Lyonesse, the Land Under the Sea
Cornish legend says a land of towns and churches stretched from Land's End to the Isles of Scilly, until the sea swallowed it in a single night.
What was reported
Lyonesse is a lost land of Cornish and Arthurian legend, said to lie between Land's End and the Isles of Scilly. It was the homeland of the knight Tristan, rich with towns and some 140 churches. In one night, the sea rose and drowned it.
Only one man escaped, a rider named Trevelyan, whose white horse outran the waves to the shore. Cornish fishermen have said that on calm days you can see roofs under the water, and hear church bells ringing beneath the waves.
Explanations offered
There's no evidence for a lost kingdom, but the legend may hold a real memory. The Isles of Scilly were once mostly a single island, and rising seas flooded the low land between them, perhaps until Roman times or later. At very low tides, walls and fields can still be seen between the islands.
- When
- Told since the Middle Ages
- Where
- The sea between Land's End and the Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, England, UK
- Witnesses
- Cornish folklore and Arthurian legend
- Status
- Legend
Famous cases are real, widely reported events. Each file sets out what witnesses said and the explanations that have been offered, without taking a side.
More from England