Kelsey Head Cliff Castle

Nearest town:
Newquay (5km ENE)
OS reference:
SW765608
OS sheet:
200
Latitude:
50° 24' 13.92 N
Longitude:
5° 8' 44.2 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Kelsey Head Cliff Castle (Cliff Fort) by juamei

Open Source Environment agency LIDAR

Image credit: © Environment Agency copyright and/or database right 2015.
juamei
juamei Jan 24, 2016
Image of Kelsey Head Cliff Castle (Cliff Fort) by thesweetcheat

The ditch survives reasonably well, although it’s no longer very deep.

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.6.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Aug 11, 2014
Image of Kelsey Head Cliff Castle (Cliff Fort) by thesweetcheat

The northern end of the rampart, looking NE towards distant Trevose/Dinas Head.

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.6.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Aug 11, 2014
Image of Kelsey Head Cliff Castle (Cliff Fort) by thesweetcheat

The ditch and bank of the eastern rampart of the main site.

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.6.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Aug 11, 2014
Image of Kelsey Head Cliff Castle (Cliff Fort) by thesweetcheat

The eastern site, overlooking Porth Joke towards Pentire Point West, one of the few headlands on this part of the Cornish coast to have neither Bronze Age barrows or Iron Age fortifications.

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.6.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Aug 11, 2014
Image of Kelsey Head Cliff Castle (Cliff Fort) by thesweetcheat

The Porth Joke defensive rampart, to the ESE of the main site.

Image credit: A. Brookes (19.6.2014)
thesweetcheat
thesweetcheat Aug 11, 2014
Image of Kelsey Head Cliff Castle (Cliff Fort) by pure joy

Kelsey Head Cliff Castle – 28th September 2003- ramparts on the south side, looking across at the west side where the sheep are.

Image credit: Martin Bull
pure joy
pure joy Oct 23, 2003

Articles

Kelsey Head Cliff Castle

pure joy
pure joy Oct 5, 2003

Kelsey Head Cliff Castle – 28th September 2003

The car parks at West Pentire both seem to be privately run because they seem to charge all day / all year around (whereas most Council owned ones are free off season / outside peak hours), but are probably still the best places to start if you come by car. If you stick to the coast path you could probably get away without a map. Otherwise you may feel more confident with one. By the by, there is a semi-signposted short cut across fields to ‘Porth Joke’. The National Trust car park via Treago Farm is free, but not well signposted.

Porth Joke is not only a great name, but also had cows grazing right up the sand (and even some hoof prints in the sand – had they been out surfing??). Kelsey Head Cliff Castle is then on the next headland.

The defences are not particularly impressive but you can imagine that the site would have been quite out of the way and maybe would not have needed large ramparts. The entrance (in the middle of the V shaped ramparts) is relatively obvious if you walk long the defences.

Miscellaneous

Kelsey Head Cliff Castle
Cliff Fort
pure joy
pure joy Sep 6, 2003

On National Trust open land.

Mentioned by Craig Weatherhill, in “Cornovia: Ancient Sites of Cornwall & Scilly” (Cornwall Books – 1985, revised 1997 & 2000) “The headland is defended by a V-shaped Iron Age rampart and ditch 220m long, pierced by a single entrance 3.0m wide near the angle of the V. This entrance is somewhat indistinct and there is a scatter of loose masonry on its eastern side. The rampart, 1.5m high, incorporates natural rock outcrops and its ditch is 4.6m wide and 0.6m deep. The defended area totals 1.0ha; traces of iron Age dwelling sites have been found.”

Sites within 20km of Kelsey Head Cliff Castle

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