Harlyn

Coordinates: 50°32′17″N 4°59′49″W / 50.538°N 4.997°W

Sunset at high tide looking West from clifftop
Surfers at Harlyn Bay
Harlyn beach on a busy summer day

Harlyn (Cornish: ar-Lyn, meaning facing a pool) is a small village on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated inland from Harlyn Bay (Cornish: Porth Lys, meaning court cove) three miles from Padstow and about one mile from St. Merryn.[1]

Harlyn Bay is a very popular family and surfing beach and is suitable for novice surfers. Near the beach are a caravan park and a pub called The Harlyn Inn. Many of the houses in Harlyn are holiday lets.

East of Harlyn Bay is the village and beach of Trevone and west of Harlyn are Cataclews Point (Cornish: Karrek Loos, meaning grey rock), Mother Ivey's Bay and Trevose Head. Further west, the beaches at Constantine Bay, Porthcothan and Treyarnon are linked by the South West Coast Path.

Harlyn lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Almost a third of Cornwall has AONB designation, with the same status and protection as a National Park.

The village is compromised to a large extent of second homes, and is quiet for much of the year. The year round population is probably around a dozen people. However the pub remains quite busy on the correct evenings all year round. The village also has a variety of different forms of holiday accommodation, which include Harlyn Bay directly above the beach and Polmark Beach Cottages, just 150 yards from the beach.[2]

The Gold Lunulae of Harlyn

In 1865 a labourer found two wafer-thin crescents of gold known as lunulae at Harlyn Bay. They probably date from the early Bronze Age, and were probably deposited as grave goods, as there are several prehistoric burial mounds nearby. The shape of these lunulae indicates a symbolic meaning. They represent the crescent horns of the moon, and may thus have been objects of great ritual and ceremonial significance.[3] The site of the finds was above Onjohn Cove, a small cove between Harlyn Bay and Cataclews Point at grid reference SW 872 759.

References

External links

Media related to Harlyn at Wikimedia Commons