Porthoustock
Encyclopedia
St Keverne
St Keverne is a civil parish and village on the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, United Kingdom.The Cornish Rebellion of 1497 started in St Keverne. The leader of the rebellion Michael An Gof was a blacksmith from St Keverne and is commemorated by a statue in the village...
in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
, on the east coast of Lizard Peninsula
The Lizard
The Lizard is a peninsula in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at ....
. Aggregates are quarried nearby and Porthoustock beach is dominated by a large concrete stone mill. The mill was once used to crush stone but is now disused. Container ships of up to 82m can dock alongside the wharf along the southern edge of the beach to be loaded with stone. Several fishing boats operate from the shingle beach
Shingle beach
A shingle beach is a beach which is armoured with pebbles or small- to medium-sized cobbles. Typically, the stone composition may grade from characteristic sizes ranging from two to 200 mm diameter....
, with lobster and crab potting, net fishing and long lining as the principal fishing methods. The South West Coast Path
South West Coast Path
The South West Coast Path is Britain's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Since it rises and falls with every river mouth, it is also one of the more...
passes through Porthoustock.
History
Porthoustock originated as a fishing hamlet. However, from the 1890's the village developed as a port for the local stone quarries. There has been quarrying activity in Porthoustock since the late 19th century. By the 1940s the quarries were owned by Amalgamated Roadstone and provided stone to build Cornwall's wartime airfields. Porthoustock survived a German bombing raid in November 1940 with no casualties.Porthoustock's proximity to The Manacles
The Manacles
The Manacles are a set of treacherous rocks off The Lizard peninsula in Cornwall close to Porthoustock, which is a popular spot for diving due to the shipwrecks around them. The name derives from the Cornish for 'church stone', the top of St Keverne church being visible from the area.The rocks...
, a set of treacherous rocks which extend about 1 nautical miles (1.9 km) east and south east of Manacle Point means that it has been the location for numerous shipwrecks. The Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
(RNLI) stationed a lifeboat
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...
at Porthoustock in 1869 and built a boat house by the beach. The station was closed in 1942 and has since become the village hall. The last boat stationed here was the Kate Walker which arrived in 1931. After it was sold in 1946 it was converted to a yacht and was reported as being at Felixstowe Ferry
Felixstowe Ferry
Felixstowe Ferry is a hamlet in Suffolk, England, approximately two miles northeast of Felixstowe at the mouth of the River Deben with a ferry to the Bawdsey peninsula.Local businesses include the Ferry Cafe and the Ferry Boat Inn. St...
in 2007.
Geology
Analcime, analciteAnalcite
Analcime or analcite is a white, grey, or colourless tectosilicate mineral. Analcime consists of hydrated sodium aluminium silicate in cubic crystalline form. Its chemical formula is NaAlSi2O6·H2O. Minor amounts of potassium and calcium substitute for sodium...
, epidote
Epidote
Epidote is a calcium aluminium iron sorosilicate mineral, Ca2Al2O, crystallizing in the monoclinic system. Well-developed crystals are of frequent occurrence: they are commonly prismatic in habit, the direction of elongation being perpendicular to the single plane of symmetry. The faces are often...
, hornblende
Hornblende
Hornblende is a complex inosilicate series of minerals .It is not a recognized mineral in its own right, but the name is used as a general or field term, to refer to a dark amphibole....
, prehnite
Prehnite
Prehnite is a phyllosilicate of calcium and aluminium with the formula: Ca2Al2. Limited Fe3+ substitutes for aluminium in the structure. Prehnite crystallizes in the orthorhombic crystal system, and most oftens forms as stalactitic or botryoidal aggregates, with only just the crests of small...
, calcite
Calcite
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate . The other polymorphs are the minerals aragonite and vaterite. Aragonite will change to calcite at 380-470°C, and vaterite is even less stable.-Properties:...
, diorite
Diorite
Diorite is a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar , biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. It may contain small amounts of quartz, microcline and olivine. Zircon, apatite, sphene, magnetite, ilmenite and sulfides occur as accessory...
and pectolite
Pectolite
Pectolite is a white to gray mineral, NaCa2Si3O8, sodium calcium inosilicate hydroxide. It crystallizes in the triclinic system typically occurring in radiated or fibrous crystalline masses. It has a Mohs hardness of 4.5 to 5 and a specific gravity of 2.7 to 2.9. The gemstone variety, larimar, is a...
are all minerals extracted from the quarries in Porthoustock. A natural rock formation known as the Giant's Quoits stands on the cliffs above Porthoustock. The rocks once stood on Manacle Point but were moved to their current position in 1967 due to the expansion of the quarries.
The cliffs and quarries to the south of the hamlet are designated as part of Coverack to Porthoustock
Coverack to Porthoustock
Coverack to Porthoustock is a coastal Site of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall, England, UK, noted for both its biological and geological interest. The site contains 4 Red Data Book plant species.-Geography:...
SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...
) for their geological interest.
Economy
Aram Resources' West of England Quarry is situated adjacent to Porthoustock village. The quarry works a dark green dioriteDiorite
Diorite is a grey to dark grey intermediate intrusive igneous rock composed principally of plagioclase feldspar , biotite, hornblende, and/or pyroxene. It may contain small amounts of quartz, microcline and olivine. Zircon, apatite, sphene, magnetite, ilmenite and sulfides occur as accessory...
rock mass and has its own wharf allowing the loading of aggregates directly from the quarry to ships. The wharf is protected from the prevailing southwesterly Atlantic weather systems, ensuring minimal disruption to ship loading.