Mullion Cove, Cornwall

Mullion Cove

Mullion Cove has been owned and maintained by the National Trust since 1945. In the eighteenth century its income was derived mainly from fishing, supplemented by smuggling.

The stone piers were built between 1887 and 1895. The pole on the concrete hut at the end of the west pier (the one that extends directly out in front of you), once carried an oil lantern.

Mullion Head, which you can see offshore to the right of the harbour, is also owned by the National Trust and is home to breeding colonies of kittiwakes, razorbills guillemots and lesser black-backed gulls.

The rock on which you are standing is Serpentine, so named because it looks like snake skin. Serpentine is one of a group of rocks common to the Lizard peninsula and found nowhere else in Northern Europe. Formed beneath deep oceans nearly four hundred million years ago, it was forced to the surface by continental collision. Polished serpentine is used locally in the production of handicrafts and ornamental goods.