Porthcothan Fogou

Likely to be a natural cave. The word ‘fogou’ derives from the Cornish for cave ‘vugha’ and can be applied to natural as well as artificial sites. A Neolithic axe was found in the vicinity.

Also known as:
Long Vugha and The Vugha
Nearest town:
Padstow (9km ENE)
OS reference:
SW865713
OS sheet:
200
Latitude:
50° 30' 6.87 N
Longitude:
5° 0' 39.84 W
Added to TMA by

Images

Image of Porthcothan Fogou (Cave / Rock Shelter) by Chris Bond

Real photographic postcard of the Vugha, Porthcothan Valley, St Eval, c.1910 (The Vugha, Porthcothan Valley, publisher not stated, not numbered)

Chris Bond
Chris Bond Apr 5, 2006

Articles

Porthcothan Fogou

phil
phil Jan 2, 2002

Known locally as the fogou, this narrow cave is situated about a mile inland from Porthcothan beach

The low entrance to the cave is halfway up the valley side on the right. It’s very well hidden in bracken and gorse in the summer. I’m not totally sure that public access is permitted as it is on farmland. (Find a friendly local who may know the way)

The site has been used in the past for smuggling and also as a hide-out during the Civil war.

There are notches near the mouth, into which smugglers lodged a beam of timber; they then heaped earth against the beam and covered the pile with furze to hide the entrance. The tunnel supposedly led to a farm half a mile away

Although some may say it is cave, on the 1888 map of Cornwall it is marked “fogou”

see the 1888 map online at old-maps.co.uk/

In the Co-ordinate box type:- 186461,71394
and click – search

Sites within 20km of Porthcothan Fogou

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