coast; the Valency
Valley is verdant and beautiful. It runs among furze and bracken by
the riverside, and by this path we can reach the quiet, lovely vale in
which Minster stands, so named from a former monastic establishment.
Like the church at Tintagel, this of Minster is dedicated to St.
Materiana, whom Mr. Baring-Gould identifies with the Welsh Madrun. The
tower is of a single stage; there are good bench-ends and
roof-carvings. A portion of the church having fallen in one Sunday,
after morning service, it was rebuilt about forty years since. The
priory was founded by William de Bottreaux in the reign of Richard
I., but does not seem to have had a long existence. Minster is a large
parish, but Forrabury is one of the smallest in Cornwall.

Pentargon, the bay and headland beyond the Boscastle golf-links, is
sometimes interpreted as "Arthur's Head," but this is doubtful. The
caves here, and those below Willapark, were once much haunted by
seals; the coast being absolutely honeycombed by the constant fretting
of the waves. At times, but rarely, the Cornish chough may be seen on
the cliffs, recalling the old tradition that the spirit of Arthur
lingers around his native rocks in this form--a tradition that was
even familiar to Cervantes, though he knew the Welsh version of it,
which makes Arthur a raven. Eastward past Beeny the cliffs gradually
rise, till at High Cliff they reach the height of 700 feet; it needs
some enthusiasm for a pedestrian to keep to the coast-line, though
every mile has its grandeur. Beyond Cambeak lies the delightful
Crackington Cove, which will some day become a watering-place; it
stands at the mouth of a verdant valley with a stream like that of the
Valency. It is in the parish of St. Genny's, whose church is dedicated
to St. Genesius of Auvergne, of whom it is related that after being
beheaded he walked about with his head under his arm. The saints of
Cornwall are reported to have done some extraordinary things, but they
do not usually descend to absurd actions of this nature; and there may
be a shrewd suspicion that Genesius has no business here at all.
William Braddon, a Parliamentary officer and member in the time of the
Civil War, lived at Treworgye in this parish, and was buried in the
church; some have supposed that he was vicar here. Pencannow Head,
the north limit of Crackington Cove, rises sheer from the shore to the
height of 400 feet. Dizzard Point is far less precipitous. A few miles