14 quirky facts you probably didn't know about these places in Cornwall

PUBLISHED: 15:20 18 January 2019 | UPDATED: 16:34 18 January 2019

Words: Mica Bale

Merry Maidens. Photo credit: Roger Driscoll, Getty Images/iStockphoto

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1. Were you aware that the only Cornish town to be recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086 was Bodmin?

Gilbert monument in Bodmin. Photo credit: Goodsouls, Getty Images/iStockphoto

2. Cornwall has always been a favourite of the camera with its brilliant lighting and stunning vistas, however were you aware that Newquay has appeared in Pirates of the Carribean and Holywell Bay played the part of the ‘Korean beach in James Bond film, Die Another Day?

Holywell Bay. Photo credit: Mick Blakey, Getty Images/iStockphoto

3. Amazingly the Rainforest Biome at the Eden Project is fifty metres tall and required more than two hundred and thirty miles of scaffolding.

Eden Project. Photo credit: Getty Images

4. Merry Maidens, a prehistoric stone monument to rival Stonehenge is possibly the only one of its kind to have its very own bus service?

Merry Maidens. Photo credit: Roger Driscoll, Getty Images/iStockphoto

5. Dating back to the 1312 and boasting classical Cornwall views, the Sloop Inn is one of the county’s oldest pubs.

The Sloop Inn. Photo credit: David Nicholls, Flickr (CC BY-NC 2.0)

6. Built by Henry VIII to defend against a potential Catholic invasion, Pendennis would later be the scene of a siege in the Civil War in which 1,000 people were kept safe.

Pendennis Castle. Photo credit: Sam Cox, Flickr, (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)

7. Helford, one of Cornwall’s prettiest villages, was once the scene of a fearsome event in which thirty men broke into the Custom House and stole 126 kegs of contraband brandy!

The village of Helford. Photo credit: Peter Llewellyn, Getty Images/iStockphoto

8. The famous Logan Rock was once displaced by an over-enthusiastic naval officer determined to prove local law saying it was impossible to move wrong!

9. Apparently, there are seven quadrillion grains of sand on Perranporth Beach!

Perranporth in Cornwall. Photo credit: TheBristolNomad, Getty Images/iStockphoto

10. Apparently unique to Cornwall are the mysterious networks of tunnels known as ‘fogous’ and remain a puzzle to experts. The largest known and best preserved is thought to date back to the Iron Age.

‘Fogous’. Photo credit: Jim Champion, Flickr, (CC BY-SA 2.0)

11. Lizard lighthouse was first built in 1619 and the current structure dates back to 1751.

Lizard Lighthouse. Photo credit: HowardOates, Getty Images/iStockphoto

12. First granted a charter in 1257 by Henry III, Marazion is one of Cornwall’s oldest chartered settlements.

St. Michael's Mount, Marazion. Photo credit: mkgolder, Getty Images/iStockphoto

13. Did you know that the first pier in Mevagissey was built in 1430?

Mevagissey. Photo credit: ianwool, Getty Images/iStockphoto

14. Did you know that Penzance was the birthplace of Sir Humphry Davy who discovered alkali and helped to discover the natures of chlorine and iodine?