Prussia Cove
Coordinates: 50°06′05″N 5°25′07″W / 50.1013°N 5.4186°W
| Prussia Cove | |
| Cornish: Porth Leah | |
 Prussia Cove
Prussia Cove shown within Cornwall |
|
| OS grid reference | SW556299 |
|---|---|
| Unitary authority | Cornwall |
| Ceremonial county | Cornwall |
| Region | South West |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PENZANCE |
| Postcode district | TR20 |
| Dialling code | 01326 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Cornwall |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | St Ives |
| List of places: UK • England • Cornwall | |
Prussia Cove (Cornish: Porth Leah), formerly called the King's Cove,[1] is a small private estate on the coast of Mount's Bay and to the east of Cudden Point, west Cornwall, UK. Part of the area is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a Geological Conservation Review site[2] and is in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). It consists of four small coves and several cottages and houses. The names of the coves from west to east are Piskies, Bessy's, King's and Coule's. The area is accessible by foot from the coastal footpath.[3]
Contents |
[edit] History
Prussia Cove is known for the 18th century ship-wrecker and smuggler John Carter (b. 1738), also known as the "King of Prussia"; thought to be from a childhood game he played and the origin of the name for the area.[4] Evidence of smuggling can be inferred by the building of the terrace of seven listed cottages overlooking Coule’s Cove and Mount's Bay. They were built in 1826 by the Coastguard and are known as Coastguard Cottages. Built above and overlooking the coves is a Victorian house built in 1885 for du Boulay, former Archdeacon of Cornwall in his retirement. The coastal path passes though a "circus" formed by the listed buildings of Porth-en-Alls and include a crescent shaped "Lodge". The complex was designed and built by Philip Tilden in 1911, but never completed due to the Great War.[5]
In April 1947 HMS Warspite ran aground here whilst being towed to the breakers yard. She was later towed to, beached and broken up at Marazion.[6]
[edit] Cudden Point to Prussia Cove SSSI
Cudden Point is a prominent headland, owned by the National Trust which can be clearly seen from most of Mount's Bay.[7] Together with Little Cudden and Piskies Cove, the area is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and is listed, for its national importance, in the Geological Conservation Review. The SSSI notification reads:
″This is the best example in Cornwall of a mildly metamorphosed, differentiated tholeiitic intrusive greenstone that retains good relict igneous textures and mineralogy. It is characteristic of relatively large intrusive dolerite-gabbro sills in Cornwall and unique in that it is of tholeiitic composition and not alkaline. It is also internally differentiated and contains rare relicts of primary brown amphibole. The sheared and deformed marginal facies has a chemistry indicative of contact metamorphism by hidden, shallow granite extension from the nearby Godolphin diapir.″[8]
The vegetation consists of small patches of coastal grassland with colonies of the Silver-studded Blue (Plebejus argus), Small Pearl-bordered Fritillary (Boloria selene) and Grayling (Hipparchia semele) butterflies.[9] Gorse (Ulex europaeus) and bramble (Rubus fruticosus) dominate on the more fertile soils. Above the headland is ″The Lookout″ built by the Government in the 1914-18 war for coastal observation and now used as holiday accommodation.[5]
[edit] Culture
In 2004, the British period drama Ladies in Lavender starring Judi Dench and Maggie Smith was filmed there.
[edit] International Musicians Seminar
The International Musicians Seminar (IMS) Prussia Cove held at Porth-en-Alls was founded by the Hungarian violinist, Sándor Végh and Hilary Tunstall-Behrens in 1972.[10] The master class seminars are said to be "... an opportunity to broaden their (students) musical horizons and to make new contacts; stimuli which are vital to a developing artist". Former students and participants of the seminars are to be found among the world's leading soloists and leaders of the great orchestras of the world.
[edit] References
- ^ Carter, H. "Autobiography of a Cornish Smuggler." http://www.smuggling.co.uk/ebooks/carter.html
- ^ "Management Unit Statement Hoe Point to Cudden Point". Lizard Point to Land's End Shoreline Management Plan. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly Coastal Advisory Group. http://www.ciscag.org/OldSMP/Lizard2landsend/V1_hoepoint.pdf. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
- ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 Land's End ISBN 978-0-319-23148-7.
- ^ http://www.smuggling.co.uk/gazetteer_sw_11.html
- ^ a b http://www.prussiacove.co.uk/houses/haven.htm
- ^ Le. Messurier, B. and Luck, L. (1998) Loe Pool and Mount's Bay. No. 12 in The National Trust Coast of Cornwall series of leaflets.
- ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 Land's End ISBN 9780319231487
- ^ "Cudden Point to Prussia Cove". Natural England. 1991. http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1003626.pdf. Retrieved 9 February 2012.
- ^ Wacher, J., Worth, J. and Spalding, A. (2003) A Cornwall Butterfly Atlas. Newbury: Pisces Publications.
- ^ "IMS Prussia Cove - a cultural oasis". International Musicians Seminar Prussia Cove. http://www.i-m-s.org.uk/about/. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
