Not so bad on the way down but good exercise on the way back! If you have limited mobility, for a small fee you can jump in one of their 4WD’s which run people back and forth between the visitor centre and ticket office. The walk down to Tintagel is rather steep. The entrance to Tintagel is on Castle Road which is off Fore Street – the main street which runs through the village. You will see a ticket office as you turn off the main street. Therefore, if you are an English Heritage member you will get in for free, otherwise there is an entry fee. You may be surprised to know that Charles, the Prince of Wales, actually owns this piece of land, but it is managed by English Heritage. There is also parking in the town, but it is more expensive and can get busy during the summer months. It’s about a 10 minute flat walk to the ticket office. It operates with a charity box (so bring coins) that has seen better days. As we drove into the village along the B3263, there was cheap parking in a field on the left. We visited Tintagel on a lovely sunny summers day as part of our holiday around the coast of Cornwall. When you visit this magical place, you will see why. Since then, this beautiful site has been a very popular tourist destination. For many years only sheep grazed here, but much later in Victorian times, the fascination of King Arthur’s legend led a revival of Tintagel and people flocked here. However, the area begun to suffer from coastal erosion which led to it being abandoned again with only a few staff remaining to maintain the site. It was then abandoned for over 500 years until the 12th century when Richard, Earl of Cornwall, began building himself a castle here. There is evidence of Roman’s during the 3rd and 4th centuries, and from 450 to 650 the headland was a bustling trade centre. Tintagel Castle has a long and interesting history. If you are not familiar with the story of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, then I thoroughly recommend reading Bernard Cornwalls The Winter King. This story originated in the 12th century, when Geoffrey of Monmouth described Tintagel as the place of Arthur’s conception in his fictionalised account of British history, the Historia Regum Britanniae (‘History of the Kings of Britain’). The famous Tintagel Castle on the beautiful Cornwall coast is steeped in the legend of King Arthur. All recommendations and opinions are my own. Read my full disclosure here.ĭisclaimer: This is not a sponsored post, I paid for this trip myself. These commissions help keep this website up and running, and I thank you for your support. If you make a purchase through a link, I may receive a small commission, at no cost to you. It's a steep walk down to the castle from the village car parks in summer, Land Rover taxis shuttle up and down throughout the day.This post may contain affiliate links. Trails lead along the headland to the atmospheric medieval chapel of St Materiana, and down on the beach below the castle the rocky mouth of Merlin's Cave is exposed at low tide – local legend claims it's where the wizard once wove his spells. There’s also a curious tunnel that’s still puzzling archaeologists it may have been used as a larder or cold store. Part of the castle stands on a rock tower known as the 'Island’, cut off from the mainland, and accessed via a wooden bridge and a dizzying set of cliff steps (vertigo sufferers beware). Though much of the castle has long since crumbled, it’s still possible to make out the footprint of the Great Hall and several other rooms. King Arthur notwithstanding, it’s hard to think of a more soul-stirring spot for a stronghold. Though the Arthurian links may be tenuous, it's certainly a fine spot for a fortress: clinging to black granite cliffs, surrounded by booming surf and wheeling gulls, it's the classic fairy-tale castle. The present castle is largely the work of Richard, Earl of Cornwall, who built a castle here during the 1230s. Famous as the supposed birthplace of King Arthur, Tintagel's epic clifftop castle has been occupied since Roman times and once served as a residence for Cornwall's Celtic kings.
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