Tinners Way (Cornwall)

Tinners Way – 16 miles, 2 days – from Cape Cornwall in St Just to St Ives.

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The route of the Tinners’ Way along the watershed ridge of the Penwith Moors allows exploration of a little-known landscape that contains a phenomenal number of features of interest from prehistoric monuments, archaeology and industrial heritage to wildlife and ecology. Along the way there are in the region of 20 ancient sites including stone circles, quoits and menhirs.

The route is crossed by several roads, from which it can be explored in stages without requiring the undertaking of the entire 16 miles in one attempt. The online guide is divided into sections based on these road crossing points.

The origins of the track are probably Bronze Age. At that time much of the peninsula would have been covered in woodland so routes between various settlements would have taken the more open higher ground. Over the years the route became so established as to leave an impression on the landscape. The path’s importance was further consolidated during the mining boom of the 18th and 19th century where supplies and ore would have been transported back and forth between areas such as Pendeen and Botallack and the harbour in Hayle.

Genesis of the route vision

The Tinners Way opens a window onto the past—in two different spheres. It was first devised in the 1980s by the late Hugh Miners, Grand Bard of the Cornish Gorsedh, and the late Cornish historian Craig Weatherhill, They had the vision to identify an ancient pathway (that may go back in origin to the Bronze Age) that ran across the West Penwith Moors in Cornwall, linking up ancient sites from Kenidjack Castle cliff castle, Tregeseal stone circle, Carn Kenidjack tor enclosure, Chûn Quoit and Castle, Bosullow Trehyllis courtyard house settlement, the Mên-an-Tol & Men Scryfa monuments, Nine Maidens Down (Boskednan) circle, Bodrifty hut circles, Mulfra Quoit, close to Zennor Quoit, across Lady Downs and down to St. Ives bay on the north coast and St. Michael’s Mount on the south.

They set up walking groups to traverse the whole route, most notably from Badgers Lane near Towednack going westwards by the light of the full moon, a memorable time, when the participants saw from Chûn Downs the light of the setting sun on the south-west coast, and the light of the full moon rising on the north-east coast. The Tinners Way was always dear to their hearts, and with the creation of the Penwith Landscape Partnership in 2017, Craig was delighted that they adopted the Tinners Way and committed to bringing it to fruition. Although he passed in 2020, he would have been pleased that the full route, with details of access points and ancient sites along its way, was one of the last projects to be finished by the PLP, a tribute indeed to his enthusiasm from all those years ago.

Detailed route description

The Tinner’s Way begins down in the charming little fishing cove of Priest’s Cove in the shadow of Cape Cornwall, and soon there is a great view of Cape Cornwall and the Brison rocks beyond. The cliffs here are rich in traces of prehistoric inhabitance. There are traces of hut circles and barrows along with Kenidjack Cliff Castle, an elaborate and extensive system of ditches and ramparts covering a large proportion of the headland. The hillfort was built to stand guard over Porthledden Cove below which in the Iron Age was a sandy beach, safe to land on.

Next is Botallack which is the beginning of what was once the centre of the mining industry and at the time one of the most industrialised places on Earth. Next is Tregeseal Stone Circle – originally there were 2, possibly 3, circles here but only one remains today. The site is also known as the Tregeseal Nine Maidens or The Dancing Stones. Nearby are the Holed Stones, 3 large stones with a hole through each. On the hilltop beyond the stones is Carn Kenidjack, also known as ‘Hooting Carn’ on account of the noise the wind makes as it funnels through the rocks. This distinctive set of rocks has a number of legends attached to it and was highly significant in prehistoric times with a high concentration of burial sites to be found in the vicinity. Next, Chun Quoit is unusual in that it is the only quoit in the area that after 5,000 years it has actually retained its capstone in the original placement. Chun Castle is an Iron Age hill fort which is difficult to fully appreciate from the ground. From above, however, you can see the large circular enclosure it forms with walls which would originally been over 3 metres tall, and just as thick. The defensive position of the fort provides great views over the moors and coast below. Soon the route passes very close to one of Cornwall’s best known ancient monuments, the holed stone of Men-an-Tol, and the standing stone of Men Scryfa with an inscription “Royal Raven son of the Glorious Prince”.

The route soon passes the dramatic worn granite peak of Carn Galva where you can survey the West Cornwall moors and both coasts.

Beyond the old mine workings of Rosewall Hill the point of interest before reaching St Ives is Towednack Church. Dedicated to St Tewinnoc (Trewennocus, Wednack, Winnow or Winwaloe) the church has a particularly squat tower which is attributed to the Devil. Apparently the Dark Lord had nothing better to do than knock the top of the church tower off every evening as it was being built. You finish at the charming town of St Ives.

The above description is an edited version of the article on the Cornwall Guide.

Official Route Website

Books by route creator Cheryl Straffon