Gorran Haven is a small fishing village on the south coast of Cornwall, around 7 miles from St Austell. It is one of those really old fashioned villages, definitely not the kind of place known for its bustling nightlife or shopping facilities. Gorran Haven is more the kind of place you’d visit to get away from all of that and experience a quiet, uncommercialized, and peaceful village and beach, that hasn’t really changed in centuries!
Gorran Haven Beach
Gorran Haven Beach is an East facing, golden sandy beach. Incredibly popular with families, swimmers, SUP’s and kayakers! is backed by beautiful little fishing cottages, hundreds of years old! On the right-hand side of the beach, there is a Harbour wall that juts out into the sea and provides shelter from the wind, and on the left-hand side of the beach, there is a headland that separates Gorran haven beach from another smaller beach, (Little Perhaver beach), which has plenty of little rock pools to explore…
At High tide, much of Gorran Haven beach gets swallowed up by the ocean, leaving very little-to-no space for beach-goers to set up. Best practice is to check the local tide times by clicking here …Or like, walk to the beach and see for yourself.
If there is sand left on the beach, It may be worth taking part in the “2-minute beach clean challenge”, where essentially, you take a few minutes to have a quick sweep of the beach, picking up crisp packets and bottles that have been left on the beach, or washed up. Gorran Haven prides itself on the cleanliness of its beaches, as does much of Cornwall, so taking part in this activity does more than you think for the local community! As for your Kanine buddies, dogs are allowed on the beach year-round, as long as they are kept on a lead.
Like I said earlier, Gorran Haven is very popular with swimmers, kayakers, SUP’s and even surfers on occasion, but if you fancy taking a dip in the water, be aware that there is no lifeguard service. I’ve read that the waters around Gorran Haven tend to be quite calm, but if there is one thing I’ve learned by surfing, it’s never to underestimate the ocean! Always stick to your depth and keep an eye on your loved ones in the water. I’ve noticed that in summer, lots of people enjoy jumping off the harbour wall into the water… I would say this is a stupid, dangerous thing to do, but it is 100% what I’d be doing if you saw me down there! …Just watch out for boats coming in and leaving if you do so.
While chatting to one of the locals, I found that while Gorran Haven isn’t known for its good surf, the winter months and early spring tend to be a lot better for people looking to surf this break. Another advantage to coming in the winter is the lack of crowds and the peacefulness of seeing what the village is actually like out of season… (If you can handle the bitter cold, that is!)
If you’re thinking about visiting Gorran Haven by boat, or with your £50,000,000 Superyacht, I’m afraid you can’t park it in the harbour without special permission, as it is privately owned. You can apply for a space in the harbour by contacting the harbour masters here. Also, there is a ban on Jet-ski’s around Gorran Haven, So… Don’t bring your jetski unless you want the jetski police to come and take your jetski…
The Village
Gorran Haven was founded at some point in the 1400s, and in fact, there is evidence of human settlement dating back to the Mesolithic, or “middle stone age”, in fact, I think my Nan may have been one of the very first settlers… (Sorry Nana, I had to do it.)
Just on the slipway from the beach, there is a very popular cafe, mermaid beach cafe, which serves great coffee and good food at a very picturesque location! there is also a beach shop with everything you could possibly need for a trip to the seaside, including fishing tackles, dingy’s and most importantly, Fish and chips! The Beachcomber is just up the street, around 35 meters from the beach.
One aspect of Gorran Haven that can be a bit of a nuisance is the very small roads that aren’t really built for traffic or large vehicles… unless you want your car redecorating with scratches and dents from Gorran Haven’s infrastructure. The council has tried to get around this issue by creating a one-way system through much of the village, but cars getting stuck on the narrow roads is a bit of a common occurrence for this village.
If you do decide to drive to Gorran Haven, there is a large car park just up the road from the beach, complete with public washrooms. It costs £4 for the day and £8 to stay overnight. A bargain if you ask me. This is a fantastic deal for people who tend to travel in campervans as you can stay in the village without having to rent a hotel room or book a holiday house. The price is even better in winter, as the charge for the day is a fraction of the cost, at £2! I spend more than that on coffee in a day!
If you do fancy staying in Gorran Haven, House by the beach holiday accommodation are the people you need to book with. They have a massive range of self-catering holiday houses across Gorran Haven that are perfect for your next stay. Take a look at their website to see which holiday lets are available. While I haven’t stayed with them personally, I have spoken to the owner, Sally, who provides a professional and friendly service, much like many of the other small businesses in the village.
As I mentioned earlier, Gorran Haven isn’t really the shopping capital of the UK. The “Gorran stores” convenience shop and post office is located out of the main village, (more specifically, Saint Austell PL26 6HN.) It doesn’t strike me as the kind of place for your weekly shop or anything. Luckily, the town of Mevagissey is a 10-minute drive down the road from Gorran Haven and is home to way more grocery stores, and shops in general. Alternatively, the much larger town of Falmouth is around a 50 minute drive South West of Gorran Haven and has pretty much every shop you could possibly need, including a Sainsbury’s, Asda, Co-op, Iceland, Gopro store… You get the picture.
The thing that I love about these old fishing villages, is that they haven’t changed for hundreds of years! The houses that surround the beach have been there for centuries, and there is little to no change from those days to the present. These towns and villages are a fantastic way to step back and remove yourself from the hustle and bustle of modern life in the cities and suburbs, while not completely isolating yourself from civilization, (although, I could understand why you’d like to do that sometimes seeing where humanity is going at the moment!)
Gorran Haven’s History
As a fishing village, Gorran Haven has its roots in the fishing and maritime industry. Often fishing off the coast of the village and then exporting the fish to the West Indies. However, as I briefly mentioned earlier while referencing my dear sweet grandmother, Gorran Haven (or at least the surrounding area,) has been inhabited for around 8,000 years! As the hunter-gatherer era came to an end in the area, Gorran Haven, and places very similar, became a sanctuary for fishing communities, and stayed that way for millennia!
Something that most people don’t know, is that Gorran Haven used to be called “Porth East,” now, the reasoning behind this is pretty difficult to explain… Especially for someone like me, who knows about as much on the topic of Cornish history as a common house plant… It mostly has to do with the translation between Cornish and Latin, but, it roughly translates to Cornish as “The Cove of St Just.”
Saint-Just allegedly visited what would become Gorran Haven, in around the 5th or 6th Centuries AD, and built a small chapel on the grounds where the current church lies now. These saints would travel to small settlements around the land, spreading their religious beliefs to their inhabitants. This proves that at least in the Dark ages, there were people living in what we now call Gorran Haven.
All of this useful information came from a video published by Chris Mannell on YouTube, so for a much more in-depth analysis of Gorran Haven, please go and give it a watch, and why not give it a like while you’re there! It was pretty much the only place where I could find any substantial history of the area!
Peak Times
As for most Cornish villages, the peak time is always the summer months, when Kid’s break up for summer, and troves of people migrate down to the South West for a week or two’s holiday. And honestly, who could blame them? The astonishing beauty of the coastline here has to be seen to be believed! Luckily, the tourism industry is Cornwall’s main source of income and drives the economy. But, the issue with this is obviously the overcrowding, which is especially an issue in these times. So, in the summer, to avoid crowds on the beach, the best time to go would be early morning or late afternoon when the crowds have died down a bit!
Alternatively, you could visit out of season and not have to worry about the place being overcrowded! Another positive to visiting out of season is that the majority of the time, it is much cheaper all around. Holiday housing tends to be cheaper in the winter months and the parking in Gorran haven drops to £4 for the whole day! But, as I said earlier, This is only really worth doing if you are willing to brave the cold!
Conclusion
I would urge you to check out Gorran Haven, it is absolutely beautiful. From its stunning country lanes and historic streets, to the beach and the harbour walls, Gorran haven is definitely a place to come and experience, and to get away from the hustle and bustle of modern life! Once all of this Covid shit is over and done with, you’ll find me somewhere around Gorran Haven… so, see you there!
While you’re here, why not have a gander at some of my other blog posts? See if you can spot any of the spelling and grammatical errors that I’ve missed!…
Right, I’m off. Cheers for reading.
-Josh
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