Porthtowan (Cornish Standard Written Form: Porth Tewyn, meaning landing place at the sand dunes) is a small village in Cornwall, England, UK, which is a popular summer tourist destination.

Porthtowan is popular with surfers and industrial archaeologists; former mine stacks and engine houses dot the landscape.

Ironically, the heath survived – and was not turned into arable land – because of the soil contamination of previous mining activities.

[8][nb 1] Its name comes from the Cornish words "porth" and "tewynn" to mean landing place at the sand dunes.

[13] Coastal settlements in Cornwall between Perranporth and Porthtowan had copper, lead, iron, tin and zinc mines.

[16] Its engine house, Taylors Shaft, is visible in the hills surrounding the coastal village.

Water was piped out by Cornwall's first electrical centrifugal pumps, made by Worthington Simpson, at the rate of 1,000 gallons per minute.

[19] The mine is renowned for its pseudomorphs, in this case tin oxide, or cassiterite, that takes on the shape of the feldspar crystals that it replaces within granite.

[23] In 1809 Wheal Towan had a cobbing shed which was a building used to break the ore up with a pointed hammer weighing up to four pounds.

During the period he owned it, the mine provided Thomas Daniell (1715-1793) with an income estimated at the time as a "guinea a minute".

This is where the judges can be found for the annual SAS Rip Curl Cornish and Open Longboard Championship.

[32] The Unicorn pub is a beachside bar, eaterie, hotel and hostel, which offers live music, dj's and panoramic sunset views.

Overlooking the Porthtowan Beach is the Blue Bar, which has live music or disc jockeys on the weekend.

The group puts on a pantomime, musical theatre show, short plays and a youth production each year.

[42] Air travel is available through Newquay Cornwall Airport[43] and private jets, charters and helicopters are served by Perranporth Airfield.