Page:The Cornwall coast.djvu/369

CHAPTER XVIII MORWENSTOW THERE is a fine stretch of sands protecting the Bude shores, but the background of these sands is cliff. It was this sand that made one of the chief uses of the canal from Bude to Holsworthy, now superseded by the railway; con- taining a large proportion of lime, it is valuable for agricultural purposes. The sands have a further use now as a playground for visitors ; very few watering-places become really popular without such a b.each for the children and the bathers. But the true coast is, of course, the background of clifiP, and this continues grandly rugged and broken to the Devon borders, and beyond. Little more than a mile north of Bude is Poughill, pro- nounced Puffill. The church, dedicated to St. Olaf, is one of the few Teutonic foundations in Corn- wall ; but, indeed, this northern corner of the neighbouring counties, with its " weeks " and " hams " and " worthies," must have been largely held by settlements of Saxons. The value of place- names in such matters is very great, though it must never be pressed too far. Poughill Church, with a good Perpendicular tower, is chiefly notable for its frescoes, somewhat glaringly restored ; they resemble those of St. Breage, in the Helston 363