Illogan & Portreath

Illogan and Portreath sit on Cornwall’s north coast, with Portreath occupying a narrow cove and Illogan set slightly inland among former mine workings. Portreath has a small harbour built to serve the 18th- and 19th-century mining trade and a sandy beach backed by cliffs; the South West Coast Path runs along the cliff tops. The harbour and quays still show the layout used to load ore onto coastal ships, and stone piers frame the mouth of the cove.

Illogan parish contains terraces of former mining cottages, engine-house ruins and pockets of woodland where pits and leats mark the landscape. Tehidy Country Park lies on the parish edge, offering woods and ponds formed from the old estate. Traces of tramways and mineral veins remain visible across fields and lanes, reminders of the area’s role in the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape. Local lanes link small settlements to nearby towns while preserving the pattern of mine sites, chapels and allotments that shaped daily life here.