Tintagel Castle and the Legend of King Arthur

 Perched on a high, rocky and jagged headland in North Cornwall stand the ruins of Tintagel Castle. It's location makes it one of the most spectacular historic sites in Britain. As far back as the 5th century a prosperous Roman community lived in a village here.  The discovery of Roman coins, pottery shards and other artifacts dating back to that time show that there was a thriving trade across the Mediterranean between Tintagel and Europe.

In the 12th Century Geoffrey de Monmouth wrote about a legendary King Arthur and named Tintagel as the place of Arthur's conception.  The romantic legend captured people's imagination and grew in popularity over time until in 1230 Richard, Earl of Cornwall, the younger brother of Henry III, chose the site to build a castle.  The site had no strategic value, it was more of a vanity project which required him to sell three manor houses to fund the build. Richard hoped that by associating himself with the highly popular legend of King Arthur it would help him gain the trust of the Cornish people. The castle had a brief period of glory but it was short lived so that by 1337, only 107 years later, it was already falling into ruin.

Nowadays the village of Tintagel is set well back from the headland.  Access to the castle ruins is down a long hillside road to a footbridge which carries you high across the beach and valley below.  If you have a fear of heights it would be a challenge to cross but fortunately I don't and the views of sea, beach, caves and the coastline are worth it.

Foot bridge to the castle. Photo by British Heritage

Below: Excellent signage along the way

The castle ruins are largely crumbled away now but there are outlines of rooms, some parts of the outer walls standing and the best part is the ruins of the Great Hall. Helpful signage along the way indicates what was where. The cliffs down to the sea are high and steep and it is a bit nerve wracking to negotiate the path running along the edge to reach the highest point.  My traveling companion, Liz, and I made it to the top but it was quite a hard slog.   On our way up we saw a group of young people sitting right out on the edge of some rocks dangling their feet over a fall of 100s of feet.  No doubt trying for a good social media shot, but it was a really dangerous and stupid thing to do.

Statue of King Arthur  

 After taking in the  spectacular views in all directions it was an easy walk back down from the top and across the bridge and then rather than walk the long way up the access road to our waiting bus we took a handy jeep ride back.  Visitors can take the jeep in both directions if they wish.

The fascination with the legend of King Arthur lives on making Tintagel one of English Heritage's top five attractions with hundreds of thousands of visitors each year.  I remember the stories of King Arthur well so thoroughly enjoyed my visit.  Although in the legend he never actually lived in Tintagel there is still an air of romance about the place making it well worth a visit.