...
in 1911 for Brian Tunstall-Behrens, but was never completed due to the Great War. In April 1947 HMS ''Warspite'' ran aground here whilst being towed to the breakers yard. She was later towed to, beached and broken up at
Marazion Marazion (; kw, Marhasyow) is a civil parish and town, on the shore of Mount's Bay in Cornwall, UK. It is east of Penzance and the tidal island of St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore. At low water a causeway links it to the town and ...
.Le. Messurier, B. and Luck, L. (1998) ''Loe Pool and Mount's Bay''. No. 12 in The National Trust Coast of Cornwall series of leaflets.


Cudden Point to Prussia Cove SSSI

Cudden Point is a prominent headland, owned by the
National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...
which can be clearly seen from most of Mount's Bay. Together with Little Cudden and Piskies Cove, the area is 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 of ...
(SSSI) and is listed, for its national importance, in the
Geological Conservation Review The Geological Conservation Review (GCR) is produced by the UK's Joint Nature Conservation Committee and is designed to identify those sites of national and international importance needed to show all the key scientific elements of the geological a ...
. The SSSI notification reads:
″This is the best example in Cornwall of a mildly
metamorphosed Metamorphic rocks arise from the transformation of existing rock to new types of rock in a process called metamorphism. The original rock (protolith) is subjected to temperatures greater than and, often, elevated pressure of or more, causin ...
, differentiated
tholeiitic The tholeiitic magma series is one of two main magma series in subalkaline igneous rocks, the other being the calc-alkaline series. A magma series is a chemically distinct range of magma compositions that describes the evolution of a mafic magma ...
intrusive greenstone that retains good
relict A relict is a surviving remnant of a natural phenomenon. Biology A relict (or relic) is an organism that at an earlier time was abundant in a large area but now occurs at only one or a few small areas. Geology and geomorphology In geology, a r ...
igneous textures Igneous textures include the rock textures occurring in igneous rocks. Igneous textures are used by geologists in determining the mode of origin of igneous rocks and are used in rock classification. The six main types of textures are phaneritic ...
and mineralogy. It is characteristic of relatively large intrusive
dolerite Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-grained ...
-
gabbro Gabbro () is a phaneritic (coarse-grained), mafic intrusive igneous rock formed from the slow cooling of magnesium-rich and iron-rich magma into a holocrystalline mass deep beneath the Earth's surface. Slow-cooling, coarse-grained gabbro is che ...
sills in Cornwall and unique in that it is of tholeiitic composition and not alkaline. It is also internally differentiated and contains rare relicts of primary brown
amphibole Amphibole () is a group of inosilicate minerals, forming prism or needlelike crystals, composed of double chain tetrahedra, linked at the vertices and generally containing ions of iron and/or magnesium in their structures. Its IMA symbol is A ...
. The sheared and deformed marginal facies has a chemistry indicative of
contact metamorphism Metamorphism is the transformation of existing rock (the protolith) to rock with a different mineral composition or texture. Metamorphism takes place at temperatures in excess of , and often also at elevated pressure or in the presence of chem ...
by hidden, shallow granite extension from the nearby Godolphin
diapir A diapir (; , ) is a type of igneous intrusion in which a more mobile and ductily deformable material is forced into brittle overlying rocks. Depending on the tectonic environment, diapirs can range from idealized mushroom-shaped Rayleigh–T ...
.″
The vegetation consists of small patches of coastal grassland with colonies of the silver-studded blue (''
Plebejus argus 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 ...
''), small pearl-bordered fritillary (''
Boloria selene ''Boloria selene'', known in Europe as the small pearl-bordered fritillary and in North America as the silver-bordered fritillary, is a species of butterfly of the family Nymphalidae. It is found across Europe, Asia and North America, and feeds ...
'') and grayling (''
Hipparchia semele The grayling or rock grayling (''Hipparchia semele'') is a species in the brush-footed butterfly family Nymphalidae. Although found all over Europe, the grayling mostly inhabits coastal areas, with inland populations declining significantly in re ...
'') butterflies. Gorse (''
Ulex europaeus ''Ulex europaeus'', the gorse, common gorse, furze or whin, is a species of flowering plant in the family Fabaceae, native to the British Isles and Western Europe. Description Growing to tall, it is an evergreen shrub. The young stems are g ...
'') and bramble (''
Rubus fruticosus ''Rubus fruticosus'' L. is the ambiguous name of a European blackberry species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the rose family. The name has been interpreted in several ways: *The species represented by the type specimen of ''Rubus fruticosus'' L., ...
'') dominate on the more fertile soils. Above the headland is ″The Lookout″ built by the Government in the 1914–18 war for coastal observation and now used as holiday accommodation.


Culture

In 2004, the British period drama ''
Ladies in Lavender ''Ladies in Lavender'' is a 2004 British drama film written and directed by Charles Dance. The screenplay is based on a 1908 short story by William J. Locke. The film stars Judi Dench, Maggie Smith, Natascha McElhone, and Miriam Margolyes. Plot ...
'' starring
Judi Dench Dame Judith Olivia Dench (born 9 December 1934) is an English actress. Regarded as one of Britain's best actresses, she is noted for her versatile work in various films and television programmes encompassing several genres, as well as for her ...
and
Maggie Smith Dame Margaret Natalie Smith (born 28 December 1934) is an English actress. With an extensive career on screen and stage beginning in the mid-1950s, Smith has appeared in more than sixty films and seventy plays. She is one of the few performer ...
was filmed there.


International Musicians Seminar

The International Musicians Seminar (IMS) Prussia Cove held at Porth-en-Alls was founded by the Hungarian violinist,
Sándor Végh Sándor Végh (17 May 19126 January 1997) was a Hungarian, later French, violinist and conductor. He was best known as one of the great chamber music violinists of the twentieth century. Education Sándor Végh was born in 1912 in Kolozsvár, Tr ...
and Hilary Tunstall-Behrens in 1972. The master class seminars are said to be "... an opportunity to broaden their (students) musical horizons and to make new contacts; stimuli which are vital to a developing artist". Former students and participants of the seminars are to be found among the world's leading soloists and leaders of the great orchestras of the world. Musicians play a series of spring and autumn concerts in local venues such as St Pol de Léon's Church, Paul and
St Buryan's Church The Church of St Buryan is a late-15th-century Church of England parish church in St Buryan in Cornwall, England. Architectural history A church has stood on the current site since ''c''.930. King Athelstan stopped to pray at Saint Buriana's ...
.


See also

*
Carters of Prussia Cove The Carters of Prussia Cove were a family of Cornish smugglers active in the late 18th century operating out of Prussia Cove, Cornwall, where they had a hideout/home in a remote cliff next to the ocean. Much of what is known about the Carters cam ...


References


External links


Autobiography of John Carter

The Autobiography of a Cornish Smuggler by Harry Carter. Free ebook via Project Gutenberg (Available in EPub, Kindle, HTML, Plucker, QiOO Mobile and Plain Text formats)
{{SSSIs Cornwall geological, state=collapsed Coves of Cornwall Fishing communities Populated coastal places in Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall