Prussia Cove Cornwall
Prussia Cove is a small and secretive group of coves near Praa Sands on the Lizard Peninsula in south Cornwall, a rocky inlet of considerable natural beauty whose name derives from the eighteenth-century smuggler John Carter, who controlled the cove and its trade with such authority and organisation that he styled himself the King of Prussia after Frederick the Great. Carter was one of the most celebrated and most organised of the Cornish smugglers, his operations run with a discipline and business efficiency that made him a figure of local legend and the model for the fictional smugglers of romantic tradition. The cove is accessible on foot from the South West Coast Path and by a rough track from the road above, the descent to the water requiring care but rewarding visitors with one of the most secluded and least visited sections of the south Cornish coast. The small sandy inlets between the rock platforms and the caves accessible at low water make Prussia Cove a rewarding destination for those seeking the unspoiled character of the Lizard coast away from the more accessible beaches. The musical connection of Prussia Cove has given it a more contemporary fame alongside its smuggling history. The Prussia Cove International Musicians' Seminar, founded in 1972 by the pianist Peter Frankl and subsequently developed by András Schiff and others, brings together some of the finest chamber musicians in the world for intensive rehearsal and performance sessions at the cove each spring and autumn, making this remote Cornish inlet one of the most unlikely venues in European classical music. The surrounding South Lizard coast, including the beautiful church cove at Gunwalloe and the Loe Pool at Porthleven, provides excellent coastal walking and natural interest.