{{Short description|Twin-headland promontory in north Cornwall, UK}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
thumb|The Rumps thumb|right|Sketch map showing The Rumps, Pentire Head and the surrounding area
'''The Rumps''' ({{langx|kw|Penn Tir||headland}})<ref>{{cite web |title=The Rumps (headland) (EN) - Henwyn Tyller |url=https://www.akademikernewek.org.uk/place-names/content/rumps-headland |website=Akademi Kernewek |access-date=1 July 2025}}</ref> ({{gbmapping|SW 934 810}}) is a twin-headland promontory at the north-east corner of Pentire Head in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Pete Dommett |title=Walk: Pentire Head, North Cornwall |url=https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/walks/walk-pentire-head-north-cornwall/ |website=Countryfile |access-date=13 May 2021 |date=10 October 2017}}</ref> ''The Rumps'' is attested as a name for the site from 1826 but is assumed to be significantly older.<ref name=Brooks8>{{cite journal |last1=Brooks |first1=R.T |date=1974 |title=The Excavation of The Rumps Cliff Castle, St. Minver, Cornwall|url=https://cornisharchaeology.org.uk/app/uploads/2022/08/No.13_1974.pdf |journal=Cornish Archaeology / Hendhyscans Kernow |volume=13 | publisher=Cornwall Archaeological Society |page=8 |access-date=8 February 2025}}</ref>
The promontory is formed from hard basaltic rock (see also Geology of Cornwall) and projects north into the Atlantic Ocean.<ref name="CFE">{{cite web |title=The Rumps |url=https://www.cornwallforever.co.uk/places/the-rumps |website=Cornwall For Ever! |access-date=13 May 2021}}</ref> Its headlands lie east-to-west. A small offshore island named The Mouls lies off the eastern headland; the western headland is named Rumps Point.
Access to The Rumps is via the South West Coast Path from Polzeath or by an inland public footpath from the car park at Pentire Farm. The entire Pentire headland, including The Rumps, is under the stewardship of the National Trust.<ref>{{cite web |title=Pentire headland walk |url=https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/polzeath-to-port-quin/trails/pentire-headland-walk |website=National Trust |access-date=13 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="OS">{{cite web |author1=Patrick Bradley |title=Pentire & The Rumps |url=https://getoutside.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/guides/pentire-and-the-rumps/ |website=Ordnance Survey |access-date=13 May 2021}}</ref> Sightseeing boat tours regularly sail around The Rumps from the nearby port of Padstow. It is also listed by the RSPB as one of Cornwall's "prime spots" to see the corn bunting, a species of high conservation priority.<ref>{{cite web |title=Places to see birds Pentire and Rumps Point |url=https://ww2.rspb.org.uk/groups/cornwall/places/234434/ |website=RSPB |access-date=13 May 2021}}</ref>
==Iron Age fort== The Rumps is the site of an Iron Age promontory fort which was first recorded in 1584 by John Norden and also appears on the first Ordnance Survey map in 1881.<ref name="HE" >{{cite web |title=Promontory fort called The Rumps |url=https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1004625 |website=Historic England |access-date=13 May 2021}}</ref><ref name="OX">{{cite web |title=EN0654: The Rumps (Rumps Point; Pentire Fort) |url=http://hillforts.arch.ox.ac.uk/records/EN0654.html |website=Atlas of Hillforts of Britain and Ireland |access-date=13 May 2021}}</ref> The fort was the subject of an archaeological survey between 1963 and 1967,<ref name="HE" /> with the findings being published in 1974 in ''Cornish Archaeology / Hendhyscans Kernow, 13, pp 5-50''.
It described three phases of building and two of occupation between the 4th century BC and the first century AD, with round houses containing pottery using clay from the Lizard, bones and domestic items (like querns and spindle whorls) having been excavated.<ref name="CFE" /><ref name="HE" /><ref name="Payton">{{cite book |author1=Philip Payton |author1-link=Philip Payton |title=Cornwall: A History |date=2017 |publisher=University of Exeter Press |location=Exeter |isbn=9780859890274 |page=48 |edition=3rd}}</ref> The find of an amphora also suggests trade with the Mediterranean.<ref name="HE" /><ref name="OX" />
Being connected to the mainland with only a very narrow isthmus, the site is an excellent defensive position.<ref name="HC">{{cite web |title=The Rumps |url=https://www.historic-cornwall.org.uk/a2m/iron_age/cliff_castle/the_rumps/the_rumps.htm |website=Historic Cornwall |access-date=13 May 2021}}</ref> The fort has three ramparts, built in two phases and with central entrances.<ref name="HE" /><ref name="HC" /><ref>{{cite web |title=The Rumps |url=https://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=4554 |website=The Megalithic Portal |access-date=13 May 2021}}</ref>{{refn|group="note"|Payton suggests that there are four ramparts rather than three.<ref name="Payton"/>}}
=="For the Fallen"== thumb|"For the Fallen" plaque The poet Laurence Binyon wrote "For the Fallen" in 1914 while sitting on the cliffs between Pentire Point and The Rumps. A stone plaque was erected at the spot in 2001 to commemorate the fact. The plaque bears an inscription which reads ''For The Fallen composed on these cliffs 1914'' and quotes the stanza popularly known as ''The Ode''.<ref name="OS" /><ref>{{cite web |title=North Coast, Cornwall: Inspiration for the ‘Ode of Remembrance’ |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p029yv7l |website=BBC |access-date=13 May 2021 |date=3 November 2014}}</ref>
==Notes== {{Portal|Cornwall}} {{reflist|group=note}}
==References== {{Commons category|The Rumps}} {{reflist}}
{{Cornwall|state=collapsed}} {{Headlands of Cornwall}}
{{coord|50.59208|-4.92030|type:landmark_region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SW934810)|display=title}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rumps, The}} Category:Headlands of Cornwall Category:Hill forts in Cornwall Category:Iron Age sites in Cornwall Category:Military history of Cornwall Category:National Trust properties in Cornwall