Boscastle

About Boscastle

Boscastle sits where the Rivers Valency and Jordan meet and wind down a narrow valley to a sheltered natural harbour — for centuries the only safe haven along a long stretch of this wild north Cornish coast. The steep hillsides protect the village from the worst of the weather, and on a sunny day the valley traps the warmth.

The National Trust cares for the harbour and much of the surrounding coast and countryside, including the clifftop lookout at Willapark, the medieval strip fields of Forrabury Stitches and the wooded Valency Valley. The South West Coast Path runs right through the village.

History

Bottreaux Castle

Boscastle takes its name from Bottreaux Castle, built in the 12th century by the de Bottreaux family on the high ground at the top of the village. The castle has long since vanished, but much of the village is said to have been built from its stone.

The Elizabethan harbour

The harbour's two stone walls were built in 1584 by Sir Richard Grenville, later famous as commander of the Revenge. Over the centuries the harbour saw privateers and smugglers, wreckers and lifesavers. By the 19th century Boscastle was a busy little port — the only place a boat could put in along around 40 miles of the north Cornish coast — handling cargoes such as timber from Canada, until the arrival of the railway at nearby Camelford in 1893 took much of its trade.

Thomas Hardy

In March 1870 the young architect Thomas Hardy came to restore the church at St Juliot, up the Valency Valley, and fell in love with the rector's sister-in-law, Emma Gifford. They married in 1874 after a four-year courtship. The marriage was not a happy one, but after Emma's death in 1912 Hardy returned to the places where they had met and wrote some of his most moving poems about them. His novel A Pair of Blue Eyes draws on the valleys and cliffs around Boscastle.

The 2004 flood

On 16 August 2004 a flash flood swept down the Valency and Jordan valleys after torrential rain. Cars were carried out to sea, buildings were badly damaged and 91 people were rescued, with no lives lost. The village has since been rebuilt, with a flood defence scheme to protect it.

Walks and the Coast

From the harbour, paths climb onto the headlands either side of the narrow entrance. At Penally Point, around an hour either side of low water and with a swell running, a blowhole known as the Devil's Bellows sends water and spray booming across the harbour mouth.

On the other side, Willapark is crowned by a white lookout tower and the remains of an Iron Age cliff castle. Inland, the Forrabury Stitches are one of the few surviving medieval strip-field systems still farmed in England.

Upstream, the Valency Valley leads through ancient woodland to Minster Church and on to St Juliot, the heart of Hardy country. Along the coast to the north, High Cliff is the highest sheer cliff in Cornwall at around 223 metres (732 feet).

National Trust walks from Boscastle

• Boscastle Harbour walk — about 1 mile.
• Boscastle and Valency Valley walk — about 4 miles.
• Crackington Cracker walk — about 3 miles.
• Rocky Valley walk — about 1 mile.

Visiting Information

Opening times and facility availability change seasonally — please confirm details on the official National Trust site before your visit. Hero image: Boscastle, the River Valency and Penally Hill — Photo © Lewis Clarke (cc-by-sa/2.0).