PENZANCE CORNWALL PENZANCE CORNWALL PENZANCE CORNWALL

Accommodation in Penzance

Accommodation in Penzance

Penzance owes its name ('holy headland' from the Cornish pen and sans) to the small rocky headland to the south of the harbour and the chapel which once stood just inland (on or close to the site of the present church).

The settlement of Penzance would have been not a great deal more than this for much of its history until the sixteenth century, Mousehole being the principal harbour on Mount's Bay before then. Following its burning by the Spanish in 1565, much of the infant town had to be rebuilt and it was not long before it was incorporated as a borough.

In 1663 Charles II made Penzance a new coinage town for the tin industry (see Helston), removing this privilege from Bodmin and Lostwithiel at the same time and thus marking the westward movement of mining activity. From then on Penzance did not look back: its maritime trade became increasingly varied and vigorous and the town developed as a market for the whole of West Cornwall.

Today Penzance is undeniably one of Cornwall's most attractive towns, both in terms of its architecture and position and, perhaps more importantly, its spirit.

This is a place of great vitality and originality with much of interest to see and do: the Penzance and District Museum and Art Gallery in Penlee Park has a fascinating collection of paintings by the Newlyn School and the Lamorna group of artists; the statue of Sir Humphry Davy in Market Jew Street commemorates one of the greatest chemists this country has ever produced ("the Cornishman of genius par excellence", as A.L. Rowse has called him); and Trinity House's national lighthouse museum is down by the harbour.

The Scillonian III operates from Lighthouse Pier with a daily service to and from St Mary's on the Isles of Scilly; there are also regular helicopter flights to the islands from the heliport on the eastern edge of the town.

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