According to legend, the Irish monk was cast adrift and miraculously saved from the sea, before founding his small chapel here in the sand. St Piran’s Cross, stands eight feet high and was already a landmark when it was mentioned in King Edgar’s charter of AD 906.
And here, the legend goes, Saint Piran discovered the secret of tin: on his hearthstone, a stream of white metal suddenly flowed from black rock. From this image was born the flag of Cornwall: a white cross on a black field. Thus Piran became not only the patron saint of the tin miners, but of all Cornwall, a land that still recognises its soul in this symbol.