Penzance (Cornish: Pensans) is a civil parish and port town in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England. Granted various Royal Charters from 1512 onwards and Incorporated in 1614 Penzance Charter of Incorporation 9th May 1614, Held by Penzance Town Council , it has a population of 21,168 people and is currently Penwith's principal town. It is twinned with Concarneau, Brittany; Bendigo, Australia; and Nevada City, California.

Situated in the shelter of the Mount's Bay, the town faces southeast onto the English Channel, is bordered to the west by the fishing port of Newlyn and stretches towards the small town of Marazion in the east. The town's location gives it a subtropical climate that is warmer than most of the rest of Britain.

History

Early history

Evidence of iron age settlement can be found in Penzance in a number of sites including Lescudjak Castle, an iron age settlement within the current Penzance parish boundaries.
More than a millennium ago, a chapel, St. Anthony's, stood on the headland to the west of what became Penzance harbour, and it is from this that Penzance derived its name; the Cornish pen sans means "holy headland". 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 [2] of Penzance and on several important landmarks in the town. The only remaining object from this chapel is a carved figure which is now largely eroded known as 'St. Raffidy' which can be found in the church yard of the parish church of Penzance St. Mary's near the original site of the chapel.

Further evidence of historical settlement from this period can be found in the St Clare area of the town, where a chapel not unlike St Anthony's existed dedicated to St. Clare or Cleer. Throughout the period prior to Penzance gaining Borough status in 1614 the village and surrounding areas fell within the control of the Manor of Alverton and was subject to the taxation regime of that manor.

Although the first historical mention of Penzance (as a place for landing fish) was in 1322 Extent of the property held by the Manor of Alverton and accounts transcribed by Mr Paul BRand from the original held at the public record office , the town was, until fairly recently, overshadowed by its near-neighbour Marazion. (Marazion was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1088 and is the oldest chartered town in Britain, having been granted this status by King Henry III in 1257.) In medieval times and later Penzance was subject to frequent raiding by Barbary pirates Canon Diggens Archive 1910 . The name of one of Penzance's oldest buildings 'The Turk's Head' pub is said to be a reference to these incidents, however there is no written evidence to this effect.

The Spanish Raid of 1595

Being at the far west of England, Penzance and the surrounding villages have been sacked many times by foreign fleets. In 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. A detailed description of the Spanish raid of 1595 can be found here.

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 granted the town a Royal Market Grant of Market to Thomas Lord Berkley 8th April 1404 Henry VIII later granting the right to charge harbour dues Grant of harbour dues Henry VIII 16th March 1512 and King James I granted it the status of a borough. During this later period the Penzance borough council undertook several major projects that have left the town with many of the landmarks that are present there today, including the building of the Market House (which was the home of the corn exchange and the then guildhall), and the present day harbour (which was funded by several acts of parliament throughout the 19th century). 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 Victorian times, when the church of St. Mary was granted parish status by church authorities. By 1801 the town had a population of 3,382, more than three times that of Marazion. Its success was sealed by the decision by the West Cornwall Railway to build its western terminus close to the harbour (completed 1852), The West Cornwall Railway was ultimately bought by Great Western Railway in 1866 which resulted in the broad gauge system being extended to Penzance allowing direct services to London for the first time.

During this period Penzance is also claimed to be the place where the death of Admiral Lord Nelson was first announced, following the interception of the returning HMS Pickle by local fishermen.

Sir Humphry Davy

Penzance was the birth place of the famous chemist Sir Humphry Davy. Davy was President of the Royal Society and invented the process of electrolysis, was the first person to isolate sodium, 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 [3].

Mining

Following Sir Humphry Davy's contribution to the mining industry, The Miners' Association 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 Metallipherous 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. Penzance for from 1663 Coinage charter granted by Charles II 18th August 1663 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 PAS Pool History of the Borough and Town of Penzance 1974 page 74. 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 sub-marine mine situated off the coast of the town next to the area known as Wherrytown. The mine known as 'Wheal' Wherry was worked from the period 1778 to 1798 and again from 1836 to 1840.

Transport

Penzance is located approximately 5 miles from the end of the A30 and 300 miles or 5 hours by car from London. This route is covered by a National Express coach service, which runs between Penzance and London Victoria via Heathrow Airport. Local bus services run by First Western National connect Penzance directly with most major settlements in Cornwall, including Truro, St Ives, St Just, St Buryan, Lands End and Plymouth.

Penzance railway station is situated at the western terminus of the Great Western Main Line, and rail services are divided between two train companies. First Great Western provides local services to nearby St Ives via the St Ives Bay Line as well as direct connections linking Penzance with Plymouth, Bath, Bristol, Newport and Cardiff. Intercity services are provided both by First Great Western, connecting Penzance with London Paddington, and Virgin Trains who run services to Manchester via the West Coast Mainline and also direct services to Edinburgh Waverly and Glasgow Central via Birmingham, Sheffield, York, Leeds and Newcastle upon Tyne.

A ferry service is in operation between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly via The Scillonian III, transporting both foot-passengers and cargo. Sailing time is approximately two hours and forty minutes.

Penzance's closest airports are in Newquay for flights to Gatwick and Stansted, and Plymouth, which connects with Gatwick, Bristol, Dublin and Manchester. Additionally, Penzance itself maintains a passenger helicopter service to the Isles of Scilly[4] that takes approximately 20 minutes. Lastly, a bus service run by the Skybus Airline service connects with Lands End Aerodrome for fixed wing flights (15 minutes) to The Isles of Scilly. This service operates from the railway station, near the taxi ranks, and not the bus station.

Local Government

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. In 1974 the borough was abolished and replaced, first by the Penzance Charter Trustees and then from 1980 by Penzance Town Council. The principal local authorities in the area are now Penwith District Council and Cornwall County Council. For the purposes of election to the Cornwall County Council, Penzance returns 3 councillors to the Penzance Electoral Division.

See Also
*List of Mayors of Penzance.

Economy

The economy of Penzance has like many Cornish communities suffered from the decline of the traditional Cornish 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 within the parish area. 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.

Environment

Large sections of the Penzance Parish are classified as conservation areas under the Penwith local plan [5] 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.

Places of interest

Places of interest in Penzance include:
* Penlee House, an art gallery and museum notable for its collection of paintings by members of the Newlyn School.
* The sub-tropical Morrab Gardens, notable for their range of tender trees and shrubs, many of which cannot be grown outdoors anywhere else in the UK.
* Regency and Georgian terraces and houses.
* Chapel Street, Penzance's former main street, featuring the Egyptian House, The Union Hotel (the site of a Georgian theatre), The Turks Head Inn, The Admiral Benbow pub and The Branwell House, where the mother and aunt of the famous Brontë sisters once lived. Chapel Street is reputed to be the second most haunted street in Great Britain {fact}.

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.

Culture

Every June since 1991, the Golowan Festival (which includes Mazey Day) has been held in the town. Before the 1930's Penzance was the scene of large May Day celebrations, which saw local children making and using tin 'May horns' and 'May whistles'. 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.

Penzance is the home of the pirates in Gilbert and Sullivan's play The Pirates of Penzance. At the time the play was written, 1879, Penzance had long been a peaceful town, so the very idea of it being overrun by pirates was amusing.

Musician Patrick Wolf has a song entitled Penzance.

Notable residents past and present

*John Noble Barlow
*Andrew Ketcham Barnett
*William Colenso
*Sir Humphry Davy
*John Davy (chemist)
*John Divane
*Martin Fido
*John Forbes (physician)
*Simon A. Forward
*Norman Garstin
*Jan Harvey
*William Jory Henwood
*Thomas Holloway
*Caroline Jackson MEP
*John Luke
*Daniel Mannix
*Francis Polkinghorne Pascoe
*Edward Pellew, 1st Viscount Exmouth
*Jack Richards
*Jean Shrimpton
*John Coulson Tregarthen
*George Marsden Waterhouse

Sport

Penzance was, until recently, the home of Cornwall's most successful rugby team, the Penzance Pirates (Penzance and Newlyn RFC). The National Division 1 side relocated to Truro in 2005 in a bid to reach the Premiership and was renamed as the Cornish Pirates.

Former England and Surrey cricketer Jack Richards (born Clifton James Richards) was born in Penzance. Although he only played 8 test matches, Richards was the wicket keeper during England's Ashes win in 1986.

There are some claims that a local variant form of Cornish Hurling played in Penzance was influential in the development of the rules of Rugby, however this is entirely unsubstantiated.

Penzance: Encyclopedia BETA

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Penzance