At 192 metres, St Agnes Beacon is the most prominent landmark on Cornwall’s north coast and one of the greatest viewpoints in the county — on a clear day the panorama sweeps from St Ives Bay and Godrevy Lighthouse in the southwest to Bodmin Moor in the east, and north across the Atlantic. The hill has been significant for over 6,000 years: Bronze Age burial cairns crown the summit, and for centuries it served as a warning beacon — during the Napoleonic Wars a guard was stationed here to light signal fires on sighting French ships. The surrounding heathland, one of the last remnants of a vast tract that once covered much of Cornwall, blazes yellow and purple with gorse and heather from late summer. The classic circular walk from St Agnes Head takes in Wheal Coates engine houses and Chapel Porth beach. National Trust managed. Dogs welcome.