Explore our handpicked selection of books celebrating Cornwall’s rich heritage, landscapes, legends, and local life. From walking guides and historical tales to folklore, photography, and children’s stories, there’s something for every curious reader. Whether you’re planning your next adventure, searching for the perfect gift, or simply want a good read, our collection brings Cornwall to life – one page at a time.
Showing all 31 results
These are some of our favourite places. We have excluded anywhere with an admission charge except where there is something of interest to be seen from the outside without paying, which has meant omitting many fantastic places, from Geevor Mine and the Eden Project to Cotehele House. We hope the selection will help you enjoy…
The great engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel had a number of West country connections, and many of his achievements are still visible here. This is a brief biography, concentrating on the West Country aspects of his life.
Ian Heard’s playful sketches depicting our feline friends in a variety of warm-hearted, humourous and unmistakable Cornish situations!
Engine houses are an iconic feature of Cornwall. This book gives a brief explanation of their history, and makes suggestions for the best places to visit, including some preserved engine houses which are open to the public.
Engine houses are an iconic feature of Cornwall. This book gives a brief explanation of their history, and makes suggestions for the best places to visit, including some preserved engine houses which are open to the public.
Practical information about 75 beaches and coves, whether you’re looking for swimming, surfing, scenery, watersports or just lazing in the sun.
Practical information about 75 beaches and coves, whether you’re looking for swimming, surfing, scenery, watersports or just lazing in the sun.
Cornwall was a pioneer of railway construction and already had a network of mineral freight lines long before Brunel’s magnificent bridge at Saltash connected it to the rest of Britain. It was that connection which led to the holiday industry. Today there are five scenic branch lines, four heritage railways with steam locomotives, and nearly…
Before 1832 Cornwall was famous for its ‘rotten boroughs’ – parliamentary constituencies with few voters, where a seat in parliament could be bought. London with a population of 1.5 million had 6 MPs; Scotland with a population of 2.4 million had 45; Cornwall, with a population of 300,000 had 42; Leeds, Birmingham and Manchester had…
The writers in this book were not all Cornish by birth but include incomers who were inspired by the county. We felt that many readers would want to know about Thomas Hardy and Daphne du Maurier as well as Charles Causley and William Golding. The cover picture is of Richard Carew of Antony, who wrote…
Between about 1740 and 1860 it was widely believed that ‘the Druids’ had built the stone circles of Cornwall, and even what we now know are natural rock formations, such as the Cheesewring. How did the mistake occur? And who really were the Druids? A serious book which will make you laugh.
What do we mean by ‘fairly easy’? Circular walks of 3-9km, without steep gradients, very long ascents or difficult stiles, walks normally easy underfoot and on which you are unlikely to get lost! Explore Dartmoor without too much effort.
Author, broadcaster, lecturer and ‘elder statesman of psychical research’, Peter Underwood was a longstanding member of the Society for Psychical Research, Patron of the Ghost Research Foundation and President of The Ghost Club Society.
Often working with mediums, Michael Williams explains some of his notable experiences of making contact with spirits, including those of a young mining boy, a rector at Warleggan and Sabine Barine-Gould.
Travelling through this beautiful county of mystery and magic, Peter Underwood relates strange happenings that cannot easily be explained by known laws of nature.
Suggested walking routes in and around this most famous of North Cornwall’s harbours, with fascinating information about what you’re seeing along the way.
A short and very readable summary of the historical and literary evidence for readers who want to explore the possible existence of a ‘real’ Arthur without learning Latin and Early Welsh!
The women in this book were not all Cornish by birth but include incomers who made an impact within the county. Some are famous, some were famous but are now forgotten, some are little known even within Cornwall. Many were remarkable for breaking the gender expectations of their time. Several ‘remarkable women’ appear in Cornwall’s…
15 walks, 6-9km (4-6 miles), exploring the moor’s scenery, antiquities and industrial past.
15 walks, 6-9km (4-6 miles), exploring the moor’s scenery, antiquities and industrial past.
In the hey-day of smuggling there was so much liquor around that one of the best ways to avoid being caught with huge quantities of drink in the house was to consume it in cooking. For this appetising book Carolyn Martin researched and adapted genuine 18th- and 19th-century recipes which used smuggled ingredients – not…
West Country spies including Guy Burgess, John le Carré and ‘M’, famous writers suspected of spying and thrown out of their holiday homes including Wordsworth, DH Lawrence and Henry Williamson, and fraudsters who used much the same tricks as spies.
These stories were collected by the scientist, poet and pioneer photographer Robert Hunt (1807-1887) and tell us something of the old folklore which was apparently still quite common in the early Victorian period. The cover picture is based on the frontispiece to Hunt’s Popular Romances of the West of England (1865), showing the giant Bolster…
Cornwall’s traditional recipes are as distinctive as its culture and history. Expert food researcher Carolyn Martin pools the wisdom of cooks across the centuries to bring the best of the county’s traditions to the modern kitchen. As well as familiar foods such as the classic Comish pasty, Cornish ginger fairings and saffron buns (as shown…
This is another selection from Walter White’s A Londoner’s Walk to the Land’s End, taken from his return journey, including the Cornish coast north of Camelford, the Tamar, and the Dart from Dartmouth to Dartmeet.
A chapel sprouting from the rocks, the last castle built in England (in the twentieth century), a pub built like a pack of cards, a lighthouse built on stilts – the West Country has more than its fair share of architectural oddities worth visiting.
Carefully researched accounts of paranormal activity in Cornwall, Devon and Somerset.
A bigamous duchess, an actress who ensnared a teenage Prince of Wales, three self-proclaimed Messiahs – these scandalous stories shocked (and entertained) previous generations but now throw light on the past.
What makes Cornwall different – or as some of us might say, special? The answer lies in its geography and geology. These in combination influenced its history, including the story of the Cornish language. once dominant but now spoken only by a few proud preservers. Until Tudor times Cornwall was in effect a separate country…
Suggested walking routes in and around this most famous of North Cornwall’s harbours, with fascinating information about what you’re seeing along the way.
No products in the basket.
