1.
Cornwall
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Cornwall is a ceremonial county and unitary authority area of England within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, Cornwall has a population of 551,700 and covers an area of 3,563 km2. Cornwall forms the westernmost part of the south-west peninsula of the island of Great Britain, and this area was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. It continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then Bronze Age peoples, there is little evidence that Roman rule was effective west of Exeter and few Roman remains have been found. In the mid-19th century, however, the tin and copper mines entered a period of decline, subsequently, china clay extraction became more important and metal mining had virtually ended by the 1990s. Traditionally, fishing and agriculture were the important sectors of the economy. Railways led to a growth of tourism in the 20th century, however, the area is noted for its wild moorland landscapes, its long and varied coastline, its attractive villages, its many place-names derived from the Cornish language, and its very mild climate. Extensive stretches of Cornwalls coastline, and Bodmin Moor, are protected as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Cornwall is the homeland of the Cornish people and is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, retaining a distinct cultural identity that reflects its history. Some people question the present constitutional status of Cornwall, and a nationalist movement seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom in the form of a devolved legislative Cornish Assembly. On 24 April 2014 it was announced that Cornish people will be granted minority status under the European Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities. The modern English name Cornwall derives from the concatenation of two ancient demonyms from different linguistic traditions, Corn- records the native Brythonic tribe, the Cornovii. The Celtic word kernou is cognate with the English word horn. -wall derives from the Old English exonym walh, the Ravenna Cosmography first mentions a city named Purocoronavis in the locality. This is thought to be a rendering of Duro-cornov-ium, meaning fort of the Cornovii. The exact location of Durocornovium is disputed, with Tintagel and Carn Brea suggested as possible sites, in later times, Cornwall was known to the Anglo-Saxons as West Wales to distinguish it from North Wales. The name appears in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 891 as On Corn walum, in the Domesday Book it was referred to as Cornualia and in c.1198 as Cornwal. Other names for the county include a latinisation of the name as Cornubia, the present human history of Cornwall begins with the reoccupation of Britain after the last Ice Age. The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods and it continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then Bronze Age people. The Common Brittonic spoken at the time developed into several distinct tongues
2.
United Kingdom
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The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom or Britain, is a sovereign country in western Europe. Lying off the north-western coast of the European mainland, the United Kingdom includes the island of Great Britain, Northern Ireland is the only part of the United Kingdom that shares a land border with another sovereign state—the Republic of Ireland. The Irish Sea lies between Great Britain and Ireland, with an area of 242,500 square kilometres, the United Kingdom is the 78th-largest sovereign state in the world and the 11th-largest in Europe. It is also the 21st-most populous country, with an estimated 65.1 million inhabitants, together, this makes it the fourth-most densely populated country in the European Union. The United Kingdom is a monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. The monarch is Queen Elizabeth II, who has reigned since 6 February 1952, other major urban areas in the United Kingdom include the regions of Birmingham, Leeds, Glasgow, Liverpool and Manchester. The United Kingdom consists of four countries—England, Scotland, Wales, the last three have devolved administrations, each with varying powers, based in their capitals, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast, respectively. The relationships among the countries of the UK have changed over time, Wales was annexed by the Kingdom of England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. A treaty between England and Scotland resulted in 1707 in a unified Kingdom of Great Britain, which merged in 1801 with the Kingdom of Ireland to form the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Five-sixths of Ireland seceded from the UK in 1922, leaving the present formulation of the United Kingdom of Great Britain, there are fourteen British Overseas Territories. These are the remnants of the British Empire which, at its height in the 1920s, British influence can be observed in the language, culture and legal systems of many of its former colonies. The United Kingdom is a country and has the worlds fifth-largest economy by nominal GDP. The UK is considered to have an economy and is categorised as very high in the Human Development Index. It was the worlds first industrialised country and the worlds foremost power during the 19th, the UK remains a great power with considerable economic, cultural, military, scientific and political influence internationally. It is a nuclear weapons state and its military expenditure ranks fourth or fifth in the world. The UK has been a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council since its first session in 1946 and it has been a leading member state of the EU and its predecessor, the European Economic Community, since 1973. However, on 23 June 2016, a referendum on the UKs membership of the EU resulted in a decision to leave. The Acts of Union 1800 united the Kingdom of Great Britain, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have devolved self-government
3.
Truro
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Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Truro is Cornwalls county town and only city, its centre for administration, leisure and it is the most southern city in mainland Great Britain. People from Truro are known as Truronians, Truro grew as a centre of trade from its port and then as a stannary town for the tin mining industry. The citys cathedral was completed in 1910, places of interest include the Royal Cornwall Museum, the Hall for Cornwall and Cornwalls Courts of Justice. The origin of Truros name is debated and it is said to be derived from the Cornish tri-veru meaning three rivers, but references such as the Oxford Dictionary of English Place Names reject this theory. The tru part might mean three, though this is doubtful, an expert on Cornish place-names, Oliver Padel, in his book A Popular Dictionary of Cornish Place-names, wrote that the three rivers meaning is possible. Alternatively the name may derive from *tre-uro or similar, i. e. the settlement on the river *uro, the earliest records and archaeological findings of a permanent settlement in the Truro area originate from Norman times. The town grew in the shadow of the castle and was awarded borough status to further economic activity, the castle has long since gone. Richard de Lucy fought in Cornwall under Count Alan of Brittany after leaving Falaise late in 1138, the small adulterine castle at Truro, Cornwall, later known as “Castellum de Guelon” was probably built by him between 1139-1140. He styled himself Richard de Lucy, de Trivereu, the castle later passed to Reginald FitzRoy, an illegitimate son of Henry I, when he was invested by King Stephen as the first Earl of Cornwall. Reginald married Mabel FitzRichard, daughter of William FitzRichard, a landholder in Cornwall. The 75-foot diameter castle was in ruins by 1270 and the motte levelled in 1840 and it is today the site of the Crown Court. Reginald FitzRoy confirmed c1170 in a charter to the burgesses of Truro the privileges which had been granted by Richard de Lucy, Richard held ten Knights Fees in Cornwall prior to 1135 and at his death a third of his considerable total holding remained in Cornwall. The Black Death arrived, and with it a trade recession, resulting in an exodus of the population. Trade gradually returned and the town became prosperous during the Tudor period, self-governance was awarded in 1589 when a new charter was granted by Elizabeth I, which gave Truro an elected mayor and control over the port of Falmouth. During the Civil War in the 17th century, Truro raised a force to fight for the king. Defeat by the Parliamentary troops came in 1646 and the mint was moved to Exeter, later in the century Falmouth was awarded its own charter giving it rights to its harbour, starting a long rivalry between the two towns. The dispute was settled in 1709 with control of the River Fal divided between Truro and Falmouth, Truro prospered greatly during the 18th and 19th centuries
4.
Penzance
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Penzance is a town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, in England, United Kingdom. It is well known for being the most westerly town in Cornwall and is about 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London. The civil parish includes the town of Newlyn and the villages of Mousehole, Paul, Gulval, granted various royal charters from 1512 onwards and incorporated in 1614, it has a population of 21,200. There are no early documents mentioning an actual dedication to St Anthony which seems to depend entirely on tradition, until the 1930s this history was also reflected in the choice of symbol for the town, the severed holy head of St John the Baptist. It can still be seen on the civic regalia of the Mayor of Penzance, about 400 prehistoric stone axes, known as Group 1 axes and made from greenstone, have been found all over Britain, which from petrological analysis appear to come from west Cornwall. Although the quarry has not been identified, it has suggested that the Gear. A significant amount of trade is indicated as many have been elsewhere in Britain. The earliest evidence of settlement in Penzance is from the Bronze Age, the defensive earthwork known as Lescudjack Castle is not excavated, but almost certainly belongs to the Iron Age. A single rampart encloses three acres of hilltop, and would have dominated the approach to the area from the east, there are no signs of the additional ramparts reported by William Hals in about 1730, and the site is now surrounded by housing with allotments. Until recently, there was evidence for anything but an early and short Roman occupation of Cornwall. In August 1899 two coins of Vespasian were found in an ancient trench in Penzance Cemetery, the coins were eight feet below ground together with some cow bones, and are now in the Penlee House Museum. A1934 find from the Alverton area is described as a ″coin of the reign of Constantine the Great″, a 30 mm sestertius was found on a building site in or around Penzance about ten years previously, and was presented to the Royal Institution of Cornwall. The Hundred of Penwith had its ancient centre at Connerton, now buried beneath the sands of Gwithian Towans at Gwithian, a Hundred was a Saxon administrative unit which was sub-divided into tithings. The Manor of Alverton, with an area of 64 Cornish acres, the manor included Penzance as well as parts of Madron, Paul, St Buryan and Sancreed. Although Penzance is not mentioned in the document the Domesday Book. Domesday records that in 1066 the Manor of Alwarton was owned by Alward who was dispossessed by Robert, Count of Mortain, the name Alward and tun, a personal name combined with a town or settlement suffix, indicate Saxon land ownership. In around 1800 the chapel was converted to a fish cellar, a carving in Ludgvan granite thought to be of St Anthony was removed in about 1830 and was used in the wall of a pig sty which was further vandalised in 1850 when a stranger. Taking fancy to the countenance and rough hands, they were broken off
5.
Camborne
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Camborne is a town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is at the edge of a conurbation comprising Camborne, Pool. The population of Camborne was 14,726 in 1901 and 20,010 at the 2001 census, by 2011 the population had grown to 20,845. The Northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path which includes, Hells Mouth, Camborne is located in what was formerly one of the richest tin mining areas in the world and was once the home to the Camborne School of Mines. The School of Mines moved from the centre of Camborne to Trevenson, Pool and is now a specialist department of the University of Exeter, Camborne is in the western part of the largest urban and industrial area in Cornwall with the town of Redruth 3 miles to the east. It is the centre of a large civil parish and has a town council. Camborne-Redruth is on the side of the Carn Brea/Carnmenellis granite upland which slopes northwards to the sea. The two towns are linked by the A3047 road which was turnpiked in 1839 and the villages along the road were Roskear, Tuckingmill, Pool and Illogan. Running north-south are a number of streams with narrow river valleys which have been deeply-cut following centuries of tin streaming. An example is the Red River valley which crosses the A3047 at Tuckingmill, to the north, the A30 forms a boundary between the urban area and the agricultural land on the other side. It is the only Roman villa to be found in the whole of Cornwall, there are also early Christian sites such as an inscribed altar stone, and dated to the tenth or eleventh centuries, which attests to the existence of a settlement then. Langdon records seven crosses in the parish of which two are at Pendarves. By the late Middle Ages manorial holdings developed in the surrounding area, Cornish medieval mystery plays were held in a playing place and the chuchyard is said to have had a pilgrimage chapel and holy well. John Norden visited in 1584 and described Camborne as ″A churche standinge among the barrayne hills″, at this time there would have been moors and rough grazing as well as small fields in the surrounding countryside. By 1708 Camborne had rights to hold markets and three fairs a year which may be an indication of tin mining in the area, Cambornes was inland and in an unfavourable location for trading. Mining is first recorded locally in the 1400s with early exploitation of the small streams cutting through the mineralised area, adit mining was first recorded in the 16th-century. A sign of increasing industrial activity and increasing population is the first chapel built in 1806. In 1823 the population was around 2,000 and in 1841 it was 4,377, with 75 smiths recorded, in the expanding town gasworks were opened in 1834, the Hayle Railway was built and Holmans opened a small foundry in 1839
6.
Falmouth, Cornwall
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Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a resident population of 27,422. See also, Miss Susan Gays Falmouth chronology The name Falmouth is of English origin and it is claimed that an earlier Celtic name for the place was Peny-cwm-cuic which is the same as the anglicised Pennycomequick district in Plymouth. Falmouth was where Henry VIII built Pendennis Castle to defend Carrick Roads in 1540, the main town of the district was then at Penryn. Sir John Killigrew created the town of Falmouth shortly after 1613, in the late 16th century, under threat from the Spanish Armada, the defences at Pendennis were strengthened by the building of angled ramparts. During the Civil War, Pendennis Castle was the second to last fort to surrender to the Parliamentary Army. After the Civil War, Sir Peter Killigrew received royal patronage when he gave land for the building of the Church of King Charles the Martyr, dedicated to Charles I, the Martyr. The seal of Falmouth was blazoned as An eagle displayed with two heads and on each wing with a tower, the arms of the borough of Falmouth were Arg. The Falmouth Packet Service operated out of Falmouth for over 160 years between 1689 and 1851 and its purpose was to carry mail to and from Britains growing empire. As the most south-westerly good harbour in Great Britain, Falmouth was often the first port for returning Royal Navy ships, in 1805 news of Britains victory and Admiral Nelsons death at Trafalgar was landed here from the schooner Pickle and taken to London by stagecoach. On 2 October 1836 HMS Beagle anchored at Falmouth at the end of her noted survey voyage around the world and that evening, Charles Darwin left the ship and took the Mail coach to his family home at The Mount, Shrewsbury. The ship stayed a few days and Captain Robert FitzRoy visited the Fox family at nearby Penjerrick Gardens, darwins shipmate Sulivan later made his home in the nearby waterside village of Flushing, then home to many naval officers. In 1839 Falmouth was the scene of a gold dust robbery when £47,600 worth of gold dust from Brazil was stolen on arrival at the port, the Falmouth Docks were developed from 1858, and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution opened Falmouth Lifeboat Station nearby in 1867. The present building dates from 1993 and also houses Her Majestys Coastguard, the RNLI operates two lifeboats from Falmouth, Richard Cox Scott, a 17-metre Severn-class all-weather boat, and Eve Park, an Atlantic 75 inshore lifeboat. Near the town centre is Kimberley Park, the land pre-dates 1877, and is named after the Earl of Kimberley who leased the parks land to the borough of Falmouth. Today the park has exotic and ornate plants and trees, the Cornwall Railway reached Falmouth on 24 August 1863. The railway brought new prosperity to Falmouth, as it made it easy for tourists to reach the town and it also allowed the swift transport of the goods recently disembarked from the ships in the port. The town now has three railway stations, Falmouth Docks railway station is the original terminus and is close to Pendennis Castle and Gyllyngvase beach
7.
Hayle
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Hayle is a small town, civil parish and cargo port in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River and is seven miles northeast of Penzance. Hayle parish was created in 1888 from part of the now defunct Phillack parish, with which it was combined in 1935. The modern parish boundaries with St Ives to the west, St Erth to the south, Gwinear and Gwithian in the east. Although there is a history of settlement in the Hayle Estuary area dating from the Bronze Age. Evidence of Iron Age settlement exists at the fort on the hill above Carnsew Pool where the Plantation now stands. It is thought that Hayle, was an important centre for the tin industry, trading not only Irish and Breton people. Evidence of this comes from finds of imported pottery including Romano/Grecian Amphorae - containers for wine, in those times the estuary looked a lot different from that of today. The departure of the Romans was followed by an influx of Christian missionaries, most of whom are said to have had Irish origins and after whom many Cornish towns take their present name. The lives of Saint Samson and Saint Petroc report that both saints arrived in Cornwall at the Hayle Estuary, indicating that it was a port at least by the end of the 5th century. A number of inscribed stones from this period have been found in the area, two early stones have been found at Phillack, one bearing a Constantine form of a Chi-Rho cross which may date to the 5th Century. The most noteworthy inscribed stone is one uncovered during the construction of a road in the grounds of Carnsew, and is now set into a bank at The Plantation, a public park. The stone was discovered in December 1843 by workmen, lying in a position at the depth of four feet. When the stone was moved it broke into three parts, the stone bears an inscription in Latin, but it is now unreadable. The version that appears on the replica is translated as Here Cenui fell asleep who was born in 500, Here in his tomb he lies, he lived 33 years. Here he lies in the tomb, the Domesday survey in 1086 shows that the town of Hayle was not yet in existence. The manor of Connerton is recorded as including the Hayle Estuary with the manor centred on Conerton and this was held by the King and was the headmanor of the hundred of Penwith. It is from Conerton that the name of the present day settlement of Connor Downs is derived, a number of scattered farmsteads are recorded but no substantial settlement
8.
Helston
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Helston is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately 12 miles east of Penzance and 9 miles south-west of Falmouth. Helston is the most southerly town on the island of Great Britain and is around 1.5 miles farther south than Penzance, the population in 2011 was 11,700. The former stannary and cattle market town is best known for the annual Furry Dance, however, the Hal-an-Tow is reputed to be of Celtic origin. The song, and music, associated with the Furry Dance is known to have written in 1911. In 2001, the town celebrated the 800th anniversary of the granting of its Charter, the name comes from the Cornish hen lis or old court and ton added later to denote a Saxon manor, the Domesday Book refers to Henliston. Only one edition refers to Henlistona and it was granted its charter by King John on 15 April 1201, for the price of forty marks of silver. It was here that tin ingots were weighed to determine the tin coinage duty due to the Duke of Cornwall when a number of towns were authorised by royal decree. A document of 1396 examined by Charles Henderson shows that the old form Hellys was still in use The manor of Helston in Kerrier was one of the seventeen Antiqua maneria of the Duchy of Cornwall. The seal of the borough of Helston was St Michael his wings expanded and it is a matter of debate as to whether Helston was once a port, albeit no actual records exist. A common belief is that in the 13th-century Loe Bar formed a barrier across the mouth of the River Cober cutting the town off from the sea. Geomorphologists believe the bar was most likely formed by rising sea levels, after the last ice age, blocking the river and creating a barrier beach. The beach is formed mostly of flint and the nearest source is found offshore under the drowned terraces of the river that flowed between England and France, and now under the English Channel. Defoes description seems to be the first and possibly the origin of other sources claiming Helston to be a port in the historic period. Loe Pool is referred to in a document of 1302, implying the existence of Loe Bar at this date, if not much earlier and this could be considered the most significant piece of documentary evidence signifying Helstons former port days, though it does not prove the case. At the time of Domesday Book, Gweek had no inhabitants whilst Helston was the largest settlement in the west of Cornwall, in 1837 a plan was drawn up to open Loe Pool to shipping using a pier to counteract siltation, but it was never carried out. The site of Helstons castle is now a bowling green near the Grylls Monument, the castle was a simple pre-1086 motte and bailey structure, known as Henliston Castle, replaced in 1280 by a stone structure of a similar design for Edmund, Earl of Cornwall. By 1478 it had fallen into disuse and ruin, the Helston parliamentary constituency was created in 1298 and elected two members to the Unreformed House of Commons, the Reform Act 1832 reduced the number elected to one
9.
Marazion
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Marazion is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the shore of Mounts Bay,2 miles east of Penzance and 1 mile east of Long Rock. The population in 2011 was 1,440 and the ward population which includes surrounding villages was 4,625 St Michaels Mount is half-a-mile offshore from Marazion. At low water a causeway links it to the town and at high water passenger boats carry visitors between Marazion and St Michaels Mount, Marazion lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Almost a third of Cornwall has AONB designation, with the same status, Marazion is a thriving tourist resort with an active community of artists who produce and sell paintings and pottery in the towns numerous art galleries. Remains of an ancient bronze furnace, discovered near the town, Marazion was not recorded in the Domesday Book of 1088. Its only charter was granted by Queen Elizabeth I, the charter attributed to Robert, Count of Mortain granted lands and liberties to St Michaels Mount opposite Marazion and included a market on Thursdays. This appears to have held from the first on the mainland. From it is derived the Marghasbighan of the earlier and the Marghasyewe or Marketjew of the later charters. It may be added that a Jewish origin has been ascribed to the place from the name Marketjew. He transferred in fact the fairs and markets from the lands of the Bloyous in Marazion to those of the prior. Its earliest known charter was granted in 1257, to remedy the loss incurred by this measure Ralph Bloyou in 1331 procured for himself and his heirs a market on Mondays and a fair on the vigil, feast and morrow of St Andrew at Marghasyon. In 1595 Queen Elizabeth granted to Marazion a charter of incorporation and this ratified the grant of St Andrews fair, provided for another on the Feast of St Barnabas and established a market on Saturdays. The corporation was to consist of a mayor, eight aldermen, the chairman of the commissioners retains possession of the regalia. Of the fairs, only the Michaelmas fair has survived and all the markets have gone and it is frequently stated that Marazion had formerly the right of returning two members to parliament, but that owing to its inability to pay the members expenses the right was lost. The seal of the borough of Marazion was On a shield the three castles triple turreted, with the legend Semper Eadem. Under the Commonwealth an attempt was made to secure or recover the right, Marazion was once a flourishing town, owing its prosperity to the throng of pilgrims who came to visit St Michaels Mount. During the first half of the 16th century it was plundered, first by the French
10.
Newquay
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Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England, UK. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately 20 miles west of Bodmin and 12 miles north of Truro, the town is bounded to the west by the River Gannel and its associated salt marsh, and to the east by the Porth Valley. Newquay has been expanding inland since it was founded, in 2001, the census recorded a permanent population of 19,562, increasing to 20,342 at the 2011 census. There are some burial mounds and an embankment on the area now known as The Barrowfields,400 m from Trevelgue. There were once up to fifteen barrows, but now only a few remain, excavations here have revealed charred cooking pots and a coarse pottery burial urn containing remains of a Bronze Age chieftain, who was buried here up to 3,500 years ago. In 1987, evidence of a Bronze Age village was found at Trethellan Farm and it is claimed that occupation of the site was continuous from the 3rd century BC to the 5th or 6th century AD. The curve of the headland around what is now Newquay Harbour provided natural protection from bad weather, when the village was first occupied is unknown but it is not mentioned in the Domesday Book although a local house is included. The first national British census of 1801 recorded around 1,300 inhabitants in the settlement, the construction of the current harbour started in 1832. Newquay parish was created in 1882, a mansion called the Tower was built for the Molesworth family in 1835, it included a castellated tower and a private chapel as they were devout Roman Catholics. The Tower later became the club house. After the arrival of trains in 1876, the former fishing village started to grow. Several major hotels were built around the turn of the 19th century, including the Victoria in East Street, the Atlantic, the three churches were also built soon after 1901. The arms of the district council of Newquay were Or on a saltire Azure four herrings respectant Argent. Growth of the town eastwards soon reached the area around the station, Station Road became Cliff Road around 1930. Narrowcliff was first known as Narrowcliff Promenade, and then Narrowcliff Road, on some pre-war maps it is spelt Narrowcliffe. At the time of the First World War the last buildings at the edge of the town were a little further along present-day Narrowcliff, including the Hotel Edgecumbe. Post-war development saw new houses and streets built in the Chester Road area, accompanied by ribbon development along the lane which led to St Columb Minor. This thoroughfare was modernised and named Henver Road, also some time in the 1930s, other areas also developed in the period between the wars were Pentire and the Trenance Valley
