Tintagel Castle is a dramatic castle dating from the early 1200s and is located on the coast of Cornwall with impressive views. I visited the castle in 2005 for the first time, and at that time, the hill with the castle had to be accessed via a winding set of steps up a steep hill and through the old gateway. Part of the castle is actually on the main land, and a new bridge was opened last year across to the island where the remainder of the castle is. This makes access a lot easier, and those who were unable to visit the castle in the past can now do so. Unfortunately, I don't have those photographs from 2005 with me anymore.
The castle dates from medieval times, but the land here was a high status one and traded with the Mediterranian in the late Roman times. The castle is rumoured to be the birthplace of King Arthur in the legends, and it does have a mythical air about it. The legend made visits to the castle popular from Victorian times.
The castle is managed by English Heritage and probably one of their most popular attractions. The new bridge, pictured below, makes access much easier! The bridge was completed in 2019.
The name of the village next to Tintagel was called Trevena, which means hillside crop land.
I visited the part of the castle on the mainland first. Part of this had fallen down the cliff. This part of the castle used to be connected to the part that is an island (with the bridge across it), but it had collapsed at some point.
Once on the side of the island, I explored the ruins and admired the views.
The sculpture pictured below is also new. It was created by Rubin Eynon and placed in 2016. I had mixed feelings about this artwork being displayed in the historical site. I think it is a nice sculpture, though. There is additional artwork around one of the old buildings on the hillside as well, and it features quotes from the story of "Tristan and Isolde".
With its dramatic views, it is no wonder that Tintagel has inspired a legend, poetry, writers, and artists.
After visiting, I walked down the old steps (which also used to double as the steps to the castle).
"Merlin's Cave" is a seacave at the bottom of the cliff here, but the tide was coming in this time, so I was unable to visit it. I will leave that until next time.
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