Port Quin is the last derivation of the Cornish word ‘qwyn’ meaning white. The village has been known as Portquin, Porthqueen, Parquin, Port Guin, Porthquin and Porthquynne. The inlet is 2 miles west of Port Isaac and gives its name to the bay that lies between Kellan Head in the east and Rump’s Point in the west.

There are but a few references to Port Quin, one of the earliest is for the year 1327 when a parish record mentions a Laurence de Porquin, and in 1415 the fining of a Thomas Portquyn.

Port Quin depended heavily upon the fishing industry and the size of the fish cellars still standing indicate the prosperity of the industry at its peak. Besides fishing a certain amount of trade was carried out with both coal and manure being landed here. Also along the valley a considerable amount of horticulture was carried out. There was also lead and antimony mining nearby.

Rather sadly Port Quin’s main claim to interest lies in the fact that as a village it has died and the circumstances of its demise are not clearly understood. There are many theories, the most often told is that of the fishing fleet being lost at sea in a sudden storm, that the fleet put to sea on a Sunday an act of great sacrilege and also lost in a ‘divine’ storm! Other accounts have the men being lost whilst trying to ‘molest’ another vessel, evading the Customs and Excise men and even fleeing from the Press Gang! An alternative view is that following a bad fishing season and the failure of the local mines the men emigrated to Canada. (There are Canadians who claim to be descendants of Port Quin fishermen.) It may just be that the population drifted away to nearby towns and villages rather than migrate to Canada.

Port Quin is to all intents and purposes a deserted village although swelled by summer (and even winter) visitors. Happily there has been no attempt to conjure up an ‘olde world’ village, no fake reconstruction, but remains an attractive inlet and beauty spot.

The real mystery is not how the village died but rather how can a community vanish so completely without notice being taken of it?