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Excursion to Boscastle, Tintagel, &c.—Early in the month of June, 
1882, the Bath Field Club visited Boscastle and Tintagel, situated on 
the wild and rock-bound western coast of Cornwall. There areseveral 
places of interest on this coast, the romantic beauty of which is nota 
little enhanced by their out-of-the-way situation, and by the difficulty 
experienced in reaching them. The whole coast opposes a lofty and 
bluff wall of dark rock to the great billows of the Atlantic Ocean, which 
within historical memory has been able to make but a faint im- 
pression on this adamantine barrier. Between close projecting head- 
lands, there are a few open coves, where a little sand has been washed 
up, and which, one cannot say give shelter, but which furnish a few 
yards of beach, enabling the Cornish fishermen in very calm weather 
to launch a boat or two, which on their return they have to haul high 
up on the steep slope, often by the aid of a windlass or even a crane ; 
so as to place their little craft out of the reach of the huge rollers, 
which rapidly succeeding disturbances are certain quickly to bring. 
The precipitous coast is generally 300 to 500 feet high, in afew places 
attaining to 700 feet. The general level of the land rises from the cliffs 
to the plateaus of Davidstow Moor, Bodmin Moor and other Downs, 
which form the backbone of Cornwall. These are of the same 
Geological formation as Dartmoor Forest to the east in Devonshire. The 
Cornish Downs and Dartmoor Forest have been separated by a dip in 
the land and the erosive action of the river Tamar and its tributaries, 
the Tavey, &c. These have made courses for themselves from north to 
south, through the hard slaty and granitic rocks of which both plateaux 
consist. The principal towns in this part of Cornwall are situated ip 
these valleys, through which the railway routes tortuously meander, 
but do not approach the Cornish plateau nearer than Launceston, where 
the members of the Field Club left the railway. There is little left of 
the ancient Priory of St. Stephen’s at Launceston or of the ancient 
city walls. The ruins of the keep of the old castle still exist. 
(See Illustration Launceston Castle). This is one of very oldest 
fortifications in England, dating possibly from before the Norman 
Conquest, and mentioned in Domesday Book in 1086. The gates 
are in good preservation, especially the south and east gates. The 
keep is a grand and picturesque ruin, though the lower part of it has 
been nicely (/) smoothed and turfed. Itstands on the summit of a steep 
hill, dominating over a large expanse of rich valley and distant down, 
