Lamorna Cove: Background information when reading Dark, Salt, Clear

Lamorna Cove

This article relates to Dark, Salt, Clear

Found on the Cornish coast, five miles from the port town of Penzance in Southwestern Britain, Lamorna Cove is a picture-perfect beauty spot. Adored by locals and much admired by visitors from far and wide, its charm has made it a sought-after location for TV and movies, perhaps most notably in the 2013 film Summer in February starring Dominic Cooper and Dan Stevens. It has also been a boundless source of inspiration for artists working in every medium for generations.

In Dark, Salt, Clear, author Lamorna Ash, whose mother named her after this picturesque spot, writes about moving from London to the town of Newlyn (just 13 miles from Lamorna) in a bid to connect with her heritage. Her time in Cornwall included a trip to the cove, and it was here that she first got to know some locals who were happy to meet someone whose very name embodies the legacy of the land they cherish.

In the Victorian era, the cove was the base of a thriving quarry, with the granite that was pulled from the cliffs being shipped across the world. Following the quarry's closure in 1911, the cove became a focal point for the arts when a string of Post-Impressionist artists moved to the neighboring village. They were encouraged to do so by the cove's then owner, Col Paynter, who wanted its beauty to be celebrated and shared. Among the artists to heed Lamorna's call were Laura and Harold Knight, Alfred Munnings, and Samuel Birch – who loved the area so much he painted under the name Lamorna Birch. To this day, painters and sculptors alike are drawn to Lamorna, with works inspired by the cove found in galleries and gift stores across Cornwall.

One of the few bays in the county to still remain in private hands, the cove and its surrounding land were sold in 1982 by Paynter's daughter, Mary Elizabeth. In a massive boost to tourism, it was opened up to the public in 1995 by the current owners, Roy Stevenson and his family. It has remained a popular destination ever since. There was concern among locals in 2018, however, when Stevenson placed the cove (including a nearby restaurant and apartments) on the market for £2.65 million ($3.5 million). His hope was that it would be purchased by the National Trust (a U.K. conservation and preservation organization), ensuring its natural and cultural significance would be accessible to future generations. Despite appealing to them directly, the National Trust passed on the opportunity, with Stevenson receiving multiple offers from foreign investors instead. Fearing the site would either be privatized (and thus closed off to the public) or overly commercialized to the point of becoming a "tacky theme park," he declined. To date, no deal has materialized, meaning Lamorna Cove's eventual fate still lies in the hands of the Stevenson family for now.

Fed by a gentle stream, flanked by a wooded valley and surrounded by footpaths that lead to further charms along Cornwall's rugged coastline, it is no surprise the cove has been immortalized in words nearly as often as it has in paint. With her travel memoir, Dark, Salt, Clear, Ash joins a slew of writers that includes the likes of John le Carré and Derek Tangye in attempting to capture the cove's singular character on the page. In doing so, she presents a tender ode to the fishing communities that call Newlyn and Lamorna home, as they attempt to preserve their rich history against the very real threat of urbanization.

Lamorna Cove, courtesy of Tripadvisor

Filed under Places, Cultures & Identities

This article relates to Dark, Salt, Clear. It first ran in the January 6, 2021 issue of BookBrowse Recommends.