Rock, Cornwall

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A Photo of the Rock Sailing Club Quay Looking North-West

For other uses of "Rock", see Rock (disambiguation).

Coordinates: 50.5438° N 04.9196° W Rock is a village in Cornwall, England, UK, located at the estuary on the North-Eastern bank of the River Camel.

Rock is a popular destination for tourists and holidaymakers. The principal attractions are the extensive sandy beach that, at low tide, extends past Brea Hill to Daymer Bay and St Enodoc's Church, along with a great many watersports. The Camel Estuary lends itself well to windsurfing, sailing, boating and fishing. There is a well-known sailing Club on the waterfront. There is also an annual swimming race across the Camel.

The Blacktor Ferry operates across the river to the larger town of Padstow, and this is a major source of tourist traffic through Rock. The early 21st century has seen extensive building work and increased prosperity for Rock, there a large number of holiday homes, as well as a number of retail outlets. Rock is also home to Sharps Brewery, an independent Real Ale Brewery established in the mid 1990s.

Rock has been referred to as 'Britain's Saint-Tropez'^[1] and the 'Kensington of Cornwall' ^[2] due to its popularity with the very affluent and upper-class holiday-makers, including the third in the line of succession to the British Throne, Prince Harry and what the Daily Telegraph calls 'Hoorays'. Popular names such as Hugh Grant and Jemima Khan, the Rothschilds, the Sainsburys, the Freuds, the Al Fayeds,and Harry Enfield have also holidayed here. Affluent holidaymakers, including Mohamed Al-Fayed and Jay Kay of Jamiroquai, have made use of the nearby helipad .^[3]

It is now home to some fancy boutiques and upscale restaurants including one, the Black Pig, which has a Michelin star.

The name Rock is said to originate from the rock quarry, which is now a car park, used as a source of ballast for sailing boats which had dropped off cargo at Padstow.

The name Camel comes from the Cornish language for "crooked one"^[4], a reference to its winding course. Thus although the Rock Sailing and Waterski club photo below uses a Dromedary Camel as their logo, this is slightly misleading.