Godrevy Island

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Godrevy Island is located northeast of Hayle, Cornwall, UK and is a National Trust owned stretch of coast with a famous lighthouse.

The name Godrevy comes from the plural of "godref", which means hut or homestead. Godrevy Island has been the site of many shipwrecks. The most famous was after Charles I's execution when a ship carrying much of his property was wrecked here and the royal belongings were scattered along the coast. Artifacts from SS Kintuck, sunk in 1917, are at the Shipwreck Museum in Charlestown. Not far from the remains of the Mohegan are those of the Spyridion Vagliano, a 1708-ton steamer which, laden with grain from the Black Sea for Falmouth, hit the Voices in the dark on 8 February, 1890, ripped a hole in her 258ft-long hull, and then bounced off to the north. Her crew abandoned her at once. Her captain was drowned when his boat overturned at midnight on Godrevy Cove beach.

The Godrevy lighthouse dates from 1857, and was the inspiration for Virginia Woolf's book To the Lighthouse. Godrevy Headland is owned by the National Trust, and has a long history of human settlement back to the middle Stone Age. The earthwork at Godrevy Head is believed to have been constructed against the threat of the Spanish Armada in 1588. The Towans have yielded archaeological evidence of a middle and late Bronze Age culture.

The National Trust owns the coastline from Godrevy to Navax Point. The main beach below the summer car park connects to Gwithian Beach, forming a sweep of unbroken sand around the edge of St Ives Bay. There is open access for miles of walking. Seals are a common sight and guillemot, razorbill, fulmar and cormorant breed on the cliffs.

Godrevy has a rocky beach opposite the island lighthouse, with good surfing conditions. The Red River discolouration is not harmful. The beach is perfectly safe away from the stretch of water between the island and the mainland, where there are strong tides and currents.

Musician Patrick Wolf wrote a song called "Godrevy Point".