Poldark's filming locations

The BBC’s adaptation of Winston Graham's much-loved Poldark novels feature many of the places we care for in Cornwall. Find out which of our beaches, headlands and historic mines help bring the series to life. You can visit them yourself and see how they inspired the production team on the award-winning TV series.

The abandoned mine engine house of Wheal Owles, Botallack

Botallack Mine, St Just 

The abandoned buildings at Botallack provide the perfect stand in for the Poldark family mines of Wheal Leisure (in reality Wheal Owles) and Grambler (Wheal Crowns).The buildings give a fascinating insight into Cornish mining history. There were over 100 engine houses in the St Just district during the 19th century and earlier. But in 1895 the entire mine at Botallack closed due to rapidly falling copper and tin prices.

Visit the Poldark family mines
Chapel Porth valley at St Agnes

Chapel Porth, St Agnes 

Many of Poldark’s famous gallops along the rugged Cornish clifftops were filmed on the cliffs of Chapel Porth. From here, you get panoramic views of yellow gorse, purple heather and miles of ocean. Beneath the gorse and heather the slopes are littered with mine shafts, wheel pits, spoil heaps and the ruins of dressing floors. Paths either side of the beach reveal the dramatic ruins of Wheal Coates and Charlotte United Engine House.

Explore Chapel Porth
The beach at Church Cove, Gunwalloe

Gunwalloe, Helston 

Gunwalloe is well known for its history of shipwrecks. So it's apt that Poldark's dramatic wreck scene was filmed here at Church Cove. Just next door is Dollar Cove, named after the Spanish ship San Salvador. It was wrecked there in 1669 and lost its cargo of silver dollars. People say coins still occasionally wash up on the beach after storms, so keep an eye out when you visit.

Discover Gunwalloe's history of shipwrecks
Holywell Beach

Holywell, North Cornwall  

The Poldarks aren't the only family to have their own beach. Ross's rivals the Warleggans also own a beautiful stretch of coast, represented in series two by Holywell Bay. Only a stone's throw from the popular seaside towns of Perranporth and Newquay, Holywell is the largest bay on this stretch of coast. The famous twin offshore islands of Carter’s and Gulls Rocks provide a dramatic backdrop to the show's action.

Discover the golden sands of Holywell
The surface remains of Levant Mine, near St Just, Cornwall, including stacks and beam engine houses

Levant Mine and Beam Engine, St Just 

Levant Mine, which doubles up as Tressiders Rolling Mill in Poldark, is part of Cornwall and West Devon Mining World Heritage Site. It's the only Cornish beam engine anywhere in the world that is still in steam on its original site. A group of volunteers known as the 'Greasy Gang' restored it after 60 years out of use. The sounds of whooshing steam make seeing the engine in action a thrilling experience.

Learn about Cornwall's mining heritage
Bedruthan, Cornwall

Park Head, near Porthcothan 

Keep an eye out for scenes featuring Ross on horseback galloping across Park Head.The cliff tops on the headlands offer spectacular views. From here you can see sea stacks stretching across Bedruthan beach (not owned by us), the sheltered Porth Mear cove and Bedruthan Steps. You can see why these views appealed to the team creating Poldark.

Walk the cliff tops at Park Head
Logan Rock from Porthcurno Beach, Cornwall

Porthcurno, Cornwall 

In a dream sequence in series two, Demelza and Ross find themselves walking along Porthcurno beach in the sun. With its white shell beach washed by a turquoise sea and rugged cliffs, it’s easy to see why Porthcurno was chosen to play Nampara Cove in series one of Poldark.

Walk in Demelza and Ross's footsteps at Porthcurno
Path to the beach at Gunwalloe Church Cove

Predannack Wollas, The Lizard  

This was the dramatic setting of many of Poldark’s charges on horseback. The windswept headland and cliffs have been kept wild thanks to nature-friendly farming. The careful grazing by tough native breeds keeps the scrub and bramble under control. But it also creates perfect conditions for delicate flora and fauna like the upright and twin-headed clovers.

Get windswept at Predannack Wollas
St Agnes Head

St Agnes Head, St Agnes 

The high cliff tops and heathland of St Agnes Head, with its patchwork of gorse and heather doubled up as Nampara Valley, part of the Poldark family estate. It’s great walking spot where the yellow and purple carpet rewards hikers with far reaching views of Chapel Porth beach, Trevaunance Cove and Wheal Coates old mine works, which provide a reminder of the region's tin and copper mining past.

Wander through Poldark's Nampara estate