Boscastle
Strange, striking and utterly unique is the first aspect of this village by the sea. The gorge or valley lies between two vast and precipitous hills, that yawn asunder as if they had been cleft by the spells of some giant warlock of the west. As you descend the hill from the north you discover on the opposite side clusters of quaint old-fashioned houses, grotesque and gabled, that appear as if they clung together for mutual support on the slope of that perilous cliff. Between these houses, and sheer down the mountain descended, or rather ‘fell’ a steep and ugly road, which landed the traveller at last in a deep cut, or gash between the hills, called by strangers, in their courtesy, and by the inhabitants with an aboriginal pride, ‘the Harbour’.
Revd Stephen Hawker