Tintagel Castle
This was it, the big one. Our first (intentional) King Arthur destination.
Lauren: This one has been on my dream destinations list for the last 8 years, so to have the chance to finally see the place in person was too good to miss. The second Jamie picked Cornwall as his birthday destination I had cheekily commandeered the arrangements to get us into a position to visit Tintagel. Luckily for me, Jay is a budding history buff and when my personal Arthurian Quest came tumbling from my lips he was on board. It was due to this that we ended up extending our trip and turning it into a full roadtrip, but it all started at Tintagel.
Based on the obvious connection, the hype surrounding the ruins, and the fact that Tintagel boasts as one of Cornwall's most sought after destination, we were a little let down.
Tintagel Castle is spectacular there is no doubt about it, but we use the term 'castle' very loosely. There is some stone and a lot of cliff, none of it really resembles the incredible castle which holds the claim of King Arthur's birthplace.
Undeterred, the three of us scaled the hills, stairs, and cliff edges involved and by the end of the afternoon were completely knackered but happy we had achieved such a momentous hike. Aside from Yogi of course who sulked the entire time because we wouldn't let him wee on the castle fragments remaining. He only forgave us when we took him back to the farm cottage we were renting so he could talk to his goat friends.
Tintagel Castle (or otherwise known as Kastel Dintagel) is a medieval fortification which was likely a seasonal residence to the King of Dumnonia. A castle was later erected on site by Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall (a roman king) in the 13th century.
Ralegh Radford excavated the site back in 1933 and his findings had led him to theorise that the original Tintagel Castle was in fact a monastery. This was based on the similarities between Tintagel and Whitby Abbey. This is now widely ignored however in favour of the site being a settlement for Dumnonian royality who would reside here seasonally. Security was ensured by a large ditch at the entrance of the peninsula and a single track leading to the site so anyone approaching could be spotted from a distance. Having walked said track we can confirm it is also quite dangerous!
Richard, 1st earl of Cornwall later built his castle on this site assumedly long after the 'palace' for the Dumnonian settlement had fallen. He had built this using techniques which far predated his time in the hope that the castle would seem more ancient than it was. Inspiration for building it in the first place lay with Geoffrey of Monmouth who had inspired Richard with his Arthurian tales and as such he had wanted the connection as well as viewing it as a kingly spot.
Following Richard, the later earls were not interested in Tintagel and allowed the castle to fall to ruin. The roof from the great hall was removed, the land let out to pasture, and some areas still in tact were used as prisons. The isthmus has started to erode and the entire castle continued to fall to ruins, at one point the two islands were connected by fallen tree trunks used as a bridge! An attempt to strengthen points against Spanish invasion happened but was pointless as Tintagel manor fell to their rule until it was returned.
Victorian times brought the revival of interest in Arthurian legend and the castle became a tourist hotspot. It was also during this time that the nearby village dropped its name of Trevena and took the name of the Parish, Tintagel.
Arthurian Legend
According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, Arthur's father was king of all Britain- Uther Pendragon. Uther fell for Igraine, the Duke of Cornwall's wife, at their first meeting. Maddened with love, Uther laid a siege upon Cornwall once the lady asked her husband to return home in order to have her, Gorlois
(the Duke), fought against Uther's forces while Uther himself with help from Merlin disguised himself as the Duke and took Igraine to bed. Meanwhile, Gorlois was killed by the Pendragon forces.
This union resulted in Arthur Pendragon, but Geoffrey does not go on to mention that Tintagel was Arthur's birthplace or that he ever visited the site later in life. The legend states that Tintagel Castle was merely the place of conception, and the reason for Uther's deception was that he was told how impossible it would be to have taken Tintagel due to its single entry point and being surrounded entirely by sea.
Of course this legend spread, as they do, and more sources were written expanding how Arthur had returned or that he was born here. There is even a point on one of the high rocks at Tintagel called Arthur's footprint, as a footprint shaped indent is present in the rockface. It is known as Arthur's footprint as the tale goes that it is the point he jumped from in order to cross islands. There is evidence however that at some point this footprint had been altered by human hands. The Artognou Stone (Arthur's stone) with an inscription linking to Arthur had also been found at Tintagel, but many scholars and general Cornish folk dispute connection to Arthur or that he was even a real person. Most legends regarding the figure have been waved away, but if there was any truth to Geoffrey of Monmouth's writings then the only connection to Arthur Tintagel had was Uther sleeping with Igraine under the influence of Magic.
Personally, we believe Geoffrey. There isn't any sense of Arthur here, and of course there wouldn't have been as he was never actually here. This was a cool bucket list experience but an Arthurless one and so it was a little disappointing.
In terms of Tintagel as a tourist hotspot, minus the Arthurian connection, it was an interesting visit. We would have actually classed this as more of a hike to be honest as we scaled a hill, went through a graveyard, made our way across the uneven landscape to the entrance, walked some more hills on the cliff, went up stairs, went down stairs, then walked a near completely vertical hill to get back to the village of Tintagel as the shuttle was broken. Nearly 20,000 thousand steps and a very tired puppy. Was it worth it? Well it was sure beautiful, but in terms of ruins there was not much. We would say it was worth it though, it was an adventure. We popped in and out of caves, walked the cliff, saw down below into the beautifully clear sea. Lauren took steps to conquer her fear of heights by walking that bridge. It was something to be proud of and due to this we cherish the afternoon we spent here.
Tintagel was also our first opportunity to try a true Cornish Pasty and oh my it was delicious! We debated going back for another (we shared), but we were due at the Springer Spaniel for dinner and didn't want to spoil our appetites.
Was Tintagel haunted? Yes, we got that impression. Not by King Arthur, no siree, but by someone for sure. We didn't explicitly see anyone or anything, but the remnants of the castle are ghostly enough already and give off an abandoned and spiritual atmosphere. We also witnessed a witch blessing the statue of Gallos which was interesting. The surroundings are windblown and the force of it literally takes your breath away. It was a hot sunny day when we went, but the force of the elements pushed us around and kept us cool for sure. There is no way that within the wind there is not a spirit roaming what's left of the land, perhaps trapped in battle. Maybe even Gorlois himself is trapped at Tintagel mourning his wife who was forced to betray him and went on to marry the king.
We look forward to expanding our Arthurian sites, and this wasnt the first and last on our trip, but we perhaps wouldn't do this one again unless we had other people with us. Aside from the natural surroundings and the bragging rights that we did this, there wasn't much to see. We would like to visit Merlin's cave at some point, but as Merlin isn't the point of our quest that can wait.
In terms of giftshop, as everyone loves a little giftshop, there are 2. There is a mini one once you've climbed down the many steps to the base of the cliff, and the main one before the god-awful vertical hill to get back to the village. Both are worth a little gander and there is also a museum which we skipped as Yogi was getting a little restless and our legs were buzzing.
DISCLAIMER: Now for the official bit. This blog does not receive any paid promotions from the places mentioned above. We have not been approached to promote or act as spokespersons for any attraction mentioned within this post and this is simply a post intended to act as a day in the life of a couple on a cute date. All photos included are taken by ourselves and as such the rights for these images our ours, no links, brands, or companies mentioned otherwise belong or are associated with Phantom Adventures UK. We are responsible only for this blog. Opinions are our own and not influenced by any third party source..
If you have any recommendations on places to visit or somewhere you would like to see on the blog, please feel free to drop us a message on instagram under @phantomadventuresuk or email us at phantomadventuresuk@gmail.com
Comments
Post a Comment