Porthcurno is a small, yet historically important village located just a few miles from Land’s End. The village was once the largest submarine telegraph station in the world, operating transcontinental communications to and from Great Britain. Nowadays it is more known for being the home of the Minack theatre, an impressive structure hewn into the cliffside rock from 1931 to 1983 under the guidance of just one woman, Rowena Cade.
Porthcurno is on the South West Coastal Path, and is two hours walk from Land’s End or four hours from Penzance. The cliffs and coastline are dedicated as areas of outstanding natural beauty, and the Porthcurno beach is very popular in summer with tourists visiting the telegraph museum and the Minack theatre. Make sure you’re first on the beautiful sandy beach during your Porthcurno holiday by staying with us at The Wearhouse!
Porthcurno village has a small Post Office and general stores that is open all year, and a pub, the Cable Station Inn. In nearby Penzance there are a number of supermarkets and other amenities.
For those looking for something a little different during their stay in Porthcurno, the Penzance heliport can take you over to the Isles of Scilly, or you could sail on the Scillonian.
Local attractions and things to do
The coastline around Porthcurno is an area of outstanding natural beauty, and is quite simply, stunning. The village is on the South West Coastal Path and is within walking distance of Land’s End and Penzance.
Clifftop walks will take you past the geological oddity of Logan rock – an eighty ton granite stone that due to erosion could be rocked by one person. It was dislodged in 1824 by some drunken sailors, but following complaints to the admiralty the lieutenant responsible was forced to pay for it to be replaced out of his own money. The invoice for the work being completed is now on display at the Logan Rock Inn.
Pedn Vounder beach is also accessible around the Logan Rock headland from Porthcurno beach at very low tides, or via a very steep path down from the cliff top. Pedn Vounder is however an unofficial naturist beach, so be warned.
Porthcurno beach and local coastal areas enjoy something of a microclimate, and summer temperatures reach around 28 degrees Celsius (82 degrees Fahrenheit) with very little wind as we’re very sheltered.
Please contact us for a full list of things to do and see in the area. Here’s a quick guide on how far away some of these are:
Distances
Penzance
9 miles
Lands End
3 miles
The Minack Theatre
0.6 miles
Porthcurno Telegraph Museum
0.3 miles
Porthchapel Beach
0.8 miles
St. Ives
16 miles
Penzance Railway Station
9 miles
Closest Pub
100 yards
Closest shop
100 yards
Falmouth
34 miles
Porthcurno Telegraph Museum
Porthcurno has a unique historic provenance: this is where the telegraph cables that linked Britain with its Empire and other nations came ashore. The valley was the hub of international cable communications from 1870-1970 and also training college for the communications industry until 1993.
The Minack Theatre
Photo by Sphereworks
The Minack Theatre is the most famous open-air theatre in Britain, possibly in the world; from above it looks as though some wandering Greeks, two thousand years ago, had carved a theatre into the granite cliffs of Porthcurno, Cornwall.
Porth Chapel Beach
Porth Chapel beach is named after the remains of a Christian site[34] and medieval chapel visible next to the footpath about 30 metres (98 ft) above the beach. There is a spring known as the St. Levan Holy Well further up the cliffside which may be reached by ancient granite steps. The steps were covered for many years but were discovered in 1931 by the Reverend H. T. Valantine and Dr. Vernon Favel. They were restored in 2003, part of a Cornwall County Council restoration project and were opened by The Countess of Wessex.