Gwennap Head
Gwennap Head is the most southwesterly point (i.e. not the most southerly, or the most westerly, but the most "on the corner") of the British mainland and is effectively where The Channel meets The Atlantic. A wind speed of 118mph was recorded at Gwennap Head in 1979. At the time of writing (2020), this is higher than anything recorded elsewhere in Cornwall, or in England.
The headland has been known as Gwennap Head only since 1888. Before this, the headland was known as Tol-Pedn-Penwith which is Cornish for something along the lines of "Hole Head of Penwith", referring to the blowhole in the cliff leading into a large sea cave.
On walks
- Porthcurno, Porthgwarra and Gwennap Head (5.4 mile walk)
Get the iWalkCornwall app
Download the app and use it to explore the walks and to purchase a guided route.
The app will direct you to the start of the walk via satnav.
The app guides you around the walk using GPS, removing any worries about getting lost.
The walk route is described with detailed, regularly-updated, hand-written directions.
Each time there is a new direction to follow, the app will beep to remind you, and will warn you if you go off-route.
A map shows the route, where you are at all times and even which way you are facing.
Each walk is packed with information about the history and nature along the route, from over a decade of research than spans more than 3,000 topics.
Once a walk is downloaded, the app doesn't need a phone or wifi signal during the walk.
The app counts down distance to the next direction and estimates time remaining based on your personal walking speed.
We keep the directions continually updated for changes to the paths/landmarks - the price for a walk includes ongoing free updates.
