Lotte Brundle
Let’s voyage offshore to a savagely windy night in 1669. Dark waves pounded the hull of a passing Spanish galleon trapped in the eye of the tempest. The ship, which went by the name San Salvador, could only cope for so long. By daybreak, it was wrecked on the rocks, its crew lost and its bounty of silver coins sunk. Over the centuries that followed, these dollar pieces washed up on the coast around the hamlet of Gunwalloe, ghostly monetary mementoes of a long-gone storm.
The path to Dollar Cove beach at Gunwalloe.
Thus runs the legend around Dollar Cove, in Gunwalloe, Helston, on the Lizard peninsula’s north-west shoreline. Its history, however, stretches back even longer. Gunwalloe is one of Cornwall’s very oldest settlements, being the region’s first entry in the Domesday Book of 1086, and even has remnants of Bronze Age archaeology among its tussocky dunes and slopes.
Fans of Aiden Turner's rather rugged turn in the BBC hit series Poldark may remember the scene where he brought sailors and goods ashore after a shipwreck. That was filmed at Dollar Cove.
Waves breaking at Dollar Cove.
The Cornish coast looked particularly inviting as the backdrop to Aidan Turner's character in Poldark.
Today, the cove itself is a wild, rocky place, backed by low-slung hills. Its beauty is of the craggy kind and, as somewhere to find relative calm, it’s usually a safe bet. Does shipwrecked coinage still appear on the sands? There’s only one way to find out.
Visiting Dollar Cove
With a large National Trust car park nearby, Dollar Cove is perfect to visit if you're driving. While you're at it, it may be worth paying a visit to A its next-door neighbour, Church Cove, which, alongside the former location, makes us Gunwalloe Beach. Church Cove also has a small café and toilets and Loe Pool isn't very far away if you wanted to make a day of it.
Church Cove and Dollar Cove from above.
Church Cove is a twee vision, and close by for a visitor from Dollar Cove.
Idyllic views and well worth a visit.
Loe Pool is Cornwall's largest natural lake.
-
'Victorian magnificence skilfully simplified and distilled': A peek at the restoration of Somerleyton Hall gardensRecent works have retained the former theatrical splendours of these gardens near Lowestoft, Suffolk, finds Tilly Ware.
-
Penicuik Estate review: An exclusive use house and cottages for collectors and connoisseursThe Penicuik Estate in Midlothian, Scotland is an ever-growing hospitality empire with a fascinating history.
-
Goshawks: The birds of prey that came back from extinctionBy the late 19th century, the goshawk was indisputably extinct, but their recent restoration to the British isles makes it worth exploring their history. Expert naturalist Mark Cocker tells more about this fascinating bird of prey.
-
'The biggest cavities are in the hearts and skulls of politicians': What hope for the swift?Ahead of World Swift Day and Swift Awareness Week, Octavia Pollock ponders the decision not to mandate the use of swift bricks
-
'We need to make a case for more resources': What next for wild camping on DartmoorJane Wheatley takes the temperature of the land after years of debate over public access to private spaces.
-
From Scotland to Greenland, Earth Photo 2025's shortlisted works showcase our amazing planetThe 203 photographs and films will tour more than 20 Forestry England sites, National Trust properties and other historic houses from next month until spring 2026.
-
Gwithian Towans: A golden sand beach that stretches along the eastern curve of St Ives BayNear the north-eastern extremity of the bay, Gwithian Towans in Cornwall abuts the cove of Godrevy — said to have inspired Virginia Woolf’s To The Lighthouse.
-
Nanjizal Beach lets you experience a very different Cornwall to headline-hogging Land's EndThe beach — which is also known as Mill Bay — sits about half an hour’s walk south of Land’s End, though the two couldn't be more different.
-
Mawgan Creek: The unspoilt antidote to some of Cornwall's busier cornersThe creek feeds into the Helford river and is a short distance from Frenchman’s Creek, known best because of Daphne du Maurier’s 1941 novel of the same name.
-
The breathtaking Cornish cove that's 'like something from a fantasy'Ben Lerwill takes a look at Kynance Cove, the 'scenic highlight of the Lizard Peninsula'.
