Coverack (, meaning ''cove of the stream'') is a coastal village and fishing port in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, UK. It lies in the parish of

St Keverne St Keverne () is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and village on The Lizard in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. In addition to the parish, an electoral ward exists called ''St Keverne and Meneage''. This stretches to the western Liz ...

, on the east side of the

Lizard peninsula The Lizard () is a peninsula in southern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The Extreme points of the United Kingdom, southernmost point of the Great Britain, British mainland is near Lizard Point, Cornwall, Lizard Point at SW 701115; The ...

about south of Falmouth. Coverack has several hotels and a

youth hostel A hostel is a form of low-cost, short-term shared sociable lodging where guests can rent a bed, usually a bunk bed in a dormitory sleeping 4–20 people, with shared use of a lounge and usually a kitchen. Rooms can be private or shared - mixe ...

. The area is a centre for watersports, particularly

wind surfing 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 Californian aerospace and surf culture. Windsurfing gain ...

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, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

and

diving Diving most often refers to: * Diving (sport), the sport of jumping into deep water * Underwater diving, human activity underwater for recreational or occupational purposes Diving or Dive may also refer to: Sports * Dive (American football), ...

. The nearby rocks known as

the Manacles The Manacles (, meaning ''church stones'') () are a set of treacherous rocks off The Lizard peninsula in Cornwall. The rocks are rich in marine wildlife and they are a popular spot for diving due to the many shipwrecks. Traditionally pronounced ...

have been the site of many shipwrecks and as a consequence are now a favourite diving destination.

Geography

Near the

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked Long-distance footpaths in the UK, long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harb ...

is Poldowrian Garden which includes a prehistoric settlement discovered in 1965, dated by archaeologists at 5500 BC. Finds from the site are available for viewing. The roads to Coverack cross

Goonhilly Downs Goonhilly Downs is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) that forms a raised plateau in the central western area of the The Lizard, Lizard peninsula in southern Cornwall, England. It is one of 229 English national nature reserves designat ...

(famous for the BT satellite earth station). "Coverack Cove and Dolor Point" SSSI (

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 ...

) is one of the most famous geological localities in Cornwall, providing an almost continuous section across a mantle-crust boundary. Other nearby SSSI are

Coverack to Porthoustock Coverack to Porthoustock is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Cornwall, England, UK, noted for both its biological and geological characteristics. The site contains four ICUN Red List plant species. Geography The site, ...

and

Kennack to Coverack Kennack to Coverack is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, England, UK, noted for both its biological and geological interest. It is of botanical importance, with 8 Red Data Book of rare an ...

. Coverack lies within the

Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The Cornwall National Landscape (formerly the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) covers in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom; that is, about 27% of the total area of the county. It comprises 12 separate areas, designated under the Na ...

(AONB).

History

St Peter's Church

St Peter's was consecrated on 20 August 1885 by the

Bishop of Truro The bishop of Truro is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown De ...

. The church overlooks the cove on land donated by Mr Trevennen and cost £500. Built in the Early English style, the footings are in local granite, the walls of red, Bridgewater brick, with the dressings of

Breage Breage or Breaca (with many variant spellings) is a saint venerated in Cornwall and South West England. According to her late hagiography, she was an Irish nun of the 5th or 6th century who founded a church in Cornwall. The village and civil par ...

granite. The village hall was built in 1885.

Coverack lifeboat

The

Royal National Lifeboat Institution The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest of the lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat services operating around the coasts of the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on s ...

(RNLI) stationed a lifeboat at Coverack in 1901 following the wreck of the SS ''Mohegan'' on The Manacles in 1898 with the loss of more than 100 lives. A boat house with a slipway was built on the harbour. The all-weather lifeboat was withdrawn in May 1972 and replaced by a D-class inshore inflatable. The station was closed completely in October 1978 following the allocation of a faster boat to

Falmouth Lifeboat Station Falmouth Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) search and rescue operations at Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth, Cornwall in the United Kingdom. The first Lifeboat (rescue), lifeboat was stationed in the town i ...

. A coxswain of the Coverack lifeboat, Archie Rowe, was a subject of '' This Is Your Life'' in 1958 when he was surprised by

Eamonn Andrews Eamonn Andrews, (19 December 1922 – 5 November 1987) was an Irish radio and television presenter, employed primarily in the United Kingdom from the 1950s to the 1980s. From 1960 to 1964 he chaired the Radio Éireann Authority (now the RTÉ ...

at the BBC Television Theatre. The following lifeboats were stationed at Coverack:

Christmas swim

Every year on Christmas Day, the villagers and holiday makers turn out to watch volunteers swim in the harbour in aid of charity. This tradition has gone on for nearly 50 years and has raised thousands of pounds for Cancer Research.

July 2017 flash flood

On 18 July 2017 the village was hit by a flash flood. Roads were blocked and hailstones the size of 50 pence pieces (30 mm) smashed windows. Heavy rainfall hit at about 15:00 BST. The coastguard was needed to airlift two people who were trapped on the roof of a house.

References

External links

Coverack village web site
{{authority control Villages in Cornwall Populated coastal places in Cornwall Ports and harbours of Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall St Keverne