Crackington Haven (Cornish: Porthkrag) grid reference SX140972 is a small village in the parish of St Gennys, at the head of a cove on the Atlantic coast in Cornwall, England, UK. Situated between Bude and Boscastle, Crackington Haven is popular with campers, walkers and geology students. The village has a small shop, two tea rooms and a pub called the Coombe Barton Inn in a building which was originally the house of the manager of a local slate quarry.
Coastal scenery
Crackington Haven has a stony foreshore but a sandy beach is revealed at low water. There are toilet facilities near the beach and lifeguard cover in the summer. Immediately north of the beach is Pencarrow Point and a few hundred yards south is Cambeak headland. One mile south of Crackington Haven, High Cliff rises to 735 feet (224 m) with a sheer drop to the rocky foreshore. It is Cornwall's highest cliff and is also classified as southern Britain's highest sheer-drop cliff (Great Hangman in Devon has a cliff face of 820 feet (250 m) but is a hog-backed hill with a cliff-face, rather than being a normal sheer cliff).[1]
The surrounding cliffs are well-known for their visible folded sedimentary rock formations. The village gives its name to the Crackington formation, a sequence of Carboniferous sandstones and grey shales [2].
History
Until the nineteenth century, Crackington Haven was a small port similar to many others on the north coast of Cornwall. Limestone and coal were imported and slate and other local produce were exported. After the railways reached the district in 1893 the village could be reached more easily (from the North Cornwall Railway station at Otterham) so holidaymaking became more common.
Crackington Haven was badly affected in 2004 by the flood that damaged several other villages, including Boscastle. The road bridge across the stream, several homes and pub were damaged by floodwater. (See also Boscastle flood of 2004)
References
- ^ Richards, Mark (1974) Walking the North Cornwall Coastal Footpath. Gloucester: Thornhill Press ISBN 0 904110 12 5
- ^ [1] Dartmoor National Park Authority information sheet
Coordinates: 50°44′40″N 4°38′16″W / 50.74454°N 4.63774°W
|
||||||||||||||
 |
Please help improve this article by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page. (December 2008) |
 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2008) |
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
