Tintagel Castle

Tintagel Castle

Tintagel Castle stands on a dramatic headland on the north Cornish coast of England, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. Associated since the Middle Ages with the legendary King Arthur, the site is home to the remains of a 13th-century medieval castle and the archaeological evidence of a high-status Late Antique settlement that has fuelled centuries of Arthurian legend and scholarly debate.

History

Archaeological evidence shows that the Tintagel headland was occupied from the 5th to 7th centuries AD as an important trading post receiving amphorae from the Mediterranean. The medieval castle was built around 1233 by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, brother of King Henry III, who was certainly aware of the Arthurian associations and may have deliberately chosen the site to evoke royal Cornish heritage. The chronicler Geoffrey of Monmouth had already linked Tintagel to Arthur in his 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae, claiming it was the site of Arthur’s conception. A slate inscribed with the name Artognou, found during excavations in 1998, added renewed fuel to the legend.

What to See

The castle is now managed by English Heritage and requires a steep descent and ascent to reach the headland. A dramatic new footbridge completed in 2019 reconnects the island to the mainland after centuries of isolation. The ruins include the Great Hall, the inner and outer wards, and the cave known as Merlin’s Cave below the headland. The village of Tintagel has a visitor centre and the Old Post Office, a medieval manor house maintained by the National Trust.

Getting There

Tintagel village is in north Cornwall, approximately 22 kilometres north of Bodmin. There is no direct train service; the nearest stations are Bodmin Parkway and Exeter Saint David’s. Bus services connect from Camelford and Bude. By car from London the journey takes approximately four to five hours on the A30 route through Devon.

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