this place is only small, free to anyone to look around with various public footpaths around the area etc. and its near some of my family so thought i would go and have a look around and have a go at some manual setting shots. im hoping they came out alright. but all comments and tips are welcome, good and bad 
so a little history...
The settlement of Roche sits on a prominent ridge on the northern edge of the St Austell Downs, close to the headwaters of the Fal River, Cornwall’s longest river. The area appears to contain a large number of local springs, river sources and holy wells, as well as a supposedly magical pool near Roche Rock, itself a striking rocky pinnacle of tourmalinised granite, and a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The ruined chapel on the summit of the Rock's centre crag was dedicated to St Michael in 1409, but you can't help thinking that the Rock would have had religious or sacred connections from more ancient times, even though, unlike Cornwall's many megaliths, this blob-like structure is an entirely natural phenomenon.
According to geologists, Roche Rock has been in the lee of the mountainous clay waste heaps, and overlooking the plateau of northern coastal Cornwall, for over 270 million years, formed by a geological process every bit as fascin-ating as the results look today. Big movements underground in the late Carboniferous period caused boro-silicates in the local granite to 'boil'. This fluid separated from the other molten rock, then bubbled up towards the surface on its own, much like the globules in a lava lamp, and finally cooled to its present state. The unique look of the Rock – its texture, its shape, and its position in the locality – must have had a great impact on the first inhabitants of this area.
The chapel, built on the precipitous outcrop, ingeniously incorporates the bedrock in its structure. Built of large squared blocks of granite, probably quarried from the surrounding moor, its construction in this position must have been a masterpiece of mediæval engineering. It stands two storeys high with a lower room in which, according to tradition, lived a hermit attended by his daughter who fetched water for him from a hole in the rocks known as Gonetta’s Well. The room above served as the chapel. Although the west wall has all but disappeared, the east wall survives to almost its full original height, with a large arched window now missing its tracery. Old drawings of the rock hint at further buildings on top of the rock, but these have long disappeared, as has the chapel’s roof. Access to the chapel was originally by rock-cut steps but is now by an iron ladder (take care!).
in the 6th photo down, there is a man climbing the rocks on the left (he's wearing dark clothes) i got some funny looks off of him, then next thing i know, hes gone, not even to be seen when i got to the top lol)
so a little history...
The settlement of Roche sits on a prominent ridge on the northern edge of the St Austell Downs, close to the headwaters of the Fal River, Cornwall’s longest river. The area appears to contain a large number of local springs, river sources and holy wells, as well as a supposedly magical pool near Roche Rock, itself a striking rocky pinnacle of tourmalinised granite, and a geological Site of Special Scientific Interest.
The ruined chapel on the summit of the Rock's centre crag was dedicated to St Michael in 1409, but you can't help thinking that the Rock would have had religious or sacred connections from more ancient times, even though, unlike Cornwall's many megaliths, this blob-like structure is an entirely natural phenomenon.
According to geologists, Roche Rock has been in the lee of the mountainous clay waste heaps, and overlooking the plateau of northern coastal Cornwall, for over 270 million years, formed by a geological process every bit as fascin-ating as the results look today. Big movements underground in the late Carboniferous period caused boro-silicates in the local granite to 'boil'. This fluid separated from the other molten rock, then bubbled up towards the surface on its own, much like the globules in a lava lamp, and finally cooled to its present state. The unique look of the Rock – its texture, its shape, and its position in the locality – must have had a great impact on the first inhabitants of this area.
The chapel, built on the precipitous outcrop, ingeniously incorporates the bedrock in its structure. Built of large squared blocks of granite, probably quarried from the surrounding moor, its construction in this position must have been a masterpiece of mediæval engineering. It stands two storeys high with a lower room in which, according to tradition, lived a hermit attended by his daughter who fetched water for him from a hole in the rocks known as Gonetta’s Well. The room above served as the chapel. Although the west wall has all but disappeared, the east wall survives to almost its full original height, with a large arched window now missing its tracery. Old drawings of the rock hint at further buildings on top of the rock, but these have long disappeared, as has the chapel’s roof. Access to the chapel was originally by rock-cut steps but is now by an iron ladder (take care!).
in the 6th photo down, there is a man climbing the rocks on the left (he's wearing dark clothes) i got some funny looks off of him, then next thing i know, hes gone, not even to be seen when i got to the top lol)
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