The Penwith peninsula is the “toe” of Cornwall, comprising
the most westerly portion of mainland Britain and including the rocky cliffs of
Land’s End. Penwith is of interest to the walker, birdwatcher and enthusiast
for history, both ancient and industrial.
The Penwith Peninsula
Most tourists make a beeline for the “first and last house”
and the signpost that points the way to John O’Groats in one direction (874
miles) and New York in the other (3147 miles), but it would be a mistake to
ignore the rugged scenery of the granite outcrop that leads to this point.
The Cornwall coast path that circumnavigates the Penwith
peninsula runs for 36 miles from St Ives to Penzance, although it can be
tackled in shorter sections as it is rarely far from a road along which bus services run (albeit infrequently!) to
take the walker back to base.
The path westwards from St Ives, for example, winds between
rocky headlands and remote coves which were once used by smugglers. Walkers
sometimes need to descend steeply to cross fast-flowing streams and then
clamber up the other side, so progress is unlikely to be rapid. That does not
matter, because there is much to see here; not only views of the sea breaking
against the rocks below, but, depending on the time of year, of birds such as
herring gulls, fulmars and auks, and seals in the less accessible coves and on
offshore rocks. The natural flora of the area includes pink thrift, purple
heather and yellow gorse which is sometimes blanketed by red tendrils of
dodder, a parasitic plant.
Cornish tin
West Cornwall was for many centuries a centre for tin
mining, although this has now ceased (pending a possible revival). There are
many monuments to the industry to be seen, mostly along the coast such as at
Botallack near St Just. The mine workings extended half a mile out to sea, but
the towers that stood above the shafts and contained the winding gear and
engines were built close to the cliff edge. The tin was smelted locally and
produced arsenic as a by-product. Some of the furnaces used in this process can
also be seen.
One of the last working tin mines was at Geevor, near
Pendeen, and the pit has been preserved as a museum that includes underground
workings that can be visited. The idea of the museum is to give as faithful an
impression as possible of how the mine operated, as well as to provide an
enjoyable experience for a family visit.
Abundant evidence of ancient settlements
Inland from the coast, the granite hills of Penwith have
changed little for thousands of years. The visitor can see a microcosm of
Celtic Britain in the form of burial mounds, monuments, field boundaries and
even an entire village. Not only was this region too remote and inhospitable
for large-scale development, but the lack of woodland meant that the local
people, who started mining back in Bronze Age times, were forced to build in
stone, much of which has been preserved down to the present day. Penwith boasts
the largest concentration of prehistoric antiquities in the whole of Great
Britain.
Burial mounds were formed by setting three or four stones on
end and laying a slab across the top. The walls and roof would have been made
from turf that has long since disappeared, leaving the stone skeleton behind as
a “cromlech” or “quoit”. Lanyon Quoit is one such monument, alongside the road
from Morvah to Madron. It was re-erected in the early 19th century
after falling in a storm and now stands only one metre high, although it was
originally possible for a horse and rider to pass beneath the 13 ton horizontal
slab.
Not far away is Men-an-tol, which features a stone set on
edge with a circular hole in it, with other holes nearby. The original purpose
of this site is unknown, but local folklore maintains that it had healing powers
and that children were passed through the hole to cure them of rickets.
The most remarkable ancient site in Penwith has to be
Chysauster Ancient Village (see photo), not far from the road between Penzance and St Ives.
This was an Iron Age settlement dating from around 100 BC. Each house in the
village, of which nine can be traced on either side of a central street, had a
central courtyard around which were several rooms that would have had thatched
roofs. Also on the site are the remains of a “fogou”, a stone-walled
underground passage that may have been used for security or storage purposes.
Mousehole and Penlee
The village of Mousehole (pronounced “Mowsul”) is also not
to be missed. This is a small fishing village, grouped around its harbour, that
has retained its character down the centuries and will continue to do so thanks
to its conservation status. Unfortunately, its very attractiveness causes it to
become crowded with tourists in the high season, and so it is best visited at
other times of the year.
Not far from Mousehole is the former Penlee lifeboat station
that is a stark reminder of how the forces of nature can make life in this area
difficult and dangerous. On the night of 19th December 1981, eight
volunteer lifeboatmen lost their lives when called to rescue the crew of a
cargo ship that had been thrown on to the rocks by an Atlantic storm.
Worth a visit?
This wild and windswept area of land at the far end of
England is certainly worth a second look. It would a waste to go all that way
just to say you have “done” Land’s End, especially if you are interested in coastal
scenery, industrial archaeology or ancient remains. This an area where time
does seem to have stood still, and it is not surprising to learn that this was
where the ancient Cornish language (related to Welsh and Scots Gaelic) was last
spoken as a first language, back in the 18th century, although
attempts have since been made to revive it.
© John Welford
© John Welford
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