'Tintagel castle by the Cornish sea...' it was here, said Tennyson, that the infant Arthur was swept by the waves into Merlin's Cave. Today those legends come alive through storytelling amongst the ruined battlements Earl Richard's 13th century stronghold, and in the annual mock Battle of Camlann.

The discovery of a 6th century slate inscribed ARTOGNOV (the Latin version of the ancient British ARTHNOU) has fuelled the belief that this was Arthur's palace. The new visitor centres at Tintagel and Slaughterbridge -where Arthur fought Mordred - helps put some flesh on those ancient Celtic bones.

Ghosts are everywhere in North Cornwall. At St Nectan's Glen, near Bossiney, many have heard the distant chanting of monks, or seen the apparition of a hooded figure, while the Molesworth Arms, Wadebridge, is haunted by a phantom coach and four, driven by a headless coachman, on New Year's Eve.

High on the moors, at Bolventor, stands Jamaica Inn, the setting for Daphne du Maurier's chilling tale of smuggling. It too is haunted by the spectre of a murdered man, and by another wearing a tricorn. And it is said that on stormy nights, when the wind rattles the panes, it is the wicked lawyer, Jan Tregeagle, doomed forever to haunt the moors and empty the nearby Dozmary Pool with a limpet shell. It is into the depths of this pool that Sir Bedivere threw Arthur's sword Excalibur, to be seized by the Lady of the Lake.

Great House and Gardens - Eden Project | Myths and Legend | Attractions