This video was shot back in April 2021 on a beautiful Cornish spring evening in one of my favourite places, Prussia Cove in West Cornwall.

I parked at the small free clifftop car park and walked down the winding, tree-lined lane to the deserted (just how I like it) Prussia Cove and wandered around enjoying the sunshine. I also sat on the rocks for ages just watching the sea break on the shore.

Prussia Cove or Porth Legh in Cornish consists of four small coves, cottages, and houses and is a fantastic place to relax, swim and explore.

The four surrounding and secluded coves are known as:

Piskies, Bessy’s, King’s, and Coule’s Cove.

Prussia Cove is situated a few miles away from Penzance and a walkable distance from the popular holiday destination, Praa Sands.  There are several other popular locations nearby such as Cudden Point, Mounts Bay, Marazion, Perranuthnoe, and Porthleven.

There is a lot of history attached to virtually everywhere you go in Cornwall and Prussia Cove is no exception. Aside from being a popular tourist destination, wedding location, and popular stop-off point on the South West Coast Path; Prussia Cove is probably most well known for its mysterious smuggling past.

An infamous 18th-century Cornish Methodist family (which is a tad ironic) called the Carters (John and Harry) used to call Prussia Cove home and were prolific smugglers of contraband from France.

The Carters would use Prussia Cove to land their contraband and had a nearby cottage with plenty of hiding places to store their ill-gotten gains. Even now you can see the gouge marks in the rocks where wooden carts would have been filled up and dragged across the rocks and up the hill filled with contraband.

It is believed that at the time smuggling was not really seen as a crime by the local people who when times were hard had to resort to other means of trying to make a living.

I love sitting at Prussia Cove imagining what skullduggery and naughtiness took place on cold, dark nights when barrels of rum and other contraband were being rolled along the beach ready to be heaved into the carts by fellow smugglers trying to get ahead of the Revenue Protection Officers who were always on patrol along the coast.

As smuggling was rife at Prussia Cove a coastguard station was built on the cliffs to survey the comings and goings with the intention of stamping out smuggling activities altogether.

As time passed, a copper mine was set up near Prussia Cove which employed many of the locals, and as Revenue Protection Officers got better at catching smugglers the practice of smuggling contraband gradually started to die out and slip into legend.

 

One thing to note about Prussia Cove is there is only one small cliff-top car park at the end of a pretty narrow road. If you are planning to visit Prussia Cove you should get there early or maybe park at Praa Sands and walk around on the South West Coast Path to avoid the inevitable traffic jams and endless reversing of your car to let other cars pass as during the summer months it gets very busy.

Prussia Cove January 2022

Here are a few photo’s from a more recent visit to Prussia Cove in January 2022.

 

Questions & Answers About Prussia Cove

How do you get to Prussia Cove?

Postcode – Tr20 9BA

OS Grid Ref

SW 5570 2790

What3words – ///universally.fetching.unzips

Who owns Prussia Cove?

Prussia Cove is part of a privately owned estate. Prussia Cove is overlooked by a stately manor house and numerous former coastguard cottages and fishing shacks which are owned by the Behrens family and are now used to host weddings, events and tourists.

Is Prussia Cove car park open?

There is a small car park at Prussia Cove and a short walk is required to get down to the cove itself. Visitors who may be a bit unsteady on their feet may struggle with getting down on to the beach. The car park is open all year round and last time i visited was still free. You will need to get there early though as it is only a small car park and will fill up very quickly during the summer months.

Can you swim at Prussia Cove?

Yes you can. On a calm day it’s a great place to swim and snorkel. Obviously like anywhere in Cornwall you need to be careful when you head into the water. There are no lifeguards at Prussia Cove.

How did Prussia Cove get its name?

John Carter, one of the members of the smuggling Carter family mentioned above became one of the biggest smugglers in Cornwall and as such styled himself on ‘Frederick the Great – King of Prussia’. for whom he had a great admiration. Over time the cove became known as Prussia Cove.

Is Prussia Cove dog-friendly?

Yes it is, dogs are allowed all year round. There are many dog friendly beaches around Cornwall but it’s best to double check before you visit.

I hope you enjoyed this short article about Prussia Cove and I hope you had chance to watch my video. If you enjoyed my video please check out my YouTube channel for more videos of my adventures around Cornwall.

Cheers, JV.