Holywell (Cornish: Tregew)[1] is a coastal village in the civil parish of Cubert (Cornish: Lannowyn), in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is at Holywell Bay (Cornish: Porth Heylyn),[1] about three miles (5 km) west-southwest of Newquay.[2]

Holywell
The Treguth Inn
Holywell is located in Cornwall
Holywell
Holywell
Location within Cornwall
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
List of places
UK
England
Cornwall
50°23′N 5°8′W / 50.383°N 5.133°W / 50.383; -5.133
Gull Rocks, Holywell Bay
The beach at Holywell Bay
Sand dunes at Holywell Bay

Holywell beach adjoins the settlement to the northwest and Penhale Camp, formally an army training establishment that was regularly used by cadets, is half-a-mile to the southwest.[2][3] On the north side of Holywell beach Holywell Cave is accessible at low tide and contains many pools formed by natural buildup of minerals.[4] In the cave is St Cubert's holy well.[5]

On the east of the beach, there is a 5,000 year old sand dune system that is one of the largest in Britain.[6] During the summer, tourists can use these dunes for Sandboarding.

There are two holiday parks just outside of the village. Holywell Bay Holiday Park, operated by Parkdean Resorts, and Trevornick campsite.

W. J. Burley, the author of the Wycliffe novels, lived in Holywell until his death in 2002.[7]

Holywell bay is also the residence of both Maia Garner and Louis Garner, athletes that have represented Great Britain in Surf Lifesaving Sport.

Film location

edit

The "skeet surfing" scene in the 1984 comedy Top Secret! was filmed on Holywell Bay, which stood in for California.[8][9][10]

The opening scene for Die Another Day attempting to replicate North Korea, was filmed here in 2002.[11]

Many of the scenes in Poldark were filmed on the beach.

Scenes from the 2015 BBC Miniseries Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None were filmed at Holywell.

References

edit
  1. ^ a b Place-names in the Standard Written Form (SWF) Archived 2013-05-15 at the Wayback Machine : List of place-names agreed by the MAGA Signage Panel Archived 2013-05-15 at the Wayback Machine. Cornish Language Partnership.
  2. ^ a b Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 Newquay & Bodmin ISBN 978-0-319-22938-5
  3. ^ [1] Wikimapia website, retrieved April 2010
  4. ^ "Secret Shrines: In a Dark Sea Cave....by Paul Broadhurst".
  5. ^ Ellis, P. B. (1992) The Cornish Saints. Penryn: Tor Mark Press, pp. 9-10
  6. ^ [2] The Guardian; Cornwall's lost churches, Holywell, Cornwall.
  7. ^ [3] BBC website; news of Burley's death at Holywell; retrieved April 2010
  8. ^ "Craig Calder - @theestablishingshot shared post". mildgram.com.
  9. ^ "Filming Locations - Top Secret!". www.filming-locations.net.
  10. ^ "Top Secret! (1984) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
  11. ^ "Die Another Day (2002) - IMDb" – via www.imdb.com.
edit

  Media related to Holywell, Cornwall at Wikimedia Commons