Newlyn
Encyclopedia
Newlyn is a town and fishing port in southwest Cornwall
, England
, United Kingdom
.
Newlyn forms a conurbation
with the neighbouring town of Penzance
and is part of Penzance civil parish. The principal industry in Newlyn is fishing
.
for "pool for a fleet of boats".
Lake (an area of seawater in Mounts Bay) led to many local fishermen using this area as a preferred landing site.. Newlyn harbour is first recorded in 1435 by the Bishop of Exeter
; later large scale improvements to the harbour led to Newlyn becoming the predominant fishing port in Mounts Bay.
Before the 19th century "Newlyn" referred only to the area near the old quay. The part of the village which now contains the fish market was known as "Streetanowan", this was separated at high tide from "Newlyn Town" the site of the lower part of the modern harbour being reclaimed land and formerly a beach.
Before the 1890s Newlyn (like Mousehole) had strong connections with the nearby parish of Paul
. It was common for villagers to climb the relatively steep route from "Newlyn Cliff" to Paul via the area which is now known as Gwavas to worship at Paul Church. Until the mid twentieth century an ancient stone cross was present on this route at "Park an Grouse" (The Field of the Cross), this cross was one site of veneration of the Cornish sea deity Bucca, (others were the beaches of Newlyn and Mousehole) the name 'Bucca' has often been used as a nickname for people resident in Newlyn: the location of the cross is now unknown.
destroyed Penzance, Mousehole
and Paul as well as Newlyn.
In 1620 the Mayflower
stopped off at Newlyn old quay to take on water.
A plaque on the quay reads:-
In 1755 the Lisbon earthquake caused a tsunami
to strike the Cornish coast over 600 miles away. The sea rose ten feet in ten minutes at Newlyn, and ebbed at the same rate. The 19th century French writer, Arnold Boscowitz, claimed that "great loss of life and property occurred upon the coasts of Cornwall".
Newlyn was the home of William Lovett
a leader of the Chartist movement. During the 19th century Newlyn was the scene of the Newlyn riots
following protests over the landing of fish on a Sunday by fishermen from the north of England, the local Cornish fishermen being members of the Methodist church and as such strong supporters of sabbatarianism. in the 1880s a number of artists flocked to to the town and opened an artists' colony.
tidal observatory was established in the harbour and for the next six years measurements of tidal height were taken every 15 minutes.
In 1937 the fishing vessel Rosebud
sailed to London to deliver a petition to the Minister of Health on behalf of those villagers whose homes were threatened under the government's slum clearance scheme.
During World War II Newlyn was a base for the Air Sea Rescue craft covering the Western Approaches
. The harbour was bombed during the war, hitting the collier 'Greenhithe', which was beached in the harbour at the time and supplied coal to the east coast drifters, which traveled to Newlyn during the mackerel fishing season between the wars. Reporting the event on the Germany Calling
propaganda broadcast Lord Haw-Haw
announced that the Luftwaffe
had sunk a British cruiser in Newlyn harbour.
. It lies along the B3315 road which connects it to Land's End
. Gwavas
is a residential council estate on the outskirts of the village.Paul
and Mousehole
lie to the south.
The Ordnance Survey
, the United Kingdom
's mapping
agency, used to base all elevation
s including mapped contour lines and spot heights on the mean sea level
at Newlyn defined by this benchmark (see Ordnance Datum Newlyn).The mean sea level data was calculated from hourly readings of the sea level between 1 May 1915 and 30 April 1921.
Because of Newlyn's association with the creative arts there are also a number of artists and art galleries that are established in the area.
(NTSLF) maintains a tidal observatory at Newlyn, and the UK Fundamental Benchmark
is maintained there.
Newlyn was made famous in the 1880s and 1890s for its Newlyn School
artists' colony, including the painters Thomas Cooper Gotch
, Albert Chevallier Tayler
and Henry Scott Tuke
. The current largest collection of work by the Newlyn School is held by Penlee House
Gallery and Museum in nearby Penzance
. Newlyn is the home of Newlyn Art Gallery
http://www.newlynartgallery.co.uk/ which houses a collection of modern art.
Between 1970 and 1983, Troika Pottery, an art pottery studio, was based in Newlyn.
Several inns lie along the harbor front including The Smugglers, Harbour View Guesthouse, The Red Lion Inn and The Crown Inn.
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county 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, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Newlyn forms a conurbation
Conurbation
A conurbation is a region comprising a number of cities, large towns, and other urban areas that, through population growth and physical expansion, have merged to form one continuous urban and industrially developed area...
with the neighbouring town of Penzance
Penzance
Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
and is part of Penzance civil parish. The principal industry in Newlyn is fishing
Fishing
Fishing is the activity of trying to catch wild fish. Fish are normally caught in the wild. Techniques for catching fish include hand gathering, spearing, netting, angling and trapping....
.
Toponymy
The settlement is recorded as Nulyn in 1279 and as Lulyn in 1290, and the name is thought to be derived from the CornishCornish language
Cornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
for "pool for a fleet of boats".
History
Before the rise of Newlyn as an important settlement the landing rights and most property within the Newlyn area were owned by the Manor of Alverton. Newlyn's history has been strongly linked to its role as a major fishing port. The natural protection afforded by the GwavasGwavas
Gwavas is a residential council estate on the southern outskirts of the town of Newlyn in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated immediately west of Gwavas Road and takes its name from nearby Gwavas Farm....
Lake (an area of seawater in Mounts Bay) led to many local fishermen using this area as a preferred landing site.. Newlyn harbour is first recorded in 1435 by the Bishop of Exeter
Bishop of Exeter
The Bishop of Exeter is the Ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The incumbent usually signs his name as Exon or incorporates this in his signature....
; later large scale improvements to the harbour led to Newlyn becoming the predominant fishing port in Mounts Bay.
Before the 19th century "Newlyn" referred only to the area near the old quay. The part of the village which now contains the fish market was known as "Streetanowan", this was separated at high tide from "Newlyn Town" the site of the lower part of the modern harbour being reclaimed land and formerly a beach.
Before the 1890s Newlyn (like Mousehole) had strong connections with the nearby parish of Paul
Paul, Cornwall
Paul is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated two miles south of Penzance and one mile south of Newlyn.The village of Paul is represented on Penzance Town Council...
. It was common for villagers to climb the relatively steep route from "Newlyn Cliff" to Paul via the area which is now known as Gwavas to worship at Paul Church. Until the mid twentieth century an ancient stone cross was present on this route at "Park an Grouse" (The Field of the Cross), this cross was one site of veneration of the Cornish sea deity Bucca, (others were the beaches of Newlyn and Mousehole) the name 'Bucca' has often been used as a nickname for people resident in Newlyn: the location of the cross is now unknown.
Early history
The Spanish Raid of 1595Battle of Cornwall
The Battle of Cornwall was a Spanish raid in Cornwall in 1595 during the Anglo-Spanish war of 1585-1604. It was the only attempted Spanish raid of the area since Fernando Sánchez de Tovar's destruction of English coastal towns in the 14th century.-Landings:...
destroyed Penzance, Mousehole
Mousehole
Mousehole is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 2½ miles south of Penzance on the shore of Mount's Bay.The village is in the civil parish of Penzance...
and Paul as well as Newlyn.
In 1620 the Mayflower
Mayflower
The Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
stopped off at Newlyn old quay to take on water.
A plaque on the quay reads:-
In memory of Bill Best-Harris, historian who through rigorous research
found that the Mayflower docked in Newlyn Harbour for fresh water as the
water supplied in Plymouth was contaminated. Therefore Newlyn was the last
port of call in UK for the Mayflower.
In 1755 the Lisbon earthquake caused a tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
to strike the Cornish coast over 600 miles away. The sea rose ten feet in ten minutes at Newlyn, and ebbed at the same rate. The 19th century French writer, Arnold Boscowitz, claimed that "great loss of life and property occurred upon the coasts of Cornwall".
Newlyn was the home of William Lovett
William Lovett
William Lovett was a British activist who was a leader of the political movement Chartism as well as one of the leading London-based Artisan Radicals of his generation....
a leader of the Chartist movement. During the 19th century Newlyn was the scene of the Newlyn riots
Newlyn riots
The Newlyn riots were a major civil disturbance that occurred in Newlyn, Cornwall, UK on the three days beginning 18 May 1896 ; it arose from the local fishery and the trade in fish.- Background :...
following protests over the landing of fish on a Sunday by fishermen from the north of England, the local Cornish fishermen being members of the Methodist church and as such strong supporters of sabbatarianism. in the 1880s a number of artists flocked to to the town and opened an artists' colony.
Modern history
In 1915 the Ordnance SurveyOrdnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
tidal observatory was established in the harbour and for the next six years measurements of tidal height were taken every 15 minutes.
In 1937 the fishing vessel Rosebud
PZ 87 The Rosebud
The Rosebud - PZ 87 - was the Newlyn based fishing boat that was at the centre of the attempt by Newlyn villagers to save their condemned properties in the 1930s...
sailed to London to deliver a petition to the Minister of Health on behalf of those villagers whose homes were threatened under the government's slum clearance scheme.
During World War II Newlyn was a base for the Air Sea Rescue craft covering the Western Approaches
Western Approaches
The Western Approaches is a rectangular area of the Atlantic ocean lying on the western coast of Great Britain. The rectangle is higher than it is wide, the north and south boundaries defined by the north and south ends of the British Isles, the eastern boundary lying on the western coast, and the...
. The harbour was bombed during the war, hitting the collier 'Greenhithe', which was beached in the harbour at the time and supplied coal to the east coast drifters, which traveled to Newlyn during the mackerel fishing season between the wars. Reporting the event on the Germany Calling
Germany Calling
Germany Calling was a propaganda radio programme, broadcast by Nazi German radio to audiences in Great Britain and to the United States during World War II....
propaganda broadcast Lord Haw-Haw
Lord Haw-Haw
Lord Haw-Haw was the nickname of several announcers on the English-language propaganda radio programme Germany Calling, broadcast by Nazi German radio to audiences in Great Britain on the medium wave station Reichssender Hamburg and by shortwave to the United States...
announced that the Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe
Luftwaffe is a generic German term for an air force. It is also the official name for two of the four historic German air forces, the Wehrmacht air arm founded in 1935 and disbanded in 1946; and the current Bundeswehr air arm founded in 1956....
had sunk a British cruiser in Newlyn harbour.
Geography
Newlyn is located in southern Cornwall, just south of PenzancePenzance
Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
. It lies along the B3315 road which connects it to Land's End
Land's End
Land's End is a headland and small settlement in west Cornwall, England, within the United Kingdom. It is located on the Penwith peninsula approximately eight miles west-southwest of Penzance....
. Gwavas
Gwavas
Gwavas is a residential council estate on the southern outskirts of the town of Newlyn in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated immediately west of Gwavas Road and takes its name from nearby Gwavas Farm....
is a residential council estate on the outskirts of the village.Paul
Paul, Cornwall
Paul is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated two miles south of Penzance and one mile south of Newlyn.The village of Paul is represented on Penzance Town Council...
and Mousehole
Mousehole
Mousehole is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately 2½ miles south of Penzance on the shore of Mount's Bay.The village is in the civil parish of Penzance...
lie to the south.
The Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey
Ordnance Survey , an executive agency and non-ministerial government department of the Government of the United Kingdom, is the national mapping agency for Great Britain, producing maps of Great Britain , and one of the world's largest producers of maps.The name reflects its creation together with...
, the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
's mapping
Cartography
Cartography is the study and practice of making maps. Combining science, aesthetics, and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality can be modeled in ways that communicate spatial information effectively.The fundamental problems of traditional cartography are to:*Set the map's...
agency, used to base all elevation
Elevation
The elevation of a geographic location is its height above a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface ....
s including mapped contour lines and spot heights on the mean sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
at Newlyn defined by this benchmark (see Ordnance Datum Newlyn).The mean sea level data was calculated from hourly readings of the sea level between 1 May 1915 and 30 April 1921.
Economy
Newlyn's economy is largely dependent on its harbour and the associated fishing industry; Newlyn harbour is the largest fishing port in England.. The port was a major catcher of pilchard until the 1960s. Today, a few vessels have resumed pilchard fishing and use a modern version of the ring net. The largest vessels are beam trawlers owned by W. S. Stevenson and Sons, one of Cornwall's largest fish producers; most of the other vessels are owned by their skippers. The company based in the Old Pilchard Works today are major supplies of Cornish sardines and mixed species fish.Because of Newlyn's association with the creative arts there are also a number of artists and art galleries that are established in the area.
Notable landmarks
The UK National Tidal and Sea Level FacilityNational Tidal and Sea Level Facility
Established in 2002, The National Tidal and Sea Level Facility is responsible for monitoring sea levels in the UK.The NTSLF comprises the UK National Tide Gauge Network, geodetic networks, and gauges in the British Dependent Territories of the South Atlantic and Gibraltar...
(NTSLF) maintains a tidal observatory at Newlyn, and the UK Fundamental Benchmark
Benchmark (surveying)
The term bench mark, or benchmark, originates from the chiseled horizontal marks that surveyors made in stone structures, into which an angle-iron could be placed to form a "bench" for a leveling rod, thus ensuring that a leveling rod could be accurately repositioned in the same place in the future...
is maintained there.
Newlyn was made famous in the 1880s and 1890s for its Newlyn School
Newlyn School
The Newlyn School is a term used to describe an art colony of artists based in or near to Newlyn, a fishing village adjacent to Penzance, Cornwall, from the 1880s until the early 20th century. The establishment of the Newlyn School was reminiscent of the Barbizon School in France, where artists...
artists' colony, including the painters Thomas Cooper Gotch
Thomas Cooper Gotch
Thomas Cooper Gotch was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter and book illustrator, and brother of John Alfred Gotch the noted architect.-Early life:...
, Albert Chevallier Tayler
Albert Chevallier Tayler
Albert Chevallier Tayler is an important English artist who specialized in portrait and genre painting, but was also involved in the plein air methods of the Newlyn School. He was a member of the British Royal Academy of Painters, and he studied at Heatherley's School of Art, Royal Academy...
and Henry Scott Tuke
Henry Scott Tuke
Henry Scott Tuke, RA RWS , was a British visual artist; primarily a painter, but also a photographer. His most notable work was in the Impressionist style, and he is probably best known for his paintings of nude boys and young men....
. The current largest collection of work by the Newlyn School is held by Penlee House
Penlee House
Penlee House is a museum and art gallery located in the town of Penzance in Cornwall, and is home to a great many paintings by members of the Newlyn School, including many by such luminaries as Stanhope Forbes, Norman Garstin, Walter Langley and Lamorna Birch. Penlee house is currently operated by...
Gallery and Museum in nearby Penzance
Penzance
Penzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
. Newlyn is the home of Newlyn Art Gallery
Newlyn Art Gallery
Newlyn Art Gallery is a contemporary art gallery located in Newlyn, Cornwall, UK. Opened in 1895, designed by James Hicks of Redruth and financed by John Passmore Edwards the gallery was conceived as a home and exhibition venue for the Newlyn School of Art the works of which are now largely located...
http://www.newlynartgallery.co.uk/ which houses a collection of modern art.
Between 1970 and 1983, Troika Pottery, an art pottery studio, was based in Newlyn.
Several inns lie along the harbor front including The Smugglers, Harbour View Guesthouse, The Red Lion Inn and The Crown Inn.
Local government
For the purposes of local government, Newlyn is part of the Penzance Civil Parish and returns 5 councillors to Penzance Town Council. The principal local authority in the area is Cornwall Council.Notable residents
- Margeret Freethy
- Sir Terry Frost, artist http://www.terryfrost.com/
- Thomas Cooper GotchThomas Cooper GotchThomas Cooper Gotch was an English Pre-Raphaelite painter and book illustrator, and brother of John Alfred Gotch the noted architect.-Early life:...
- Robert Hichens
- Charles HolroydCharles HolroydSir Charles Holroyd was an English artist and curator.-Early years:Charles Holroyd was born in Leeds...
- Bo Jeffares, author & artist
- W. S. Lach-SzyrmaW. S. Lach-SzyrmaRev. Wladislaw Somerville Lach-Szyrma M.A., F.R.H.S., was born at Devonport. His father, Krystyn Lach Szyrma, a Polish Professor, moved from Warsaw c. 1830 to escape persecution , and married into the naval Somerville family in Plymouth...
, clergyman and scholar - William LovettWilliam LovettWilliam Lovett was a British activist who was a leader of the political movement Chartism as well as one of the leading London-based Artisan Radicals of his generation....
, political agitator - John Pearson (artist)John Pearson (artist)John Pearson was a famous master craftsman of the Newlyn School and Guild of Handicrafts. He worked in copper and his style is described as arts and crafts / art nouveau....
- Brenda WoottonBrenda WoottonBrenda Wootton was a Cornish poetess and folk singer and was seen as an ambassador for Cornish tradition and culture in all the Celtic nations and as far away as Australia and Canada....
, singer - Allan G. WyonAllan G. WyonThe Revd Allan Gairdner Wyon FRBS RMS was a British die-engraver and sculptor and, in later life, vicar in Newlyn, Cornwall.Many of his works are memorials with a number located in British cathedrals...
, artist - Aidan Smith, Astronaut