St Nectan's Kieve

According to legend, Nectan rang a silver bell in times of stormy weather to warn shipping of the perils of the rocks at the mouth of the Rocky Valley.

Many of the site's legends are the result of Hawker's poetry and the vivid imagination of nineteenth century Trethevy farmer, William Goard who led tour parties to the falls.

[3] Saint Nectan's Kieve is believed by some to be a sacred place or cloutie well, and numerous ribbons, crystals, photographs, inscriptions, prayers and other devotions now adorn the foliage and rock walls near the waterfall.

Letitia Elizabeth Landon's poetical illustration St. Knighton’s Kieve, on an engraving of a painting by Thomas Allom, is based on a legend she was told concerning hidden treasure submerged at the foot of the falls.

[5] The current owners claim that the ruins of the chapel provide the lower part of the walls of a cottage erected in the 1860s, and extended around 1900.