Last visit: July 2026

The New Inn is a village pub in the truest sense of the word.

Standing opposite St Symphorian's Church in the heart of Veryan, it occupies a central place in village life. Today, that role is in the hands of Bobby and Kara, who took on their first pub together in November 2024. They have embraced what The New Inn is rather than trying to turn it into something it isn't: a welcoming local serving both the community and visitors exploring the Roseland Peninsula.

Kara's warmth and hospitality immediately stand out. She has the natural ability to make visitors feel comfortable, while clearly understanding that a village pub survives through its regulars. During my visit, many tables were already reserved, always a reassuring sign that local people continue to support the pub.

The menu reflects a clear sense of purpose. While some pubs in Cornwall have developed into destination restaurants, The New Inn has chosen a different route, focusing on well-cooked pub classics at sensible prices. It is food designed to encourage people to return regularly, not simply for a special occasion.

Inside, the long single-room bar has the feel of a traditional Cornish local. Nautical memorabilia and horse brasses reflect the parish's farming and fishing heritage, while two fireplaces, including an impressive log burner, create the sort of atmosphere that makes winter evenings in a village pub so important.

The New Inn may not be a destination dining venue, but that is not its role. Its value lies in being exactly what Veryan needs: a friendly, affordable village pub where locals and walkers can share good food, good conversation and a genuine welcome.

Few families can have shaped a Cornish village quite as profoundly as the Trists shaped Veryan.

For around seventy years, three generations served as successive Vicars of the parish. John Trist arrived in 1772, his son Jeremiah succeeded him in 1782, and on Jeremiah's death in 1829 the role passed to his son Samuel. Their combined ministry spanned a remarkable period of continuity, during which each sought to improve the parish they had inherited.

John laid the foundations, planting many of the trees that still soften the village today and adding two bells to the church. Jeremiah possessed an extraordinary breadth of interests. As well as his pastoral duties, he established parish schools, improved the church, built his own residence at Parc Behan when the old vicarage proved inadequate, and between 1816 and 1818 commissioned the five iconic round houses that have become the symbol of Veryan.

Historic England records that they were built by the Lostwithiel builder Hugh Rowe, while the familiar stories that they were intended to keep the Devil from hiding in corners have become part of Cornish folklore.

Jeremiah's interests extended far beyond architecture.

He encouraged agricultural improvement through better drainage and the use of lime to enrich the soil, believing that practical innovation could improve both farming and the lives of his parishioners.

His enquiring mind is perhaps best illustrated by events in 1798. During the invasion scare prompted by the wars with Revolutionary France, the Government required vulnerable coastal parishes to prepare emergency plans. Jeremiah responded by compiling an astonishing inventory of the parish's people, livestock, boats, carts, horses, tools and weapons before producing a detailed evacuation strategy in the event of a French landing on the Roseland Peninsula.

It provides a remarkable snapshot of life in Veryan at the close of the eighteenth century.

Samuel Trist continued the family's work after succeeding his father in 1829, overseeing the restoration of St Symphorian's Church in 1847 and maintaining the tradition that the parish should continue to improve rather than simply preserve.

Although the line of Trist vicars ended with Samuel, the family's affection for Veryan did not. In 1913, Pendarves Trist restored the village well that Samuel had originally installed to provide fresh water for local people before homes had their own supplies. The restoration commemorated the coronation of King George V and Queen Mary, but it also served as a quiet tribute to the generations of his family whose vision had helped shape the village.

Visitors inevitably remember Veryan for its delightful round houses, yet they represent only one chapter in a much bigger story. The village's distinctive character is the legacy of three generations who believed that a parish could always be left a little better than they found it.

Nare Head – A Coastline Prepared for War

The dramatic views from Nare Head reveal little of the military history hidden beneath the grass and cliffs. Yet this exposed headland formed part of Britain's preparations for war during the twentieth century, protecting one of Cornwall's most strategically important ports.

Falmouth, only a few miles across the water, was a vital naval harbour and a key port for Atlantic convoys. During the Second World War, it became a potential target for enemy bombing raids. To help protect it, a network of decoy sites was established along the Cornish coast, designed to deceive enemy aircraft and draw attacks away from real military and industrial targets.

Nare Head was designated as a QF/QL/SF "Starfish" decoy site. These installations used lights and simulated activity to create the impression of a defended or strategically important location, encouraging enemy bombers to release their weapons away from their intended targets. The remains of the bunker and associated structures are a quiet reminder that this peaceful coastline once played a role in Britain's wartime defence.

It is not the first time this headland had been considered strategically important.

More than a century earlier, during the invasion fears of Revolutionary France, Veryan's remarkable Vicar Jeremiah Trist had prepared his own detailed parish defence plan, recording the people, animals, boats, carts and resources that would be needed should French forces land on the Roseland Peninsula.

Across two very different centuries, the same landscape inspired very different forms of preparation: first a parish readying itself for invasion, and later a nation using deception to defend itself from attack.

The Hera – A Tragedy Beneath Gull Rock

The beauty of the coastline around Nare Head hides the dangers that have always faced those who venture into these waters. Perhaps the most poignant reminder is the story of the German steel barque Hera, wrecked on Gull Rock in January 1914.

After months at sea, the vessel was approaching the Cornish coast when thick fog, fierce winds and dangerous waters caused her to strike the rocks beneath Nare Head. Of the 24 crew aboard, only five survived the disaster.

The people of Veryan recovered the bodies of fifteen sailors and gave them a dignified burial in St Symphorian's churchyard, directly opposite The New Inn. The sailors were laid to rest together, head to toe, creating a remarkable shared grave nearly 100 feet long—the longest marked grave in the United Kingdom.

The timing of the tragedy adds another layer of poignancy. The Hera disaster occurred only months before the outbreak of the First World War. These were not enemy soldiers, but working sailors from another nation who lost their lives to the sea, and the people of Veryan responded with compassion and respect.

Today, the grave stands as a powerful reminder that the waters around Cornwall have always connected communities as much as they have separated them. The same sea that brought danger also brought visitors, trade and shared humanity.

For walkers following the coast path above Gull Rock, the view may be breathtaking, but the Hera reminds us that this beautiful coastline has always demanded respect.