Crackington Haven

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Crackington Haven viewed from Pencarrow Point looking south. The picture was taken in 2003; the following year, 2004, floods washed away the car park and road bridge but these were rebuilt.

Crackington Haven grid reference SX140972 is a small cove between Bude and Boscastle on the Atlantic coast in North Cornwall, England, UK.

Crackington Haven is popular with campers and walkers and with geology students. The surrounding cliffs are well-known for their visible folded sedimentary rock formations.

Crackington Haven has a stony foreshore but a sandy beach is revealed at low water. There are toilet facilities on the beach and lifeguard cover in the summer. Dogs are banned on the beach from Easter Day to October 1. There are a small shop, two tea rooms and a pub adjacent to the road through the village. The pub is called Coombe Barton Inn and the building was originally the house of the manager of a local slate quarry.

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.

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).

Crackington Haven was badly affected by the Boscastle flood of 2004. The road bridge across the stream was badly damaged and homes close to the beach had to be repaired. The pub was also badly affected.