St Ives ( kw, Porth Ia, meaning " St Ia's cove") is a seaside
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
,
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...
and port in
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
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
. The town lies north of
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 ...
and west of
Camborne
Camborne ( kw, Kammbronn) is a town in Cornwall, England. The population at the 2011 Census was 20,845. The northern edge of the parish includes a section of the South West Coast Path, Hell's Mouth and Deadman's Cove.
Camborne was formerl ...
on the coast of the
Celtic Sea
The Celtic Sea ; cy, Y Môr Celtaidd ; kw, An Mor Keltek ; br, Ar Mor Keltiek ; french: La mer Celtique is the area of the Atlantic Ocean off the southern coast of Ireland bounded to the east by Saint George's Channel; other limits includ ...
. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial emphasis, and the town is now primarily a popular
seaside resort
A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...
, notably achieving the title of Best UK Seaside Town from the British Travel Awards in both 2010 and 2011. St Ives was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1639. St Ives has become renowned for its number of artists. It was named best seaside town of 2007 by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' newspaper.
History
Early history
The origin of St Ives is attributed in legend to the arrival of the Irish saint
Ia of Cornwall
Saint Ia of Cornwall (also known as ''Eia'', ''Hia'' or ''Hya'') was an evangelist and martyr of the 5th or 6th centuries in Cornwall. She is said to have been an Irish princess, the sister of Erc of Slane and a student of Saint Baricus.
Legen ...
, in the 5th century. The parish church bears her name, and the name St Ives derives from it.
The Sloop Inn
The Sloop Inn is an inn in St Ives, Cornwall, England, located on the wharf. It is one of the oldest inns in Cornwall, the public house is dated to "circa 1312" although the present building was built in the 17th or 18th century. Made of grani ...
, which lies on the wharf was a fisherman's pub for many centuries and is dated to "circa 1312", making it one of the oldest inns in Cornwall. The town was the site of a particularly notable atrocity during the
Prayer Book Rebellion
The Prayer Book Rebellion or Western Rising was a popular revolt in Cornwall and Devon in 1549. In that year, the ''Book of Common Prayer'', presenting the theology of the English Reformation, was introduced. The change was widely unpopular, ...
of 1549. The English
provost marshal
Provost marshal is a title given to a person in charge of a group of Military Police (MP). The title originated with an older term for MPs, '' provosts'', from the Old French ''prévost'' (Modern French ''prévôt''). While a provost marshal i ...
,
Anthony Kingston
Sir Anthony Kingston (ca. 1508 – 14 April 1556) was an English royal official, holder of various positions under several Tudor monarchs.A.D.K. Hawkyard, 'Kingston, Anthony (by 1512-56), of Cadleigh, Devon and Painswick, Glos.', in S.T. Bind ...
, came to St Ives and invited the
portreeve
A portreeve ( ang, hæfenrēfa, sometimes spelled Port-reeve) or port warden is the title of a historical official in England and Wales possessing authority (political, administrative, or fiscal) over a town. The details of the office have fluctu ...
, John Payne, to lunch at an inn. He asked the portreeve to have the
gallows
A gallows (or scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended (i.e., hung) or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sacks ...
erected during the course of the lunch. Afterwards the portreeve and the Provost Marshal walked down to the gallows; the Provost Marshal then ordered the portreeve to mount the gallows. The portreeve was then
hanged
Hanging is the suspension of a person by a noose or ligature around the neck.Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. Hanging as method of execution is unknown, as method of suicide from 1325. The ''Oxford English Dictionary'' states that hanging in ...
for being a "busy rebel".
The seal of St Ives is ''Argent, an ivy branch overspreading the whole field Vert'', with the legend ''Sigillum Burgi St Ives in Com. Cornub. 1690''.
During the Spanish Armada of 1597, two Spanish ships, a bark and a
pinnace
Pinnace may refer to:
* Pinnace (ship's boat), a small vessel used as a tender to larger vessels among other things
* Full-rigged pinnace
The full-rigged pinnace was the larger of two types of vessel called a pinnace in use from the sixteenth c ...
, had made their way to St Ives to seek shelter from the storm which had dispersed the Spanish fleet. They were captured by the English warship ''Warspite'' of Sir
Walter Raleigh
Sir Walter Raleigh (; – 29 October 1618) was an English statesman, soldier, writer and explorer. One of the most notable figures of the Elizabethan era, he played a leading part in English colonisation of North America, suppressed rebellion ...
leaking from the same storm. The information given by the prisoners was vital on learning the Armada's objectives.
Later history
Pedn Olva Mine, a former copper mine, at Pedn Olva Point
adit
An adit (from Latin ''aditus'', entrance) is an entrance to an underground mine which is horizontal or nearly horizontal, by which the mine can be entered, drained of water, ventilated, and minerals extracted at the lowest convenient level. Adits ...
, operated in St Ives before 1911, when the engine house on Pedn Olva Point was demolished, now the site of the Pedn Olva Hotel.
The modern seaside resort developed as a result of the arrival of the St Ives Bay branch line from
St Erth
St Erth ( kw, Lannudhno) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England.
St Erth takes its name from Saint Erc, one of the many Irish saints who brought Christianity to Cornwall during the Dark Ages, and is at the old crossing point of th ...
, part of the
Great Western Railway
The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...
in 1877. With it came a new generation of Victorian seaside holidaymakers. Much of the town was built during the latter part of the 19th century. The railway, which winds along the cliffs and bays, survived the
Beeching cuts
The Beeching cuts (also Beeching Axe) was a plan to increase the efficiency of the nationalised British Rail, railway system in Great Britain. The plan was outlined in two reports: ''The Reshaping of British Railways'' (1963) and ''The Develop ...
and has become a tourist attraction itself.
In 1952, the
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
warship
A warship or combatant ship is a naval ship that is built and primarily intended for naval warfare. Usually they belong to the armed forces of a state. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster a ...
ran aground near the town. The ship was later salvaged, repaired and returned to service. A
propeller
A propeller (colloquially often called a screw if on a ship or an airscrew if on an aircraft) is a device with a rotating hub and radiating blades that are set at a pitch to form a helical spiral which, when rotated, exerts linear thrust upon ...
believed to be from HMS ''Wave'' was washed ashore in 2008.
In 1999, the town was the first landfall of the solar eclipse of 11 August 1999. The
Tate St Ives
Tate St Ives is an art gallery in St Ives, Cornwall, England, exhibiting work by modern British artists with links to the St Ives area. The Tate also took over management of another museum in the town, the Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture ...
displayed an exhibition called ''As Dark as Light'', with art by Yuko Shiraishi,
Garry Fabian Miller
Garry Fabian Miller HonFRPS (born 1957) is a British photographic artist. Since the 1986, he has specialised in camera-less photography. His work was exhibited at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2005, at the Rencontres d'Arles in th ...
and local schoolchildren, to celebrate the event. A live
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
programme with the astronomer
Patrick Moore
Sir Patrick Alfred Caldwell-Moore (; 4 March 1923 – 9 December 2012) was an English amateur astronomer who attained prominence in that field as a writer, researcher, radio commentator and television presenter.
Moore was president of the Brit ...
was clouded out and the eclipse was missed.
Fishing
From medieval times fishing was important at St Ives; it was one of the most important fishing ports on the north Cornish coast. The original pier's construction date is unknown but the first reference to St Ives having a pier was in 1478 in William Worcester's 'Itinerary'. The pier was re-built by
John Smeaton
John Smeaton (8 June 1724 – 28 October 1792) was a British civil engineer responsible for the design of bridges, canals, harbours and lighthouses. He was also a capable mechanical engineer and an eminent physicist. Smeaton was the fir ...
between 1766 and 1770 after falling into disrepair. It was lengthened at a later date. The octagonal lookout with a cupola belongs to Smeaton's design.
A. K. Hamilton Jenkin
Alfred Kenneth Hamilton Jenkin (29 October 1900 – 20 August 1980) was a British historian with a particular interest in Cornish mining, publishing ''The Cornish Miner'', now a classic, in 1927.
Birth and education
He was born in Redruth on ...
describes how the St Ives fisherman strictly observed Sunday as a day of rest. St Ives was a very busy fishing port and
seining
Seine fishing (or seine-haul fishing; ) is a method of fishing that employs a surrounding net, called a seine, that hangs vertically in the water with its bottom edge held down by weights and its top edge buoyed by floats. Seine nets can be de ...
was the usual method of fishing. Seining was carried out by a set of three boats of different sizes, the largest two carrying seine nets of different sizes. The total number of crew was seventeen or eighteen. However this came to an end in 1924. In the decade 1747–1756 the total number of pilchards dispatched from the four principal Cornish ports of Falmouth,
Fowey
Fowey ( ; kw, Fowydh, meaning 'Beech Trees') is a port town and civil parish at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town has been in existence since well before the Norman invasion, with the local ch ...
,
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 ...
, and St Ives averaged 30,000
hogshead
A hogshead (abbreviated "hhd", plural "hhds") is a large cask of liquid (or, less often, of a food commodity). More specifically, it refers to a specified volume, measured in either imperial or US customary measures, primarily applied to alcoho ...
s annually (making a total of 900 million fish). Much greater catches were achieved in 1790 and 1796. In 1847 the exports of pilchards from Cornwall amounted to 40,883 hogsheads or 122 million fish while the greatest number ever taken in one seine was 5,600 hogsheads at St Ives in 1868. The bulk of the catch was exported to Italy: for example, in 1830, 6400 hogsheads were sent to Mediterranean ports. From 1829 to 1838, the yearly average for this trade was 9,000 hogsheads.
While commercial fishing is much reduced, the harbour is still in use, often for recreational boating, tourist fishing and day trips to the nearby seal colonies on the Carrack Rocks and other locations along the coast. Recently, a class of Victorian fishing boat unique to St Ives, known as a "jumbo," has been replicated by boatbuilder Jonny Nance to celebrate the town's maritime heritage. Today's jumbos are operated by the St Ives Jumbo Association.
Lifeboat
The first
lifeboat
Lifeboat may refer to:
Rescue vessels
* Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape
* Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues
* Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen
...
was stationed in the town in 1840. In 1867 the
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) is the largest charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands, and the Isle of Man, as well as on some inland waterways. It i ...
(RNLI) built a boathouse at Porthgwidden beach. It proved to be a difficult site to launch from, and in 1867 it was replaced by a building in Fore Street. In 1911 a new boathouse was built on the Quay, and then in 1993 a larger station was built at the landward end of the West Pier. Since its inception in 1839, thirty eight RNLI medals have been awarded to rescuers from St Ives, 18 silver medals and 20 bronze.
Seven crewmen died in the St Ives lifeboat tragedy of 1939. In the early hours of 23 January 1939 there was a Force 10 storm blowing with gusts up to . The lifeboat ''John and Sara Eliza Stych'' was launched at 3 o'clock to search for a ship reported in trouble off
Cape Cornwall
Cape Cornwall ( kw, Kilgoodh Ust, meaning "goose back of St Just") is a small headland in West Cornwall, UK. It is four miles north of Land's End near the town of St Just.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Until the first O ...
. It rounded the Island where it met the full force of the storm as it headed westwards. It capsized three times and drifted across St Ives Bay when its propeller was fouled. The first time it turned over four men were lost; the second time one more; the third time left only one man alive. He scrambled ashore when the boat was wrecked on rocks near
Godrevy
Godrevy ( kw, Godrevi, meaning ''small farms'') ( ) is an area on the eastern side of St Ives Bay, west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, which faces the Atlantic Ocean. It is popular with both the surfing community and walkers. It is par ...
Point.
Sharks
On 28 July 2007 there was a suspected sighting of a
great white shark
The great white shark (''Carcharodon carcharias''), also known as the white shark, white pointer, or simply great white, is a species of large mackerel shark which can be found in the coastal surface waters of all the major oceans. It is nota ...
. The chairman of the
Shark Trust
The Shark Trust is a charitable organization founded in the United Kingdom in 1997. It is dedicated to promoting the study, management and conservation of sharks, skates and rays (elasmobranchs) in the UK and internationally.
TheTrust works on ...
said that "it was impossible to make a conclusive identification and that it could have also been either a
Mako
, better known by the mononym name Mako (sometimes stylised MAKO), is a Japanese voice actress, singer and a member of the band Bon-Bon Blanco, in which her prominent role is as the maraca player. She has also performed in a Japanese television d ...
or a
Porbeagle
The porbeagle (''Lamna nasus'') is a species of mackerel shark in the family Lamnidae, distributed widely in the cold and temperate marine waters of the North Atlantic and Southern Hemisphere. In the North Pacific, its ecological equivalent is ...
shark". Coastguards dismissed the claims as "scaremongering". On 14 June 2011 there was a suspected sighting of an
oceanic whitetip shark
The oceanic whitetip shark (''Carcharhinus longimanus''), also known as shipwreck shark, Brown Milbert's sand bar shark, brown shark, lesser white shark, nigano shark, oceanic white-tipped whaler, and silvertip shark, is a large pelagic requiem ...
; the Shark Trust said that the chances of the species being in British waters were "very small". On 18 July 2017 a suspected blue shark was spotted close to the harbour. On 16 July 2018, another blue shark was spotted in the harbour, prompting the Shark Trust to ask people to "give it plenty of space".
Geography
St Ives is on the western shore of St Ives Bay, its harbour sheltered by St Ives Island (a headland) and Smeaton's pier. Close to the harbour, in the old part of the town, the streets are narrow and uneven while its wider streets are in the newer parts of the town on rising ground. The town has four beaches: Porthmeor a surfing beach, Porthgwidden a small sandy cove, Harbour by the working port and Porthminster which has almost half a mile of sand. St Ives has an
oceanic climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...
and has some of the mildest winters and warmest summers in Britain and Northern Europe. It is therefore a popular tourist resort in the summer, and also benefits from an amount of sunshine per year that is above the national average. The
South West Coast Path
The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises a ...
passes through the town.
Tourism
St Ives has been a popular
tourist destination
A tourist attraction is a place of interest that Tourism, tourists visit, typically for its inherent or an exhibited natural or cultural value, historical significance, natural or built beauty, offering leisure and amusement.
Types
Places of ...
since the St Ives Bay Line opened in 1877, allowing visitors to easily get to the town. St Ives has been named the best UK seaside town by
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
in 2007, and by the British Travel Awards in 2010 and 2011. In 2020, St Ives was named the most expensive seaside resort in the UK. The town has the second highest visitor-related spend in the UK, with tourists spending £85 million per year. Around 540,000
day trip
A day trip is a visit to a tourist destination or visitor attraction from a person's home, hotel, or hostel in the morning, returning to the same lodging in the evening. The day trip is a form of recreational travel and leisure to a location tha ...
pers and 220,000 staying tourists visit St Ives every year, with the tourism industry accounting for around 2,800 jobs in the area.
Like in the rest of Cornwall, tourism has been criticised for bringing about problems in seasonal work and
affordable housing
Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on affo ...
in St Ives. In 2016, St Ives residents voted to ban second-home owners from buying new build housing, with 83% in favour. This came after average house prices in the town had been pushed up to over £320,000, almost 14 times the median annual earnings of someone in Cornwall. In 2019, the
Financial Times
The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...
reported that average house price was £351,800, saying that the new build policy had failed to stem the number of second homes. St Ives also faces a shortage of
rental
Renting, also known as hiring or letting, is an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property owned by another. A gross lease is when the tenant pays a flat rental amount and the landlord pays for al ...
s; in 2021, while there were over 1,000 properties in the town available for short-term holiday let, there was only one long-term house available to rent.
Politics and administration
St Ives' local government administration has a two-tier structure, consisting of St Ives Town Council and
Cornwall Council
Cornwall Council ( kw, Konsel Kernow) is the unitary authority for Cornwall in the United Kingdom, not including the Isles of Scilly, which has its own unitary council. The council, and its predecessor Cornwall County Council, has a tradition o ...
, both elected statutory bodies.
St Ives Town Council
The first tier of local government in St Ives is the Town Council, with a membership of 16 elected town councillors from three wards. The council is responsible for providing grant funding to local organisations, public footpaths, bus shelters, beach patrols, traffic control and allotments. It is a statutory body which is consulted regarding planning decisions in the town's area and makes recommendations to the planning authority, Cornwall Council. It is based at St Ives Guildhall.
Before 1974, St Ives Borough Council was the principal local authority for what now forms the civil parish of St Ives. Since the reform of local government in 1974, St Ives has an elected town council. The area overseen by the
Town Council
A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities.
Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions.
Republic of Ireland
Town Councils in the Republic of Ireland were the second ti ...
of St Ives includes
Lelant
Lelant ( kw, Lannanta) is a village in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the west side of the Hayle Estuary, about southeast of St Ives and one mile (1.6 km) west of Hayle.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' The vi ...
,
Carbis Bay
Carbis Bay (Cornish: ''Karrbons'', meaning "causeway") is a seaside resort and village in Cornwall, England. It lies southeast of St Ives, on the western coast of St Ives Bay, on the Atlantic coast. The South West Coast Path passes above th ...
, Halsetown and St Ives. The elected town council members also become charter trustees of the original borough charter (for the duration of their term in office) which dates back to 1639 entitling them to carry out various ceremonial functions such as appointing a Mayor, awarding
freedom of the borough
The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...
to individuals, representing the Borough at formal occasions such as
Remembrance Sunday
Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...
Coat of Arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
. Typically, the Mayor of the Town of St Ives is also the Mayor of the Borough of St Ives. However, most of the other principal local authority functions for St Ives were undertaken by
Penwith District Council
Penwith (; kw, Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after o ...
and the
Cornwall County Council
Cornwall County Council ( kw, Konteth Konsel Kernow) was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Cornwall in south west England. It came into its powers on 1 April 1889 and was abolished on 1 April 2009.
History
Cornwall County Counc ...
. From 1 April 2009 Penwith and the other five Cornish district councils were replaced by a unified council, Cornwall Council.
Cornwall Council
Like St Ives Town Council, Cornwall Council is a statutory body incorporated by Act of Parliament. Cornwall Council is the second tier of local government in the area and is a unitary authority with a far wider range of powers. The Council deals with roads, street lighting, highways, social services, children and family care, schools and public libraries. From 2009 to 2021, St Ives parish was covered by three divisions, so electing three of the 123 councillors on the council. Between 2009 and 2013, the parish was represented by the St Ives North, St Ives South and Lelant and Carbis Bay. From 2013 to 2021, it was covered by the St Ives East, St Ives West and Lelant and Carbis Bay divisions.
At the 2021 local elections, the number of councillors on Cornwall Council was decreased from 123 to 87. St Ives parish is currently covered by two of these divisions, St Ives West and Towednack and St Ives East, Lelant and Carbis Bay. Both divisions elect one councillor.
Ia of Cornwall
Saint Ia of Cornwall (also known as ''Eia'', ''Hia'' or ''Hya'') was an evangelist and martyr of the 5th or 6th centuries in Cornwall. She is said to have been an Irish princess, the sister of Erc of Slane and a student of Saint Baricus.
Legen ...
, an Irish holy woman of the 5th or 6th century, and
St Andrew
Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Peter ...
, the patron saint of fishermen. In 1408 the townsmen attempted to get a papal bull to authorise the consecration of their church and cemetery, but they did not achieve this, so they continued without the rights of baptism or burial. However, they undertook the building of the present church between 1410 and 1434 as a chapel of ease, St Ives being within the parish of Lelant. They were able to obtain the right to a font in 1428 but consecration of the cemetery only in 1542. For over a century the vicars of Lelant had resisted demands from the inhabitants of St Ives and Towednack for the right of sepulture but in 1542 the right was granted so the vicars transferred their residence to St Ives and abandoned the vicarage of Lelant. There was damage to the church in 1697 when a storm broke through the sea-wall and damaged the roof and a large window over the altar.
There are chapels dedicated to
St Nicholas
Saint Nicholas of Myra, ; la, Sanctus Nicolaus (traditionally 15 March 270 – 6 December 343), also known as Nicholas of Bari, was an early Christian bishop of Greeks, Greek descent from the maritime city of Myra in Asia Minor (; modern-da ...
on the headland of St Ives Island and St Leonard on the quay which were used by the fishermen and have been converted for other uses. The former chapel of St Nicholas was partially demolished by the
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government responsible for the administration of the British Army between 1857 and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the new Ministry of Defence (MoD). This article contains text from ...
in 1904 but rebuilt in 1909, possibly by E. H. Sedding, from the old materials. It is plain and rectangular and has since been converted into the New Gallery.
The Roman Catholic Church of the
Sacred Heart
The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus ( la, Cor Jesu Sacratissimum) is one of the most widely practised and well-known Catholic devotions, wherein the heart of Jesus is viewed as a symbol of "God's boundless and passionate love for mankind". This devo ...
and St Ia was built in 1909 to a design by A J C Scoles. There are also two Methodist chapels, one in
Fore Street
"Fore Street" is a name often used for the main street of a town or village in Great Britain. Usage is prevalent in the south-west of England, with over seventy "Fore Streets" in Cornwall and about seventy-five in Devon, but it does also occur ...
of 1831, and another of 1845 higher up the valley, and a Congregational chapel of 1800.
James Whistler
James Abbott McNeill Whistler (; July 10, 1834July 17, 1903) was an American painter active during the American Gilded Age and based primarily in the United Kingdom. He eschewed sentimentality and moral allusion in painting and was a leading pr ...
and
Walter Sickert
Walter Richard Sickert (31 May 1860 – 22 January 1942) was a German-born British painter and printmaker who was a member of the Camden Town Group of Post-Impressionist artists in early 20th-century London. He was an important influence on d ...
visited on the improved railway.
Bernard Leach
Bernard Howell Leach (5 January 1887 – 6 May 1979), was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery".
Biography
Early years (Japan)
Leach was born in Hong Kong. His mother Eleanor (née ...
and
Shōji Hamada
was a Japanese potter. He had a significant influence on studio pottery of the twentieth century, and a major figure of the ''mingei'' (folk-art) movement, establishing the town of Mashiko, Tochigi, Mashiko as a world-renowned pottery centre. I ...
set up the
Leach Pottery
The Leach Pottery was founded in 1920 by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada in St Ives, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom.
The buildings grew from an old cow / tin-ore shed in the 19th century to a pottery in the 1920s with the addition of a two-stor ...
in 1920. Leach, who was a
studio potter
Studio pottery is pottery made by professional and amateur artists or artisans working alone or in small groups, making unique items or short runs. Typically, all stages of manufacture are carried out by the artists themselves.Emmanuel Cooper, ...
and art teacher and is known as the "Father of British studio pottery", learned pottery under the direction of Shigekichi Urano (Kenzan VI) in
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
where he also met Shōji Hamada. They promoted pottery from the point of view of Western and Eastern arts and philosophies. Leach produced work until 1972, and the
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
held an exhibition of his work in 1977. The Leach Pottery remains operational and houses a small museum showcasing work by Leach and his students.
In 1928, the Cornish artist
Alfred Wallis
Alfred Wallis (18 August 1855 – 29 August 1942) was a British fisherman and artist known for his port landscapes and shipping scenes painted in a naïve style. Having no artistic training, he began painting at the age of 70, using househol ...
and
Ben Nicholson
Benjamin Lauder Nicholson, Order of Merit, OM (10 April 1894 – 6 February 1982) was an English painter of abstract art, abstract compositions (sometimes in low relief), landscape and still-life.
Background and training
Nicholson was ...
and Christopher Wood met at St Ives and laid the foundation for the
St Ives School
The St Ives School refers to a group of artists living and working in the Cornish town of St Ives.Barbara Hepworth
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...
and
Naum Gabo
Naum Gabo, born Naum Neemia Pevsner (23 August 1977) (Hebrew: נחום נחמיה פבזנר), was an influential sculptor, theorist, and key figure in Russia's post-Revolution avant-garde and the subsequent development of twentieth-century scul ...
settled in St Ives, attracted by its beauty. In 1993, a branch of the
Tate Gallery
Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...
, the Tate St Ives, opened. The Tate has also owned the
Barbara Hepworth Museum
The Barbara Hepworth Museum and Sculpture Garden in St Ives, Cornwall preserves the 20th-century sculptor Barbara Hepworth's studio and garden much as they were when she lived and worked there. She purchased the site in 1949 and lived and work ...
and her
sculpture garden
A sculpture garden or sculpture park is an outdoor garden or park which includes the presentation of sculpture, usually several permanently sited works in durable materials in landscaped surroundings.
A sculpture garden may be private, owned by a ...
since 1980. The town attracted artists from overseas such as
Maurice Sumray
Maurice Sumray (1920-2004) was an English artist and engraver, based in St Ives, Cornwall, St Ives, Cornwall. Sumray was described by Wyndham Lewis in The Listener as one of the "best artists in England".
Major retrospective exhibitions of ...
who moved from
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 1968, and
Piet Mondrian
Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (), after 1906 known as Piet Mondrian (, also , ; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), was a Dutch painter and art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He is known for being ...
, and continues to do so today with younger artists such as Michael Polat, who took up residence there from his native Germany in 1999.
Before the 1940s, most artists in St Ives and West Cornwall belonged to the St Ives Society of Artists, but events in the late 1940s led to a dispute between the abstract and figurative artists in the group. In 1948, the abstract faction broke away to form the Penwith Society of Artists led by Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson.
In 1962 Frederick Spratt took a sabbatical in Britain for one year, where he lived and painted representationally in St Ives.
The studio pottery
Troika
Troika or troyka (from Russian тройка, meaning 'a set of three') may refer to:
Cultural tradition
* Troika (driving), a traditional Russian harness driving combination, a cultural icon of Russia
* Troika (dance), a Russian folk dance
Pol ...
was set up in 1963.
In 2010, a
BBC Four
BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002
film, ''The Art of Cornwall'', presented by
James Fox
William Fox (born 19 May 1939), known professionally as James Fox, is an English actor. He appeared in several notable films of the 1960s and early 1970s, including '' King Rat'', ''The Servant'', ''Thoroughly Modern Millie'' and ''Performanc ...
said that the St Ives artists "went on to produce some of the most exhilarating art of the twentieth century...for a few dazzling years this place was as famous as Paris, as exciting as New York and infinitely more progressive than London." The programme explored the lives and works of the key figures and their contributions in establishing St Ives as a major centre of British art from the 1920s onwards.
Museums
The Barbara Hepworth Museum and her sculpture garden are the responsibility of Tate St Ives. It was the wish of the late sculptor to leave her work on public display in perpetuity. The St Ives Museum has exhibits illustrating local history and culture, including mining, fishing, agriculture and domestic life.
Festivals
John Knill, a former mayor, constructed the Knill Steeple, a granite monument overlooking the town. In 1797, Knill laid down instructions for the celebration of the Knill Ceremony, which was to take place every five years on 25 July (St James's Day). The ceremony involves the Mayor of St Ives, a customs officer, and a vicar accompanied by two widows and ten girls who should be the "daughters of fishermen, tinners, or seamen".
A second celebration, of perhaps greater antiquity, is St Ives Feast, a celebration of the founding of St Ives by St Ia, which takes place on the Sunday and Monday nearest to 3 February each year. It includes a civic procession to Venton Ia, the well of St Ia, and other associated activities. It is one of the two surviving examples of
Cornish Hurling
Hurling ( kw, Hurlian) is an outdoor team game played only in Cornwall, England played with a small silver ball. While the sport shares its name with the Irish game of hurling, the two sports are completely different.
Once played widely in Co ...
(in a gentler format than its other manifestation at
St Columb Major
St Columb Major is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as ''St Columb'', it is approximately southwest of Wadebridge and east of Newquay
Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay ...
).
A third festival is the St Ives May Day, a modern revival of
West Cornwall May Day celebrations
The West Cornwall May Day celebrations are an example of folk practices found in the western part of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, associated with the coming of spring. The celebration of May Day is a common motif throughout Europe and beyon ...
that were once common throughout west Cornwall.
The St Ives September Festival celebrated its 30th anniversary in September 2008. It is one of the longest running and widest ranging Festivals of the Arts in the UK lasting for fifteen days and includes music (folk, jazz, rock, classical & world), poetry, film, talks and books. It was founded in 1978 as a joint venture by local entrepreneurs and the International Musicians Seminar. Many local artists open up their studios to allow visitors to see how their art is produced. There is free music in many pubs almost every night, and concerts. Many events are held at the Western Hotel or St Ives Guildhall. St Ives has a 500-seat theatre which hosts some of the festival events.
Literature and popular culture
Early-20th-century figures in St Ives appear in
Virginia Woolf
Adeline Virginia Woolf (; ; 25 January 1882 28 March 1941) was an English writer, considered one of the most important modernist 20th-century authors and a pioneer in the use of stream of consciousness as a narrative device.
Woolf was born i ...
's reflections contained in "
A Sketch of the Past
"A Sketch of the Past" is an autobiographical essay written by Virginia Woolf in 1939. It was written as a break from writing her biography of Roger Fry, English artist and critic, and fellow member of the Bloomsbury Group. It was later edite ...
", from ''
Moments of Being
''Moments of Being'' is a collection of posthumously-published autobiographical essays by Virginia Woolf. The collection was first found in the papers of her husband, used by Quentin Bell in his biography of Virginia Woolf, published in 1972. ...
,'' "... I could fill pages remembering one thing after another. All together made the summer at St. Ives the best beginning to life imaginable. Her 1927 novel ''
To the Lighthouse
''To the Lighthouse'' is a 1927 novel by Virginia Woolf. The novel centres on the Ramsay family and their visits to the Isle of Skye in Scotland between 1910 and 1920.
Following and extending the tradition of modernist novelists like Marcel ...
'' is said to have been influenced by the view from Talland House where she stayed with her parents on family holidays.
This St Ives is generally believed to be the one referred to in the famous
nursery rhyme
A nursery rhyme is a traditional poem or song for children in Britain and many other countries, but usage of the term dates only from the late 18th/early 19th century. The term Mother Goose rhymes is interchangeable with nursery rhymes.
From t ...
''"
As I was going to St Ives
"As I was going to St Ives" (Roud 19772) is a traditional English-language nursery rhyme in the form of a riddle.
The most common modern version is:
: As I was going to St. Ives,
: I met a man with seven wives,
: Each wife had seven sacks,
: ...
"''.
The Cornish language poet Mick Paynter is resident in St Ives.
Modern-day novelist
Elizabeth Day
Elizabeth Day (born 10 November 1978) is an English novelist, journalist and broadcaster. She was a feature writer for ''The Observer'' from 2007 to 2016, and wrote for '' You'' magazine. Day has written six books, and is also the host of the po ...
, author of ''The Party,'' writes many of her novels whilst staying in St Andrews Street in St Ives.
The ''
Ulysses Moore
'' Ulysses Moore '' is a series of adventure books written by the Italian author Pierdomenico Baccalario. The plot of the series centers on the fictional village of Kilmore Cove and its Doors of Time. The book has been published by Scholastic Cor ...
'' series of books, written by
Pierdomenico Baccalario
Pierdomenico Baccalario (born 6 March 1974) is an Italian author of children's and young adult fiction, best known for his '' Ulysses Moore'' series that sold more than 10 million copies worldwide.
Biography
Pierdomenico Baccalario was born in Acq ...
are based in the hypothetical village of Kilmore Cove near
Zennor
Zennor is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish includes the villages of Zennor, Boswednack and Porthmeor and the hamlet of Treen (Zennor), Treen. Zennor lies on the north coast, ...
and St Ives.
Helen Dunmore
Helen Dunmore FRSL (12 December 1952 – 5 June 2017) was a British poet, novelist, and short story and children's writer.
Her best known works include the novels ''Zennor in Darkness'', '' A Spell of Winter'' and ''The Siege'', and her last ...
's novel ''
Zennor in Darkness
''Zennor in Darkness'', was the debut novel from English author Helen Dunmore, published in 1993. It won the 1994 McKitterick Prize which is awarded for debut novels for writers over 40. Until that point, Dunmore was primarily a poet though she ...
'' is set locally, at the time of the First World War, when
D. H. Lawrence
David Herbert Lawrence (11 September 1885 – 2 March 1930) was an English writer, novelist, poet and essayist. His works reflect on modernity, industrialization, sexuality, emotional health, vitality, spontaneity and instinct. His best-k ...
and his German wife came to Cornwall to escape the war in London.
Lauren St John
Lauren St John (born December 1966) is an author born in Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. She is best known for her children's novels including ''The White Giraffe'' and ''Dead Man's Cove'' which won her a Blue Peter Book Award in 2011.
Life and career ...
's ''Dead Man's Cove'' is situated in St. Ives. The first in a series of books about an eleven-year-old girl called Laura Marlin, who becomes a detective.
The St Ives Literature Festival is an annual week-long event, started in 2008, in May. Open air performances are held in Norway Square and the St Ives Arts Club, as well as talks, workshops and live music.
Film and TV
In 1978/1979 the town, the pub The Sloop Inn and Barnoon Cemetery were filmed and appeared in Jerry Jameson's film ''
Raise the Titanic
''Raise the Titanic!'' is a 1976 adventure novel by Clive Cussler, published in the United States by the Viking Press. It tells the story of efforts to bring the remains of the ill-fated ocean liner RMS ''Titanic'' to the surface of the Atlanti ...
'' released in 1980. The final scenes with
Alec Guinness
Sir Alec Guinness (born Alec Guinness de Cuffe; 2 April 1914 – 5 August 2000) was an English actor. After an early career on the stage, Guinness was featured in several of the Ealing comedies, including ''Kind Hearts and Coronets'' (194 ...
were meant to have occurred in a local church but a unusually strong storm a few days earlier had damaged the building rendering it unsuitable for filming.
The
Discovery Travel and Living
Discovery Travel & Living is a defunct channel brand from Discovery Communications. This name was used in countries of Europe, Latin America and Asia. In other parts of the world the channel is known as Travel and Living Channel. It features trav ...
programme ''Beach Café'', featuring Australian chef Michael Smith, was filmed in St Ives.
Sport
St Ives is the home of St Ives Rugby Football Club (founded 1889) who play at the Recreation Ground on Alexandra Road. Once one of the dominant clubs in
Cornish rugby
Rugby union in Cornwall ( kw, unyans rugbi) is Cornwall's most popular spectator sport with a large following. The followers of the national side are dubbed Trelawny's Army. In 1991 and 1999 Cornwall won the County Championship final played at ...
, they currently play in
Tribute Western Counties West
Counties 1 Western West (formerly known as Western Counties West for sponsorship reasons) is an English rugby union league. Originally a single division called Western Counties, in 1996 the division split into two regional leagues called Wester ...
league, (tier 7 of the
English rugby union system
Men's Rugby union in England consists of 106 leagues, which includes professional leagues at the highest level, down to amateur regional leagues. Promotion and relegation are in place throughout the system.
Women's Rugby union in England cons ...
). There is also a football team, St Ives Town F.C., who play in the
Cornwall Combination
The Cornwall Combination League is a football competition based in the western half of Cornwall, England, formed in 1959. The current league sponsors are drinks retailers LWC.
The league has a single division of 20 clubs, being larger than any ...
(division 12 of the English football system). Their ground is at Lelant Saltings.
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Paddi ...
to
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 ...
main rail route via the St Ives branch line which runs frequent services from
St Erth
St Erth ( kw, Lannudhno) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England.
St Erth takes its name from Saint Erc, one of the many Irish saints who brought Christianity to Cornwall during the Dark Ages, and is at the old crossing point of th ...
. The line was opened in 1877 by the St Ives branch railway, but became part of the Great Western Railway in 1878. Before 2019, the
park & ride
A park and ride, also known as incentive parking or a commuter lot, is a parking lot with public transport connections that allows commuters and other people heading to city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system (rap ...
facility for visitors to St Ives ran from Lelant Saltings railway station. The station had been opened on 27 May 1978 specifically for this purpose. After development works at St Erth station in 2019 to improve transport links, the park and ride was moved there. The branchline also links the St Ives to nearby
Carbis Bay
Carbis Bay (Cornish: ''Karrbons'', meaning "causeway") is a seaside resort and village in Cornwall, England. It lies southeast of St Ives, on the western coast of St Ives Bay, on the Atlantic coast. The South West Coast Path passes above th ...
and Lelant.
The town also has regular services by
National Express coaches
National Express is an intercity and Inter-regional coach operator providing services throughout Great Britain. It is a subsidiary of National Express Group. Most services are subcontracted to local coach companies. The company's head office is ...
from London
Victoria Coach Station
Victoria Coach Station is the largest coach station in London, located in the central district of Victoria in the City of Westminster. It serves as a terminus for many medium- and long-distance coach services in the United Kingdom, and is also ...
,
Heathrow
Heathrow Airport (), called ''London Airport'' until 1966 and now known as London Heathrow , is a major international airport in London, England. It is the largest of the six international airports in the London airport system (the others bei ...
and other places in Britain.
First Kernow
Kernow (formerly known as First Kernow) is a bus company operating services in Cornwall, England. It is part of First South West, a subsidiary of FirstGroup.
History
Kernow is a division of First South West, which was formed from two previou ...
buses also connect St Ives to nearby towns and villages, such as Zennor, Penzance and
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
.
The nearest airports to St Ives are
Newquay
Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...
and
Land's End Airport
Land's End Airport , situated near St Just in Penwith, west of Penzance, in Cornwall, is the most south westerly airport of mainland Britain. The airport is owned by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company (ISSC). ISSC's subsidiary Land's End ...
, near St Just. Private jets, charters and helicopters are served by
Perranporth Airfield
Perranporth Airfield airfield is located southwest of Perranporth and southwest of Newquay, in the village of Trevellas, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is a former Second World War Royal Air Force fighter station.
Perranporth Aerodr ...
Camaret-sur-Mer
Camaret-sur-Mer (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department in northwestern France, located at the end of Crozon peninsula.
Sights
Camaret-sur-Mer is home to the ''Tour Vauban'' or ''Tour dorée'' (lit. "Golden Tower"), a historic fortificat ...
() in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
, France and has friendship agreements with
Laguna Beach, California
Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish language, Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservat ...
and
Mashiko, Tochigi
270px, Kiln in Mashiko
is a town located in Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 21,841 in 7914 households, and a population density of 240 persons per km². The total area of the town is . Mashiko is known for it ...
, Japan.
On Sunday 7 September 2014, St Ives had a ceremony to make St Ives and Laguna Beach, California, US sister cities.
Puritan
The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to purify the Church of England of Catholic Church, Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should become m ...
minister who was silenced for being a
Nonconformist
Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to:
Culture and society
* Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior
*Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity
** ...
*
Jonathan Toup
Jonathan Oannes Toup (19 December 1713 – 19 January 1785) was an English philologist, classical scholar and critic.
Early life and education
Toup was born at St Ives, Cornwall in December 1713 and baptised on 5 January 1714. After th ...
(1713 in St Ives – 1785) English
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
, classical scholar and critic
* John Knill (1733 in Callington – 1811) slightly eccentric mayor of St Ives and Collector of Customs at St Ives from 1762 to 1782
*
James Halse
James Halse (bapt. 28 January 1769 – 14 May 1838) was an English lawyer and wealthy businessman in Cornwall. He was also a Tory (later Conservative Party (UK), Conservative) politician.
Halse settled in St Ives, Cornwall, St Ives around 1790, w ...
(1769 – 1838) English lawyer, wealthy businessman and
Tory
A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
(later
Conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
) politician. Settled in St Ives in 1790.
*
John Baragwanath
John Dunstan Baragwanath (1817 – 22 January 1885) was a miner and politician in colonial Victoria, a member of the Victorian Legislative Assembly.
Baragwanath was born in St Ives, Cornwall, England, the son of John Dunstan Baragwanath Senior a ...
(1817 in St Ives – 1885) miner and politician in Australia, member of
Victorian Legislative Assembly
The Victorian Legislative Assembly is the lower house of the bicameral Parliament of Victoria in Australia; the upper house being the Victorian Legislative Council. Both houses sit at Parliament House in Spring Street, Melbourne.
The presiding ...
* Richard Short (1841 in St Ives – 1919) was a Cornish artist; the
Museum of Wales
A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make these ...
holds five of his works.
* Sir
Edward Hain
Sir Edward Hain, (26 December 1851 – 20 September 1917) was an English shipping magnate and politician from Cornwall, England. He represented St Ives as a Liberal Unionist from 1900 to 1904, and as a Liberal from 1904 to 1906. His shipping ...
(1851 in St Ives – 1917) shipping owner, MP for St Ives as a
Liberal Unionist
The Liberal Unionist Party was a British political party that was formed in 1886 by a faction that broke away from the Liberal Party. Led by Lord Hartington (later the Duke of Devonshire) and Joseph Chamberlain, the party established a political ...
1900/04, and as a
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
1904/06
*
John Noble Barlow
John Noble Barlow (1861–1917) was a prominent English artist at the turn of the twentieth century, known predominantly as a landscape and seascape painter.
Biography
John Barlow was born in Manchester, England in 1861. He enrolled at the Aca ...
(1861–1917) English artist, predominantly as a landscape and seascape painter, lived in St Ives from 1892.
* William Williams (1877 in Cornwall – 1906) was the last person executed in
Minnesota
Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...
, USA. The circumstances of his execution helped lead to the abolition of capital punishment in Minnesota.
* Percy Lane Oliver (1878–1944) from St Ives was the founder of the first voluntary blood donor service in 1921.
* Virginia Woolf (1882–1941) English novelist, spent much of her childhood here with her family between 1882 and 1894.
*
Warwick Ward
Warwick Ward (3 December 1891 – 9 December 1967) was an English actor of the stage and screen, and a film producer. He appeared in more than 60 films between 1919 and 1933. He also produced 19 films between 1931 and 1958. He was born in ...
(1891 in St Ives – 1967) English actor and film producer, appearing in 64 films between 1919 and 1933; he produced 19 films between 1931 and 1958.
Since 1900
*
Mabel Lethbridge
Mabel Florence Lethbridge BEM (7 July 1900 – 14 July 1968) was a 20th-century English writer and business woman. She was the youngest person at the time to receive the British Empire Medal, an award affiliated to the Order of the British Empir ...
BEM (1900–1968) Youngest person to receive a
British Empire Medal
The British Empire Medal (BEM; formerly British Empire Medal for Meritorious Service) is a British and Commonwealth award for meritorious civil or military service worthy of recognition by the Crown. The current honour was created in 1922 to ...
, after she was severely injured when a shell exploded in a munition factory in the
Great War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. Lived in St Ives from 1945 as a writer.
*
Barbara Hepworth
Dame Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth (10 January 1903 – 20 May 1975) was an English artist and sculptor. Her work exemplifies Modernism and in particular modern sculpture. Along with artists such as Ben Nicholson and Naum Gabo, Hepworth was a leadi ...
DBE (1903–1975) English
Modernism
Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
artist and sculptor. Lived and worked in St Ives from 1949.
* Sven Berlin (1911–1999) English painter, fiction writer and sculptor, lived and worked in St Ives from 1938 to 1953.
* George Lloyd (1913 in St Ives – 1998) was a British composer of part Welsh and part American ancestry.
*
Margaret Mellis
Margaret Nairne Mellis (22 January 1914 – 17 March 2009) was a Scottish artist, one of the early members and last survivors of the group of modernist artists that gathered in St Ives, in Cornwall, in the 1940s. She and her first husband, Ad ...
(1914–2009) British artist, one of the early members and last survivors of the group of modernist artists in St Ives
*
Bryan Wynter
Bryan Herbert Wynter (8 September 1915 – 2 February 1975)Peter Lanyon
George Peter Lanyon (8 February 1918 – 31 August 1964) was a British painter of landscapes leaning heavily towards abstraction. Lanyon was one of the most important artists to emerge in post-war Britain. Despite his early death at the age ...
(1918 in St Ives – 1964) a Cornish painter of landscapes, leaning heavily towards
abstract art
Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world.
Western art had been, from the Renaissance up to the middle of the 19th ...
*
Patrick Heron
Patrick Heron (30 January 1920 – 20 March 1999) was a British abstract and figurative artist, critic, writer, and polemicist, who lived in Zennor, Cornwall.
Heron was recognised as one of the leading painters of his generation. Influenced b ...
(1920 – 1999) British abstract and figurative artist, lived in
Zennor
Zennor is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish includes the villages of Zennor, Boswednack and Porthmeor and the hamlet of Treen (Zennor), Treen. Zennor lies on the north coast, ...
studio potter
Studio pottery is pottery made by professional and amateur artists or artisans working alone or in small groups, making unique items or short runs. Typically, all stages of manufacture are carried out by the artists themselves.Emmanuel Cooper, ...
who joined the
Leach Pottery
The Leach Pottery was founded in 1920 by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada in St Ives, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom.
The buildings grew from an old cow / tin-ore shed in the 19th century to a pottery in the 1920s with the addition of a two-stor ...
*
Bryan Pearce
Walter Bryan Pearce (25 July 1929 – 11 January 2007) was a British painter. He was recognised as one of the UK's leading naïve artists.
Early life
Bryan Pearce was born in St. Ives, Cornwall, which remained his home for the rest of his ...
(1929 in St Ives – 2007) British painter. He was recognised as one of the UK's leading
naïve art
Naïve art is usually defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). When this aesthetic is ...
ists.
*
John Nott
Sir John William Frederic Nott (born 1 February 1932) is a former British Conservative Party politician. He was a senior politician of the late 1970s and early 1980s, playing a prominent role as Secretary of State for Defence during the 1982 in ...
KCB (born 1932) former British Conservative Party MP for St Ives from 1966 to 1983,
Secretary of State for Defence
The secretary of state for defence, also referred to as the defence secretary, is a secretary of state in the Government of the United Kingdom, with overall responsibility for the business of the Ministry of Defence. The incumbent is a membe ...
during the
Falkland war
The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British Overseas Territories, British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland I ...
, now lives on his farm at
St Erth
St Erth ( kw, Lannudhno) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England.
St Erth takes its name from Saint Erc, one of the many Irish saints who brought Christianity to Cornwall during the Dark Ages, and is at the old crossing point of th ...
* David Harris (born 1937), British Conservative Party MP for St Ives from 1983 to 1997
*
Jennifer Gretton, Baroness Gretton
Jennifer Ann Gretton, Baroness Gretton, (born 14 June 1943) is a former Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, serving for over 15 years between 2003 and 2018.
Life
She was born in St Ives, Cornwall, and married John Gretton, 3rd Baron Gretton. ...
(born 1943 in St Ives),
Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire
This is a list of people who have served as Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire. Since 1703, all Lord Lieutenants have also been Custos Rotulorum of Leicestershire.
Lord Lieutenants
*Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset 1549–1551
*Francis Hastings ...
Anthony Frost
Anthony Frost (born 1951) is a British painter noted for his abstract works consisting of brightly coloured prints and collages.
Biography
Frost was born in St. Ives, Cornwall, the son of Sir Terry Frost. From 1970 to 1973 he studied at the ...
(born 1951 in St Ives) English painter noted for his abstract works consisting of brightly coloured prints and collages
* Andrew George (born 1958 in Mullion) British Liberal Democrat politician and MP for St Ives from 1997 to 2015
*
Fleur Bennett
Fleur Alison Bennett (born 18 June 1968) is a British television actress best known for her work on the sit-com ''Grace & Favour'' (a spin of from ''Are You Being Served?'') and the Channel 5 soap opera ''Family Affairs''.
Life and career
Ben ...
(born 1968 in St Ives) British television actress, known for her work in 'Grace and Favour'
* Fink, aka Fin Greenall (born St Ives 1972), English singer, songwriter, guitarist, producer and DJ
See also
*
List of St Ives artists
A list of St Ives artists, artists who have lived in the town of St Ives in Cornwall, southwest England, are as follows:
19th century
Early and mid 20th century
Late 20th century/ 21st century
Gallery
File:Offspring2009.jpg, ''Offspring ...
*
St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)
St Ives is a parliamentary List of United Kingdom Parliament constituencies, constituency covering the western end of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. The constituency has been represented in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of ...
Cornwall Record Office
Kresen Kernow (Cornish language, Cornish for Cornwall Centre) in Redruth, United Kingdom is Cornwall's archive centre, home to the world's biggest collection of archive and library material related to Cornwall. Funded by the National Lottery Her ...