Perranporth Beach

Perranporth is an area shrouded in Cornish myth and legend. It is said that in the 5th century AD Saint Piran, the patron saint of Cornish miners, was tied to a mill-stone and thrown off the cliffs in Ireland.

Rather than sinking, the seas immediately became calm and he floated across the water all the way to Cornwall, where he washed up on Perran Sands, adjacent to Perranporth. Saint Piran built a Christian oratory behind the beach, whose ruins still stand today.

Today, Perranporth’s Atlantic swell attracts surfers from far and wide, but it is a little known fact that the very roots of British surfing are owed to the area. In the 1930s, after seeing the popularity of surfing in countries such as Australia and South Africa, Brits returning home were determined to acquire their own boards. Tom Tremewan, a Perranporth local, created some of Britain’s earliest surfboards from whatever wood he had handy, including coffin lids!

For more information on the history of Perranporth, the Perranzabuloe museum is located just off Perranporth’s high street and has displays on the social and industrial heritage of the area, including mining, farming, surfing and fishing.