Historians theorise that the site was occupied as early as the Romano-British period, although the Castle itself dates back to the 13th century, when Richard, the 1st Earl of Cornwall bought the land to have a castle built on it. The land was seen as a place of great significance and tradition due to its ties to the legend of King Arthur, as told by Sir Geoffrey of Monmouth in his infamous Historia Regnum Britanniae (1136).
As it turns out, Tintagel Castle plays a key role in Sir Geoffrey’s telling of the myth. In this story, Uther Pendragon, Arthur’s father and the king of all Britain, decided to wage war on Gorlois, the Duke of Cornwall because he wanted to steal away his wife, Igraine as he had fallen in love with her. Gorlois sent his wife to be hidden away at Tintagel Castle as the fortress was basically impenetrable and unseizable. Presented with this plan, Uther asked the wizard Merlin to disguise him as his friend that no one would recognise, allowing him to enter the castle easily and without raising suspicions and find Igraine. What follows is the most important part of the story, where Geoffrey Mormont writes that “in that night was the most famous of men, Arthur, conceived.”
Over the years, the site gained popularity as the place where Arthur was conceived, although no further evidence suggests the mythical king was born there. Tourism at the castle boomed in the 19th and today, the site’s legacy as an essential part of the Arthurian legend was cemented. A statue, Gallos, of a ghostly knight was erected on the site in 2015 which is widely known as a statue of Arthur but is actually meant to represent the site’s general history and standing.
