CHAPEL PORTH

CHAPEL PORTH

Chapel Porth is set in a mining valley between high cliffs, the first view of the cove is quite dramatic. A vast low tide beach and a sea of glowing heather make it hard to believe this area was once an industrial landscape. The dramatic ruins of the old Wheal Coates tin mine are perched on the cliffs above the beach

Chapel Porth is one of the most exposed beaches on the North Coast facing the full force of the Atlantic. In the winter it can be a bleak foreboding place with the famous Wheal Coates engine house overlooking the scene from its clifftop.

HISTORY

Chapel Porth in the late 19th century would have looked a barren wasteland with pools and mounds of mining spoil, and sheds and wooden frames linked by channels of water. Much of the valley floor was used for the processing of tin ore, powered by water from the fast-flowing stream.

It is still possible to follow the mining trail beginning at the famous Wheal Coates tin mine on the cliffs near Chapel Porth and continuing along the coastal path until the trail ends at Blue Hills at Trevellas, the last remaining tin production centre in Cornwall.