Off the beaten track spots in Cornwall that tourists and locals should visit
From: In Your Area, 18th January, 2026
Clay Country
Distance from Trearth to Wheal Martyn Clay Works: 19 miles
The Cornish Alps, the blue-green lakes and the extraordinary moonscape of it all, means exploring Cornwall’s ‘china clay country’ where kaolin has been extracted for hundreds of years is a must. There are a number of Clay Trails, ranging from gentle slopes to harder walks and cycle routes, all traversing St Austell and its hinterland. While you’re there visit Wheal Martyn Clay Works, the UK’s only china clay mining museum.
Lerryn
Distance from Trearth to Lerryn: 31 miles
Three miles south east of Lostwithiel lies one of the most picturesque riverside villages in Cornwall, with a celebrated pub, The Ship Inn. It’s worth exploring for the remains of one of the world’s oldest amusement parks.
The abandoned fountains, arches, bandstand and swimming pool, appearing unexpectedly through the trees and undergrowth beside a woodland path in Lerryn, were once attractions within the long forgotten Tivoli Park, named after the world famous Tivoli Gardens amusement park in Copenhagen.
Created by China Clay magnate, Frank Parkyn, who was born in the village in 1850, work began on the elaborate park around 1920, following his visit to the Danish Tivoli. Parkyn cleared a large area of his woodland and built ornate structures and water features – including an octagonal pool – within the space. It all started disappearing to nature about 50 years ago..
St Piran's Oratory
Distance from Trearth to nearest parking spot for St. Pirran’s Oratory: 16 miles
Half-buried in the dunes of Penhale Beach, north of Perranporth, are the remarkable remains of one of Britain’s oldest Christian sites, the 6th-century remains of an oratory said to have been established by Piran, the Irish saint who landed on the beach after exile from his homeland. The saint’s oratory, or chapel, remained in use until the 10th century when shifting sand forced its abandonment in favour of a new church in a more sheltered location just inland, but that also got buried by sand and abandoned in 1804.
St Day Old Church
Distance from Trearth to St. Day: 31 miles
Now owned by the community, this 19th century ‘gothic’ roofless building truly has the wow factor. Open to the elements it makes for a venue like no other – a number of theatre, music and cinema events are taking place this year.
Camborne and Tehidy Country Park
Distance from Trearth to Tehidy Country Park Oratory: 36 miles
Like Redruth, Camborne is the very heartland of Cornwall – where mining and Methodism once ruled supreme. The market town is due a renaissance and there are already many people doing great things there. Nearby is the restful idyll of Tehidy Country Park – nine miles of paths in the largest woodland in West Cornwall with the largest squirrels you will ever see. Perfect for a family walk
Aristic Penryn
Distance from Trearth to Penryn: 36 miles
Falmouth has long been the tourist destination but make some time for neighbouring Penryn which – at Jubilee Wharf, the Fish Factory and other businesses – is seeing an explosion in art. The little bohemian Bohl’s Yard, home of Pizza Pls – many people’s favourite pizza restaurant in Cornwall – is another reason to visit.
Temple Church
Distance from Trearth to Temple Church 31 miles
Bodmin Moor will always be on the tourist trail but tucked away in a valley in the foothills is a lovely little church with an incredible history. Temple Church, or the Church of St Catherine to give it its proper name, is today an oasis of calm, despite being a stone’s throw from the busy A30.
The church was originally built in the 12th century by the mysterious Knights Templar, the “soldiers of Christ” who were the most skilled fighting unit during the Crusades. Legend has it that they sought and may have even protected the Holy Grail and Ark of the Covenant. The church later became notorious as a place where “bad marriages” could be performed without banns or licence.
Veryan and the lesser discovered Roseland
Distance from Trearth to Veryan: 27 miles
St Mawes with its castle and beautiful views of the water has long been a favourite with tourists, but the rest of the Roseland Peninsula is a road less travelled. On the way to two of Cornwall’s best beaches, Pendower and Carne, is Veryan with its thatched roundhouses, lovely village green and a churchyward which contains Britain’s longest grave. It’s well worth a visit if just for the pub, the New Inn, which is full of character and characters.
Rame Peninsula
Distance from Trearth to Kingsand 51 miles
If ever there was an area of Cornwall off the beaten track for visitors it’s the Rame Peninsula and the old smuggling villages of Cawsand and Kingsand. Many people believe the view from Rame Head beats even that of Land’s End. Among the many things to do and see, this forgotten corner of Cornwall boasts the likes of Mount Edgcombe Country Park and several forts – including Tregantle and Polhawn – as a result of French re-armament around Plymouth Sound.
Veryan and the lesser discovered Roseland
Distance from Trearth toVeryan: 27 miles
St Mawes with its castle and beautiful views of the water has long been a favourite with tourists, but the rest of the Roseland Peninsula is a road less travelled. On the way to two of Cornwall’s best beaches, Pendower and Carne, is Veryan with its thatched roundhouses, lovely village green and a churchyward which contains Britain’s longest grave. It’s well worth a visit if just for the pub, the New Inn, which is full of character and characters.
Museum of Witchcraft and Magic
Distance from Trearth to Museum 26 miles
There are myriad things to do in Cornwall with the family – Flambards and Crealy theme parks, Tate St Ives and galleries throughout, a huge array of museums, but if you want to discover something different then it’s got to be the world’s largest collection of items relating to witchcraft, magic and the occult in Boscastle. It’s fascinating and not a little bit spooky.
Indian Queens preaching pit
Distance from Trearth to the Preaching Pit: 27 miles
Gwennap Pit may be better known, but the preaching pit in Indian Queens – easily reached from the A30 – is a thing to behold. Protected as a Scheduled Monument, in 1850 villagers constructed the preaching pit within a disused mining works, used by the local Methodist chapels, many of which still stand in their foreboding granite way.
These days the pit can be found down a narrow path between two houses on an everyday estate. Like a more secretive Gwennap Pit, you can’t help but mouth a ‘wow’ when you come across its large stepped rings and naturally created pulpit.
