Lyonesse

A wild and ancient land of heather and copper gorse, Penwith, in the far west of Cornwall is embroidered with many legends. One such tale, persistent in its allure, is the lost land of Lyonesse, also known by its far older name of 'Lethowstow'. Back in this distant past, St Michael’s Mount was known as ‘The Grey Rock in the Wood’, far from the sea, it is a fact demonstrated by the remains of petrified oak and beech trees which can occasionally be seen at low tide in Mount’s Bay.

Lyonesse, or Lethowstow, stretched from this coastline, past the Land’s End and on to the Isles of Scilly, which are, perhaps the remnants of this lost land, of one hundred and forty parishes which were said to have been sunk beneath the waves. A place of fable, tradition holds it as a symbol of a lost golden age, a “remote time akin to a halcyon age of peace and plenty.”

In the legends of King Arthur, Tristan, was a prince of Lyonesse, while the land in the west also became a place where, in one version, “Modred had pursued the remnants of his army into Lyonesse. Here the spirit of Merlin appeared and the land was suddenly sunk beneath the waves, drowning Modred’s forces. Arthur’s knights, however, reached the Isles of Scilly and were saved, establishing a monastery on Tresco and naming two islands insight of it Great Arthur and Little Arthur.” The flood, which is said to have submerged the land is also said to have claimed the lives of many people and animals, with only one survivor, called Trevilian, who was carried to safety by the speed of his white horse who leapt ashore at Perranuthnoe. In commemoration of this event, the Trevelyan family coat of arms shows a horse rising from the waves.”

Quotes by Paul Broadhurst from his book The Secret Land.