Gloriously wild and ruggedly beautiful, the St Just heritage area (north of Land’s End on Cornwall’s remote westerly tip) is a remnant of “real” Cornwall, offering a wealth of natural and man-made treasures.
Clean air, mysterious mists, clear light, crashing seas and Atlantic storms - the elements have etched themselves on the character of a place much loved by walkers, artists, writers and historians.
This Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty - at its most colourful, deserted and dramatic out of season - has many other important designations and a tangible sense of history. Yet Geevor mine (the UK’s largest and most complete mining site with underground tour) and Levant (with working beam engine), provide fresh insights on the past. Ancient stone circles and unique pre-historic field systems mingle with the awesome remains of a once thriving tin and copper industry, and this small stretch of land, where cliff mining first developed, contains the largest, most internationally important and visually imposing concentration of mining monuments in Cornwall.
A growing number of acclaimed artists have helped inject it with a new lease of creative life, while historic settlements offer an abundance of art galleries and traditional inns serving local produce.