Mullion Island (Cornish: Enys Pryven, lit. 'worm island') is an uninhabited island on the eastern side of Mount's Bay, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. It is approximately half a mile (0.8 km) offshore from Mullion Cove, 1 mile (1.6 km) in circumference and the highest point is 118 feet (36 m) above sea level.
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1 explorer visited this place
692 m
Mullion Cove, or Porth Mellin, is a small community on the West Coast of the Lizard Peninsula in Cornwall, England, and on the eastern side of Mount's Bay. The Cove forms part of the parish of Mullion, and is accessible by road from Mullion village, 1 mile to the northeast, and also via the South West coast path. It lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.
The cove is 5 miles south of Porthleven and 14 miles southeast of Penzance by sea. It is 6 miles south of Helston by land and 13 miles southwest of Falmouth by land. In 1937, a 2-mile stretch of the coast from Mullion Cove to Predannack was preserved for the nation with the help of the Council for the Preservation of Rural England and the National Trust.
The cove is partly protected from the strong winds and ocean currents in the region by Mullion Island or, which lies about 720 yards offshore to the southwest.
Occupancy of the Mullion Cove goes back several hundred years, but in the early 1800s, it had three working Grist Mills, including "Criggan Mill, Mullion Mill Farm", and by the Census of 1841 the Cove had several working fish cellars, net lofts and two thatched cottages.
Until the early 20th century, it had a thriving inshore pilchard seine fishing industry, was part of the Mounts Bay Fishery and also had an abundant history of crab, lobster and crawfish fishing using traditional Cornish methods with locally manufactured withy pots.
Between 1890 and 1892, and between 1895 and 1897, a harbour of two stone piers, mostly made from granite, serpentine and elvan with a concrete core was constructed with the financial help of Lord Robartes of Lanhydrock for both coastal protection and to provide support and an economic base for fishermen, local farmers and local traders at a time when agriculture was going through a depression. Viscount Clifden was the largest landowner in the parish of Mullion. In 1928 the harbour, island, and fish cellars were bought from Viscount Clifden by Montague Meyer. By 1944 the harbour required extensive maintenance and repair. In 1945, 12 acres including the harbour and island were given by the Meyer family to the National Trust, which took on necessary repairs. The Trust still has ownership, control and responsibility for maintenance.
In October 1984, three locations within the harbour area were granted Grade II Listed status. The list includes:
the two harbour walls or piers
the net loft, listed as a "harbour cottage"
and the nearby Winch House.
All are listed under the Planning 1990 for their special architectural or historic interest. About 300 yards to the east of the Cove, and visible from the approach road to the harbour, is a mill listed as "Criggan Mill" which was given Grade II Listed status in January 1980. It is one of three mills which were last known working together in the Cove in the mid 1840s.
The coastal environment has long been adversely affected by storms, sea level rise and climate change, and evidence shows that damage has occurred on an increasingly dramatic and costly level, most recently in the period from 2011 to present. Beginning in 2003 the National Trust indicated that "Mullion Cove may not stand the ravages of the sea much longer."
A survey in 2006 threw doubt on the future of the harbour.
767 m
Mullion Lifeboat Station was located at the harbour and hamlet of Mullion Cove, part of the village of Mullion, which sits on the west coast of the Lizard Peninsula, overlooking the eastern side of Mount's Bay, approximately 8 miles south of the town of Helston, in Cornwall.
A lifeboat station was established at Mullion by the Royal National Lifeboat Institution in 1867.
After 41 years of operation, Mullion Lifeboat Station closed in 1908.
1.6 km
Mullion Football Club is a football club based in Mullion, Cornwall. They are currently members of the St Piran League Premier Division West and play at Clifden Park.
1.8 km
Ogo-dour Cove is a small cove located at grid reference SW 667 157. Its name comes from the Cornish words 'ogo' meaning a 'cave' and 'dour' meaning 'water' its name is literally "Cave-Water Cove" in Cornish. It is at the northern end of Predannack Downs on the west side of the Lizard peninsula in Cornwall.
The cove is in a picturesque region, and is important ecologically as an area frequented by the rare Cornish chough. The Lizard complex is also of considerable geological interest as the base of an ophiolite thrust sheet. The calcium aluminosilicate mineral prehnite occurs here.
2.4 km
Poldhu is a small area in south Cornwall, England, UK, situated on the Lizard Peninsula; it comprises Poldhu Point and Poldhu Cove. Poldhu means "black pool" in Cornish. Poldhu lies on the coast of Mount's Bay and is in the northern part of the parish of Mullion; the churchtown is 2 kilometres to the south-east. On the north side of Poldhu Cove is the parish of Gunwalloe and the village of Porthleven is a further 7 kilometres to the north.
Poldhu Point became the site of one of the main technological advances of the early twentieth century when, on 12 December 1901, a wireless signal was sent by Thomas Barron in Poldhu to St. John's, Newfoundland, and received by Guglielmo Marconi. The technology was a precursor to radio, television, satellites and the internet, with the earth station at Goonhilly Downs a nearby example.
The beach at Poldhu was heavily mined during World War II to prevent any prospect of a German force landing there. As a result, on 24 April 1943, Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve members Mair Myfannwy Richards and Reginald Thomas Smith both died instantly when Mair trod on an unmarked mine.
In January 2016, Poldhu Cove was inundated with thousands of pink plastic bottles, brought onto the beach with successive tides. The National Trust, which organised the clean-up, thought they had likely come from a container ship, and had been washed overboard in recent storms.
It forms part of the Lizard Peninsula Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and is within the Mullion Cliff to Predannack Cliff Site of Special Scientific Interest.