Penwith (; kw, Pennwydh) is an area of

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

, 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 one of the ancient administrative

hundreds of Cornwall The hundreds of Cornwall ( kw, Keverangow Kernow) were administrative divisions or Shires ( hundreds) into which Cornwall, the present day administrative county of England, in the United Kingdom, was divided between and 1894, when they were ...

which derives from two Cornish words, ''penn'' meaning 'headland' and ''wydh'' meaning 'at the end'. Natural England have designated the peninsula as national character area 156 and named it West Penwith. It is also known as the Land's End Peninsula.

Geography

The Penwith peninsula sits predominantly on

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies un ...

bedrock that has led to the formation of a rugged coastline with many fine beaches. The contact between the granite and the adjoining sedimentary rock (mostly shales) is most clearly seen forming the cliffs at Land's End, the most westerly point in the district and this geology has resulted in the mining that has made Cornwall famous. Tin and copper have been mined in the area since pre-Roman times and the landscape is dotted with ruined mine buildings. Inland, the peninsula is primarily granite with a thin top soil. This combined with Cornwall's exposed position and the prevailing weather systems from the Atlantic Ocean means that, with the exception of the high moor areas, much of the area is a semi-bare plateau standing around 130 m above sea level. This is most evident on the north coast between St Just and Zennor where the remains of the ancient seabed of the

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Watch Croft (252 m). There are several deep valleys cut into this plateau such as

Lamorna Lamorna ( kw, Nansmornow) is a village, valley and cove in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is on the Penwith peninsula approximately south of Penzance. Lamorna became popular with the artists of the Newlyn School, including Alfred Munnings, ...

on the south coast, where sufficient shelter from the weather is gained for trees to establish and grow. The shelter of these valleys and the mild climate gives Penwith a

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring ( indigenous) native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' gut flora'' or '' skin flora''. ...

not seen anywhere else in the UK. Penzance's

Morrab Gardens Morrab Gardens are a municipal garden covering to the south of Penzance town centre, Cornwall. It is known for its Mediterranean and sub-tropical plants; and for housing the Morrab Library in the grounds. Morrab House with its walled garden ...

is able to grow bananas. Penwith also contains an artificial lake,

Drift Reservoir Drift Reservoir is a reservoir in Cornwall, England, UK, just north of the village of Drift and west of Penzance. The reservoir is long and covers . The dam is at the southern end of the reservoir, and the northern end, splits into north-west ...

, which is located approximately 3 miles west of Penzance. In addition to Penwith's status as a Heritage coastline, west Penwith, an area of 90 square kilometres, is considered an Environmentally Sensitive Area. Penwith lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The principal towns in Penwith are Penzance, the port town and seat of local government, and St Ives, one of the county's most popular

seaside resort A seaside resort is a town, village, or hotel that serves as a vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, such as in the Germa ...

s. The district is largely rural, and contains many villages, principal amongst them being Botallack, Carbis Bay,

Crowlas Crowlas is a village in Cornwall, England, on the A30 about three miles east of Penzance. It forms a small conurbation with Ludgvan within the parish of the same name. The hamlet of Whitecross lies to the north. Details of the crosses at Crowla ...

Drift Drift or Drifts may refer to: Geography * Drift or ford (crossing) of a river * Drift, Kentucky, unincorporated community in the United States * In Cornwall, England: ** Drift, Cornwall, village ** Drift Reservoir, associated with the village ...

Gulval Gulval ( kw, Lannystli) is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Although historically a parish in its own right, Gulval was incorporated into the parishes of Ludgvan, Madron and Penzance in 1934, and is now considered to be a suburb ...

Gwithian Gwithian ( kw, Godhyan) is a coastal village in west Cornwall, England. It is three miles (5 km) north-east of Hayle and four miles (6.5 km) east of St Ives, Cornwall across St Ives Bay. Gwithian is in the civil parish of Gwinear ...

, Hayle,

, Lelant,

Long Rock Long Rock ( kw, Carrek Hyr) is a village in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is approximately east of Penzance and west of Marazion in the civil parish of Ludgvan. The village is named after the tidal Long Rock just offshore at . L ...

Ludgvan Ludgvan ( ; kw, Lujuan) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, UK, northeast of Penzance. Ludgvan village is split between Churchtown, on the hill, and Lower Quarter to the east, adjoining Crowlas. For the purposes of local g ...

Madron Madron ( kw, Eglos Madern) is a civil parish and village in west Cornwall, Great Britain. Madron is named after Saint Madern's Church. Its annual Trafalgar Service commemorating the death of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson was started on 27 Oc ...

, Marazion,

Morvah Morvah is a civil parish and village on the Penwith peninsula in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Geography The village is centred approximately eight miles (13 km) west-southwest of St Ives and north-west of Penzance.Ordnance Su ...

Mousehole Mousehole (; kw, Porthenys) is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, UK. It is approximately south of Penzance on the shore of Mount's Bay. The village is in the civil parish of Penzance. An islet called St Clement's Isle lies ...

Nancledra Nancledra or Nancledrea is a village in west Cornwall, England, UK. It is three miles (5 km) south of St Ives and four miles (6.5 km) north-northeast of Penzance.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Nancledra is ...

, Newlyn, Paul,

Penberth Penberth ( kw, Benbryhi) is a valley, coastal village and cove on the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, England. It is approximately southwest of Penzance. Most of the village is within the parish of St Buryan and the boundary with St Levan fol ...

, Pendeen,

Porthcurno Porthcurno ( kw, Porthkornow, Porthcornow, meaning ''"pinnacle cove"'', see below) is a small village covering a small valley and beach on the south coast of Cornwall, England in the United Kingdom. It is the main settlement in a civil and an e ...

Sancreed Sancreed (''Cornish: Eglossankres'') is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, approximately three miles (5 km) west of Penzance. Sancreed civil parish encompasses the settlements of Bejouans, Bosvennen, Botreah, Drift, Sancr ...

, Sennen, St Buryan, St Erth, St Hilary, St Just in Penwith, Treen and Zennor. As a small peninsula at the tip of a larger peninsula, the district is somewhat isolated from the rest of the UK. Two major transport routes terminate in the district, the A30 road and the Great Western Main Line railway. The St Ives Bay Line provides local transport between St Ives, and the main line at St Erth. A ferry to the Isles of Scilly, 28 miles (45 km) west-south-west of the district, is based in Penzance.

History

Penwith contains a great concentration of

Bronze Age The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...

Iron Age The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostly ...

, and Celtic British archaeological remains. The most significant of them are described in a field guide first published in 1954. Tewdwr Mawr ( kw, Teudar or ') ruled over the area from Carnsew in the mid-6th century before returning to his patrimony in Cornouaille in

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

around 577.Ford, David Nash.
King Tewdwr Mawr
at ''Early British Kingdoms''. 2001. Accessed 1 December 2014. JohnNBarlow - Fishing Cottages, Lamorna Valley, Penwith Peninsula, Cornwall

JohnNBarlow - Fishing Cottages, Lamorna Valley, Penwith Peninsula, Cornwall

Penwith's population has remained broadly static for the last one hundred and fifty years. Penwith is believed to be the last part of Cornwall where Cornish was spoken as a community language. Dolly Pentreath, known as the last recorded speaker (but arguably not the very last) came from Paul in Penwith. A year following the death of Dolly Pentreath in 1777 Daines Barrington received a letter, written in Cornish and accompanied by an English translation, from a fisherman in

named William Bodinar stating that he knew of five people who could speak Cornish in that village alone. Barrington also speaks of a John Nancarrow from Marazion who was a native speaker and survived into the 1790s. Chesten Marchant, d. 1676, a woman from

, is believed to have been the last ''monoglot'' Cornish speaker. Canon Doble's ''Cornish Saints Series'' included saints from this area: nine of these were reissued in 1960.

Demographics

Penwith had a population of 65,000 in the mid-2007 estimates. 96.4% of Penwith residents were born in the UK. 72% of people in the district gave Christianity as their religion, whilst nearly 18% of people stated that they are non-religious, compared to 15 percent nationally. Penwith has the 6th highest rate of divorce of any district in England and Wales at 13.4% of the over 16 population, and correspondingly also has one of the lowest percentages of married couple households. Penwith district has one of the lowest levels of home ownership in the country (280th/376) and is ranked 4th for those without central heating. The district also has one of the lowest rates of second car ownership and is ranked 300 out of 376 districts in England and Wales. The district has some of the highest indicators of bad health in the country and is ranked 28th and 41st for those described as having long term illness and general poor health respectively. Penwith has one of the highest unemployment rates of any district, ranked 51st out of 376 districts, and also one of the lowest rates of degree level education at 16%, compared to the national average of 20% (244th/376). Penwith is also ranked as the district having the 28th largest retired population in England and Wales.

Economy

Penwith is an area of extreme economic deprivation. It is ranked as the 25th most deprived district in England, and it is located in Cornwall, the poorest county in England. It has been suggested that in fact this ranking understates the extent of the problem due to the difficulties of assessing deprivation in dispersed rural populations, and the socially and economically polarised nature of rural communities. Deprivation manifests itself in the form of high youth unemployment, an above average proportion of workers in manual occupations, low mean income and a low percentage of people with higher degrees. High educational attainment up to GCSE and A-level demonstrates the depth of local talent, however, poor job opportunities and the absence, until recently, of a university in Cornwall has meant that much of this young talent leaves the area and never returns. As such Penwith was listed as an

Objective 1 The regional policy of the European Union (EU), also referred as Cohesion Policy, is a policy with the stated aim of improving the economic well-being of regions in the European Union and also to avoid regional disparities. More than one thir ...

area by the European Social Fund, however, this status expired in 2006 with the programme closing on 31 December 2008. Traditionally, like much of the rest of Cornwall, Penwith's economy relied heavily on mining and fishing and was badly affected by the decline of these industries. Although the district has tried to stimulate employment through tourism, many of these jobs are by definition seasonal or part-time and do not replace the skilled jobs lost by the closure of the mines.

Mining

Tin mining once played an important part in the economy of Penwith, with mines across the district including

Levant The Levant () is an approximate historical geographical term referring to a large area in the Eastern Mediterranean region of Western Asia. In its narrowest sense, which is in use today in archaeology and other cultural contexts, it is ...

, Botallack,

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 ...

, Ding Dong and Wheal Hope. Tin mines gradually became economically mined out through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as the easier seams were exhausted and more amenable sources of metal were discovered in South America. The collapse of the world tin cartel in 1985 finished what remained of the industry. The last working mine in the district and one of the last in Cornwall was at Geevor which is now a heritage site and museum following grants totalling nearly £4 million from various sources including the Heritage Lottery Fund. The north of the district has arguably suffered the worst from the closure of the mines as there have been few jobs available to replace what was lost to mining. This is most notably the towns of St. Just and Pendeen which have very high levels of unemployment. Many miners from the district have emigrated over the last century in order to find mining jobs abroad.

Fishing

Despite the decline in the number of people employed in the fishing industry, it still plays an important part in the district's economy. Newlyn harbour is the largest deep sea fishing port in England in terms of the value of fish landed (turnover >£18 million 2004) and contributes 2% of the region's GDP. The Newlyn fleet utilises a variety of catching methods, however, the vessels are comparatively small and mostly owned by their skippers in comparison with the large factory boats of Spain and France with whom they share their fishing grounds. Accusations of illegal overfishing by the French and Spanish fleets is a source of local friction. Until the 1960s, pilchards were the major catch landed at Newlyn, which were processed at the nearby pilchard works, before the fish fell out of favour with the public. A revival of pilchard fishing in Penwith in recent years occurred after a rebranding exercise as ''Cornish sardines'' (sardines are actually small pilchards). This has been helped by investment from the Objective One programme. Much of the catch is sold abroad in Spain and Italy.

Farming

Like much of the rest of the country, farmers in Penwith have in recent years been put under financial pressure, due to a withdrawal of subsidies from the EU

Common Agricultural Policy The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) is the agricultural policy of the European Union. It implements a system of agricultural subsidies and other programmes. It was introduced in 1962 and has since then undergone several changes to reduce the ...

, pressure from supermarkets and crises such as foot and mouth in 2001. Agriculture in Penwith is predominantly dairy with some arable crops such as potatoes, cauliflower and broccoli (confusingly these are locally called broccoli and calebrese, respectively). Cornwall's mild climate and an absence of hard winter frosts mean that these cold-sensitive crops can be produced much earlier than in the rest of the country, and early Cornish new potatoes are a lucrative source of income. Unfortunately this cash crop has come under pressure in recent years due to

globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

, which means competition with cheap imports from Egypt. In 2002 the Farm Business Centre was set up to help farmers and farm businesses across Penwith. The centre aims to expand the local agricultural sector and provide advice and funding for farmers in the transition from intensive farming toward more sustainable agriculture. This encourages farmers to seek out novel sources of income such as

set-aside Set-aside was an incentive scheme introduced by the European Economic Community (EEC) in 1988 (Regulation (EEC) 1272/88), to (i) help reduce the large and costly surpluses produced in Europe under the guaranteed price system of the Common Agricult ...

and organic and small scale specialist produce such as meat from rare breed animals. A priority 4.6 grant from Objective One, plus funding from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs totalling more than £300,000 have ensured the centre’s future until September 2008.

Tourism

Penwith's scenery makes it a popular holiday destination. Local attractions including the

Minack Theatre The Minack Theatre ( kw, Gwaryjy Minack) is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea. The theatre is at Porthcurno, from Land's End in Cornwall, England. The season runs each year from May ...

, South West Coast Path, Land's End and the Blue Flag beach at Sennen Cove ensure that tourism plays a major part in Penwith's economy. Additionally, St. Ives has in recent years become a popular New Year's Eve venue. Penwith also has the highest concentration of

Neolithic The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several pa ...

sites in Europe, including monuments at The Merry Maidens,

Lanyon Quoit Lanyon Quoit is a dolmen in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, 2 miles southeast of Morvah. It collapsed in a storm in 1815 and was re-erected nine years later, and as a result the dolmen is now very different from its original appearance. Loca ...

Chûn Quoit Chûn Quoit is one of the best preserved of all Neolithic quoits (also called dolmens or cromlechs) in western Cornwall, United Kingdom. Chûn Quoit is located in open moorland near Pendeen and Morvah. Standing on a ridge, near the much la ...

and an Iron Age village at Chysauster. Tourism accounts for 25% of Cornwall's GDP and 19% of households in Penwith derive their income from this activity.

Media

Since 1878, Penwith has had a weekly newspaper, The Cornishman, based in Penzance. As well as Penwith, the paper covers the Isles of Scilly. Penwith has its own

community radio Community radio is a radio service offering a third model of radio broadcasting in addition to commercial and public broadcasting. Community stations serve geographic communities and communities of interest. They broadcast content that is popu ...

station, Coast FM (formerly Penwith Radio), which was launched on 5 November 2016 and broadcasts in West Cornwall on 96.5 and 97.2 FM.

Penwith District Council

The district was created on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, as a merger of Penzance and St. Ives boroughs, St Just

urban district Urban district may refer to: * District * Urban area * Quarter (urban subdivision) * Neighbourhood Specific subdivisions in some countries: * Urban districts of Denmark * Urban districts of Germany * Urban district (Great Britain and Ireland) (his ...

, and

West Penwith Rural District West Penwith Rural District was a rural district in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, from 1894 to 1974. It was enlarged in 1934 by the abolition of Hayle, Ludgvan, Madron, Paul, and Phillack urban districts, and also took in part of the d ...

, and was abolished and replaced by the Cornwall Unitary Council on 31 March 2009. From 1972 until 1974, a shadow Penwith authority existed where sitting members of the above-mentioned authorities acted in an advisory manner. With the abolition of the predecessor authorities in 1974 St Ives, Hayle, Marazion and St Just obtained Town Council status and from within their ranks began to elect Town Mayors. Penzance failed to obtain parish status for the former borough and

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. Duties ar ...

were appointed to continue elections for the position of Mayor of the town. Charter Trustees being the sitting members of Penwith District Council within the former borough area. Penzance Town Council was finally created in 1980 initially electing 15 members, this was expanded to 20 members in 1999. From 1974 to the mid-1980s, Penwith District Council was dominated by independent members, only 4 out of the 34 councillors in 1981 held any political allegiance (a situation reflected in other Cornish Authorities at this time). By the late 1980s, however, the council became increasingly party politicised with the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

being the major political force on the council often forming coalitions with Conservative supporting independents to ensure the day-to-day operation of the Council. With the general down turn nationally for the Conservatives in 1990s, the Labour Party and to a lesser extent the Liberal Democrats began to make gains at the expense of Conservatives and at the high point of anti-conservative sentiment there remained only four Conservative councillors within the authority. The Conservatives recovered their support from the mid-1990s to regain their position as the largest party on the Council with the Liberal Democrats now forming the largest opposition group. Despite this, the council remained hung with no overall control. The final political composition, at the 2007 elections, being: Conservatives 17, Liberal Democrats 12, Labour 1 (sits with Independent group) and Independent 5. The district was abolished as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England.

Twinning

Since 1974 and until abolition the district of Penwith was twinned with *

Cuxhaven Cuxhaven (; ) is an independent town and seat of the Cuxhaven district, in Lower Saxony, Germany. The town includes the northernmost point of Lower Saxony. It is situated on the shore of the North Sea at the mouth of the Elbe River. Cuxhaven ...

, Germany.

Places of interest

References

External links

*
Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Penwith District Council
{{Coord, 50.16, -5.53, type:adm3rd_region:GB, display=title Bronze Age Britain English districts abolished in 2009 Former non-metropolitan districts of Cornwall Natural regions of England