Tregudda Gorge
Scenic point Cornwall, England
About Tregudda Gorge
Tregudda Gorge is a deep coastal chasm on the North Cornwall cliffs near Padstow, carved through Devonian slates and sandstones by erosion along ancient fault lines. From the South West Coast Path above, you look straight down sheer cliff walls to the sea below, and across a narrow channel to the Merope Islands — a cluster of rocky stacks, the most striking of which is Middle Merope, a slender pillar of earth and rock topped by a narrow flat pinnacle. At low tide, small waterfalls and natural pools appear at the base of the gorge, and that's when it's most worth making the detour down. In 2020 a large rockfall reshaped part of the cliff face — a reminder that this coastline is still very much in motion. Cornish folklore ties the gorge to Sirens said to lure men toward the water, a story recorded in Donald Rawe's 1984 book Cornish Hauntings and Happenings. It sits on a stretch of coast dense with geological oddities, including the banded Marble Cliff and the arched Porthmissen Bridge, just a short walk further along the path.
Location & details
- Category
- Scenic point
- Region
- Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
- Coordinates
- 50.55465, -4.97256
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