Andy-Dines

St Nectan's Glen, Cornwall

At this sacred site of Saint Nectan’s Glen, the river Trevillet has carved its way through Late Devonian slate, created a magnificent 60 foot waterfall and pu...
Read more

At this sacred site of Saint Nectan’s Glen, the river Trevillet has carved its way through Late Devonian slate, created a magnificent 60 foot waterfall and punched a hole through the original kieve (basin). The water now cascades into a beautiful valley.

The sixth-century Saint Nectan is believed to have sited his hermitage above the waterfall. According to legend, Saint Nectan rang a silver bell in times of stormy weather to warn shipping of the perils of the rocks at the mouth of the Rocky Valley.

Saint Nectan’s Kieve is to some a sacred place, and numerous ribbons, crystals, photographs, inscriptions, prayers and other devotions now adorn the foliage and rock walls near the waterfall. Some visitors add small piles of flat stones obtained from the stream, known by some as fairy stacks.

A building reputed to be the site of Saint Nectan’s cell is situated at the top of the waterfall; the date of the building is uncertain. It is understood that the ruins of a Christian chapel provide the lower part of the walls of a cottage erected in the 1860s, and extended around 1900.

Many myths and legends, from King Arthur and his knights to ghostly sightings, surround this place: but one undeniable fact is that it is a place of outstanding natural beauty.
Read less