Tintagel Old Post Office

Tintagel Old Post Office is a medieval Cornish longhouse on Fore Street, altered over six centuries and recognisable by its slate roof, which sagged into waves under the weight of its Tudor rag slates. In the 1870s one room served as the village letter-receiving office and still holds Victorian postal equipment, while the rest show earlier domestic life: a 16th-century fireplace known locally as the slab, a sleeping platform like a minstrels' gallery, and thirteen samplers, the earliest from 1768. Behind the house a Victorian-style cottage garden is planted for pollinators, and the stamp shop sells first day covers, vintage postcards and second-hand books. The Trust's 1-mile Tintagel walk starts on Fore Street and runs to Barras Nose, with steep steps on the cliff path. Reviewers praise the friendly volunteers and the garden as a quiet refuge from the busy street. Tips from visitors: it does not take long to look round, the bedrooms are up narrow, steep stairs, parking and toilets are in the village rather than on site, and only assistance dogs may go beyond the front garden.