Mawgan Porth Cornwall
Mawgan Porth has quietly become one of the most architecturally interesting villages on the North Cornwall coast. Alongside its traditional whitewashed cottages and surf culture, the valley has attracted a generation of striking contemporary homes of clean-lined, glass-fronted houses that sit on the clifftops and valley sides, making the most of the Atlantic views. The result is a village where bold modern architecture and raw Cornish landscape sit side by side, and where the gardens in between need to work hard to connect the two.
Designing for the North Cornwall Coast
Coastal gardens in this part of Cornwall face particular challenges. Salt-laden winds off the Atlantic can be relentless, soils are often thin and free-draining, and many plots sit on exposed slopes with little natural shelter. But these same conditions create opportunities such as extraordinary sea views to frame and draw into the garden, a mild climate that supports a surprisingly wide range of plants, and a wild, elemental quality that the best coastal gardens lean into rather than fight against.
We approach North Cornwall coastal gardens by working with the landscape rather than against it. That might mean establishing robust windbreak planting before introducing more ornamental species, choosing materials that weather beautifully in a salt air environment, or designing terracing that steps down a slope to protect planting from prevailing winds while opening up views to the sea.
The Wider Area
We work across the stretch of North Cornwall coast that takes in Mawgan Porth, Watergate Bay, Constantine Bay, Trevone and Padstow to the north, and Crantock, Perranporth and St Agnes to the south. If you are based anywhere along this coastline and are considering a garden project, we would be delighted to visit and discuss your ideas.