Carbis Bay

It lies 1 mile (1.6 km) southeast of St Ives, on the western coast of St Ives Bay, on the Atlantic coast. The South West Coast Path passes above the beach.

Carbis Bay Cornish: Karrbons
Beach at Carbis Bay with the Carbis Bay Hotel behind
Carbis Bay Location within Cornwall
Population	3,970
Civil parish	St Ives
Unitary authority	Cornwall
Ceremonial county	Cornwall
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	ST. IVES
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Cornwall
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	St Ives
List of places UK England Cornwall 50°11′48″N 5°27′54″W / 50.19659°N 5.46505°W / 50.19659; -5.46505

Carbis Bay is almost contiguous with the town of St Ives and is in St Ives civil parish (part of the area served by St Ives Town Council), which encompasses St Ives, Carbis Bay, Lelant and Halsetown. The 2001 census gave the combined population of Carbis Bay and Lelant as 3,482. Lelant, an older settlement which is one mile to the south-east, Carbis Bay and St Ives are linked by the A3074 road which joins the A30 at Rose-an-Grouse. Carbis Bay railway station, above the beach, is one of five railway stations on the St Ives Bay Line which joins the mainline at St Erth railway station, which is also at Rose-an-Grouse. St Erth station is the junction for the main line to London Paddington.

Carbis Bay overlooks the small bay of the same name (Cornish: Porth reb Tor, meaning "cove beside the eminence", part of St Ives Bay) which is bounded to the north by Porthminster Point and to the east by Hawk's Point and contains a popular family beach. Hawk's Point is within the Hayle Estuary and Carrack Gladden Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and in the Victorian era was known locally for its pleasure grounds. The garden had a tea house and grotto; it was a venue for Sunday School outings and Band of Hope galas. By 1880, the proprietor William Payne claimed in an advertisement that it was "the largest establishment of the kind in the West ...".

Wheal Providence mine in Carbis Bay is the type locality of the rare mineral Connellite.

Notable structures

 

The parish church, which is dedicated to St Anta and All Saints, contains a ring of ten bells. This was the largest peal in a Cornish parish church until St Keverne's bells was increased to ten in 2001. The Carbis Bay Hotel, on the seafront, was built in 1894 by Silvanus Trevail. Behind the village stands the Knill Monument, known locally as "The Steeple", a 50-foot (15 m) high monument to John Knill, a mayor of nearby St Ives during the 18th century.

Transport

Carbis Bay is connected to the national railway network using the St Erth to St Ives branch line. St Erth is on the Cornish mainline linking London Paddington to Penzance. Road coaches also operate to and from London and St Erth on the National Express (London / Penzance) service. Local buses to and from St Ives / St Erth / Hayle / Penzance / Helston and other areas run. Overnight travel services include the Night Riviera sleeper train that operates through St Erth en route to and from Paddington and Penzance. A night coach via London Heathrow (arriving 05.30am) and London Victoria (arriving 06.30am), calls at Carbis Bay and West Cornwall.

Schools

St Uny Primary School, a Church of England School voluntarily controlled by the Diocese of Truro, is situated in Carbis Bay.

In June 2021, Carbis Bay hosted the 47th G7 summit.

Cornish wrestling tournaments were held on Longstone Down, Longstone, which is now part of Carbis Bay.