Porthcothan (Cornish: Porthkehodhon)[1] is a coastal village between Newquay and Padstow in Cornwall, England, UK.[2] It is within the civil parish of St Eval.
Porthcothan
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Porthcothan beach looking down from the north at low tide, towards the former Arch rock | |
Porthcothan Location within Cornwall | |
OS grid reference | SW8574572018 |
Civil parish | |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | PADSTOW |
Postcode district | PL28 |
Dialling code | 01841 |
Police | Devon and Cornwall |
Fire | Cornwall |
Ambulance | South Western |
UK Parliament | |
Porthcothan lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Almost a third of Cornwall has AONB designation, with the same status and protection as a National Park.
The sandy beach is popular with tourists and surfers and is patrolled by lifeguards during the day in the summer; local surf schools sometimes use the beach for tuition. There is a pay-and-display car park and a small grocery shop near the beach. In January 2014, storm Anne reduced a local arch, Jan Leverton's Rock, to rubble.[3][4]
As with many coves in Cornwall Porthcothan has legends of smuggling, and there is a large cave some mile inland that is reputed to have been used to store the smuggled goods.[5]
Notable former residents include the early science fiction author J. D. Beresford[6] and the playwright Nick Darke.[7] The novelist D. H. Lawrence lived locally at one time, but did not get on with the local populace who accused him of spying during World War I.[5][6]
Media related to Porthcothan at Wikimedia Commons