Pentewan is a small coastal village approximately three miles south of St Austell. It is situated in the Borough of Restormel, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
Pentewan contains the Ship Inn pub (owned by the St Austell Brewery), a cafe bistro, a cycle hire shop (ideal for the Pentewan valley trail, through kings wood to London apprentice) an excellent local butchers shop, a fresh fish restaurant at the old school house, a fudge shop, ocean sports - water sports and is home to the family friendly Pentewan Sands caravan and camping site.
The beach stretches the whole length of the campsite and has plenty of facilities for locals and tourists. If you walk through the village past the Ship Inn, you go past the old harbour and arrive at "little Pentewan" beach, which has high cliffs covered in wild flowers and purple heather. This beach is generally where the locals relax.
Looking right (towards Mevagissey) from little Pentewan, the beach is roughly a mile long, with a shallow turquoise sea at low tide that’s perfect for paddling and swimming for children.
Pentewan sands Holiday Park has a small area roped off in the middle of the beach for safe entry to the sea for jet skis and other water crafts.
Pentewan Harbour
Pentewan formerly had a working harbour that was built between 1819 and 1826 by Sir Christopher Hawkins. Unfortunately, clay runoff silted up the harbour and it closed shortly after World War Two.
Pentewan Railway
The Pentewan Railway was a British narrow gauge railway. It was built as a horse-drawn tramway carrying china clay from St Austell to the harbour at Pentewan. In 1874 the line was rebuilt by engineer John Barraclough Fell and converted to locomotive working. The line ran from a clay store in St Austell Village, and followed the course of the St Austell River. It serviced a number of small Mica works and other industries along the line, including the St Austell gas works, for which it provided coal. Coal was also taken to the mica kilns, as well as to the end of the line in St Austell, and an unloading point near London Apprentice for transport to the nearby Polgooth tin mines. Baltic timber was also taken from Pentewan to St Austell for making barrels. Although the line never officially operated a passenger service, it once took a Sunday school group and brass band to Pentewan. The line's only coach was reserved for its owners, the Hawkins family. There are also second-hand accounts of men who "hitched a ride" by sitting on the loaded wagons.
For the duration of its existence as a locomotive worked line, there was only one driver and fireman, a father and son team. The fireman, J. H. Drew, together with his father, wrote a detailed account of life working on the Pentewan railway. The writings were edited by Dr Michael Lewis, and published by Twelveheads Press in 1986 as a book entitled "Rail & Sail to Pentewan".
