St Mawgan

St Mawgan is a village set in the Vale of Mawgan, about 5 miles north-east of Newquay. The village is notably well-preserved; a stream runs through the bottom of the valley past the 13th-century church of St Mawgan and Lanherne, a convent since Carmelite nuns arrived in 1794; Franciscan sisters replaced them in 2001, and the chapel is open for public worship. Separately, the village has a one-acre Japanese Garden, open daily from March to mid-November. The Falcon Inn is a traditional country pub in the village.

The Vale of Mawgan is a sheltered wooded valley running down to the coast at Mawgan Porth, about 2 miles north. Mawgan Porth is a sandy beach popular with families and intermediate surfers, less crowded than the Newquay beaches. Newquay Airport, Cornwall’s main commercial airport, sits just south of the village - its proximity makes St Mawgan convenient for fly-to visitors.

Bedruthan Steps, the dramatic stack beach managed by the National Trust, is about 3 miles north along the coast. Padstow is about 10 miles north-west. Holiday accommodation in St Mawgan tends to be in converted farm buildings and period cottages in the valley, combining inland peace with quick access to the north coast beaches. The Vale of Lanherne is one of the warmest and most sheltered microclimates in north Cornwall, making it noticeably milder than the exposed clifftops a few miles away.