Cornwall

For other uses, see Cornwall (disambiguation).

Cornwall
Kernow

Motto: Onen hag oll (Cornish: One and all)
File:EnglandCornwall.png
Geography
Status	Ceremonial and (smaller) Non-metropolitan county
Region	South West England
Area - Total - Admin. council - Admin. area	Ranked 12th 3,563 km² Ranked 9th 3,547 km²
Admin HQ	Truro
ISO 3166-2	GB-CON
ONS code	15
NUTS 3	UKK30
Demographics
Population - Total (2022) - Density - Admin. council - Admin. pop.	Ranked 40th 577,694 162 / km² Ranked
Ethnicity	99.0% White
Politics
File:Cornwall Crest.jpg Cornwall County Council http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/
Cornwall Liberal Democrats http://www.libdems.org.uk/
Executive	Liberal Democrat
Members of Parliament	Julia Goldsworthy (LD) Dan Rogerson (LD) Colin Breed (LD) Andrew George (LD) Matthew Taylor (LD)
Districts
Penwith Kerrier Carrick Restormel Caradon North Cornwall Isles of Scilly (Unitary)

Cornish Flag

Cornwall (Cornish: Kernow) is a county in South West England on the peninsula that lies to the west of the River Tamar.

The administrative centre and only city is Truro, while the historic capital is Bodmin. Including the Isles of Scilly, located 28 miles (45 km) offshore, Cornwall covers an area of 1,376 square miles (3,563 km²). There is a population of 513,527 with a population density of 144 people per square kilometre, or 373 per square mile. Tourism forms a significant part of the local economy. However, it is the poorest area in the United Kingdom with the lowest contribution to the national economy (just behind the Highlands and Island of Scotland and West Wales and the Valleys). Cornwall is the only area in the south of England to qualify for Objective One funding (GDP per capita for the region must be below 75% of the EU average).

In the 20th century the Cornish language was revived and partly due to this, Cornwall is now recognised as one of the six Celtic nations. There has been some debate over the constitutional status of Cornwall (some Cornish people choose to refer to Cornwall as a Duchy and consider it separate from England).

History

Main article: History of Cornwall

The history of Cornwall begins with the pre-Roman inhabitants, including speakers of a Celtic language that would develop into Brythonic and Cornish. After a period of Roman rule, Cornwall reverted to independent Celtic chieftains. The Roman term for the tribe which inhabited what is now Cornwall at the time of Roman rule, possibly the Cornovii, came from the Iberian word corno, meaning the land shape, but it is assumed that it was derived from a Brythonic tribal name which gave modern Cornish Kernow. (For other examples of the survival of Brythonic names noted by the Romans, see Dyfed / Demetae, Cantiaci / Kent , Gwynedd / Veneti and Durotriges / Dorset.) The present English language name of the region derives from suffixing of Old English wealhas ("foreigners, Britons") to the Celtic name.

The site of ancient Belerion, Cornwall, was the principal source of tin for the civilisations of the ancient Mediterranean and evidence has been found of trade with cultures as far off as Phoenicia, located in present day Lebanon. At one time the Cornish were one of the world's foremost experts at mining. As Cornwall's reserves of tin began to be exhausted many Cornishmen emigrated to places such as the Americas, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa where their skills were in demand. The Cornish Rebellion of 1497 is attributed to tin miners. The tin mines in Cornwall are now worked-out at current prices, but the expertise and culture of the Cornish tin miners lives on in a number of places around the world. It is said that, wherever you may go in the world, if you see a hole in the ground, you will find a Cornishman at the bottom of it (see Cornish emigration). Several Cornish mining words are in use in English language mining terminology, such as costean, gunnies, and vug.

Since the decline of tin mining, agriculture and fishing, the area's economy has become increasingly dependent on tourism — some of Great Britain's most spectacular coastal scenery can be found here. Nevertheless, Cornwall remains the poorest part of the United Kingdom and it has been granted Objective 1 status by the EU. A political party, Mebyon Kernow, MK, or 'Sons of Cornwall', was formed in 1951 to attempt to assert some degree of autonomy (see Cornish nationalism); while the flag of St Piran is seen increasingly across Cornwall at protests, demonstrations and generally, the party has not achieved significant success at the ballot box, although they do have a number of district councillors. Two of the current MPs to Westminster; Andrew George, MP for St Ives; and Dan Rogerson, MP for North Cornwall; repeated their Parliamentary oaths in Cornish. Further, there is a caucus of local county councillors who are well-known locally for their persistent advocacy of Cornwall's political uniqueness.

Cornwall played an important part during the era of the Celtic Church. Celtic saints sailing from Wales and Ireland to Brittany when often disembark on Cornwall's north coast, at the likes of Bude, Tintagel and Padstow (this was to avoid sailing around Lands End, a particularly notorious piece of coast, even to the Celtic saints), walk across Bodmin Moor onto their way to Cornwall's south coast, and then sail to Brittany from ports such as Falmouth and Penzance; because of this, Cornwall is known as the 'land of saints'. The likes of Saint Patrick of Ireland, Saint David of Wales, historian Gildas and St Pol of Brittany were all frequent visitors to Cornwall. Of course, Cornwall's most famous visiting saint was Saint Piran, who became venerated as Cornwall's own patron saint. Celtic saints who settled in Cornwall include St Morwenna who founded Morwenstow in the very Northern tip of Cornwall just outside Bude (Morwenstow was famously the parish church of Cornish national hero Robert Stephen Hawker); St Petroc, a Welshman who founded Padstow, St Ia who sailed to what is now St Ives from Ireland on an ivy leaf; St David of Wales founded a small monastic cell on the edge of Bodmin Moor of what is now Davidstow, while his mother St Non founded Altarnun known as the "cathedral of the moors". St Nectan from Wales founded a monastic centre near a waterfall just outside Tintagel in what is now known as St Nectans Glen; he also preached quite regularly just up the coast around Bude. Most famously, especially to the Cornish pysche, St Piran arrived from Ireland at what is now Perranporth with a millstone around his neck, and eventually became Cornwall's recognised patron saint. To many people in Cornwall, Robert Stephen Hawker is something of a relatively modern-day Celtic saint, as along with the likes of Henry Jenner he rescued and reinvegorated Cornwall's Celtic culture.

Although Cornwall is not thought of as a "Viking Country", during the latter stages of the Anglo-Celtic wars, when Wessex was threatening "West Wales" (then Cornwall and Devon), the Britons allied with Danish Vikings in order to hold Wessex from expanding westward. In 722 King Ine of Wessex Saxon army was comprehensibly destroyed by an alliance of Cornish and Vikings somewhere around the Camel estuary. This battle, as well as the Vikings continually attacking Wessex, enabled Cornwall to stay reasonably seperate from Wessex. To this day, there is a strong feeling of pride and comeradeship from the Cornish towards the Vikings, who have always been seen in Cornwall as allies - just as in the other Celtic nations such as Wales and Ireland. It is highly likely the likes of Bude, Falmouth and Mount's Bay had small Viking settlements (Bude is just outside Lundy Island, which has a Norse name).

There is a theory that once Silver was extracted from the copper ores of Cornwall in pre-Roman times , as Silver is easily converted to its chloride (AgCl) by surface waters containing chlorine. This could have happened around Halabezack as Homer stated:

But of the Halizones Odius and Epistrophus were captains from afar, from Halube, where is the birth-place of silver. (Homer, Iliad, 856-57. Afar meaning far from Gog Magog Downs).

Another hypothesis concerning Cornwall is that St Michaels Mount was the location of Scylla and Charybdis, one of the best known scenes of the Odyssey

Physical geography

Satellite image of Cornwall.

The Cornish coast, being exposed to the full force of the Atlantic Ocean, is composed entirely of resistant rocks, as less resistant rocks have been eroded away. The centre of Cornwall is largely Devonian sandstone and slate. The north east of the county lies on Carboniferous sandstone. Cornwall is particularly known for its igneous outcrops, which include the granite of Bodmin Moor and the areas around Camborne and Land's End, and the dark green serpentine of the Lizard Peninsula. The granite forms high treeless moors on which sheep graze, and the characteristic Cornish cliffs. The alkaline soils of the Lizard support a rare heathland plant, the Cornish Heath, which has been adopted as the county flower.

Bude and Crackington Haven on the North Cornish coast have given their names to two geological formations — the Bude formation and the Crackington formation. When a tablecloth is pushed inwards, it folds upwards and overlaps; and that it has the spectacular overlapping strata of the cliffs of Bude and Crackington Haven were created during the Carboniferous era. Also of geological importance is the Lizard Peninsula; it contains metamorphic rocks from the Precambrian era (around 640 million years ago in this case) making it the oldest piece of rock in Cornwall.

The habour at Boscastle lies literally on a geological fault-line. Northwards, towards Bude lie the massive carboniferous sandstone cliffs (culminating, just north of Boscastle at "High Cliff" which at 735ft is Cornwall's highest sheer-drop cliff), while southwards from Boscastle towards Tintagel are the no less impressive Devonian slate cliffs. Boscastle is one of the few visible geological fault-lines, not just in Cornwall, but anywhere in the UK.

Cornwall's coast is a tale of two halves: the placid estuaries and wooded valleys of its southern seaboard are a massive contrast to the raw, serrated, guttural cliffs of the awesome northern seaboard. North Cornwall's raw appearance is partly due to the fact that it faces out to the Celtic Sea, and partly due to the fact the stretch of coast between Bude and Tintagel is composed of Devonian slate/Carboniferous Sandstone cliffs that are not found in southern Cornwall. Cornwall's northern seaboard is comparable with the likes of the Vale of Glamorgan and Gower Peninsula in Wales, the Dingle Peninsula in southern Ireland, and Finistère in Brittany in its fractured appearance.

Cornwall's largest bay is sheltered Mount's Bay which lies in the far south-west of Cornwall; other noteworthy Cornish bays include Bude Bay (the second largest bay in Cornwall), St Ives bay and St Austell Bay. Cornwall's longest river is (inevitably) the Tamar. Cornwall's longest continous beach is the low-tide formation at Bude. As Bude is subject to Bristol Channel tides at high-tide virtually all the beaches of Bude are submerged. However, at extreme low tide, Bude's beaches stretch for more than 4 miles.

Somewhat ironically, Cornwall has every type of sedimentary rock/igneous rocks, such as sandstone (found in Bude), slate (found around Tintagel and Delabole, granite (Bodmin Moor), and schists (The Lizard), there is one noticeable omission - limestone. As Cornwall contains no limestone, it is has always been hard for farmers to fertilise the poor quality soil; until recently limestone had to be imported, mainly from Wales to 'sweeten' Cornwall's acidic soils. However, beach sands formed from wave-pounded sea shells, such as those found in the Hayle and Padstow estuaries, and at Bude, have been used to neutralise acid soils. A canal was built from Bude to Holsworthy to take these sands to Devon farms situated on the sour 'culm' soils.

Cornwall has been mined famously for tin, but another extraction of it's land is for a more durable product - Slate. The upper Devonian Slate around Delabole and Tintagel has been quarried for centuries (it still is in Delabole). The castle of Tintagel is partly made from Devonian slate. Just south of Tintagel, towards Trebarwith Strand, the cliffs have been dynamited in the past to cause landslides to provide easy access to some particular hard (and therefore weather resistant) slate. Around North Cornwall ports, such as Bude, Boscastle and Padstow slate from Cornwall was taken mainly to the likes of South Wales, South-West Ireland and Brittany. During the Devonian era a huge wall of mud arrived from the North Sea via Snowdonia and rested on the seabed in what is now North-East Cornwall. The thick Devonian mud was heated up, compressed together, and then metamorphised into Slate. One noticeable feature of North-East Cornwall is the lack of thatched cob cottages (compared to Devon). While thatched roofs are ideal for the warm sheltered valleys of Devon, the exposed Atlantic coast around Bude and Tintagel would mean that, in a violent storm, a thatched roof would literally be blown off. That is why around the coast in Bude, Boscastle and Tintagel locally available Devonian slate is used for roofing instead.

The coast of North Cornwall, stretching from Lands' End to just outside Bude is a slightly gentler shaped version of Cardigan Bay in Wales, in that it is shaped roughly like a banana with a progressively shaping curve. This is due to the fact North Cornwall is fully exposed to the Celtic Sea with its endless south-westerly/westerly storms, which over millions of years, have nibbled and erroded Cornwall's coastline - the same can be said for the coast of Wales, Ireland and Brittany. That is why, in North Cornwall only hard resistant rocks such as slate and granite predominate as any softer rocks would be decimated by constant erosion.

Geologically the coast of Cornwall cognates with its Celtic cousins in Wales, Brittany and Ireland. Cornwall, before the last European Ice Age was part of the same landmass as it's Celtic cousins, which explains the geological similarities. The Ice Age has a massive impact (literally) on Cornwall; it created the deep V-shaped and hanging valleys of the North coast, evident at the likes of Crackington Haven and Tintagel. After the Ice Age literally melted away, a huge slab of ice dropped into the Atlantic Ocean, causing a massive tsunami which hurtled towards the Atlantic seaboard of Europe. The consequences of this tsunami effectively created the modern day Celtic Sea, Bristol Channel and Irish Sea which literally cut Cornwall off from it's Celtic cousins. Stories of sugmerged lands are very common across the Celtic seaboard, and Cornwall is no exception. In the past, academics without scientific technology laughed off stories, such as Lyonesse as fairy tales. However, modern day technology has allowed geologists to conclude that many parts of Cornwall (and Ireland, Wales and Brittany) was indeed engulfed by massive tidal waves and lost to the sea. At Mount's Bay, towards Marazion and Penzance low tides reveal submerged traces of forests. The north-coast around Bude and Tintagel also has geological evidence of submerged forests. Cornwall's most famous lost land is Lyonesse which is a submerged triangle of land between Lizard Point, Lands End and the Isles of Scilly. The fact that the Isles of Scilly has the same granite mass as Lands End proves that Lyonesse is no fairy-tale, although, like most tales of the Celtic nations, has been somewhat embellished. Donegal Bay in Ireland and Cardigan Bay in Wales also display submerged forests at low tide. As, like Cornwall these aforementioned bays face westwards towards the Atlantic Ocean, it proves that the lost lands are no fairy tales, but real events that actually did happen.

One of the features of the Cornish coast is the proliferation of Raised beaches and Wave cut platforms; similar to Wales, Brittany and Ireland. Raised beaches are very common across the European Atlantic seaboard; as Cornwall is fully exposed to the fury of the Atlantic the ending result is some very steeply shelving beaches and weird cliff formations. Good examples of raised beaches can be seen at Bude, Widemouth Bay, Crackington Haven, Tintagel beach, Trebarwith Strand, and Sennen Cove. These raised beaches make swimming very hazardous, as well as the usual dangers of swirling waves and rip currents, although they do make for excellent surfing beaches.

Cornwall is the southernmost part of Great Britain, and therefore has a relatively warm and sunny climate. However, being unprotected from the Atlantic it also has more extreme weather. The average annual temperature for most of the county is 10.2 to 12 degrees Celsius (50 to 54 °F), with slightly lower temperatures on the moors. The county has relatively high rainfall, though less than more northern areas of the west coast, at 1051 to 1290 mm (41.4 to 50.8 in) per year. Most of Cornwall enjoys over 1541 hours of sunshine per year.

Ecology

Cornwall has varied habitats including terrestrial and marine ecosystems. One of the lower plant forms in decline locally is the Reindeer lichen, which species has been made a priority for protection under the national UK Biodiversity Action Plan.

Politics

St Ives harbour.

Parliamentary representation for Cornwall is dominated by the Liberal Democrats. Cornwall currently returns five MPs to the British House of Commons, all of whom are Liberal Democrats; the new parliamentary boundaries expected to come into force in 2007 will create a sixth parliamentary constituency in Cornwall which will be fought for the first time at the next British General Election - probably in 2009 or 2010. Local councils in Cornwall also have a large portion of Lib Dem representatives. Most local Liberal Democrat MPs and councillors strongly support moves for Cornish devolution, as do some Welsh nationalists.

Although Cornwall is administered as a county of England, an independence movement exists that seeks more autonomy along the lines of the other home Celtic nations. Additionally, some groups and individuals question the constitutional status of Cornwall and its relationship to the Duchy of Cornwall. Cornish nationalists have organised into two political parties: Mebyon Kernow and the Cornish Nationalist Party, and in 2005 Mebyon Kernow became the largest political group on Camborne town council after a by-election. In addition to the political parties, the Cornish Stannary Parliament acts as a pressure group on Cornish constitutional issues and Cornwall 2000, the Human Rights organisation works with Cornish cultural issues.

In November 2000, the Cornish Constitutional Convention was formed to campaign for a Cornish Assembly. It is a cross-party organisation including representatives from the private, public and voluntary sectors, of all political parties and none.

Between 5 March 2000 and December 2001, the campaign for a Cornish Assembly collected the signatures of 41,650 Cornish residents endorsing the Declaration for a Cornish Assembly, in total 50,546 including people outside Cornwall. The British government however has no plans at present to devolve more power to Cornwall.

Flag

Saint Piran's Flag

Saint Piran's Flag is regarded as the national flag of Cornwall and an emblem of the Cornish people. The banner of Saint Piran is a white cross on a black background. Saint Piran is supposed to have adopted these two colours from seeing the white tin in the black coals and ashes during his supposed discovery of tin. In a history of 1837 Saint Piran's flag was described as the "standard of Cornwall", and another history of 1880 said that: "The white cross of St. Piran was the ancient banner of the Cornish people." The Cornish flag is an exact reverse of the former Breton national flag (black cross on a white field) and is known by the same name "Gwynn ha Du" - white and black.

Another theory of the black and white colours is that the white cross represents the igeneous/metamorphic rocks of colour such as granite and schists (mainly found in the South-West of Cornwall), while the black background represents the weathered Devonian slate and Carboniferous sandstone (both of which are mainly black-greyish in appearence) of the northern part of Cornwall.

There are claims that the patron saint of Cornwall is Saint Michael or Saint Petroc, but Saint Piran is by far the most popular of the three and his emblem is internationally [2][3] recognised as the flag of Cornwall. St. Piran's Day (March 5) is celebrated by the Cornish diaspora around the world.

Demographics

Brown Willy on Bodmin Moor.

Cornwall's population is 513,527, and population density 144 people per square kilometre, ranking it 40th and 41st respectively compared to the other 47 counties of England. Cornwall has a relatively high level of population growth, however, at 11.2% in the 1980s and 5.3% in the 1990s, giving it the fifth highest population growth of the English counties. The natural change has been a small population decline, and the population increase is due to immigration into the county. According to the 1991 census, the population was 469,800.

Cornwall has a relatively high retired population, with 22.9% of pensionable age, compared to 20.3% for the United Kingdom. This may be due to a combination of Cornwall's rural and coastal geography increasing its popularity as a retirement location, and due to the emigration of younger residents to more economically diverse areas. Migration of pensioners from southern England to Cornwall, and emigration of young Cornish people, is a persistent concern.

Cornwall is one of the six modern Celtic nations alongside Brittany, Ireland, the Isle of Man, Scotland and Wales. Just under 7% of the population of Cornwall gave their ethnicity as Cornish in the last census, however, in a survey by Morgan Stanley 44% of the population considered themselves Cornish. Following the 2001 Census, Cornish campaigners made representations to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to provide a clear 'Cornish' tick-box option prior to the next Census to allow people the right to record their nationality as Cornish.

Economy

This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Cornwall and Isles of Scilly at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.

Year	Regional Gross Value AddedTemplate:Fn	AgricultureTemplate:Fn	IndustryTemplate:Fn	ServicesTemplate:Fn
1995	3,230	235	813	2,182
2000	4,245	198	1,021	3,027
2003	5,401	221	1,195	3,985

Template:Fnb includes hunting and forestry

Template:Fnb includes energy and construction

Template:Fnb includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured

Template:Fnb Components may not sum to totals due to rounding

Cornwall is the poorest area in the United Kingdom. The GDP is 62% of the national average. Cornwall is one of four UK areas that qualifies for poverty-related grants from the EU (European Social Fund). Today, the Cornish economy depends heavily on its successful tourist industry, which makes up around a quarter of the Cornish economy.

Traditional areas such as china clay extraction have gradually shed workers in recent years.

Educated young people continue to leave the county in numbers and despite Objective One funding the county's economy continues a downward spiral. Objective One funding is due to expire in 2006.

Tourism

Cornwall's unique culture, spectacular landscape and mild climate make it a popular tourist destination, despite being somewhat isolated from the United Kingdom's main tourist centres. Surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic Ocean, English Channel and Celtic Sea, Cornwall has miles of beaches and cliffs. Other tourist attractions include moorland, country gardens and wooded valleys, and tourism is a significant economic sector.

Five million tourists visit the county each year, mostly drawn from within the UK. In particular, Newquay is a popular destination for surfers. In recent years, the Eden Project has been a major financial success, drawing one in eight of Cornwall's visitors.

Industry

Other industries are fishing, although this has been significantly damaged by EU fishing policies, and agriculture, which has also declined significantly. Mining of tin and copper was also an industry, but today no longer exists, and several defunct mines have applied for status as UNESCO World Heritage Sites.

World Heritage Status was granted to the Cornwall and West Devon Mining area on 14th July 2006. This will allow Cornwall County Council the opportunity to expand its Mineral Tramways Project of walking trails along with re-instatement of engine houses and other places of mining interest. Completion of this network is expected some time in 2008. [4]

Creative industries

In recent years Cornwall's creative industries have undergone significant growth, thanks in part to Objective One funding. There is now a significant creative industry in Cornwall, encompassing areas like graphic design, product design, web design, packaging design, environmental design, architecture, photography, art and crafts.

Culture

Minack Theatre, carved from the cliffs.

Main article: Culture of Cornwall

Language

Main article: Cornish language

The Cornish language is closely related to Welsh and Breton, and less so to Irish, Scots Gaelic and Manx. It continued as a living Celtic language until 1777 and the death of Dolly Pentreath, the last person thought to have used only the Cornish language (although this is disputed on a number of counts). The publication of Henry Jenner's "Handbook of the Cornish Language" in 1904 caused a resurgence of interest in the Cornish language. The subsequent revival gathered pace during the twentieth century and, although there has never been a census, most estimates agree that there are now around 4,000 Cornish speakers, around 500 of whom are fluent, and there are several families who have raised their children with the language. Cornish was recognised by the UK government as an official minority language in 2002 and it received government funding in 2005. Although currently less than 0.1% of the population speak it fluently, it is taught in many schools and used in religious and civic ceremonies and has boosted Cornish cultural identity.

Some Cornish surnames are prefixed by Tre, Pol, or Pen, as indicated in the rhyme "by Tre, Pol and Pen ye shall know Cornishmen." These come from Cornish language words meaning, respectively, town (or farm), pool, and head (or end).

Cornish studies and literary references

The Institute of Cornish Studies, established in 1970, is a branch of the University of Exeter, and now part of the Combined Universities in Cornwall Campus at Tremough, Penryn. Philip Payton, professor Cornish studies, has written a history of Cornwall as well as editing the Cornish studies series, and other academics, including Mark Stoyle of the University of Southampton and John Angarrack of the human rights organisation Cornwall 2000, have also produced work on Cornish culture.

A detailed overview of literature is provided by A. M. Kent's 'The Literature of Cornwall'. It covers everything from medieval mystery plays to more recent literary works that draw on the Cornish landscape. Notable Cornish writers include Arthur Quiller-Couch alias "Q", the deaf short story writer, Jack Clemo and D. M. Thomas acclaimed author and poet.

Cornwall also produced a substantial amount of passion plays during the Middle Ages. Many are still extant, and provide valuable information about the Cornish language.

Daphne du Maurier lived in Cornwall and set many of her novels there, including Jamaica Inn, Frenchman's Creek, My Cousin Rachel, and The House on the Strand. Rebecca is sometimes said to be set in Cornwall, but this is not stated explicitly in the novel. She is also noted for writing Vanishing Cornwall. Hammond Innes' novel, The Killer Mine , Charles de Lint's novel The Little Country, Winston Graham's series Poldark, Kate Tremayne's Adam Loveday series, Susan Cooper's novels Over Sea, Under Stone and Greenwitch, Mary Wesley's The Camomile Lawn and Gilbert and Sullivan's musical The Pirates of Penzance are all set in Cornwall. Also the trilogy by Monica Furlong, "Wise Child", "Juniper", and "Colman" take place in medieval Cornwall.

The late Poet Laureate Sir John Betjeman was famously fond of Cornwall and it featured prominently in his poetry. He is buried in the churchyard at St Enodoc Church near Trebetherick.

Religion

Traditionally, the Cornish have been nonconformists when it comes to religion. Celtic Christianity was a feature of Cornwall and many Cornish saints are commemorated in legends, churches and place names.

The Methodism of John Wesley also proved to be very popular with the working classes in Cornwall in the 18th century. Cornwall has shared in the post-World War II decline in British religious feeling.

In 2003, a campaign group was formed called Fry an Spyrys (free the spirit in Cornish) [5]. It is dedicated to disestablishing the Church of England in Cornwall.

Music and festivals

Cornwall has a rich and vibrant folk music tradition which has survived into the present. Cornwall is well known for its unusual folk survivals such as Mummers Plays, the Furry Dance in Helston, and Obby Oss in Padstow.

Cornish players are regular participants in inter-Celtic festivals, and Cornwall itself has several lively inter-Celtic festivals such as Perranporth's Lowender Peran folk festival[6].

On a more modern note, contemporary musician Richard D James (also known as Aphex Twin) grew up in Cornwall.

Sports and games

Cornwall has its own unique form of wrestling related to Breton wrestling and another unique Cornish sport is hurling, a kind of medieval football played with a silver ball (distinct from Irish Hurling). The sport now takes place at St. Columb Major and St Ives although hurling of a silver ball is part of the beating the bounds ceremony at Bodmin every five years.

Rugby union has the largest following in Cornwall (more so than football), with the Cornish Pirates (recently renamed from Penzance & Newlyn RFC) in National League 1 and hoping to tap into the large amount of Cornish nationalist sentiment). Launceston RFC "the Cornish All Blacks" and Redruth RFC "the Reds" are also in the national leagues and get good support. The Cornish rugby team regularly draws large crowds of supporters, dubbed Trelawny's Army, especially if they are progressing towards a Twickenham final!

The Cornwall County Cricket side compete in the Minor Counties Championship, the second tier National County structure. Talented players, produced by the vigorous County league sides, have frequently found employment in the First Class Counties and two have gone on to represent England.

Due to its large coastline, various maritime sports are popular in Cornwall, notably sailing and surfing. International events in both are held in Cornwall. Cornwall will host the Inter-Celtic Watersports Festival in 2006.

Rock climbing on the sea cliffs and inland cliffs has been popular since the pioneeering work of A. W. Andrews and others in the early 1900s, and is now highly developed.

Euchre is a popular card game in Cornwall, it is normally a game for four players consisting of two teams. Its origins are unclear but some claim it is a Cornish game. There are several leagues in Cornwall at present.

A recent application for a place in the 2006 Commonwealth Games was refused by the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF). The Cornwall Commonwealth Games Association claimed that Cornwall should be recognised with a team, in the way that other sub-state entities such as England, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are. However, the CGF noted that it was not their place to make political decisions on whether or not Cornwall is a separate nation.

Food and drink

Cornwall has a strong gastronomic heritage. Being surrounded on three sides by the sea amid fertile fishing grounds fresh seafood is easily available; Newlyn is the largest fishing port in the UK by value of fish landed . Television Chef Rick Stein has long operated a fish restaurant in Padstow for this reason and Jamie Oliver recently chose to open his second restaurant, Fifteen in Newquay. One famous local fish dish is star-gazy pie, a fish-based pie in which the heads and tails of the fish stick through the pasty crust, as though "star-gazing". The pie is cooked as part of traditional celebrations for Tom Bawcocks Eve.

Cornwall is perhaps best known for its pasties a savory dish made from pastry containing suet. Those seen today most commonly contain a filling of beef steak, potato, onion and swede with salt and white pepper, but historically had a variety of different fillings including the licky pasty that comprised mostly leeks, or the herb pasty that contained watercress, parsley and shallots. Pasties are often locally referred to as oggies.

The wet climate and relatively poor soil mean that Cornwall is unsuitable for growing many arable crops. However, it is ideal for growing the rich grass required for dairying, that leads to the production of Cornwall's other famous export, Cornish clotted cream. This forms the basis for many local specialities including Cornish fudge and Cornish ice cream and other traditional recipes including thunder and lightning (bread with clotted cream and treacle) and burnt cream. Cornish clotted cream is protected under EU law and cannot be made anywhere else. True Cornish clotted cream must be made from unpasteurised milk or the clots will not form and has a minimum fat content of 55%.

Local desserts include but saffron buns, Cornish Heavy (Hevva) Cake, Cornish fairings (biscuit), Figgy 'obbin and Whortleberry Pie.

There are also many types of beers brewed in Cornwall — the St Austell brewery is the best-known — including a stout and there is some small scale production of wine, mead and cider.

Settlements

Ruin of Cornish tin mine

This is a list of the main towns and cities in the county; for a complete list of settlements see list of places in Cornwall.

• Bodmin
• Bude
• Camborne
• Falmouth
• Fowey
• Hayle
• Helston
• Launceston
• Liskeard
• Looe
• Lostwithiel

• Newquay
• Padstow
• Penryn
• Penzance
• Redruth
• Saltash
• St Austell
• St Ives
• Torpoint
• Truro
• Wadebridge

Transport

Cornwall borders the county of Devon at the River Tamar. Major road links between Cornwall and the rest of Great Britain are the A38 which crosses the Tamar at Plymouth via the Tamar Bridge, and the A30 which crosses the border south of Launceston. A car ferry also links Plymouth with the town of Torpoint on the opposite side of the Hamoaze. A rail bridge, the Royal Albert Bridge, built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1859) provides the only other major transport link.

Newquay has an airport which has flights from London Gatwick, London Stansted, Bristol, Manchester, Leeds Bradford, Dublin, Birmingham, Durham Tees Valley. The airport shares RAF St. Mawgan's runways and facilities; however, this is under threat as the Ministry of Defence has announced that military flights will cease at the base from October 2007. The handover of the runway will depend on funding being found to bring it up to civil aviation standards.

Perhaps the best (although expensive) way to travel to North Cornwall is from Cardiff or Swansea on a boat-trip across the Bristol channel, usually to Padstow. Swansea in particular has several boat companies who can arrange boat trips to North Cornwall, which allows the traveller to pass by the North Cornish coastline and its superb sights, such as Tintagel castle and Padstow harbour. Very occasionally, the Waverley and Balmoral paddle steamers cruise from Swansea to Padstow .

The Isles of Scilly are served by ferry (from Penzance), helicopter (Penzance Heliport) and fixed wing aeroplane (Land's End Aerodrome, near St Just). Further flights to St Mary's, Isles of Scilly, are available from Exeter International Airport in Devon.

Places of interest

Barbara Hepworth Museum Bodmin and Wenford Railway Bodmin Moor Cardinham Woods Carn Euny Carrick Roads Castle An Dinas Chûn Castle Chûn Quoit Chysauster Ancient Village File:EH icon.png Commando Ridge, Bosigran Cotehele Eden Project Geevor Tin Mine Godrevy Island Goonhilly Downs The Hurlers Kynance Cove Land's End Lanhydrock House Lanyon Quoit Lappa Valley Steam Railway Looe Looe Island Leach Pottery The Lizard Loe Pool Lost Gardens of Heligan

Mên-an-Tol Mevagissey Minack Theatre Mousehole Mullion Cove Newlyn Art Gallery National Maritime Museum Paradise Park, Hayle Pencarrow Pendennis Castle File:EH icon.png Penlee House Poldhu Polperro Museum of Submarine Telegraphy Restormel Castle File:EH icon.png River Fowey River Looe Roseland Peninsula National Seal Sanctuary, Gweek South West Coast Path St Mawes Castle File:EH icon.png St Michael's Mount Tate St. Ives Tintagel Castle File:EH icon.png Trelissick Garden Trinity House National Lighthouse Museum Truro Cathedral

Miscellanea

The Isles of Scilly have in some periods been served by the same county administration as Cornwall, but are today a separate Unitary Authority. The Health Authority covering Cornwall, however, does include The Isles of Scilly in its area of responsibility.

See also

• List of topics related to Cornwall

External links

Tourist Information

• The official Cornwall Tourist Board
• Cornwall Association of Tourist Attractions

General Information

• Illustrated guide to Cornwall
• User News & Reviews for each town in Cornwall
• BBS Cornwall - Cornwall's Social Community Bulletin Board System
• Cornwall County Council
• Cornish Objective One
• East Cornwall Mining History Association
• This is not Cornwall, This is Kernow
• Gorseth Kernow
• Campaign for a Cornish Assembly
• The Celtic League
• Maps of Cornwall (Kernow) showing a Celtic or Distinct Identity. (From H2G2 The Guide to Life, The Universe and Everything.)

News and Sport

• The Pasty, Cornish news
• This is Cornwall, local news
• Cornwall 24 - Cornwall's independent news and discussion site
• London Cornish Rugby Football Club
• Trelawny's Army - The Cornish Rugby Supporters' Club

Culture, Language and History

• Cornish History
• The Institute of Cornish Studies
• The Cornish Language

Photographs

• Cornwall Photos
• Cornwall Cam
• Cornwall 365 Photographs of Cornwall
• Views of Cornwall Nearly 2000 photos of Cornwall
• Images Cornwall Extensive collection of high quality Cornwall photos

References

Template:England ceremonial counties
Template:England traditional counties