Saints' Way

The Saints' Way is a waymarked footpath in mid Cornwall. The path runs from Padstow (50°32’17"N, 4°56’28"W) in the north to Fowey (50°20’10"N, 4°38’10"W) in the south, a distance of 26 miles.

The path is well marked and guide books are available. There are two main branches in the way. One starts at Fowey, runs west to Tywardreath, then north through St Blazey, and Luxulyan. The other runs north from Fowey to Golant and Lanlivery. The branches meet close to Helman Tor.

The Saints' Way follows a probable route of early Christian travellers making their way from Ireland to Europe: rather than risk the difficult passage around Land's End they would disembark their ships on the north Cornish coast and progress to ports such as Fowey on foot.

Between 55 - 50AD a Roman trading centre was constructed at Nanstallon (near Bodmin) and it is thought its purpose was to serve the main communication and trade route linking the north Cornish coast at the River Camel and the southern coast at the River Fowey, the 'transpeninsular route'. However the centre was abandoned after only 20-25 years and it was never used again. Another theory has the route as a trading route serving a 'Celtic' trading community between Ireland, Wales, Cornwall and Brittany, as Nanstallon was built close to major mineral bearing areas.^[1]