Many of the things we come across in our travels are curiosities of one type or another. They are too many to list individually but every now and then we find ourselves following a theme which does not fit neatly into our historical groupings and so we call them curiosities.

One such theme is rock-cut swimming pools. These range from the ‘personal’ pools built in the later C18 by and for rich individuals keen to indulge in the new healthy pursuit of ‘sea bathing’, to the mostly C20 creations where existing rock pools have been ‘enhanced’ to provide deeper water.

The most outstanding C18 pools we have found so far are:

• The pools at Stackhouse cove
• The Bassett baths at Portreath
• The Rashleigh bath at Polridmouth cove

Other pools mentioned by our friends at Explore Cornwall include:

• The Bude swimming pool
• Bude (Tommy’s pit)
• Crackington Haven
• Boscastle
• The Trevone pool (Tinker Bunny’s Pool)
• The Treyarnon pool
• Whipsiderry
• Newquay
• Pentire
• The Chapel rock pool at Perranporth
• Trevellas Cove
• St Agnes/Trevaunance Cove
• The Mermaid pool at Porthtowan
• Godrevy
• Hayle
• St Ives
• The Avarack pool
• The Pendeen boat cove pool
• The Kenidjack bath
• The Cape Cornwall bath
• Nanjizal
• Mousehole paddling pool
• The Penzance Lido (too commercial to be included here)
• Rinsey
• Kynance Cove
• Fowey
• Chapel pool at Polperro
• Millendreath tidal pool

To this list, we would add the delights of:

• The tiny Menabilly pool
• The Rinsey/Porthcew pool