KING ARTHUR'S GROUND

Evening Star, Issue 19805, 2 March 1928, Page 3

KING ARTHUR'S GROUND

OFFER TO THE NATION RISK OF PRIVATE SALE. A proposal has been made with the object of securing for the nation, a part of the'land associated with I he. legendary exploits of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Tabic. The property, known as Church Cliff, about fifty acres iu extent, is part of the glebe land attached to the vicarage of Tintagel, and it overlooks the precipitous islajul rock, owned by the Prince of Wales, as Duke of Cornwall, upon which stands the romantic ruins of King Arthur’s Castle. This nigged, wind-swept cliff, against which the Atlantic rollers beat _ ceaselessly, commands magnificent views Not far away is Slaughter Bridge, the supposed scene of King Arthur’s death. These acres of cliff and land have been in the possession _ of the church from time immemorial, but their value as building sites has recently increased, and the present vicar, the Rev. A. Blissard Barnes, is anxious lest one of his successors might ho tempted to part with them from mercenary motives. He has. therefore, obtained the consent of the patrnns_ of the living and of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners to the sale of the property for £1,500 (which is said to be less' than half of its present value as building land), and has ascertained from the National Trust that that body is prepared to take over the cliff and preserve it in the interests of the public for all time.

An appeal is shortly to he made lor funds to carry out the scheme, and meanwhile the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall, Mr J. C. Williams, has sent a generous contribution.