Cornwall’s coastal communities have long been at the mercy of the restless sea and shifting sands. The town of Looe floods every spring tide, St Piran’s oratory lies buried under wind blown sands, and large areas of land are long gone.
In the East from Rame Head to the two Looes there was once a tract of fertile farmland that stretched 3 miles into what is now sea.
In the West a large forest covered the land south of Penzance; the stumps of its ancient trees can be seen at low tide.
From Perranporth to Crantock was a rich area, Langarrow, home to exiled criminals sent to work in the coastal mines and build a harbour on the Gannel. Langarrow grew into a wicked city, which was then buried in sand under the dunes.
Sennen was joined to the Scilly Isles by land..the Scilly were not Isles, and Lands End was landlocked, it was all part of the mythical land of Lyonesse, birthplace of Cornish hero Tristan. Lyonesse, a rich land with 140 churches, was lost under the waves, allegedly on 11 November 1099.
‘Between Lands End and the Scilly rocks,
Lost lies a town that ocean mocks.’
