From the Cove shop
A few useful Down The Cove picks connected to this read.
is the main beach at St Agnes on Cornwall's rugged north coast, a sand-and-shingle bay sheltered between dark cliffs and the remains of an old harbour. Popular with families and surfers alike, it reveals broad areas of rock and rock pools at low tide and has long sat at the heart of the village's mining and seafaring story.
Beach and cove guide
A simple guide to the feel of the place, how to arrive, and what to keep in mind before you go.
Trevaunance Cove is the kind of place where the day is shaped by simple things: tide, weather, a picnic, and time to notice the coast properly.
Families, beach days, coast paths, rock pools and relaxed exploring.
A few useful Down The Cove picks connected to this read.
Plan the final walk from the car park and check whether the beach is easy with pushchairs, tired legs or beach bags.
A useful read before visiting with children, especially for tides, paths, facilities and simple beach expectations.
Look up tide times, swimming guidance and weather before you go, especially on wilder beaches.
Read straight through, or use the planning notes above to shape an easier coastal day.
No RNLI Lifeguards are on duty
Trevaunance has a wild, rugged feel, set between dark cliffs in a landscape that forms part of Cornwall's National Landscape. The beach is shingle at the top with sand opening out as the tide falls, and the whole cove sits at the foot of the valley that runs down from the village of St Agnes above.
Its history is written into the rocks. The cove was once a working harbour, its large breakwater patched and rebuilt over many years before finally being given up around the time of the First World War; at low tide you can still find the great granite blocks that built it scattered beneath the cliffs on the western side. This was tin and copper country, and the surrounding mine remains now form part of the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site, with ore still worked using traditional water power up the valley at Trevellas Coombe.
Today the cove is a lively spot for families and a serious one for surfers. St Agnes has a thriving surf scene with shops and lessons close to hand, and the standard in the water here is reckoned among the highest in the country. Caves and the old harbour ruins give plenty to explore once the sea has drawn back.
A few useful Down The Cove picks connected to this read.
