Penzance
Encyclopedia
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 (120 km) west of Plymouth
and 300 miles (500 km) west-southwest of London
. Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay
, the town faces south-east onto the English Channel
, is bordered to the west by the fishing
port of Newlyn
, to the north by the civil parish of Madron
and to the east by the civil parish of Ludgvan
. The town's location gives it a temperate
climate, milder than most of the rest of Britain
.
Granted various Royal Charter
s from 1512 onwards and incorporated in 1614, it has a population of 21,168.
that stood over a thousand years ago on the headland to the west of what became Penzance Harbour. 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 and on several important landmark
s in the town. The only remaining object from this chapel is a carved figure, now largely eroded, known as "St. Raffidy". This can be found in the churchyard of the parish church of St. Mary's, Penzance, near the original site of the chapel.
, 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 been suggested that the Gear, a rock now submerged half a mile from the shore at Penzance, may be the site. A significant amount of trade is indicated as many have been found elsewhere in Britain. The earliest evidence of settlement in Penzance is from the Bronze Age
. A number of bronze implements such as a palstave
, spear-head, knife, pins, much pottery and large quantities of charcoal were discovered when building a new housing estate, at Tredarvah, to the west of Alverton. The defensive earthwork known as Lescudjack
Castle is unexcavated 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 W. Hals in about 1730 and the site is now surrounded by housing and has allotments within. There are traces of a rampart and ditch to the west of Penzance at Mount Misery and an oval rampart and ditch at Lesingey, above the St Just road, which together with Lescudjack overlook the coast of Penzance and Newlyn.
Until recently there was little evidence for anything but an early and short Roman occupation of Cornwall, with the fort at Nanstallon
being occupied from AD54 to 80. With the recent discovery of a Roman fort at Calstock
and the multi-complex site near the Norman castle at Restormel
now ″tentatively accepted″ as being occupied from AD54 into the third or fourth century; in east Cornwall at least, the occupation is more extensive than archaeologists formally believed. The only evidence so far found, of the Romans in Penzance, are three finds: in August 1899 two coins of Vespasian
(69-79 AD) found in an ancient trench, in Penzance cemetery, eight feet below ground together with some cow bones and now in the Penlee House Museum; a 1934 find from the Alverton area and described as a ″coin of the reign of Constantine the Great″, also donated to the museum. About ten years previously a 30 mm sestertius
was found on a building site, in or around Penzance, and presented to the Royal Institute of Cornwall. Larger quantities of Roman coins have been found at Marazion Marsh
and Kerris
in Paul parish, but there is no evidence of any Roman settlement in the area although nearby villages such as Chysauster were occupied at this time.
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 were sub-divided into tithings
. The Manor of Alverton gave its name to the second largest tithing in Penwith with an area of 64 Cornish acres. The manor included parts of Madron, Paul, St Buryan and Sancreed and although Penzance is not mentioned in the Domesday Book
it is likely that the area would have been included. Domesday records that in 1066 the Manor of Alwarton was owned by Alward who was dispossessed by Robert, Count of Mortain
, the half-brother of William the Conqueror. The name Alward and "tun", a personal name and town or settlement indicate Saxon land ownership and in Cornwall the tun indicates a manorial centre such as Helston
or Connerton. The change of ownership in 1066 was a change from one alien landlord to another and the name, Alverton, lives on as the western part of Penzance from St John’s Hall to the housing estate on the west side of the Laregan river.
″The ancient chapel belonging to the town of Penzance may be seen in a fish cellar, near the key; it is small and as I remember had the image of the Virgin Mary in it.″ The chapel was built of greenstone
and approximately 30 ft in length and 15 ft in breadth of which only a fragment remained in situand 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 stony countenance and rough hands, they were… broken off and carried away as relics…". The remains of the vandalised relic were taken to St Mary’s churchyard by a mason who told Mr Millett that he "popped St Raffidy into a wheelbarrow and trundle him off to the chapel yard." The carving remains in St Mary’s churchyard and has been dated by Prof Charles Thomas
as early 12th century. There are no early documents mentioning the actual dedication to St Anthony which seems to depend entirely on tradition and may be groundless. A licence for Divine Service in the Chapel of St Gabriel and St Raphael
was granted in 1429 and nothing more is known of this chapel except, possibly, for the mason who mentioned ″St Raffidy″ in 1850. Adjoining the chapel is St Anthony’s Gardens named in 1933 and containing an archway said to have been taken from the chapel site.
Dominating the skyline above the harbour is the present church of St Mary's. A St Mary's Chapel is mentioned in a 1548 document which states that it was founded by Sir Henry Tyes, Knight Lord of the Manor of Alverton who gave a £4 stipend
for a priest. There is an earlier document from 1379, when Bishop Brantyngham licenced for services "the chapel of Blessed Mary of Pensande". At this date it was probably used as a chapel of ease
and not used for Sunday services which would have affected the attendance at the Parish Church in Madron. Further evidence of historical settlement from this period is in the St Clare area of the town, where a chapel existed to St. Clare or Cleer. The earliest reference is a lease of 1584 "...a certain chapel situate below the high road between Pensaunce and Madderne." In the early part of the 19th century the foundations of a building, said to be the chapel, was discovered and enough was exposed to show the shape of the building. An episcopal licence cannot be traced for this chapel. The name, St Clare, lives on in the town as "St Clare Street" which is part of the road from Penzance to Madron and the St Clare cricket ground at the top of the hill.
Medieval economy
Markets were held on a fixed day each week and fairs on fixed date(s) each year. To obtain either, a manorial lord had to apply for a Royal Charter
. The right to hold a market each Wednesday was granted by King Edward III to Alice de Lisle, sister of Lord Tyes and widow of Warin de Lisle, on 25 April 1332; a fair, lasting seven days at the Feast of St Peter ad Vincula on 1 August; and another fair of seven days on 24 August at Mousehole for the feast of St Bartholomew – later to be held in Penzance. The settlement was growing in importance as the weekly Wednesday market was confirmed by King Henry IV and three further fairs, each of two days, was granted on 8 April 1404. These were at the Feast of the Conception of Virgin Mary (8 December), St Peter in Cathedra (22 February) and the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (8 September).
It is not known when a quay was built at Penzance as there is no grant or licence but an Inquest as to the Manor of Alverton in 1322 records eight fishing boats each paying 2s each, and an unspecified number at Mousehole each paying 12s. There was also a payment of 8s for the rent of logii (huts or sheds) of foreign fisherman i.e. those outside the manor. At a second Inquest in 1327 the number had risen to 13 at Penzance; with 16 recorded at Mousehole and both now paying only 1s each: the total rent for logii was 8/6d with 17 tenants paying 6d each. Both Inquests record 29 Burgesses at Penzance and 40 at Mousehole. A Burgess paid his rent with money rather than with personal services and indicated that Penzance and Mousehole were considered to be towns. A comparison of the settlements in West Cornwall can be made with the annual payments, based on the number of fishing boats, made to the Duchy of Cornwall
in 1337: Porthia (St Ives) £6; Mosehole (Mousehole) £5; Marcasion (Marazion) £3; Pensanns (Penzance) 12s; Londeseynde (Land's End, (Sennen Cove) 10s; Nywelyn (Newlyn) 10s; and Portmynster (Porthminster, St Ives) 2s. In 1425, 1432 and 1440 ships in Penzance were licenced to carry pilgrims to the shrine of St James of Compostella
, in northern Spain
In medieval times and later, Penzance was subject to frequent raiding by "Turkish pirates", in fact Barbary Corsairs
. Throughout the period prior to Penzance gaining borough status in 1614 the village and surrounding areas continued to be within the control of the Manor of Alverton and was subject to the taxation regime of that manor.
. The burial registers of Madron (where all Penzance births, deaths and marriages were recorded) shows a massive increase in deaths for 1578, from 12 the previous year to 155. This is estimated to be about 10% of the population of the village at the time. The plague also returned in 1647 and the registers again show an increase of from 22 burials to 217 in one year.
Being at the far west of Cornwall, Penzance and the surrounding villages have been sacked many times by foreign fleets. On July 23, 1595, several years after the Spanish Armada
of 1588, a Spanish force under Don
Carlos de Amesquita
, which had been patrolling the Channel, landed troops in Cornwall
. Amesquita's force seized supplies, raided and burned
Penzance and surrounding villages, held a mass, and sailed away before it could be confronted.
in 1512 granted the right to charge harbour dues, and King James I granted the town the status of a Borough in 1614. The Charter defined the bounds of the town by an artificial line formed by a half-mile circle, measured from the market cross in the Greenmarket. The granting of Borough status made the town independent of the County Courts, a right held until County Councils came into being in 1888. Other privileges included owning land and property; imposing fines for breaking bylaws; holding a civil court with jurisdiction over cases not exceeding £50; and providing a prison. The Charter also confirmed the harbour rights given earlier in 1512 and granted two weekly markets to be held on Tuesdays and Thursday; which replaced a single market previously held on Wednesdays. Seven fairs were granted (or confirmed):
The Crown
was paid a perpetual rent of five marks (£3 6s 8d) in acknowledment of the rights granted by the Charter, which was paid until 1832, but there was no grant of Parliamentary representation.
Within a year the new Borough bought a substantial degree of freedom from the Manor of Alverton than known as Alverton and Penzance for £34 plus a perpetual annuity of £1 which was last paid in 1936. A market-house and Guildhall was built, and together with the rights bought in 1615, provided almost all the borough income for more than two centuries. The southern arm of the pier was built in 1766 and extended in 1785, to add to the first pier of which was built in 1512.
During the English Civil War
Penzance was sacked by the Parliamentarian forces of Sir Thomas Fairfax apparently for the kindness shown to Lord Goring
and Lord Hopton
's troops during the conflict.
Further Civic improvements included the construction in 1759 of a reservoir which supplied water to public pumps in the streets.
Penzance has a long-standing association with the local parish of Madron
. Madron Church was in fact the centre of most religious activity in the town until 1871, when St. Mary's Church (prior to this period a Chapel of ease
) was granted parish status by church authorities.
to strike the Cornish coast, over 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) away from the epicentre. At around 14:00 in the afternoon, the sea rose eight feet in Penzance, came in at great speed, and ebbed at the same rate. Little damage was recorded.
By the time Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, Penzance had established itself as an important regional centre. The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall
was founded in the town in 1814 and about 1817 was responsible for introducing a miner's safety tamping bar, which attracted the Prince Regent
to become its patron.
The first lifeboat
in Cornwall was bought by the people of Penzance in 1803 but it was sold in 1812 due to lack of funds to keep it in operation. The pier had been extended again in 1812 and John Matthews opened a small dry dock in 1814, the first in the South West. In 1840 Nicholas Holman of St Just
opened a branch of his foundry business on the quayside. These facilities proved valuable in supporting the steamships that were soon calling at the harbour in increasing numbers.
Gas lighting was introduced in 1830 and the old Market House was demolished in 1836. Its replacement, designed by W. Harris of Bristol, was completed at the top of Market Jew Street in 1838. (The name Market Jew comes from the Cornish language
Marghas Yow, meaning Thursday Market, the name of a nearby village now absorbed into Marazion
, to which Market Jew Street leads.) St Mary's Church, another prominent feature of the Penzance skyline, was completed in 1836, while a Roman Catholic
church was built in 1843. Another familiar building from this period is the eccentric Egyptian House in Chapel Street, built in 1830. The first part of the Promenade along the sea front dates from 1844.
, doing so in September that year. Following a report by a government inspector in February, the Board was established in 1849 which led to many facilities to enhance public health. The report shows that most streets were Macadam
ised or sometimes paved, and the town was lit by 121 gas lamps from October to March each year, although they were not lit when there was a full moon. Water was supplied from 6 public pumps, and there were a further 53 private wells. There were no sewage pipes at the time, waste being collected from the main streets by a refuse cart.
Railway station
Penzance railway station
, the terminus of the West Cornwall Railway
, opened on 11 March 1852 on the eastern side of the harbour, although trains only ran to Redruth
at first. From 25 August 1852 the line was extended to Truro
, but the Cornwall Railway
linking that place with Plymouth
was not opened until 4 May 1859. Passengers and goods had to change trains at Truro as the West Cornwall had been built using the standard gauge
, but the Cornwall Railway was built to the broad gauge
. The West Cornwall Railway Act
included a clause that it would be converted to broad gauge once it had been connected to another broad gauge line, but the company could not raise the funds to do so.
The line was sold to the Great Western Railway
and its "Associated Companies" (the Bristol and Exeter Railway
and South Devon Railway
) on 1 January 1866. The new owners quickly converted the line to mixed gauge
using three rails so that both broad and "narrow" trains could operate. Broad gauge goods trains started running in November that year, with through passenger trains running to London from 1 March 1867. The last broad gauge train arrived at 8.49pm on 20 May 1892, having left London Paddington station at 10.15 that morning. The two locomotives, numbers 1256
and 3557
, took the carriages away to Swindon railway works at 9.57, and all trains since have been standard gauge.
The ability of the railway to carry fresh produce to distant markets such as Bristol
, London and Manchester
enabled local farmers and fishermen to sell more produce and at better prices. The special "perishable" train soon became a feature of the railway, these being fast extra goods trains carrying potato
es, broccoli
or fish depending on the season. In August 1861 1,787 tons of potatoes, 867 tons of broccoli, and 1,063 tons of fish were dispatched from the station. Fruit and flowers were also carried; the mild climate around Penzance and on the Scilly Isles meant that they were ready for market earlier and could command high prices.
The completion of the railway through Cornwall made it easier for tourists and invalids to enjoy the mild climate of Penzance. Bathing machines had been advertised for hire on the beach as early as 1823, and the town was already "noted for the pleasantness of its situation, the salubrity of its air, and the beauty of its natives". The town's first official guide book was published in 1860 and the Queen's Hotel opened on the sea front the following year. It was so successful that it was extended in 1871 and 1908.
Harbour
At the same time as the railway was being built more improvements were being made to the harbour, with a second pier on the eastern side of the harbour, the Albert Pier, completed in 1853 to provide even better shelter for shipping, and a lighthouse
built on the Old Pier in 1855. The Scilly Isles Steam Navigation Company was founded in 1858 and placed in service the first steam ship on the route, SS Little Western. In 1870 the new West Cornwall Steam Ship Company
joined the route, taking over the Scilly Isles Company the following year.
In 1853 the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
stationed one of their boats in the town, the first since 1812, and maintained a station here until 1908 when the Elizabeth Blanche was transferred to Newlyn as the first step towards setting up Penlee Lifeboat Station
. The RNLI still use a boat house built on Jennings Street near the Promenade in 1884 to promote their activities. Penzance, with its dry dock and engineering facilities, was chosen as the western depot for Trinity House
that serviced all the lighthouses and lightship
s from Start Point
to Trevose Head
. It was opened in October, 1866 adjacent to the harbour and the Buoy
Store became the Trinity House National Lighthouse Museum until 2005 when Trinity House closed the museum.
Improvements
In 1875 a local newspaper described the railway station as a large dog's house of the nastiest and draughtiest kind but a series of works improved this part of the town during the 1880s. The original station was rebuilt with the present buildings and train shed
over the platforms (1880). The lower end of Market Jew Street was widened and a new road was built to link the station with the harbour over the Ross Swing Bridge
(1881), allowing the construction of proper sewers beneath. A larger dry dock replaced Matthews' original facility (1880), and a floating harbour was made (1884) with lock
gates to keep in the water at low tide.
Around the headland, public baths were opened on the Promenade in 1887 and the Morrab Gardens with its sub-tropical plants was opened two years later. A bandstand was added to the gardens in 1897.
A proposed electric tram
way along the Promenade to Newlyn
, which would have continued as a light railway
to St Just
, failed to gain authorisation in 1898. Instead motor buses
were put into service on 31 October 1903. These linked Penzance with Marazion
and were operated by the Great Western Railway
, being introduced only 11 weeks after the railway's pioneering service between Helston
and The Lizard
. They were considered a success, carrying 16,091 passengers by the end of the year, so were followed the next spring by further routes to Land's End
and St Just. These services developed into the First Devon and Cornwall bus network that currently serves the area and is still centred on a terminus alongside Penzance railway station
.
The dry dock was sold on 25 August 1904 to N. Holman and Sons Limited, the engineering business that had been trading in Penzance since 1840. New workshops were built during the 1930s, and the facility continued to be used by
the Scilly ferries and other merchant ships, as well as Trinity House, the Royal Navy
and Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service
. In 1951 a new vessel for the King Harry Ferry
on the River Fal
was launched, built on the keel of an old landing craft
. A steam tug, the Primrose, was built in 1963.
Land was reclaimed beside the Albert Pier in the 1930s to allow the railway station to be enlarged at a cost of £134,000. The 1880 building was retained, but extra platforms and sidings were provided to handle more perishable goods, as well as the increasing numbers of tourists.
In 1905 a new bandstand was built on the Promenade opposite the Queen's Hotel, and the Pavilion Theatre opened nearby in 1911, complete with a roof garden and cafe. Travel to Penzance was easier than ever, with the Great Western Railway introducing the Cornish Riviera Express
on 1 July 1904, which left London Paddington at 10:10 and arrived in Penzance just 7 hours later, two hours faster than the previous quickest service. (In 2007 it leaves Paddington at 10:05 and takes 5 hours and 5 minutes.) The railway promoted local tourism with postcards that were sold at its stations, and an annual guide book, The Cornish Riviera, in which SPB Mais
described the town as "a suburb of Covent Garden, and a great fishing centre ... there is always something going on in its harbour".
1923 saw a new road link the harbour area and the Promenade, and in 1933 the St. Anthony Gardens were built, followed two years later by the Jubilee Bathing Pool opposite. Tourists could now make full use of the whole seafront between Penzance and Newlyn harbours.
from London to Land’s End is a trunk road
as far as the Chy-an-Mor roundabout one mile to the east of Penzance. After bypassing Penzance to the north the road continues to Land’s End mainly as a rural A route. The distance from Penzance to London is 275 miles (444 km) or approximately 5 hours by car.
Penzance railway station
is at the eastern end of Market Jew Street and close to the harbour. It is the southernmost station on the UK mainland rail network. It is the western terminus of the Cornish Main Line
which runs above the beach to Marazion, affording passengers good views of St. Michael's Mount and Mount's Bay. Most services are operated by First Great Western
, both local services to St Erth
, St Ives, Hayle
, Camborne
, Redruth
, and Truro
, and direct trains linking Penzance with Plymouth
, Exeter St Davids
, Bristol Temple Meads
, Reading
and London Paddington. The Night Riviera
train offers an overnight sleeping car
service to and from Reading and London. Journey time to Plymouth is typically under 2 hours; to Bristol around 4 hours, and London less than 5½ hours.
CrossCountry
run a small number of services (departing in the morning, arriving in the evening) to Glasgow Central via Bristol, Birmingham New Street
, Manchester, also to Dundee
via Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, York
, Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley
. The journey time is just under 5½ hours to Birmingham, and nearly 10 hours to Glasgow.
The bus and coach station is next to the railway station from where National Express
operates coach services to London Victoria (taking around 9 hours) via Heathrow Airport
. Local bus services run by First Devon and Cornwall connect Penzance with most major settlements in Cornwall
, including Truro
, St. Ives, St Just
, St Buryan
, Land's End
, and also Plymouth
in Devon
. Western Greyhound
also run a small amount of rural services to various destinations on the North Cornwall coast.
A ferry service is operated between Penzance Harbour and the Isles of Scilly
by The Scillonian III
, carrying both foot-passengers and cargo. Sailing time is approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes. A helicopter
service operates from Penzance Heliport
to the Isles of Scilly
run by British International Helicopters
. Flying time is approximately 20 minutes. A bus service run by the Skybus Airline Service connects with Land's End Airport
for fixed wing flights (15 minutes) to the Isles of Scilly. The buses leave from the railway station, near the taxi
rank, rather than the bus station. In December, the Heliport also offers short evening flights over Mousehole and Newlyn to view the Christmas lights. The Heliport is one of only eleven heliports in the UK.
Newquay Airport is 41 miles (66 km) away and offers flights to Gatwick
, Stansted
, Dublin, Cork and many other places, including an increasing number of foreign destinations. Plymouth Airport, 77 miles (124 km) away, has services to Gatwick, Bristol
, Dublin
and Manchester.
Until 1934 the Borough
of Penzance referred only to the town, but has since been extended to include the nearby settlements of Newlyn
, Mousehole
, Gulval
and Heamoor
. The Civil Parish
of Penzance was further extended in 2004 under District of Penwith (Electoral Changes) Order 2002 to include Eastern Green, formerly part of the Ludgvan
civil parish area.
In 1974 the Penzance Borough was abolished and replaced, first by the Penzance Charter Trustees
and then from 1980 by Penzance Town Council
. The principal local authority in the area is now Cornwall Council. For the purposes of election to Cornwall Council the civil parish of Penzance returns 6 members representing the Penzance East Division, Penzance Central Division, Penzance Promenade Division, Heamoor and Gulval and Newlyn and Mousehole Division.
Penzance Town Council does not have in place a system of political registration, so councillors do not form groups of any kind and technically act independently, however the current political composition of the council (as of 22 August 2009) is as follows: Independent 10, Liberal Democrats
8, Mebyon Kernow
1 with one vacancy.
Penzance also elects a mayor every year in May from the members of Penzance town council. Although mayors have a political affiliation, this position is largely ceremonial.
The current mayor is Jan Ruhrmund, of the Liberal Democrats
The economy of Penzance has, like those of many Cornish communities, suffered from the decline of the traditional industries of fishing, mining and agriculture. Penzance now has a mixed economy consisting of light industrial, tourism and retail businesses. However, like the rest of Cornwall
, housing remains comparatively expensive, wages low and unemployment high. House prices have risen 274% in 10 years, the fastest rise in the UK. The fishing port of Newlyn
, which falls within the parish boundaries, provides some employment in the area, but has also been greatly affected by the decline in the fishing industry over the last 30 years. In the 2004 index of deprivation Penzance is listed as having 3 wards within the top 10% for employment deprivation, Penzance East (125th most deprived in England) Penzance West (200th most deprived in England), and Penzance Central (712th most deprived in England). 18-31% of households in the parish are described as "poor households". The Penzance East Ward also has one the highest unemployment rates in Cornwall, stated as 15.4%.
began mining
classes in Penzance. As mining in the area became more complex, the Penzance Mining and Science School was founded in 1890. The school continued to teach mining until 1910, when it was amalgamated with Camborne and Redruth Mining School forming the School of Metalliferous Mining in Camborne, which is now known as the Camborne School of Mines
. This institution has now moved to the Combined Universities in Cornwall
campus at Tremough
, Falmouth
. From 1663, Penzance was a coinage town, responsible for the collection of tin taxation on behalf of the Duchy of Cornwall
; it held this status for 176 years. According to William Pryce in his 1778 book Mineralogia Cornubiensis, Penzance coined more tin than the towns of Liskeard
, Lostwithiel
, and Helston
put together. Penzance also had its own submarine mine situated off the coast of the town next to the area known as Wherrytown
. The mine, known as Wheal Wherry, was worked from 1778 to 1798 and again from 1836 to 1840. Founded by "a poor 57 year old miner" named Thomas Curtis, the mine was said to be "very rich at depth" and was connected to the shore by a wooden bridge; the ore was transported by Wherry
boat. The mine suffered considerable damage in 1798 when an American ship broke anchor off nearby Newlyn
and smashed into the bridge and head gear. Later attempts at mining were not as profitable. During the 19th century and until 1912, Penzance had the largest tin smelting
house in Cornwall, operated by the Bolitho family. The smelting works were situated at Chyandour
. As a consequence of this concentration of mining wealth, Penzance became a centre for commercial banking. The Bolitho Bank (now part of Barclays Bank) and the Penzance Bank were two of the largest, although the latter collapsed in 1896.
Large sections of the Penzance Parish are classified as conservation areas under the Penwith local plan and are subject to special planning laws. The current conservation area
forms most of the core of the town of Penzance and the historic harbour areas of Newlyn and Mousehole. A number of Georgian and Regency buildings are present in the town. However, the majority of developments in the town centre itself are of mixed date, including several 20th-century buildings - one of which, the former Pearl Assurance building (now the Tremenheere Wetherspoons
pub), was subject to comment by Sir John Betjeman who wrote, in 1963:
There are three large residential council estates in Penzance: Penalverne, Treneere
(both built in the 1930s) and the Princess Royal estate at Alverton (built in the early 1950s). Much of the housing with this area is owned and operated by Penwith Housing Association
. The sub-tropical Morrab Gardens
, has a large collection of tender trees and shrubs, many of which cannot be grown outdoors anywhere else in the UK.
Penzance Regency and Georgian
terraces and houses are common in some parts of the town.
Penzance's former main street Chapel Street has a number of interesting features, including the Egyptian House, The Union Hotel (including a Georgian theatre
which is no longer in use) and The Branwell House, where the mother and aunt of the famous Brontë sisters
once lived.
Also of interest is the seafront with its promenade and the open-air seawater Jubilee Bathing Pool (one of the oldest surviving Art Deco
swimming baths in the country), built at the beginning of the 20th century during Penzance's heyday as a fashionable seaside resort
. The pool was designed by Captain F. Latham, the Penzance Borough Engineer and opened in 1935, the year of King George V
's Silver Jubilee
. Penzance promenade itself has been destroyed in parts several times by storms. The most recent example was on 7 March 1962 (Ash Wednesday), when large parts of the western end of the promenade, the nearby Beford Bolitho Gardens (now a play park) and the village of Wherrytown suffered severe damage. On the outskirts of town is Trereife House
, a grade II listed manor house
which now offers accommodation and hosts events.
s (Mount's Bay and Humphry Davy School
) and one Church of England
independent school (Bolitho School). Bolitho School was founded in the early 1990s following the financial collapse of the former School of St. Clare. Post 16 education is catered for by Penwith College, founded in 1981 from the sixth form departments of the former Penzance Girls' Grammar School
and the Humphry Davy Grammar School. Throughout the Penzance parish there are 8 primary schools, including the newly created Pensans Primary School which was formed in 2006 from the former Penzance Junior School
and the Lescudjack Infants School. There is also a special educational needs school within the parish boundary named Nancealverne.
(which includes Mazey Day) has been held in the town.
Before the 1930s Penzance was the scene of large May Day celebrations
, which saw local children making and using tin 'May horns' and 'May whistles'; a small revival of these traditions took place on 4 May 2008. The Feast Day of Corpus Christi
was also celebrated in Penzance. The Corpus Christi fair has been a long-standing event in the town, and is currently undergoing attempts to revive it in a more traditional format.
Allantide
, a Cornish version of Halloween, was also a popular activity in the town. Many of these customs were recorded by local antiquarian M. A. Courtney
and have influenced historical views of traditional Cornish cultural activities.
In October 2010 the first full festival of music and the arts - The Penzance Proms - was held (23–31 October)
Every December Penzance holds the Montol Festival
a community arts event reviving many of the Cornish customs of Christmas, including Guise dancing
.
's comic opera
, The Pirates of Penzance
. At the time the libretto was written, 1879, Penzance had become popular as a peaceful resort town, so the very idea of it being overrun by pirates was amusing.
Penzance is home to the Acorn Arts Centre, sited within a former Methodist chapel. This provides a mixture of theatre, film, dance music and cabaret and is partially public funded. The Savoy is an independent cinema located in the town which opened in 1912 and was originally named the Victoria Hall Music Hall, The Savoy is one of the locations of performances sponsored by the Penwith Film Society (an arts cinema society based in the Penwith area). It is reputedly the oldest continuously used cinema in Britain. Prior to World War II, Penzance was also home to a further 3 cinemas and at least 2 theatres, one of which, the Pavilion Theatre, is now home to an amusement arcade.
establishment "The Exchange" which opened in 2007. Penzance is also the home of Penlee House, an art gallery
and museum
notable for its collection of painting
s by members of the Newlyn School
. Within Penzance town centre there are a growing number of commercial art galleries.
is the predominant Christian denomination. Prior to the 1980s Penzance had six Methodist churches, but this number has now been reduced to two, Chapel Street and High Street. There are Methodist Churches in most of the surrounding villages including Newlyn's Trinity Methodist which operates The Centre, a busy multi-use church and community facility. Penzance is also home to a Salvation Army
citadel, a Roman Catholic church, two Church of England
parish churches (formerly three), a Christadelphian meeting hall, two Evangelical
independent churches, the Penwith pagan
moot, an independent Baptist
church and a Buddhist meditation group.
St Mary's Church was built in 1832–35, St Paul's (now closed) in 1843 and St John's in 1881. Penzance was formerly in the parish of Madron
St Mary's parish was established in 1871 and St Paul's in 1869. Two medieval chapels are known to have existed before the Reformation.
(Penzance and Newlyn RFC). The Championship side relocated to Truro
in 2005 in a bid to reach the Premiership and was renamed as the Cornish Pirates. In 2006 the side moved again, this time to the home ground of Camborne
Rugby Club, before returning to Penzance in 2010 to play at the Mennaye Field
. Last season (2010-11)
the club lost to Worcester Warriors in the play-off final for promotion to the top tier of English rugby.
Penzance was the home of Mount's Bay RFC
, founded in 1999, originally as a team for local players who could not play for the professional Cornish Pirates. They won promotion seven times in eight seasons to reach the third tier
of English rugby before folding in 2009 due to financial problems. The Pirates Amateurs RFC ended their first season in second place in the Tribute Cornwall One
and won promotion to Tribute Cornwall/Devon
for 2011–12 season. They also won the Cornwall Clubs Cup.
Penzance A.F.C. play in the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League
Premier Division and are currently managed by Gary Marks with Wayne Quinn
(Newcastle Utd and Sheffield United) as chief coach and captain. The Reserve team play in the Jolly's Cornwall Combination League
and are managed by Alan Spencer-Smith. Penzance was one of the original clubs of the Cornwall County Football Association
, the others being Porthcurno, Truro, Probus School, Torpoint, Liskeard, Dunheved College and Millbrook.
Former England and Surrey
cricketer Jack Richards
(born Clifton James Richards) was born in Penzance. He played eight test matches and was the wicket keeper during England's 1986 Ashes win in Australia. He learnt his cricket with the Humphry Davy Grammar School
and Penzance Cricket Club. The cricket club was founded in 1829 and are Cornwall’s most successful club having been champions on 23 occasions and have had more players play for Cornwall than any other club. The club currently plays in the second tier of the Cornwall Cricket League
.
Mounts Bay Harriers, a triathlon and running club founded in 2005 are based at Mounts Bay School, Heamoor. Athletes from the club participate at most road races and triathlons in Cornwall as well as many further afield.
The Mini Transat 6.50
(now the Transit 6.50) transatlantic yacht race started from Penzance (hosted by Penzance Sailing Club
) from its conception in 1977 to the fourth edition of the race in 1983.
, published weekly.
Both ITV
television
(Westcountry Television
) and BBC Radio Cornwall
have small news studios in the town.
The ILR station for Cornwall, Pirate FM
, can be received in Penzance on 102.8 MHz FM
.
at Marazion. Her identity and reasons for haunting are unknown. Mr William Richards of Chapel Street is reputed to be the last person to have seen her.
Penzance has been home to numerous persons of note over the years, including actress Thandie Newton
, model Jean Shrimpton
and cricketer Jack Richards
(For a full list see List of notable residents of Penzance). Arguably Penzance's most famous son, though, was Sir Humphry Davy. Penzance was the birthplace of the Maria Branwell
, mother of three famous novelists — Charlotte Brontë
, Emily Brontë
and Anne Brontë
.
. Davy was President of the Royal Society
and invented the process of electrolysis
; was the first person to isolate sodium
; was the first person to discover laughing gas; as well as proving (with Michael Faraday
) that diamonds are made of pure carbon. Today he is possibly best known as the inventor of the Miner's Safety Lamp, or Davy Lamp
. There is a statue of Davy at the top of Market Jew Street, near the house in which he was born. One of Penzance's secondary schools is also named after the scientist, and runs as a music and maths community college. http://www.humphry-davy.cornwall.sch.uk/. Robert Dunkin, a Penzance sadler and maker of scientific instruments taught Davy the basis of practical science.
with the following towns: Concarneau
in Brittany
, France, Bendigo
in Australia, and Nevada City, California
in the USA. From 1967 to 1974 and again since 1 April 2009, Penzance has been twinned with Cuxhaven in Germany. Between 1974 and 2009 this twinning arrangement was passed to the now defunct Penwith
District Council.
Port
A port is a location on a coast or shore containing one or more harbors where ships can dock and transfer people or cargo to or from land....
in Cornwall
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...
, in 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...
. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles (120 km) west of Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
and 300 miles (500 km) west-southwest of London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay
Mount's Bay
Mount's Bay is a large, sweeping bay on the English Channel coast of Cornwall in the United Kingdom, stretching from the Lizard Point to Gwennap Head on the eastern side of the Land's End peninsula. Towards the middle of the bay is St Michael's Mount...
, the town faces south-east onto the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
, is bordered to the west by the 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....
port of Newlyn
Newlyn
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...
, to the north by the civil parish of Madron
Madron
Madron is a civil parish and village in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a large rural parish on the Penwith peninsula north of Penzance.Madron village is situated approximately two miles northwest of Penzance town centre....
and to the east by the civil parish of Ludgvan
Ludgvan
Ludgvan is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, UK. The village is situated 2½ miles northeast of Penzance.The parish includes the villages of Ludgvan, Crowlas, Canon's Town and Long Rock...
. The town's location gives it a temperate
Temperate
In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...
climate, milder than most of the rest of Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
.
Granted various Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
s from 1512 onwards and incorporated in 1614, it has a population of 21,168.
Etymology
Penzance (Pensans), or "holy headland" in the Cornish language, is a reference to the location of the chapel of St. AnthonyAnthony the Great
Anthony the Great or Antony the Great , , also known as Saint Anthony, Anthony the Abbot, Anthony of Egypt, Anthony of the Desert, Anthony the Anchorite, Abba Antonius , and Father of All Monks, was a Christian saint from Egypt, a prominent leader among the Desert Fathers...
that stood over a thousand years ago on the headland to the west of what became Penzance Harbour. Until the 1930s this history was also reflected in the choice of symbol
Symbol
A symbol is something which represents an idea, a physical entity or a process but is distinct from it. The purpose of a symbol is to communicate meaning. For example, a red octagon may be a symbol for "STOP". On a map, a picture of a tent might represent a campsite. Numerals are symbols for...
for the town, the severed "holy head" of St. John the Baptist. It can still be seen on the civic regalia
Regalia
Regalia is Latin plurale tantum for the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereign.The word stems from the Latin substantivation of the adjective regalis, 'regal', itself from Rex, 'king'...
of the Mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Penzance and on several important landmark
Landmark
This is a list of landmarks around the world.Landmarks may be split into two categories - natural phenomena and man-made features, like buildings, bridges, statues, public squares and so forth...
s in the town. The only remaining object from this chapel is a carved figure, now largely eroded, known as "St. Raffidy". This can be found in the churchyard of the parish church of St. Mary's, Penzance, near the original site of the chapel.
Prehistory to Early Medieval
Approximately 400 prehistoric stone axes, known as Group 1 axes and made from greenstoneElvan
Elvan is a name used in Cornwall and Devon for the native varieties of quartz-porphyry. They are dispersed irregularly in the Upper Devonian series of rocks and some of them make very fine building stones...
, 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 been suggested that the Gear, a rock now submerged half a mile from the shore at Penzance, may be the site. A significant amount of trade is indicated as many have been found elsewhere in Britain. The earliest evidence of settlement in Penzance is from the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
. A number of bronze implements such as a palstave
Palstave
A Palstave is a type of early bronze axe. It was common in the mid Bronze Age in north, western and south-western Europe. In the technical sense, although precise definitions differ, an axe is generally deemed to be a palstave if it is hafted by means of a forked wooden handle kept in place with...
, spear-head, knife, pins, much pottery and large quantities of charcoal were discovered when building a new housing estate, at Tredarvah, to the west of Alverton. The defensive earthwork known as Lescudjack
Lescudjack Hill Fort
Lescudjack Hill fort is the name given to the unexcavated Iron Age settlement located in Penzance, Cornwall. The name might originate from the Cornish words lan and scosek - shielded enclosure or, more likely, "nans" and "cosek"...
Castle is unexcavated but almost certainly belongs to the Iron Age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
. 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 W. Hals in about 1730 and the site is now surrounded by housing and has allotments within. There are traces of a rampart and ditch to the west of Penzance at Mount Misery and an oval rampart and ditch at Lesingey, above the St Just road, which together with Lescudjack overlook the coast of Penzance and Newlyn.
Until recently there was little evidence for anything but an early and short Roman occupation of Cornwall, with the fort at Nanstallon
Nanstallon
Nanstallon is a village in central Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately two miles west of Bodmin.Nanstallon is in the civil parish of Lanivet overlooking the River Camel valley and the Camel Trail long distance path. The present terminus of the Bodmin and Wenford Railway at...
being occupied from AD54 to 80. With the recent discovery of a Roman fort at Calstock
Calstock
Calstock is civil parish and a large village in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the border with Devon. The village is situated on the River Tamar south west of Tavistock and north of Plymouth....
and the multi-complex site near the Norman castle at Restormel
Restormel Castle
Restormel Castle is situated on the River Fowey near Lostwithiel, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is one of the four chief Norman castles of Cornwall, the others being Launceston, Tintagel and Trematon. The castle is notable for its perfectly circular design...
now ″tentatively accepted″ as being occupied from AD54 into the third or fourth century; in east Cornwall at least, the occupation is more extensive than archaeologists formally believed. The only evidence so far found, of the Romans in Penzance, are three finds: in August 1899 two coins of Vespasian
Vespasian
Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
(69-79 AD) found in an ancient trench, in Penzance cemetery, eight feet below ground together with some cow bones and now in the Penlee House Museum; a 1934 find from the Alverton area and described as a ″coin of the reign of Constantine the Great″, also donated to the museum. About ten years previously a 30 mm sestertius
Sestertius
The sestertius, or sesterce, was an ancient Roman coin. During the Roman Republic it was a small, silver coin issued only on rare occasions...
was found on a building site, in or around Penzance, and presented to the Royal Institute of Cornwall. Larger quantities of Roman coins have been found at Marazion Marsh
Marazion Marsh
Marazion Marsh is a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds reserve situated in a shallow river valley, half a kilometre to the west of Marazion, Cornwall, England, UK...
and Kerris
Kerris
Kerris is a settlement in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated three miles southwest of Penzance in the civil parish of Paul. Kerris means "the fortified place" in the Cornish language....
in Paul parish, but there is no evidence of any Roman settlement in the area although nearby villages such as Chysauster were occupied at this time.
The Hundred
Hundreds of Cornwall
Cornwall was from Anglo-Saxon times until the 19th century divided into hundreds, some with the suffix shire as in Pydarshire, East and West Wivelshire and Powdershire which were first recorded as names between 1184-1187. In the Cornish language the word for "hundred" is keverang and is the...
of Penwith had its ancient centre at Connerton now buried beneath the sands of Gwithian Towans at Gwithian
Gwithian
beach2Gwithian is a coastal village in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated three miles northeast of Hayle and four miles east of St Ives, Cornwall across St Ives Bay....
. A Hundred was a Saxon administrative unit which were sub-divided into tithings
Tithings
By the 10th century, kings had set up a different kind of self-help system – known as tithings. A tithing was a group of ten people, of which all were males and all were at or over the age of twelve. It was compulsory to join a tithing once at the age of twelve. Each person within that tithing was...
. The Manor of Alverton gave its name to the second largest tithing in Penwith with an area of 64 Cornish acres. The manor included parts of Madron, Paul, St Buryan and Sancreed and although Penzance is not mentioned in the Domesday Book
Domesday Book
Domesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
it is likely that the area would have been included. Domesday records that in 1066 the Manor of Alwarton was owned by Alward who was dispossessed by Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain
Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st Earl of Cornwall was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother of William I of England. Robert was the son of Herluin de Conteville and Herleva of Falaise and was full brother to Odo of Bayeux. The exact year of Robert's birth is unknown Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st...
, the half-brother of William the Conqueror. The name Alward and "tun", a personal name and town or settlement indicate Saxon land ownership and in Cornwall the tun indicates a manorial centre such as Helston
Helston
Helston is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately 12 miles east of Penzance and nine miles southwest of Falmouth. Helston is the most southerly town in the UK and is around further south than...
or Connerton. The change of ownership in 1066 was a change from one alien landlord to another and the name, Alverton, lives on as the western part of Penzance from St John’s Hall to the housing estate on the west side of the Laregan river.
Middle Ages
The first mention of the name Pensans is in the Assize Roll of 1284, and the first mention of the actual church that gave Penzance its name, is from a manuscript written by W Borlase in 1750:″The ancient chapel belonging to the town of Penzance may be seen in a fish cellar, near the key; it is small and as I remember had the image of the Virgin Mary in it.″ The chapel was built of greenstone
Elvan
Elvan is a name used in Cornwall and Devon for the native varieties of quartz-porphyry. They are dispersed irregularly in the Upper Devonian series of rocks and some of them make very fine building stones...
and approximately 30 ft in length and 15 ft in breadth of which only a fragment remained in situand 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 stony countenance and rough hands, they were… broken off and carried away as relics…". The remains of the vandalised relic were taken to St Mary’s churchyard by a mason who told Mr Millett that he "popped St Raffidy into a wheelbarrow and trundle him off to the chapel yard." The carving remains in St Mary’s churchyard and has been dated by Prof Charles Thomas
Charles Thomas (historian)
Antony Charles Thomas, CBE, FSA is a British historian and archaeologist who was Professor of Cornish Studies at Exeter University, and the first Director of the Institute of Cornish Studies, from 1971 until his retirement in 1991...
as early 12th century. There are no early documents mentioning the actual dedication to St Anthony which seems to depend entirely on tradition and may be groundless. A licence for Divine Service in the Chapel of St Gabriel and St Raphael
Raphael (archangel)
Raphael is an archangel of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, who in the Judeo-Christian tradition performs all manners of healing....
was granted in 1429 and nothing more is known of this chapel except, possibly, for the mason who mentioned ″St Raffidy″ in 1850. Adjoining the chapel is St Anthony’s Gardens named in 1933 and containing an archway said to have been taken from the chapel site.
Dominating the skyline above the harbour is the present church of St Mary's. A St Mary's Chapel is mentioned in a 1548 document which states that it was founded by Sir Henry Tyes, Knight Lord of the Manor of Alverton who gave a £4 stipend
Stipend
A stipend is a form of salary, such as for an internship or apprenticeship. It is often distinct from a wage or a salary because it does not necessarily represent payment for work performed, instead it represents a payment that enables somebody to be exempt partly or wholly from waged or salaried...
for a priest. There is an earlier document from 1379, when Bishop Brantyngham licenced for services "the chapel of Blessed Mary of Pensande". At this date it was probably used as a chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
and not used for Sunday services which would have affected the attendance at the Parish Church in Madron. Further evidence of historical settlement from this period is in the St Clare area of the town, where a chapel existed to St. Clare or Cleer. The earliest reference is a lease of 1584 "...a certain chapel situate below the high road between Pensaunce and Madderne." In the early part of the 19th century the foundations of a building, said to be the chapel, was discovered and enough was exposed to show the shape of the building. An episcopal licence cannot be traced for this chapel. The name, St Clare, lives on in the town as "St Clare Street" which is part of the road from Penzance to Madron and the St Clare cricket ground at the top of the hill.
Medieval economy
Markets were held on a fixed day each week and fairs on fixed date(s) each year. To obtain either, a manorial lord had to apply for a Royal Charter
Royal Charter
A royal charter is a formal document issued by a monarch as letters patent, granting a right or power to an individual or a body corporate. They were, and are still, used to establish significant organizations such as cities or universities. Charters should be distinguished from warrants and...
. The right to hold a market each Wednesday was granted by King Edward III to Alice de Lisle, sister of Lord Tyes and widow of Warin de Lisle, on 25 April 1332; a fair, lasting seven days at the Feast of St Peter ad Vincula on 1 August; and another fair of seven days on 24 August at Mousehole for the feast of St Bartholomew – later to be held in Penzance. The settlement was growing in importance as the weekly Wednesday market was confirmed by King Henry IV and three further fairs, each of two days, was granted on 8 April 1404. These were at the Feast of the Conception of Virgin Mary (8 December), St Peter in Cathedra (22 February) and the Nativity of the Virgin Mary (8 September).
It is not known when a quay was built at Penzance as there is no grant or licence but an Inquest as to the Manor of Alverton in 1322 records eight fishing boats each paying 2s each, and an unspecified number at Mousehole each paying 12s. There was also a payment of 8s for the rent of logii (huts or sheds) of foreign fisherman i.e. those outside the manor. At a second Inquest in 1327 the number had risen to 13 at Penzance; with 16 recorded at Mousehole and both now paying only 1s each: the total rent for logii was 8/6d with 17 tenants paying 6d each. Both Inquests record 29 Burgesses at Penzance and 40 at Mousehole. A Burgess paid his rent with money rather than with personal services and indicated that Penzance and Mousehole were considered to be towns. A comparison of the settlements in West Cornwall can be made with the annual payments, based on the number of fishing boats, made to the Duchy of Cornwall
Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at the time of his birth, or of his parent's succession to the throne. If the monarch has no son, the...
in 1337: Porthia (St Ives) £6; Mosehole (Mousehole) £5; Marcasion (Marazion) £3; Pensanns (Penzance) 12s; Londeseynde (Land's End, (Sennen Cove) 10s; Nywelyn (Newlyn) 10s; and Portmynster (Porthminster, St Ives) 2s. In 1425, 1432 and 1440 ships in Penzance were licenced to carry pilgrims to the shrine of St James of Compostella
Santiago de Compostela
Santiago de Compostela is the capital of the autonomous community of Galicia, Spain.The city's Cathedral is the destination today, as it has been throughout history, of the important 9th century medieval pilgrimage route, the Way of St. James...
, in northern Spain
In medieval times and later, Penzance was subject to frequent raiding by "Turkish pirates", in fact Barbary Corsairs
Barbary corsairs
The Barbary Corsairs, sometimes called Ottoman Corsairs or Barbary Pirates, were pirates and privateers who operated from North Africa, based primarily in the ports of Tunis, Tripoli and Algiers. This area was known in Europe as the Barbary Coast, a term derived from the name of its Berber...
. Throughout the period prior to Penzance gaining borough status in 1614 the village and surrounding areas continued to be within the control of the Manor of Alverton and was subject to the taxation regime of that manor.
Tudor period
In the summer of 1578 Penzance was visited by the plagueBubonic plague
Plague is a deadly infectious disease that is caused by the enterobacteria Yersinia pestis, named after the French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin. Primarily carried by rodents and spread to humans via fleas, the disease is notorious throughout history, due to the unrivaled scale of death...
. The burial registers of Madron (where all Penzance births, deaths and marriages were recorded) shows a massive increase in deaths for 1578, from 12 the previous year to 155. This is estimated to be about 10% of the population of the village at the time. The plague also returned in 1647 and the registers again show an increase of from 22 burials to 217 in one year.
Being at the far west of Cornwall, Penzance and the surrounding villages have been sacked many times by foreign fleets. On July 23, 1595, several years after the Spanish Armada
Spanish Armada
This article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
of 1588, a Spanish force under Don
Don (honorific)
Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Carlos de Amesquita
Carlos de Amésquita
Carlos de Amésquita was a Spanish naval officer of the 16th century. He is remembered for an action whilst on a routine patrol, known as the Battle of Cornwall, during the Anglo-Spanish War 1585–1604....
, which had been patrolling the Channel, landed troops in Cornwall
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...
. Amesquita's force seized supplies, raided and burned
Battle 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:...
Penzance and surrounding villages, held a mass, and sailed away before it could be confronted.
Penzance as a town since 1614
The reason for Penzance's relative success probably stems from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries when Henry IV of England granted the town a Royal Market in 1404. Henry VIIIHenry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
in 1512 granted the right to charge harbour dues, and King James I granted the town the status of a Borough in 1614. The Charter defined the bounds of the town by an artificial line formed by a half-mile circle, measured from the market cross in the Greenmarket. The granting of Borough status made the town independent of the County Courts, a right held until County Councils came into being in 1888. Other privileges included owning land and property; imposing fines for breaking bylaws; holding a civil court with jurisdiction over cases not exceeding £50; and providing a prison. The Charter also confirmed the harbour rights given earlier in 1512 and granted two weekly markets to be held on Tuesdays and Thursday; which replaced a single market previously held on Wednesdays. Seven fairs were granted (or confirmed):
- Corpus ChristiCorpus Christi (feast)Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
, the Sunday after Whitson - still held - The Thursday before St Andrew's Day (30 November)
- St Peter's Day (1 August); first granted in 1332
- St Bartholomew's Day (24 August); originally granted to MouseholeMouseholeMousehole 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...
but now obsolete probably due to the Spanish Raid of 1595Battle of CornwallThe 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:... - St Mary the Virgin's Day (8 September); granted in 1404
- The Conception of St Mary the Virgin's Day (8 September); granted in 1404
- St Peter's Day in CathedraCathedraA cathedra or bishop's throne is the chair or throne of a bishop. It is a symbol of the bishop's teaching authority in the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church, and has in some sense remained such in the Anglican Communion and in Lutheran churches...
(22 February); granted in 1404
The Crown
The Crown
The Crown is a corporation sole that in the Commonwealth realms and any provincial or state sub-divisions thereof represents the legal embodiment of governance, whether executive, legislative, or judicial...
was paid a perpetual rent of five marks (£3 6s 8d) in acknowledment of the rights granted by the Charter, which was paid until 1832, but there was no grant of Parliamentary representation.
Within a year the new Borough bought a substantial degree of freedom from the Manor of Alverton than known as Alverton and Penzance for £34 plus a perpetual annuity of £1 which was last paid in 1936. A market-house and Guildhall was built, and together with the rights bought in 1615, provided almost all the borough income for more than two centuries. The southern arm of the pier was built in 1766 and extended in 1785, to add to the first pier of which was built in 1512.
During the English Civil War
English Civil War
The English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
Penzance was sacked by the Parliamentarian forces of Sir Thomas Fairfax apparently for the kindness shown to Lord Goring
George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich
George Goring, 1st Earl of Norwich was an English soldier.He was the son of George Goring of Hurstpierpoint and Ovingdean, Sussex, and of Anne Denny, sister of Edward Denny, 1st Earl of Norwich. He matriculated from Sidney Sussex College, Cambridge in 1600, and may subsequently have spent some...
and Lord Hopton
Ralph Hopton, 1st Baron Hopton
Ralph Hopton, 1st Baron Hopton was a Royalist commander in the English Civil War.-Life:Hopton was the son of Robert Hopton of Witham Somerset. He was apparently educated at Lincoln College, Oxford and served in the army of Frederick V, Elector Palatine in the early campaigns of the Thirty...
's troops during the conflict.
Further Civic improvements included the construction in 1759 of a reservoir which supplied water to public pumps in the streets.
Penzance has a long-standing association with the local parish of Madron
Madron
Madron is a civil parish and village in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a large rural parish on the Penwith peninsula north of Penzance.Madron village is situated approximately two miles northwest of Penzance town centre....
. Madron Church was in fact the centre of most religious activity in the town until 1871, when St. Mary's Church (prior to this period a Chapel of ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
) was granted parish status by church authorities.
1755 tsunami
On 1 November 1755 the Lisbon earthquake caused a tsunamiTsunami
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 1000 miles (1,609.3 km) away from the epicentre. At around 14:00 in the afternoon, the sea rose eight feet in Penzance, came in at great speed, and ebbed at the same rate. Little damage was recorded.
1801–1848
At the start of the 19th century (1801), the town had a population of 2,248. The census, which is taken every ten years, recorded a peak population in 1861 of 3,843, but it then declined, as in most of Cornwall, through the remainder of the century, being just 3,088 in 1901.By the time Queen Victoria came to the throne in 1837, Penzance had established itself as an important regional centre. The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall
Royal Geological Society of Cornwall
The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society based in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world....
was founded in the town in 1814 and about 1817 was responsible for introducing a miner's safety tamping bar, which attracted the Prince Regent
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
to become its patron.
The first lifeboat
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...
in Cornwall was bought by the people of Penzance in 1803 but it was sold in 1812 due to lack of funds to keep it in operation. The pier had been extended again in 1812 and John Matthews opened a small dry dock in 1814, the first in the South West. In 1840 Nicholas Holman of St Just
St Just in Penwith
St Just is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish encompasses the town of St Just and the nearby settlements of Trewellard, Pendeen and Kelynack: it is bounded by the parishes of Morvah to the north-east, Sancreed and Madron to the east, St Buryan and Sennen to...
opened a branch of his foundry business on the quayside. These facilities proved valuable in supporting the steamships that were soon calling at the harbour in increasing numbers.
Gas lighting was introduced in 1830 and the old Market House was demolished in 1836. Its replacement, designed by W. Harris of Bristol, was completed at the top of Market Jew Street in 1838. (The name Market Jew comes from the Cornish language
Cornish 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...
Marghas Yow, meaning Thursday Market, the name of a nearby village now absorbed into Marazion
Marazion
Marazion is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the shore of Mount's Bay, two miles east of Penzance and one mile east of Long Rock.St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore from Marazion...
, to which Market Jew Street leads.) St Mary's Church, another prominent feature of the Penzance skyline, was completed in 1836, while a Roman Catholic
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
church was built in 1843. Another familiar building from this period is the eccentric Egyptian House in Chapel Street, built in 1830. The first part of the Promenade along the sea front dates from 1844.
1849–1900
After the passing of the Public Health Act (1848), Penzance was one of the first towns to petition to form a local board of healthLocal board of health
Local Boards or Local Boards of Health were local authorities in urban areas of England and Wales from 1848 to 1894. They were formed in response to cholera epidemics and were given powers to control sewers, clean the streets, regulate slaughterhouses and ensure the proper supply of water to their...
, doing so in September that year. Following a report by a government inspector in February, the Board was established in 1849 which led to many facilities to enhance public health. The report shows that most streets were Macadam
Macadam
Macadam is a type of road construction pioneered by the Scotsman John Loudon McAdam in around 1820. The method simplified what had been considered state-of-the-art at that point...
ised or sometimes paved, and the town was lit by 121 gas lamps from October to March each year, although they were not lit when there was a full moon. Water was supplied from 6 public pumps, and there were a further 53 private wells. There were no sewage pipes at the time, waste being collected from the main streets by a refuse cart.
Railway station
Penzance railway station
Penzance railway station
Penzance railway station serves the town of Penzance, Cornwall, UK. The station is the western terminus of the Cornish Main Line from London Paddington station. The current journey time to or from London is about five hours....
, the terminus of the West Cornwall Railway
West Cornwall Railway
The West Cornwall Railway was a railway company in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, formed in 1846 to operate the existing Hayle Railway between Hayle and Redruth and extend the railway to Penzance and Truro....
, opened on 11 March 1852 on the eastern side of the harbour, although trains only ran to Redruth
Redruth
Redruth is a town and civil parish traditionally in the Penwith Hundred in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has a population of 12,352. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road , and is approximately west of...
at first. From 25 August 1852 the line was extended to Truro
Truro
Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...
, but the Cornwall Railway
Cornwall Railway
The Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The section from Plymouth to Truro opened in 1859, the extension to Falmouth in 1863...
linking that place with Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
was not opened until 4 May 1859. Passengers and goods had to change trains at Truro as the West Cornwall had been built using the standard gauge
Standard gauge
The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...
, but the Cornwall Railway was built to the broad gauge
Broad gauge
Broad-gauge railways use a track gauge greater than the standard gauge of .- List :For list see: List of broad gauges, by gauge and country- History :...
. The West Cornwall Railway Act
Act of Parliament
An Act of Parliament is a statute enacted as primary legislation by a national or sub-national parliament. In the Republic of Ireland the term Act of the Oireachtas is used, and in the United States the term Act of Congress is used.In Commonwealth countries, the term is used both in a narrow...
included a clause that it would be converted to broad gauge once it had been connected to another broad gauge line, but the company could not raise the funds to do so.
The line was sold to the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
and its "Associated Companies" (the Bristol and Exeter Railway
Bristol and Exeter Railway
The Bristol & Exeter Railway was a railway company formed to connect Bristol and Exeter.The company's head office was situated outside their Bristol station...
and South Devon Railway
South Devon Railway Company
The South Devon Railway Company built and operated the railway from Exeter to Plymouth and Torquay in Devon, England. It was a broad gauge railway built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel-Chronology:* 1844 South Devon Railway Act passed by parliament...
) on 1 January 1866. The new owners quickly converted the line to mixed gauge
Dual gauge
A dual-gauge or mixed-gauge railway has railway track that allows trains of different gauges to use the same track. Generally, a dual-gauge railway consists of three rails, rather than the standard two rails. The two outer rails give the wider gauge, while one of the outer rails and the inner rail...
using three rails so that both broad and "narrow" trains could operate. Broad gauge goods trains started running in November that year, with through passenger trains running to London from 1 March 1867. The last broad gauge train arrived at 8.49pm on 20 May 1892, having left London Paddington station at 10.15 that morning. The two locomotives, numbers 1256
GWR 1076 Class
The 1076 Class were 266 double-framed 0-6-0 tank locomotives built by the Great Western Railway between 1870 and 1881; the last one was withdrawn in 1946...
and 3557
GWR 3521 Class
The 3521 Class were forty tank locomotives designed by William Dean to haul passenger trains on the Great Western Railway. They were introduced as 0-4-2T locomotives in 1887, but were quickly altered to become 0-4-4Ts to improve their running...
, took the carriages away to Swindon railway works at 9.57, and all trains since have been standard gauge.
The ability of the railway to carry fresh produce to distant markets such as Bristol
Bristol
Bristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
, London and Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
enabled local farmers and fishermen to sell more produce and at better prices. The special "perishable" train soon became a feature of the railway, these being fast extra goods trains carrying potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es, broccoli
Broccoli
Broccoli is a plant in the cabbage family, whose large flower head is used as a vegetable.-General:The word broccoli, from the Italian plural of , refers to "the flowering top of a cabbage"....
or fish depending on the season. In August 1861 1,787 tons of potatoes, 867 tons of broccoli, and 1,063 tons of fish were dispatched from the station. Fruit and flowers were also carried; the mild climate around Penzance and on the Scilly Isles meant that they were ready for market earlier and could command high prices.
The completion of the railway through Cornwall made it easier for tourists and invalids to enjoy the mild climate of Penzance. Bathing machines had been advertised for hire on the beach as early as 1823, and the town was already "noted for the pleasantness of its situation, the salubrity of its air, and the beauty of its natives". The town's first official guide book was published in 1860 and the Queen's Hotel opened on the sea front the following year. It was so successful that it was extended in 1871 and 1908.
Harbour
At the same time as the railway was being built more improvements were being made to the harbour, with a second pier on the eastern side of the harbour, the Albert Pier, completed in 1853 to provide even better shelter for shipping, and a lighthouse
Lighthouse
A lighthouse is a tower, building, or other type of structure designed to emit light from a system of lamps and lenses or, in older times, from a fire, and used as an aid to navigation for maritime pilots at sea or on inland waterways....
built on the Old Pier in 1855. The Scilly Isles Steam Navigation Company was founded in 1858 and placed in service the first steam ship on the route, SS Little Western. In 1870 the new West Cornwall Steam Ship Company
West Cornwall Steam Ship Company
The West Cornwall Steam Ship Company was established in 1870 to operate ferry services between Penzance, Cornwall, and the Isles of Scilly.-History:The company was formed on 5 February 1870, principally by the shareholders in the West Cornwall Railway...
joined the route, taking over the Scilly Isles Company the following year.
In 1853 the Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....
stationed one of their boats in the town, the first since 1812, and maintained a station here until 1908 when the Elizabeth Blanche was transferred to Newlyn as the first step towards setting up Penlee Lifeboat Station
Penlee Lifeboat Station
Penlee Lifeboat Station is the base for Royal National Lifeboat Institution search and rescue operations for Mount's Bay in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The lifeboat station was opened at Penlee Point in Mousehole in 1913 but was moved to Newlyn in 1983...
. The RNLI still use a boat house built on Jennings Street near the Promenade in 1884 to promote their activities. Penzance, with its dry dock and engineering facilities, was chosen as the western depot for Trinity House
Trinity House
The Corporation of Trinity House of Deptford Strond is the official General Lighthouse Authority for England, Wales and other British territorial waters...
that serviced all the lighthouses and lightship
Lightvessel
A lightvessel, or lightship, is a ship which acts as a lighthouse. They are used in waters that are too deep or otherwise unsuitable for lighthouse construction...
s from Start Point
Start Point, Devon
Start Point is a promontory in the South Hams district. It is one of the most southerly points in Devon, England, . It marks the southern limit of Start Bay, which extends northwards to the estuary of the River Dart....
to Trevose Head
Trevose Head
Trevose Head is a headland on the Atlantic coast of north Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately west of Padstow. The South West Coast Path runs around the whole promontory and is within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and the Trevose Head Heritage Coast...
. It was opened in October, 1866 adjacent to the harbour and the Buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
Store became the Trinity House National Lighthouse Museum until 2005 when Trinity House closed the museum.
In 1875 a local newspaper described the railway station as a large dog's house of the nastiest and draughtiest kind but a series of works improved this part of the town during the 1880s. The original station was rebuilt with the present buildings and train shed
Train shed
A train shed is an adjacent building to a railway station where the tracks and platforms are covered by a roof. It is also known as an overall roof...
over the platforms (1880). The lower end of Market Jew Street was widened and a new road was built to link the station with the harbour over the Ross Swing Bridge
Swing bridge
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its centre of gravity, about which the turning span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right...
(1881), allowing the construction of proper sewers beneath. A larger dry dock replaced Matthews' original facility (1880), and a floating harbour was made (1884) with lock
Lock (water transport)
A lock is a device for raising and lowering boats between stretches of water of different levels on river and canal waterways. The distinguishing feature of a lock is a fixed chamber in which the water level can be varied; whereas in a caisson lock, a boat lift, or on a canal inclined plane, it is...
gates to keep in the water at low tide.
Around the headland, public baths were opened on the Promenade in 1887 and the Morrab Gardens with its sub-tropical plants was opened two years later. A bandstand was added to the gardens in 1897.
20th century
In 1901 the town had a population of 3,088. The decennial census recorded a continuing decline in population until 1921, when just 2,616 people were recorded. The population then climbed to 4,888 (1931) then 5,545 (1951) - thus more than doubling in 30 years. It was now larger than at any time in the past. (The census boundaries changed in 1981 so these figures do not directly compare with those stated for the current population)A proposed electric tram
Tram
A tram is a passenger rail vehicle which runs on tracks along public urban streets and also sometimes on separate rights of way. It may also run between cities and/or towns , and/or partially grade separated even in the cities...
way along the Promenade to Newlyn
Newlyn
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...
, which would have continued as a light railway
Light railway
Light railway refers to a railway built at lower costs and to lower standards than typical "heavy rail". This usually means the railway uses lighter weight track, and is more steeply graded and tightly curved to avoid civil engineering costs...
to St Just
St Just in Penwith
St Just is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish encompasses the town of St Just and the nearby settlements of Trewellard, Pendeen and Kelynack: it is bounded by the parishes of Morvah to the north-east, Sancreed and Madron to the east, St Buryan and Sennen to...
, failed to gain authorisation in 1898. Instead motor buses
GWR road motor services
The Great Western Railway road motor services operated from 1903 to 1933, both as a feeder to their train services, and as a cheaper alternative to building new railways in rural areas...
were put into service on 31 October 1903. These linked Penzance with Marazion
Marazion
Marazion is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the shore of Mount's Bay, two miles east of Penzance and one mile east of Long Rock.St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore from Marazion...
and were operated by the Great Western Railway
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway was a British railway company that linked London with the south-west and west of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838...
, being introduced only 11 weeks after the railway's pioneering service between Helston
Helston
Helston is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately 12 miles east of Penzance and nine miles southwest of Falmouth. Helston is the most southerly town in the UK and is around further south than...
and The Lizard
The Lizard
The Lizard is a peninsula in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The most southerly point of the British mainland is near Lizard Point at ....
. They were considered a success, carrying 16,091 passengers by the end of the year, so were followed the next spring by further routes 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....
and St Just. These services developed into the First Devon and Cornwall bus network that currently serves the area and is still centred on a terminus alongside Penzance railway station
Penzance railway station
Penzance railway station serves the town of Penzance, Cornwall, UK. The station is the western terminus of the Cornish Main Line from London Paddington station. The current journey time to or from London is about five hours....
.
The dry dock was sold on 25 August 1904 to N. Holman and Sons Limited, the engineering business that had been trading in Penzance since 1840. New workshops were built during the 1930s, and the facility continued to be used by
the Scilly ferries and other merchant ships, as well as Trinity House, the Royal Navy
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
and Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service
Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service
The Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service was a British Government agency which ran a variety of non-combat support vessels for the Royal Navy.-Organisation:...
. In 1951 a new vessel for the King Harry Ferry
King Harry Ferry
The King Harry Ferry Bridge is a vehicular chain ferry which crosses the Carrick Roads reach of the estuary of the River Fal in the United Kingdom county of Cornwall. The ferry crosses between the villages of Feock and Philleigh, roughly half way between the city of Truro, the lowest bridging point...
on the River Fal
River Fal
The River Fal flows through Cornwall, United Kingdom, rising on the Goss Moor and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. On or near the banks of the Fal are the castles of Pendennis and St Mawes as well as Trelissick Garden. The River Fal separates the Roseland peninsula from the rest of...
was launched, built on the keel of an old landing craft
Landing craft
Landing craft are boats and seagoing vessels used to convey a landing force from the sea to the shore during an amphibious assault. Most renowned are those used to storm the beaches of Normandy, the Mediterranean, and many Pacific islands during WWII...
. A steam tug, the Primrose, was built in 1963.
Land was reclaimed beside the Albert Pier in the 1930s to allow the railway station to be enlarged at a cost of £134,000. The 1880 building was retained, but extra platforms and sidings were provided to handle more perishable goods, as well as the increasing numbers of tourists.
In 1905 a new bandstand was built on the Promenade opposite the Queen's Hotel, and the Pavilion Theatre opened nearby in 1911, complete with a roof garden and cafe. Travel to Penzance was easier than ever, with the Great Western Railway introducing the Cornish Riviera Express
Cornish Riviera Express
The Cornish Riviera Express is a British express passenger train that has run between London and Penzance in Cornwall since 1904. Introduced by the Great Western Railway, the name Cornish Riviera Express has been applied to the late morning express train from London Paddington station to Penzance...
on 1 July 1904, which left London Paddington at 10:10 and arrived in Penzance just 7 hours later, two hours faster than the previous quickest service. (In 2007 it leaves Paddington at 10:05 and takes 5 hours and 5 minutes.) The railway promoted local tourism with postcards that were sold at its stations, and an annual guide book, The Cornish Riviera, in which SPB Mais
Petre Mais
Stuart Petre Brodie Mais was a prolific British author, journalist and broadcaster. The son of a Bristolian rector, he was born in Birmingham but raised in Tansley, Derbyshire, where his family moved shortly afterwards. He was educated at Denstone College, Staffordshire...
described the town as "a suburb of Covent Garden, and a great fishing centre ... there is always something going on in its harbour".
1923 saw a new road link the harbour area and the Promenade, and in 1933 the St. Anthony Gardens were built, followed two years later by the Jubilee Bathing Pool opposite. Tourists could now make full use of the whole seafront between Penzance and Newlyn harbours.
Transport
The A30A30 road
The 284 miles A30 road from London to Land's End, historically known as the Great South West Road used to provide the most direct route from London to the south west; more recently the M3 motorway and A303 road performs this function for much of the route and only parts of A30 now retain trunk...
from London to Land’s End is a trunk road
Trunk road
A trunk road, trunk highway, or strategic road is a major road—usually connecting two or more cities, ports, airports, and other things.—which is the recommended route for long-distance and freight traffic...
as far as the Chy-an-Mor roundabout one mile to the east of Penzance. After bypassing Penzance to the north the road continues to Land’s End mainly as a rural A route. The distance from Penzance to London is 275 miles (444 km) or approximately 5 hours by car.
Penzance railway station
Penzance railway station
Penzance railway station serves the town of Penzance, Cornwall, UK. The station is the western terminus of the Cornish Main Line from London Paddington station. The current journey time to or from London is about five hours....
is at the eastern end of Market Jew Street and close to the harbour. It is the southernmost station on the UK mainland rail network. It is the western terminus of the Cornish Main Line
Cornish Main Line
The Cornish Main Line is a railway line in the United Kingdom, which forms the backbone for rail services in Cornwall, as well as providing a direct line to London.- History :...
which runs above the beach to Marazion, affording passengers good views of St. Michael's Mount and Mount's Bay. Most services are operated by First Great Western
First Great Western
First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....
, both local services to St Erth
St Erth railway station
St Erth railway station is situated at Rose-an-Grouse in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It serves the nearby village of St Erth, which is about away, and is the junction for the St Ives Bay Line to St Ives.-History:...
, St Ives, Hayle
Hayle railway station
Hayle railway station serves the town of Hayle, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The station is operated by First Great Western and is on the Cornish Main Line north east of .-History:...
, Camborne
Camborne railway station
Camborne railway station serves the town of Camborne, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It has been in use since 1843 and is currently operated by First Great Western. Services are provided by First Great Western and CrossCountry.-History:...
, Redruth
Redruth railway station
Redruth Station serves the town of Redruth, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The station is operated by First Great Western as is every other station in Cornwall.-First station:Located at ...
, and Truro
Truro railway station
Truro Station serves the city of Truro, Cornwall, UK. It is the situated on the Cornish Main Line and is the junction for the Maritime Line to Falmouth. The station is operated by First Great Western....
, and direct trains linking Penzance with Plymouth
Plymouth railway station
Plymouth railway station serves the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. It is situated on the northern edge of the city centre close to the North Cross roundabout...
, Exeter St Davids
Exeter St Davids railway station
Exeter St Davids station is the most important of seven National Rail stations in the city of Exeter in southwest England. Today the station is owned by Network Rail and operated by First Great Western.-History:...
, Bristol Temple Meads
Bristol Temple Meads railway station
Bristol Temple Meads railway station is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It is an important transport hub for public transport in Bristol, with bus services to various parts of the city and surrounding districts, and a ferry service to the city centre in addition to the...
, Reading
Reading railway station
Reading railway station is a major rail transport hub in the English town of Reading. It is situated on the northern edge of the town centre, close to the main retail and commercial areas, and also the River Thames...
and London Paddington. The Night Riviera
Night Riviera
The Night Riviera is a sleeper train service operated by First Great Western. It is one of only two remaining sleeper services on the railway in Great Britain...
train offers an overnight sleeping car
Sleeping car
The sleeping car or sleeper is a railway/railroad passenger car that can accommodate all its passengers in beds of one kind or another, primarily for the purpose of making nighttime travel more restful. The first such cars saw sporadic use on American railroads in the 1830s and could be configured...
service to and from Reading and London. Journey time to Plymouth is typically under 2 hours; to Bristol around 4 hours, and London less than 5½ hours.
CrossCountry
CrossCountry
CrossCountry is the brand name of XC Trains Ltd., a British train operating company owned by Arriva...
run a small number of services (departing in the morning, arriving in the evening) to Glasgow Central via Bristol, Birmingham New Street
Birmingham New Street Station
Birmingham New Street is the main railway station serving Birmingham, England, located in the city centre. It is an important hub for the British railway system, being served by a number of important long-distance and cross-country lines, including the Birmingham loop of the West Coast Main Line,...
, Manchester, also to Dundee
Dundee railway station
Dundee railway station serves the city of Dundee on the east coast of Scotland. The station has two through platforms and two terminal platforms...
via Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds, York
York railway station
York railway station is a main-line railway station in the city of York, England. It lies on the East Coast Main Line north of London's King's Cross station towards Edinburgh's Waverley Station...
, Newcastle and Edinburgh Waverley
Edinburgh Waverley railway station
Edinburgh Waverley railway station is the main railway station in the Scottish capital Edinburgh. Covering an area of over 25 acres in the centre of the city, it is the second-largest main line railway station in the United Kingdom in terms of area, the largest being...
. The journey time is just under 5½ hours to Birmingham, and nearly 10 hours to Glasgow.
The bus and coach station is next to the railway station from where National Express
National Express
National Express Coaches, more commonly known as National Express, is a brand and company, owned by the National Express Group, under which the majority of long distance bus and coach services in Great Britain are operated,...
operates coach services to London Victoria (taking around 9 hours) via Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport
London Heathrow Airport or Heathrow , in the London Borough of Hillingdon, is the busiest airport in the United Kingdom and the third busiest airport in the world in terms of total passenger traffic, handling more international passengers than any other airport around the globe...
. Local bus services run by First Devon and Cornwall connect Penzance with most major settlements in Cornwall
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...
, including Truro
Truro
Truro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...
, St. Ives, St Just
St Just in Penwith
St Just is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish encompasses the town of St Just and the nearby settlements of Trewellard, Pendeen and Kelynack: it is bounded by the parishes of Morvah to the north-east, Sancreed and Madron to the east, St Buryan and Sennen to...
, St Buryan
St Buryan
St Buryan is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, United Kingdom.The village of St Buryan is situated approximately five miles west of Penzance along the B3283 towards Land's End...
, 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....
, and also Plymouth
Plymouth
Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
in Devon
Devon
Devon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
. Western Greyhound
Western Greyhound
Western Greyhound is a bus operator based in Newquay, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It operates many services throughout the county and also into Devon...
also run a small amount of rural services to various destinations on the North Cornwall coast.
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
by The Scillonian III
Scillonian III
RMV Scillonian III is a passenger ship based at Penzance in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, run by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company...
, carrying both foot-passengers and cargo. Sailing time is approximately 2 hours and 40 minutes. A helicopter
Helicopter
A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...
service operates from Penzance Heliport
Penzance Heliport
Penzance Heliport is located northeast of Penzance, Cornwall. The heliport has scheduled flights to the Isles of Scilly, which connect to the railway network at Penzance railway station by a special bus service...
to the Isles of Scilly
Isles of Scilly
The Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
run by British International Helicopters
British International Helicopters
British International Helicopter Services Limited is an airline based at Penzance heliport, in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, with headquarters located at Sherborne, Dorset. It operates seasonal and year round domestic scheduled services to the Isles of Scilly. Its main base is Penzance...
. Flying time is approximately 20 minutes. A bus service run by the Skybus Airline Service connects with Land's End Airport
Land's End Airport
Land's End Airport , situated in St Just, west of Penzance, in Cornwall, is the most south westerly airport of mainland Britain. The airport is managed by Westward Airways, and is home to Isles of Scilly Skybus and MSH Flight Training....
for fixed wing flights (15 minutes) to the Isles of Scilly. The buses leave from the railway station, near the taxi
Taxicab
A taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
rank, rather than the bus station. In December, the Heliport also offers short evening flights over Mousehole and Newlyn to view the Christmas lights. The Heliport is one of only eleven heliports in the UK.
Newquay Airport is 41 miles (66 km) away and offers flights to Gatwick
London Gatwick Airport
Gatwick Airport is located 3.1 miles north of the centre of Crawley, West Sussex, and south of Central London. Previously known as London Gatwick,In 2010, the name changed from London Gatwick Airport to Gatwick Airport...
, Stansted
London Stansted Airport
-Cargo:-Statistics:-Infrastructure:-Terminal and satellite buildings:Stansted is the newest passenger airport of all the main London airports. The terminal is an oblong glass building, and is separated in to three areas: Check-in concourse, arrivals and departures...
, Dublin, Cork and many other places, including an increasing number of foreign destinations. Plymouth Airport, 77 miles (124 km) away, has services to Gatwick, Bristol
Bristol International Airport
Bristol Airport , located at Lulsgate Bottom in North Somerset, is the commercial airport serving the city of Bristol, England and the surrounding area. At first it was named Bristol Lulsgate Airport and from March 1997 to March 2010 it was known as Bristol International Airport...
, Dublin
Dublin Airport
Dublin Airport, , is operated by the Dublin Airport Authority. Located in Collinstown, in the Fingal part of County Dublin, 18.4 million passengers passed through the airport in 2010, making it the busiest airport in the Republic of Ireland, followed by Cork and Shannon...
and Manchester.
Governance
Borough
A borough is an administrative division in various countries. In principle, the term borough designates a self-governing township although, in practice, official use of the term varies widely....
of Penzance referred only to the town, but has since been extended to include the nearby settlements of Newlyn
Newlyn
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...
, 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...
, Gulval
Gulval
Gulval is a village in the former Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. Although historically a parish in its own right, Gulval was incorporated into the parishes of Penzance, Madron and Ludgvan in 1934, and like Heamoor, is now considered to be a suburb of Penzance...
and Heamoor
Heamoor
Heamoor is a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Formerly a secondary settlement of the village of Madron, Heamoor is now a suburb of Penzance and is situated approximately one kilometre northwest of the town centre....
. The Civil Parish
Civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a territorial designation and, where they are found, the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties...
of Penzance was further extended in 2004 under District of Penwith (Electoral Changes) Order 2002 to include Eastern Green, formerly part of the Ludgvan
Ludgvan
Ludgvan is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, UK. The village is situated 2½ miles northeast of Penzance.The parish includes the villages of Ludgvan, Crowlas, Canon's Town and Long Rock...
civil parish area.
In 1974 the Penzance Borough was abolished and replaced, first by the Penzance Charter Trustees
Charter Trustees
In England and Wales, charter trustees are set up to maintain the continuity of a town charter or city charter after a district with the status of a borough or city has been abolished, until such time as a parish council is established...
and then from 1980 by Penzance Town Council
Town council
A town council is a democratically elected form of government for small municipalities or civil parishes. A council may serve as both the representative and executive branch....
. The principal local authority in the area is now Cornwall Council. For the purposes of election to Cornwall Council the civil parish of Penzance returns 6 members representing the Penzance East Division, Penzance Central Division, Penzance Promenade Division, Heamoor and Gulval and Newlyn and Mousehole Division.
Penzance Town Council does not have in place a system of political registration, so councillors do not form groups of any kind and technically act independently, however the current political composition of the council (as of 22 August 2009) is as follows: Independent 10, Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
8, Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow is a left-of-centre political party in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It primarily campaigns for devolution to Cornwall in the form of a Cornish Assembly, as well as social democracy and environmental protection.MK was formed as a pressure group in 1951, and contained as members activists...
1 with one vacancy.
Penzance also elects a mayor every year in May from the members of Penzance town council. Although mayors have a political affiliation, this position is largely ceremonial.
The current mayor is Jan Ruhrmund, of the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
Economy
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...
, housing remains comparatively expensive, wages low and unemployment high. House prices have risen 274% in 10 years, the fastest rise in the UK. The fishing port of Newlyn
Newlyn
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...
, which falls within the parish boundaries, provides some employment in the area, but has also been greatly affected by the decline in the fishing industry over the last 30 years. In the 2004 index of deprivation Penzance is listed as having 3 wards within the top 10% for employment deprivation, Penzance East (125th most deprived in England) Penzance West (200th most deprived in England), and Penzance Central (712th most deprived in England). 18-31% of households in the parish are described as "poor households". The Penzance East Ward also has one the highest unemployment rates in Cornwall, stated as 15.4%.
Mining
Following Sir Humphry Davy’s contribution to the mining industry, The Miners' AssociationThe Miners Association
The Miners Association was founded in 1858 by Robert Hunt FRS, and the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society.The Association was formed to create a body that would discuss, develop, address the needs and represent the hard rock mining industry within the south west region of the United...
began mining
Mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
classes in Penzance. As mining in the area became more complex, the Penzance Mining and Science School was founded in 1890. The school continued to teach mining until 1910, when it was amalgamated with Camborne and Redruth Mining School forming the School of Metalliferous Mining in Camborne, which is now known as the Camborne School of Mines
Camborne School of Mines
The Camborne School of Mines , commonly abbreviated to CSM, was founded in 1888. It is now a specialist department of the University of Exeter. Its research and teaching is related to the understanding and management of the Earth's natural processes, resources and the environment...
. This institution has now moved to the Combined Universities in Cornwall
Combined Universities in Cornwall
The Combined Universities in Cornwall is a project to provide higher education in Cornwall, one of the few counties in the United Kingdom not to have a university within its boundaries, and also one of the poorest areas of the country in terms of GDP per head...
campus at Tremough
Tremough
Tremough Campus is a university campus situated in Penryn, Cornwall. It is the only such university project in Cornwall currently. The name Tremough derives from the Cornish word for "pig farm"....
, Falmouth
Falmouth, Cornwall
Falmouth is a town, civil parish and port on the River Fal on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It has a total resident population of 21,635.Falmouth is the terminus of the A39, which begins some 200 miles away in Bath, Somerset....
. From 1663, Penzance was a coinage town, responsible for the collection of tin taxation on behalf of the Duchy of Cornwall
Duchy of Cornwall
The Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at the time of his birth, or of his parent's succession to the throne. If the monarch has no son, the...
; it held this status for 176 years. According to William Pryce in his 1778 book Mineralogia Cornubiensis, Penzance coined more tin than the towns of Liskeard
Liskeard
Liskeard is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Liskeard is situated approximately 20 miles west of Plymouth, west of the River Tamar and the border with Devon, and 12 miles east of Bodmin...
, Lostwithiel
Lostwithiel
Lostwithiel is a civil parish and small town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom at the head of the estuary of the River Fowey. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,739...
, and Helston
Helston
Helston is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately 12 miles east of Penzance and nine miles southwest of Falmouth. Helston is the most southerly town in the UK and is around further south than...
put together. Penzance also had its own submarine mine situated off the coast of the town next to the area known as Wherrytown
Wherrytown
Wherrytown is a small settlement in west Cornwall, United Kingdom, situated between Newlyn and Penzance on the east side of the Larigan River. The village bore the brunt of the Ash Wednesday storm on 7 March 1962 with most of the buildings destroyed along with nearly one mile of the seafront from...
. The mine, known as Wheal Wherry, was worked from 1778 to 1798 and again from 1836 to 1840. Founded by "a poor 57 year old miner" named Thomas Curtis, the mine was said to be "very rich at depth" and was connected to the shore by a wooden bridge; the ore was transported by Wherry
Wherry
A wherry is a type of boat that was traditionally used for carrying cargo or passengers on rivers and canals in England, and is particularly associated with the River Thames and also with the Broadland rivers of Norfolk and Suffolk. London passenger wherries evolved into the Thames skiff, a...
boat. The mine suffered considerable damage in 1798 when an American ship broke anchor off nearby Newlyn
Newlyn
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...
and smashed into the bridge and head gear. Later attempts at mining were not as profitable. During the 19th century and until 1912, Penzance had the largest tin smelting
Smelting
Smelting is a form of extractive metallurgy; its main use is to produce a metal from its ore. This includes iron extraction from iron ore, and copper extraction and other base metals from their ores...
house in Cornwall, operated by the Bolitho family. The smelting works were situated at Chyandour
Chyandour
Chyandour is a small settlement within the boundaries of the parish of Penzance in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is on the north-east edge of the town straddling the A30 trunk road....
. As a consequence of this concentration of mining wealth, Penzance became a centre for commercial banking. The Bolitho Bank (now part of Barclays Bank) and the Penzance Bank were two of the largest, although the latter collapsed in 1896.
Main sights
Conservation area
A conservation areas is a tract of land that has been awarded protected status in order to ensure that natural features, cultural heritage or biota are safeguarded...
forms most of the core of the town of Penzance and the historic harbour areas of Newlyn and Mousehole. A number of Georgian and Regency buildings are present in the town. However, the majority of developments in the town centre itself are of mixed date, including several 20th-century buildings - one of which, the former Pearl Assurance building (now the Tremenheere Wetherspoons
Wetherspoons
J D Wetherspoon plc is a British pub chain based in Watford. Founded as a single pub in 1979 by Tim Martin, the company now owns 815 outlets. The chain champions cask ale, low prices, long opening hours, and no music. The company also operates the Lloyds No...
pub), was subject to comment by Sir John Betjeman who wrote, in 1963:
Penzance has done much to destroy its attractive character. The older houses in the narrow centre round the market hall have been pulled down and third-rate commercial 'contemporary', of which the Pearl Assurance building is a nasty example, are turning it into SloughSloughSlough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
.
There are three large residential council estates in Penzance: Penalverne, Treneere
Treneere
Treneere is a residential council estate on the outskirts of Penzance, Cornwall, built in the 1930s. Most of the housing within this area is owned and operated by Penwith Housing Association. Treneere falls within the Penzance East Ward of...
(both built in the 1930s) and the Princess Royal estate at Alverton (built in the early 1950s). Much of the housing with this area is owned and operated by Penwith Housing Association
Penwith Housing Association
The Penwith Housing Association is a social housing provider based in Cornwall, UK. It was formed in 1994 following the sale of Penwith District Council's housing stock. The housing association is one of the largest providers of housing in Cornwall with the number of residents being counted in the...
. The sub-tropical Morrab Gardens
Morrab Gardens
Morrab Gardens are a municipal garden covering three acres to the south of Penzance town centre, Cornwall, UK. It is known for its Mediterranean and sub-tropical plants....
, has a large collection of tender trees and shrubs, many of which cannot be grown outdoors anywhere else in the UK.
Penzance Regency and Georgian
Georgian architecture
Georgian architecture is the name given in most English-speaking countries to the set of architectural styles current between 1720 and 1840. It is eponymous for the first four British monarchs of the House of Hanover—George I of Great Britain, George II of Great Britain, George III of the United...
terraces and houses are common in some parts of the town.
Penzance's former main street Chapel Street has a number of interesting features, including the Egyptian House, The Union Hotel (including a Georgian theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
which is no longer in use) and The Branwell House, where the mother and aunt of the famous Brontë sisters
Brontë
The Brontës were a nineteenth-century literary family associated with Haworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire, England. The sisters, Charlotte , Emily , and Anne , are well-known as poets and novelists...
once lived.
Art Deco
Art deco , or deco, is an eclectic artistic and design style that began in Paris in the 1920s and flourished internationally throughout the 1930s, into the World War II era. The style influenced all areas of design, including architecture and interior design, industrial design, fashion and...
swimming baths in the country), built at the beginning of the 20th century during Penzance's heyday as a fashionable seaside resort
Seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort, or resort town, located on the coast. Where a beach is the primary focus for tourists, it may be called a beach resort.- Overview :...
. The pool was designed by Captain F. Latham, the Penzance Borough Engineer and opened in 1935, the year of King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
's Silver Jubilee
Silver Jubilee
A Silver Jubilee is a celebration held to mark a 25th anniversary. The anniversary celebrations can be of a wedding anniversary, ruling anniversary or anything that has completed a 25 year mark...
. Penzance promenade itself has been destroyed in parts several times by storms. The most recent example was on 7 March 1962 (Ash Wednesday), when large parts of the western end of the promenade, the nearby Beford Bolitho Gardens (now a play park) and the village of Wherrytown suffered severe damage. On the outskirts of town is Trereife House
Trereife House
Trereife House is a grade II listed Manor house located near the town of Penzance in Cornwall, England, UK.In 2011, Trereife House was the subject of a Channel 4 television documentary presented by hotelier Ruth Watson as part of her Country House Rescue series....
, a grade II listed manor house
Manor house
A manor house is a country house that historically formed the administrative centre of a manor, the lowest unit of territorial organisation in the feudal system in Europe. The term is applied to country houses that belonged to the gentry and other grand stately homes...
which now offers accommodation and hosts events.
Geography
Penlee Quarry which is within the boundaries of the Penzance parish is a geological SSSI.Education
Penzance is home to two state run comprehensive schoolComprehensive school
A comprehensive school is a state school that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude. This is in contrast to the selective school system, where admission is restricted on the basis of a selection criteria. The term is commonly used in relation to the United...
s (Mount's Bay and Humphry Davy School
Humphry Davy School
Humphry Davy School is a comprehensive school in Penzance, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom.-Admissions:The school teaches 11-16 year olds. In 2005 it gained specialist status, as a Music College...
) and one Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
independent school (Bolitho School). Bolitho School was founded in the early 1990s following the financial collapse of the former School of St. Clare. Post 16 education is catered for by Penwith College, founded in 1981 from the sixth form departments of the former Penzance Girls' Grammar School
Grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
and the Humphry Davy Grammar School. Throughout the Penzance parish there are 8 primary schools, including the newly created Pensans Primary School which was formed in 2006 from the former Penzance Junior School
Junior school
A junior school is a type of school which caters for children, often between the ages of 7 and 11.-Australia:In Australia, a junior school is usually a part of a private school that educates children between the ages of 5 and 12....
and the Lescudjack Infants School. There is also a special educational needs school within the parish boundary named Nancealverne.
Festivals
Every June since 1991 the Golowan FestivalGolowan Festival
Golowan is the Cornish language word for the Midsummer celebrations in Cornwall, UK: widespread prior to the late 19th century and most popular in the Penwith area and in particular Penzance and Newlyn...
(which includes Mazey Day) has been held in the town.
Before the 1930s Penzance was the scene of large May Day celebrations
West Cornwall May Day Celebrations
The West Cornwall May Day celebrations are an example of folk practices found in the western part of Cornwall, United Kingdom, associated with the coming of spring. The celebration of May Day is a common motif throughout Europe and beyond. In Cornwall there are a number of notable examples of this...
, which saw local children making and using tin 'May horns' and 'May whistles'; a small revival of these traditions took place on 4 May 2008. The Feast Day of Corpus Christi
Corpus Christi (feast)
Corpus Christi is a Latin Rite solemnity, now designated the solemnity of The Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ . It is also celebrated in some Anglican, Lutheran and Old Catholic Churches. Like Trinity Sunday and the Solemnity of Christ the King, it does not commemorate a particular event in...
was also celebrated in Penzance. The Corpus Christi fair has been a long-standing event in the town, and is currently undergoing attempts to revive it in a more traditional format.
Allantide
Allantide is a Cornish festival that was traditionally celebrated on 31 October elsewhere known as Hallowe'en. The festival itself seems to have pre-Christian origins similar to most celebrations on this date, however in Cornwall it was popularly linked to St Allen or Arlan a little known Cornish...
, a Cornish version of Halloween, was also a popular activity in the town. Many of these customs were recorded by local antiquarian M. A. Courtney
Margaret Ann Courtney
Margaret Ann Courtney was an author resident in Penzance, Cornwall, UK in the late 19th century. M. A. Courtney is best known for her book Cornish feasts and folklore , first published in 1890...
and have influenced historical views of traditional Cornish cultural activities.
In October 2010 the first full festival of music and the arts - The Penzance Proms - was held (23–31 October)
Every December Penzance holds the Montol Festival
Montol Festival
The Montol Festival is an annual heritage, arts and community festival in Penzance, Cornwall held between the 16th and 22nd of December each year. The festival is a revival or reinterpretation of many of the traditional Cornish midwinter customs & Christmas traditions formerly practiced in and...
a community arts event reviving many of the Cornish customs of Christmas, including Guise dancing
Guise Dancing
Guise dancing is a folk practice celebrated between Christmas Day and Twelfth Night in Cornwall, UK...
.
Music and theatre
Penzance is the home of the pirates in Gilbert and SullivanGilbert and Sullivan
Gilbert and Sullivan refers to the Victorian-era theatrical partnership of the librettist W. S. Gilbert and the composer Arthur Sullivan . The two men collaborated on fourteen comic operas between 1871 and 1896, of which H.M.S...
's comic opera
Comic opera
Comic opera denotes a sung dramatic work of a light or comic nature, usually with a happy ending.Forms of comic opera first developed in late 17th-century Italy. By the 1730s, a new operatic genre, opera buffa, emerged as an alternative to opera seria...
, The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance
The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...
. At the time the libretto was written, 1879, Penzance had become popular as a peaceful resort town, so the very idea of it being overrun by pirates was amusing.
Penzance is home to the Acorn Arts Centre, sited within a former Methodist chapel. This provides a mixture of theatre, film, dance music and cabaret and is partially public funded. The Savoy is an independent cinema located in the town which opened in 1912 and was originally named the Victoria Hall Music Hall, The Savoy is one of the locations of performances sponsored by the Penwith Film Society (an arts cinema society based in the Penwith area). It is reputedly the oldest continuously used cinema in Britain. Prior to World War II, Penzance was also home to a further 3 cinemas and at least 2 theatres, one of which, the Pavilion Theatre, is now home to an amusement arcade.
Art galleries
Penzance is home to the new Newlyn Art GalleryNewlyn 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...
establishment "The Exchange" which opened in 2007. Penzance is also the home of Penlee House, an art gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
and museum
Museum
A museum is an institution that cares for a collection of artifacts and other objects of scientific, artistic, cultural, or historical importance and makes them available for public viewing through exhibits that may be permanent or temporary. Most large museums are located in major cities...
notable for its collection of painting
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
s by members of the 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...
. Within Penzance town centre there are a growing number of commercial art galleries.
Religion
As in other Cornish towns, MethodismMethodism
Methodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
is the predominant Christian denomination. Prior to the 1980s Penzance had six Methodist churches, but this number has now been reduced to two, Chapel Street and High Street. There are Methodist Churches in most of the surrounding villages including Newlyn's Trinity Methodist which operates The Centre, a busy multi-use church and community facility. Penzance is also home to a Salvation Army
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army is a Protestant Christian church known for its thrift stores and charity work. It is an international movement that currently works in over a hundred countries....
citadel, a Roman Catholic church, two Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
parish churches (formerly three), a Christadelphian meeting hall, two Evangelical
Evangelicalism
Evangelicalism is a Protestant Christian movement which began in Great Britain in the 1730s and gained popularity in the United States during the series of Great Awakenings of the 18th and 19th century.Its key commitments are:...
independent churches, the Penwith pagan
Paganism
Paganism is a blanket term, typically used to refer to non-Abrahamic, indigenous polytheistic religious traditions....
moot, an independent Baptist
Baptist
Baptists comprise a group of Christian denominations and churches that subscribe to a doctrine that baptism should be performed only for professing believers , and that it must be done by immersion...
church and a Buddhist meditation group.
St Mary's Church was built in 1832–35, St Paul's (now closed) in 1843 and St John's in 1881. Penzance was formerly in the parish of Madron
Madron
Madron is a civil parish and village in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a large rural parish on the Penwith peninsula north of Penzance.Madron village is situated approximately two miles northwest of Penzance town centre....
St Mary's parish was established in 1871 and St Paul's in 1869. Two medieval chapels are known to have existed before the Reformation.
Sport
Penzance is the home of Cornwall's most successful rugby team, the Cornish PiratesCornish Pirates
The Cornish Pirates are an English professional rugby union team who play in the Championship, the second level of the English rugby union pyramid, and are the premier Cornish rugby club. Formerly known as Penzance & Newlyn Pirates, the Cornish Pirates play their home games and train at their...
(Penzance and Newlyn RFC). The Championship side relocated to Truro
Kenwyn Rugby Ground
The Kenwyn Ground was a temporary rugby ground, in Cornwall, UK, built in an attempt to increase the fan base of the newly named Cornish Pirates. The move was controversial and caused resentment from some members and followers of Penzance and Newlyn RFC, as a “proud local name” was lost to the...
in 2005 in a bid to reach the Premiership and was renamed as the Cornish Pirates. In 2006 the side moved again, this time to the home ground of Camborne
Camborne
Camborne is a town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is at the western edge of a conurbation comprising Camborne, Pool and Redruth....
Rugby Club, before returning to Penzance in 2010 to play at the Mennaye Field
Mennaye Field
Mennaye Field is a sports stadium located in Penzance, Cornwall. The ground was provided by the Borough of Penzance for the Penzance and Newlyn RFC formed on Tuesday, 12th December, 1944 with the amalgamation of Penzance RFC and Newlyn RFC. The current tennants are the Cornish Pirates rugby union...
. Last season (2010-11)
2010–11 RFU Championship
- Group A :- Group B :- Group C :* * Refers to number of points awarded before the start of the play-offs.- Semi-finals :----- Final :----- Top try scorers :- Top points scorers :...
the club lost to Worcester Warriors in the play-off final for promotion to the top tier of English rugby.
Penzance was the home of Mount's Bay RFC
Mount's Bay RFC
Mounts Bay RFC were a Cornish rugby club formed in December 1999 based in Penzance, UK and folded in July 2009. Initially formed as an offshoot from Penzance and Newlyn RFC the club operated as an independent club. Mounts Bay were promoted at the end of the 2007-08 season and competed in National...
, founded in 1999, originally as a team for local players who could not play for the professional Cornish Pirates. They won promotion seven times in eight seasons to reach the third tier
National League 1
National League 1, , is the third level of domestic rugby union competition in England.This is the lowest level of the English rugby union league system which is nationwide...
of English rugby before folding in 2009 due to financial problems. The Pirates Amateurs RFC ended their first season in second place in the Tribute Cornwall One
2010–11 Cornwall League 1
The Cornwall League 1 2010–11 was a full season of rugby union within Cornwall League 1.-Team changes:Veor promoted as champions and Pirates Amateurs promoted to the Tribute Cornwall/Devon League, after beating Wessex in the playoff. St Day, Perranporth, Illogan Park, St Agnes, and Redruth Albany...
and won promotion to Tribute Cornwall/Devon
Tribute Cornwall/Devon
Tribute Cornwall/Devon League is an English level eight Rugby Union league for clubs mainly based in Cornwall and Devon. The Champions and runners-up are promoted to Tribute Western Counties West...
for 2011–12 season. They also won the Cornwall Clubs Cup.
Penzance A.F.C. play in the Carlsberg South West Peninsula League
South West Peninsula League
The South West Peninsula League is a league of football clubs in England, which was formed in 2007 from the merger of the Devon County League and the South Western League...
Premier Division and are currently managed by Gary Marks with Wayne Quinn
Wayne Quinn
Wayne Quinn is an English ex-professional football player who played as a defender.He started his career at Sheffield United, breaking into their first team in 1997. In 2001 he was loaned to Newcastle United, who later purchased him for £800,000...
(Newcastle Utd and Sheffield United) as chief coach and captain. The Reserve team play in the Jolly's Cornwall Combination League
Cornwall Combination
The Cornwall Combination League is a football competition based in the Western half of Cornwall, England in the United Kingdom, formed in 1959....
and are managed by Alan Spencer-Smith. Penzance was one of the original clubs of the Cornwall County Football Association
Cornwall County Football Association
The Cornwall County Football Association, also known as the Cornwall FA, is the governing body of football in the county of Cornwall. Formed in 1889, they are responsible for the administration, control, promotion and development of football at all levels throughout the county.-Organisation:The...
, the others being Porthcurno, Truro, Probus School, Torpoint, Liskeard, Dunheved College and Millbrook.
Former England and Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
cricketer Jack Richards
Jack Richards
Jack Richards is an English former cricketer, who played in eight Tests and twenty two ODIs for England from 1981 to 1988...
(born Clifton James Richards) was born in Penzance. He played eight test matches and was the wicket keeper during England's 1986 Ashes win in Australia. He learnt his cricket with the Humphry Davy Grammar School
Humphry Davy School
Humphry Davy School is a comprehensive school in Penzance, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom.-Admissions:The school teaches 11-16 year olds. In 2005 it gained specialist status, as a Music College...
and Penzance Cricket Club. The cricket club was founded in 1829 and are Cornwall’s most successful club having been champions on 23 occasions and have had more players play for Cornwall than any other club. The club currently plays in the second tier of the Cornwall Cricket League
Cornwall Cricket League
The Cornwall Cricket League is the top level of competition for recreational club cricket in Cornwall, England, and is a designated ECB Premier League.-Winners:...
.
Mounts Bay Harriers, a triathlon and running club founded in 2005 are based at Mounts Bay School, Heamoor. Athletes from the club participate at most road races and triathlons in Cornwall as well as many further afield.
The Mini Transat 6.50
Mini Transat 6.50
Mini Transat 6.50 also known as Transat 650 is a solo transatlantic yacht race that starts in France and ends in Brasil covering over 4000 miles with a stop in the Madeira or the Canary Islands. The yachts are very small with respect to the race, and are sanctioned by the organization...
(now the Transit 6.50) transatlantic yacht race started from Penzance (hosted by Penzance Sailing Club
Penzance Sailing Club
Penzance Sailing Club runs both dinghy and yacht sailing from its base in Penzance, Cornwall, UK. The club's clubhouse is located on the Albert Pier within Penzance harbour....
) from its conception in 1977 to the fourth edition of the race in 1983.
Media
The local newspaper is The CornishmanThe Cornishman
The Cornishman is a weekly newspaper based in Penzance, Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is published every Thursday.It formerly had a separate edition to cover the Isles of Scilly. However, it now just has one edition which covers the whole of the Penwith peninsula as well as the Isles of Scilly.It is...
, published weekly.
Both ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
(Westcountry Television
Westcountry Television
Westcountry Television, is the ITV franchise holder in the South West of England, replacing its predecessor, TSW , from the 1 January 1993...
) and BBC Radio Cornwall
BBC Radio Cornwall
BBC Radio Cornwall is the BBC Local Radio service for Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly in the United Kingdom. It broadcasts from its studios on Phoenix Wharf in Truro on 95.2 in the east, 96.0 on the Isles of Scilly and 103.9 in the west MHz FM, as well as on DAB.Andrew George, MP for St Ives, has...
have small news studios in the town.
The ILR station for Cornwall, Pirate FM
Pirate FM
Pirate FM is one of the Independent Local Radio stations for Cornwall, playing a range of music from the 1960's to the present day.-Background:...
, can be received in Penzance on 102.8 MHz FM
FM broadcasting
FM broadcasting is a broadcasting technology pioneered by Edwin Howard Armstrong which uses frequency modulation to provide high-fidelity sound over broadcast radio. The term "FM band" describes the "frequency band in which FM is used for broadcasting"...
.
Folklore
When the area between Marazion and Penzance was mainly marsh, people tended to avoid the Eastern Green because of the white lady. She would jump onto a horse (already with rider) and ride pillion as far as the red river, Chyandour; not the Red RiverRed River, Marazion
The Red River which discharges into the sea to the west of Marazion is one of two watercourses in Cornwall in southwest England, UK, which share this name....
at Marazion. Her identity and reasons for haunting are unknown. Mr William Richards of Chapel Street is reputed to be the last person to have seen her.
Notable residents past and present
Thandie Newton
Thandiwe Nashita "Thandie" Newton is a British actress. She has appeared in a number of British and American films, including The Pursuit of Happyness, Mission: Impossible II, Crash, Run, Fatboy, Run and W....
, model Jean Shrimpton
Jean Shrimpton
Jean Rosemary Shrimpton is an English model and actress. She was an icon of Swinging London and is considered to be one of the world's first supermodels....
and cricketer Jack Richards
Jack Richards
Jack Richards is an English former cricketer, who played in eight Tests and twenty two ODIs for England from 1981 to 1988...
(For a full list see List of notable residents of Penzance). Arguably Penzance's most famous son, though, was Sir Humphry Davy. Penzance was the birthplace of the Maria Branwell
Maria Branwell
Maria Branwell was the mother of English writers Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë and Charlotte Brontë, and their brother, the poet and painter Branwell Brontë.-Early life:...
, mother of three famous novelists — Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë
Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, the eldest of the three Brontë sisters who survived into adulthood, whose novels are English literature standards...
, Emily Brontë
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet, best remembered for her only novel, Wuthering Heights, now considered a classic of English literature. Emily was the third eldest of the four surviving Brontë siblings, between the youngest Anne and her brother...
and Anne Brontë
Anne Brontë
Anne Brontë was a British novelist and poet, the youngest member of the Brontë literary family.The daughter of a poor Irish clergyman in the Church of England, Anne Brontë lived most of her life with her family at the parish of Haworth on the Yorkshire moors. For a couple of years she went to a...
.
Sir Humphry Davy
Penzance was the birthplace of the famous chemist Sir Humphry DavyHumphry Davy
Sir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet FRS MRIA was a British chemist and inventor. He is probably best remembered today for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine...
. Davy was President of the Royal Society
Royal Society
The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, known simply as the Royal Society, is a learned society for science, and is possibly the oldest such society in existence. Founded in November 1660, it was granted a Royal Charter by King Charles II as the "Royal Society of London"...
and invented the process of electrolysis
Electrolysis
In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a method of using a direct electric current to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction...
; was the first person to isolate sodium
Sodium
Sodium is a chemical element with the symbol Na and atomic number 11. It is a soft, silvery-white, highly reactive metal and is a member of the alkali metals; its only stable isotope is 23Na. It is an abundant element that exists in numerous minerals, most commonly as sodium chloride...
; was the first person to discover laughing gas; as well as proving (with Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday
Michael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
) that diamonds are made of pure carbon. Today he is possibly best known as the inventor of the Miner's Safety Lamp, or Davy Lamp
Davy lamp
The Davy lamp is a safety lamp with a wick and oil vessel burning originally a heavy vegetable oil, devised in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It was created for use in coal mines, allowing deep seams to be mined despite the presence of methane and other flammable gases, called firedamp or minedamp.Sir...
. There is a statue of Davy at the top of Market Jew Street, near the house in which he was born. One of Penzance's secondary schools is also named after the scientist, and runs as a music and maths community college. http://www.humphry-davy.cornwall.sch.uk/. Robert Dunkin, a Penzance sadler and maker of scientific instruments taught Davy the basis of practical science.
Twinning
Penzance is twinnedTown twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...
with the following towns: Concarneau
Concarneau
Concarneau is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France.The town has two distinct areas: the modern town on the mainland and the medieval Ville Close, a walled town on a long island in the centre of the harbour. Historically, the old town was a centre of shipbuilding...
in Brittany
Brittany
Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
, France, Bendigo
Bendigo, Victoria
Bendigo is a major regional city in the state of Victoria, Australia, located very close to the geographical centre of the state and approximately north west of the state capital Melbourne. It is the second largest inland city and fourth most populous city in the state. The estimated urban...
in Australia, and Nevada City, California
Nevada City, California
-2010:The 2010 United States Census reported that Nevada City had a population of 3,068. The population density was 1,399.7 people per square mile . The racial makeup of Nevada City was 2,837 White, 26 African American, 28 Native American, 46 Asian, 0 Pacific Islander, 40 from other races,...
in the USA. From 1967 to 1974 and again since 1 April 2009, Penzance has been twinned with Cuxhaven in Germany. Between 1974 and 2009 this twinning arrangement was passed to the now defunct Penwith
Penwith
Penwith was a local government district in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, whose council was based in Penzance. The district covered all of the Penwith peninsula, the toe-like promontory of land at the western end of Cornwall and which included an area of land to the east that fell outside the...
District Council.
See also
- HMS PenzanceHMS PenzanceThere have been four ships of the Royal Navy name HMS Penzance, named for the port of Penzance in Cornwall. The ships motto is Diligenter Pensa .* The first Penzance was a frigate of 1665...
- List of topics related to Cornwall
- The Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of PenzanceThe Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences...