Portholland is made up of two small hamlets, East and West Portholland. The little village is home to a total of about forty permanent residents.
Located on two coves, Portholland and all the properties therein is owned by the Caerhayes Castle Estate, the past home of the Trevanion family which had been in the area for centuries. The estate was sold in 1860 to one of the established families in the area, the Williams’. The new owners did their best to keep the area a working farm-centred community that was away from the modern life and its haste. Caerhays Castle can be found in a sheltered valley that overlooks Porthluney Cove on the South Cornish Coast and not far from Truro and St Austell.
Portholland, East and West, has been declared a National heritage Asset. The areas around Portholland are virtually unchanged for well over one hundred years and this is part of what attracts the tourists from around the world that go there. This hamlet of Portholland, where time seems to have stood still, is very different when compared with the developments in housing that continue to take place in many of the other similar fishing vilages that litter the South coast of Cornwall.
At high tide, Portholland has two separate coves but when the tide is low these coves are joined together by golden sand. Portholland beach can be reached by simply walking the almost half a mile when you use the footpath that runs from just beyond the gate at Top Lodge at Caerhays, or if you choose to use the road then it is about two miles away. There is a small car park at Portholland East and not many parking spaces at Portholland West.
Portholland is the right place for families to go and it is equidistant between St. Austell and Truro two towns that have larger attractions. Portholland does not have many shops or other such facilities but you will find a small shop and Post Office there. It is also a great base if you want to do some exploring deeper into the intriguing Roseland peninsula. Portholland is also particularly well placed as it receives maximum amount of sunshine most of the year thus creating a balmy type climate that lasts until the middle of autumn.
