Tintagel Castle
Tintagel's castle was built by a king's brother in the 1230s to cash in on a legend, and its walls are now cut off from the mainland by a bridge with a gap in the middle.
Published
Quick Facts
- Location
- Tintagel Island and the adjoining cliffs, north coast of Cornwall
- Castle built
- 1230s–1240s, for Richard, Earl of Cornwall
- Earlier occupation
- A high-status settlement in the 5th–7th centuries, trading with the Mediterranean
- Arthurian link
- Geoffrey of Monmouth's History of the Kings of Britain (c. 1138) names Tintagel as Arthur's conception site
- Footbridge opened
- August 2019, two cantilevered arms leaving a small gap at the centre
- Sculpture
- Gallos, a bronze figure by Rubin Eynon, installed in 2016
- Cave
- Merlin's Cave runs right through the headland and can be explored at low tide
- Cared for by
- English Heritage
The castle that was built for a story
Tintagel is a dramatic place to put a fortress, but it is a poor one. The headland has no harbour worth guarding and no road worth controlling. That is exactly the point. In 1225 Richard, younger brother of Henry III, became Earl of Cornwall. Around the 1230s he began building on this wild, wave-lashed rock. The likeliest reason is the legend. A century earlier, the writer Geoffrey of Monmouth had made Tintagel the birthplace of King Arthur, and Richard was an earl wanting to look like the heir to a legendary Cornish past. It was less a defensive stronghold than a stage set in stone, with a great hall, walls and gateways clinging to the cliffs on both the mainland and the island. Within a few generations it was falling out of use, and by the Tudor age it was already a ruin.
A scandalous night with Merlin's help
The story Geoffrey of Monmouth told is a good one. Uther Pendragon, king of the Britons, lusted after Igraine, wife of Gorlois, Duke of Cornwall. Gorlois shut her away in Tintagel, which was said to be impregnable. Uther turned to the wizard Merlin, who disguised him as Gorlois. Uther walked in, spent the night with Igraine, and Arthur was conceived. Meanwhile the real Gorlois was killed in battle. It is a myth, and Geoffrey was writing centuries after any real Arthur could have lived. But it stuck so well that Tintagel's name has been linked with Arthur ever since, helped along by Victorian poets, Tennyson among them, and the tourists who followed them.
The real Dark Age mystery
Here is the twist: the legend was not entirely out of thin air. Something important really did happen on this headland long before Richard arrived. Excavations in the 1930s turned up fragments of imported Mediterranean pottery and glass from the 5th to 7th centuries, the years after Roman rule ended in Britain. Wine, oil and fine tableware came here from as far away as the eastern Mediterranean. Only a powerful ruler could have commanded that kind of trade. More recent digs have found evidence of many buildings on the island, so this was not a monastery, as was once thought, but a busy, wealthy settlement. A slate found in 1998 carries scratched Latin lettering, including the name Artognou, which caused a stir for its Arthur-like ring. Nobody can say it refers to the king, but it shows that people here could read and write. Who ruled the place is still unknown. Most likely a Dumnonian king held court here.
The bridge with a gap in the middle
The narrow strip of rock joining the island to the mainland has crumbled over the centuries, which is why the castle ruins are split in two. For a long time visitors made do with steep steps and a gap that had to be crossed with care. In 2019 a new footbridge opened. It is made of two cantilevered arms, one reaching out from each side, that stop just short of each other, leaving a gap of a few centimetres in the middle. It is meant to recall the old causeway that once connected the two halves, and to let you cross the chasm in a single sweep. It also lets you see the landscape the way the castle's builders did, with the drop beneath your feet and the Atlantic on both sides.
What to look for when you visit
On the island, look for the foundations of Richard's great hall and the remains of the Dark Age buildings, which are outlined by low walls in the grass. Some of the stonework seems to hang directly over the sea. Near the top stands Gallos, an eight-foot bronze figure by Rubin Eynon, installed in 2016. Its name is Cornish for power. It is often taken for Arthur, but the sculptor and English Heritage have left the identity open. Below, Merlin's Cave cuts straight through the headland. At low tide you can walk to it from Tintagel Haven, and when the sea is running you can hear it booming through the rock. The village of Tintagel itself adds a quirky coda, with Arthur-themed shops and a 1930s great hall. A good trick is to start with the cliff path and see the island from a distance, as the castle was meant to be seen, before crossing the bridge.
Notable people
- Richard, Earl of Cornwall
- Geoffrey of Monmouth
- King Arthur
- Merlin
- Uther Pendragon
- Igraine
- Gorlois
- Alfred, Lord Tennyson
- Rubin Eynon
- C. A. Ralegh Radford
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