IlIl.—A few observations on Tintagel Castle.—By THE REVEREND 
PREBENDARY KiINSMAN, M.A., CONSTABLE OF THE CASTLE. 
Read at the Spring Meeting, May 23, 1871. 
T the request of the Committee of the Royal Institution of 
A Cornwall, obligingly communicated to me by my esteemed 
friend Mr. W. J. Henwood, F.R.S., the President, I readily offer 
for their consideration a few observations on the disputed question 
of the position of that portion of Tintagel Castle called the Island 
with respect to that part of the ruin situated on the mainland. 
It is difficult, without a careful personal inspection of the place, 
to form a correct idea of the various facts and circumstances con- 
nected with the site of this most ancient Castle. The same 
indeed may be said with respect to the Ruin itself, which, although 
full of interest, is surrounded with archeological difficulties, not ob- 
servable to the ordinary visitor, but very apparent to the critical and 
accurate Antiquarian. But after much consideration, and frequent 
examinations of the place, as well as of the geological formation of 
the strata at that part of the cliff, I have no hesitation in stating my 
conviction that the present state of the ruins of Tintagel Castle does 
not represent its original form. The detached portion now on the 
‘Island’ I believe was originally connected with that on the main- 
land, and the present chasm which divides the two parts of the 
building is the result of a succession of land-slips caused by the 
numerous faults and generally disturbed state of theslate bedsat the 
point. The gradual widening of the chasm is continually going on, 
aud the fall of large portions of the cliff (especially on the northern 
part of the ruin) is frequently occurring. There is every reason to 
believe that the greater part of the present Cove was formed by 
these land-slips, and that subsequent to the building of the Castle 
