Image by Matt Jessop - supplied by Visit Cornwall

The site of Tintagel Castle has been inhabited at least since the late Roman period, and probably earlier. Between the 5th and 7th centuries AD a prosperous community was based there.

After a period of obscurity, in the 12th century Tintagel gained international literary fame when it was named by Geoffrey of Monmouth as the place where the legendary King Arthur was conceived.

This may have been what inspired Richard, Earl of Cornwall, younger brother of Henry III, to site his castle at Tintagel in the 1230s.

The castle lies on both sides of the chasm. Centuries of erosion have taken many parts of the castle and earlier buildings with them.

Tintagel is also the name of a symphonic poem composed by Arnold Bax in 1919; it is perhaps his best-known orchestral work