St Just in Penwith

The countryside around St Just is a great place for wildlife lovers. Out to sea you never know when you might see dolphins, porpoises and even whales, closer to the shore there’s usually a seal or two to be seen from the coast path.

Gannets are often spotted diving from a great height into the sea and all sorts of gulls will be seen flying up and down the coast.

A large proportion of Cornwall’s chough population can be found in West Penwith and in particular the coast line around St Just. These black birds with red legs and a curved red beak are still rare and very much protected by law. However, their numbers have increased over the years, and they can now often be seen along the South West Coast Path, one of the many wonders of this fantastic area and rugged coastline.

This iconic headland dominates the coastline in this part of Cornwall. A “cape” is a promontory that stands at the meeting of oceans or channels and many years ago navigators believed that Cape Cornwall was ‘Land’s End’ marking the place where the English Channel and St Georges Channel meet.

The cape was bought for the nation by Heinz Ltd in 1987 and then presented to the National Trust to mark the company’s centenary. The chimney stack on the summit is all that remains of several mines that clung to the cliffs all around Priest Cove below.

Off shore, the Brison’s Rocks are known locally as 'General De Gaul in the bath' because of the outline when viewed from the mainland. Each year an organised swim takes place covering the mile between the rocks and the cove.