Tywardreath

Tywardreath is a village on the south Cornish coast, sitting on a ridge above Par Bay about 2 miles west of Fowey. The name means “house on the strand” in Cornish. A Benedictine priory was founded here in the 12th century; little remains above ground, but the site is recorded in medieval documents and Tywardreath’s church, St Andrew, contains some Norman stonework. The village was the setting for Daphne du Maurier’s novel “The House on the Strand” (1969), in which a character experiences visions of 14th-century life in the village.

Par Sands, a long sandy beach at the foot of the hill, is about a mile south of the village on foot. Par itself is a former industrial port town with china clay handling facilities. Fowey, with its harbour, restaurants, and ferry crossing to Bodinnick, is about 2 miles east along the ridge. The Eden Project is about 2 miles north, making Tywardreath a practical base for visiting several south Cornwall attractions without staying in the busier coastal towns.

The village has a pub, a post office, and primary school. Trains stop at Par station, about a mile south, on the main Penzance to Plymouth line. Holiday accommodation in Tywardreath tends to be in period cottages with elevated views across Par Bay toward Gribbin Head.