“Now, said Sir Ector to Arthur, I understand ye must be king of this land. Wherefore I, said Arthur, and for what cause? Sir, said Ector, for God will have it so; for there should never man have drawn out this sword, but he that shall be rightwise king of this land”
– Sir Thomas Mallory, King Arthur and his Knights
I grew up with a mom that taught me to love books. Stories of epic romances, fantasy, and historical fiction. The Arthurian Legend was always one of my favorites. When I was in the sixth grade, I chose to write my first “paper” about Arthur, Guinevere, and the Knights of the Round Table. When Josh and I decided to plan our honeymoon to England, I knew Cornwall had to be on the list.
We drove from Dartmoor to Cornwall, which ended up being a pretty decent drive. Road labelling became a bit dicier once we entered Cornwall, but, luckily, our car had a GPS. We stayed in a cute little beachside town called Bude, and at the hotel The Beach at Bude. We were in room 16 and had a beautiful view of the coast and water. We loved this hotel. The room was spacious, we felt as if we were in a flat rather than a room. We planned to then drive to Tintagel, which was about 30 minutes away. The town of Tintagel is sweet, and the King Arthurs Cafe had the most amazing gluten free pasties and cream tea.
Originally thought to be a Medieval fortress, archaeologists have recently discovered pottery at Tintagel Castle or Dintagel in the Cornish, dating from the 200 CE.
A castle was later built at the site by Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall, in the 13th century.
The castle has a longstanding history with King Arthur. This began in the 12th century when Geoffrey of Monmouth, a British cleric, named this as the place of Arthur’s conception. While his account is completely unreliable, news of it spread during the period, producing several more stories and pieces in which they added details such as Arthur being born at Tintagel Castle.
The site itself spans over a few islands. It is absolutely breathtaking. Photos do not do it justice. I cannot say enough about this place other than if you get the opportunity to go, go!
For the remainder of our time in Cornwall, we stayed near and around Bude. We hiked a bit near our hotel, and we drove in the pouring rain to a tea room near us. All in all, Northern Cornwall was absolutely lovely. We had a wonderful time, and I would go back in a second. I hope one day you get to visit there, too.
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