Duck pond and bus stop at Polgigga - geograph

Polgigga (or Poljigga) is a hamlet in west

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England, United Kingdom, on the B3315

Land's End Land's End ( kw, Penn an Wlas or ''Pedn an Wlas'') is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, on the Penwith peninsula about west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is ...

Penzance Penzance ( ; kw, Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about west-southwest of Plymouth and west-southwest of London. Situated ...

road and within the civil parish of

St Levan St Levan ( kw, Selevan) is a civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish is rural with a number of hamlets of varying size with Porthcurno probably being the best known. Hewn out of the cliff at Minack Point and overlooking the ...

. Polgigga is west of Penzance and east of Land's End. The hamlet used to be home to its own

winery A winery is a building or property that produces wine, or a business involved in the production of wine, such as a wine company. Some wine companies own many wineries. Besides wine making equipment, larger wineries may also feature warehouses, ...

and a blacksmith's and is now almost entirely residential. The poet and writer

Dylan Thomas Dylan Marlais Thomas (27 October 1914 – 9 November 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer whose works include the poems "Do not go gentle into that good night" and "And death shall have no dominion", as well as the "play for voices" ''Under ...

lived here for a short period in 1936. Nearby settlements include Trebehor,

Trethewey ''For people with the surname, see Trethewey (surname).'' Trethewey ( kw, Tredhewi) is a hamlet in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It forms part of St Levan civil parish.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' The villag ...

and Bottoms.

Toponymy

Polgigga (or Poljigga) is mentioned in 1327 as Pensiger, meaning ''head of a stream called Syger''. "Syger" in Cornish means ''lazy'', in this case a slow moving stream. Alternatively "pol" is Cornish for ''pool'' and "legegas" is Cornish for ''

heifer Heifer may refer to: * Heifer (cow), a young cow before she has had her first calf * Frank Heifer (1854–1893), American outfielder and first baseman * '' The Heifer'' (''La vaquilla''), 1985 Spanish comedy film * Heifer International Heifer ...

'', referring to the small pond near the Vineries.

History

At the time of the Tithe Apportionments in 1838 the parish of St Levan consisted of dispersed farming hamlets such as nearby Trebehor and Trethrewy. Apart from Trebehor Cottages, Polgigga did not exist.

Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas first came to Cornwall in April, 1936 and stayed at Polgigga, describing the cottage he lived in as ″''We live here in a cottage in a field, with a garden full of

ferret The ferret (''Mustela furo'') is a small, Domestication, domesticated species belonging to the family Mustelidae. The ferret is most likely a domesticated form of the wild European polecat (''Mustela putorius''), evidenced by their Hybrid (biol ...

s and bees. Every time you go to the garden lavatory, you are in danger of being bitten or stung.''″ His dislike of country life, shortage of money and his wish to see his future wife,

Caitlin Macnamara Caitlin Thomas (née Macnamara; 8 December 1913 – 31 July 1994) was an author and the wife of the poet and writer Dylan Thomas. Their marriage was a stormy affair, fuelled by alcohol and infidelity, though the couple remained together until D ...

, led him to return to

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

in June of the same year.

References

External links

Penwith Villages in Cornwall {{Penwith-geo-stub