What Makes Cornwall So Special

The Duchy of Cornwall is in the extreme south west of Britain, with the river Tamar as it's border. From Lands End to the southern boundary with Devon is about 70 miles and it is about 25 miles wide, although only 7 miles wide at the narrowest part. The long and rugged coastline is an important factor in the lives of the people. Ships were wrecked so frequently providing "wrecking" or the gathering of wreckage as a lucrative pastime. Smuggling was a recognized sport, and fishing a huge industry.

It all began in about 350 BC (the Iron Age) when tribes wandered across Europe looking for tin. Eventually they found an abundance of tin in Cornwall and settled, and as a result left a legacy in the form of the Celtic Cornish language. The Cornish language was mostly extinct by 1800, though there has been a revival of late. The next race to emerge in Europe was the Romans, but they had little to do with the south-western extremity of Britain. Romans occasionally came for tin but they could obtain it easier in Spain.

Next came saints from Wales and Ireland bringing Christianity. Settlements formed at places of worship which grew into communities known as church towns. These soon grew into Parishes. Cornwall continued to remain Celtic and the Chieftains (notably Arthur) fought the incoming Saxons valiantly, but were eventually conquered in 838. From 1066, the Normans brought changes. William the Conqueror gave faithful Barons lands and manors, and some of these still survive.

Later Edward III's son, the Black Prince, was created the first Duke of Cornwall. This title is inherited at birth by every male heir to the English throne. Prince Charles, Duke of Cornwall, and Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall, are pictured on the left. The Cornish are proud of the fact that they are a Duchy and not a County.

In the following centuries Cornwall enjoyed relative peace. It's tin trade was the largest in Europe, and at one time Redruth was the second richest town in Britain (after London). Stannary towns grew around the places where tin was brought to be tested for purity, and Cornwall is now a popular retreat for those who wish to escape the "rat race".

The name and language of Cornwall has an interesting history as well. Cornwall takes its name from Cornovii, meaning hill dwellers and Waelas, meaning strangers. Interestingly Wales takes it's name from Waelas.

Cornwall has its own flag, the flag of St. Piran, patron saint of the miners. Its simple white cross against a black background, represents the triumph of good over evil and the dressed tin over the darker tin ore. Cornwall also has it's own National Anthem, though it is debatable whether this is the "official" The Song of the Western Men or the more popular and better known Trelawney. The national emblem consists of a shield containing fifteen golden balls representing the gold raised by the Cornish as ransom for a Duke of Cornwall captured by the Saracens during the crusades. The Cornish motto is "One and All" (or "Onan Haag Oll" in Cornish).

It is said that Cornwall has stimulated writers of greater outpourings than any other English County; and certainly as many as either Scotland or Wales. Thomas Hardy, the great Victorian novelist and poet wrote in 1870 "The place is pre-eminently the region of dream and mystery". Even today this mystical land continues to exert a strange influence over those who come to visit its secret and sacred places, to marvel at the breathtakingly beautiful coastline or simply to bask on its sun-drenched beaches. You are never more than 20 miles from the sea in Cornwall, and never more than a short walk from antiquity. Despite the interest it engenders, it is an economically fragile area, with high unemployment and is today greatly reliant on the tourist trade for its survival since the demise of the mining industry in the 1980s and a steady decline in fishing.

It is said that Cornwall was once known as the Kingdom of Kernow - land of Mystery and legends; included in which are those of King Arthur and the lost land of Lyonesse (said to lie submerged off the tip of the county between Lands End and the Scilly Isles). Cranstar’s Historical Cornwall mentions a number of Cornish legends including the Mermaid of Zennor, Jack the Giant Killer, The Lost land of Lyonesse and The Lady of the Lake (of Arthurian legend).

Ancient and modern, past and present, Cornwall remains truly a Land of Legends.

Historically Cornwall was built on tin mining and the Cornish miners became experts in the field of "hard rock mining". Cornwall sill hosts the world's premiere mining university, Camborne School of Mines. For centuries Cornish mining expertise was sought after throughout the world, and it is said that wherever you go in the world "if the hole is deep enough, you'll find a Cornishman sitting at the bottom of it".

Cornwall has a variety of "native" foodstuffs, including "hevva cake", the bright yellow saffron cake or bun, and, of course, the Cornish Pasty.

Pasties evolved as a means of providing a nourishing meal and were eaten either warm or cold. It was a convenient wholesome meal, easily packed to be eaten at meal time down the mines. The pasty was of particular value to miners, and (originally) the filling consisted of whatever happened to be available at the time wrapped in pastry.

Reminders of Cornwall's religious predilections lie in its Celtic crosses, numerous churches and such memorials as stone circles, the last of which are thought to have been ancient meeting places of religious astronomical significance. Having survived the ravages of time and the indifference of subsequent generations, the one near Penzance known as the Merry Maidens, has been deemed by a different religious ethos as nineteen maidens doomed to remain as stone monuments to their wickedness, through dancing on the Sabbath.

The Methodist religion began with a dedicated evangelist, in the late 1700's, John Wesley. When he first visited Cornwall he was met with stones and abuse, but following his persistence his message gradually took hold of many Cornish men and woman, and Cornwall became a stronghold of Methodism - the name generally applied to the methodical practice of religion preached by Wesley and his followers. Methodism is still practiced more widely in Cornwall than any other part of England.

Throughout the years the Cornish have always seen themselves as outsiders to the rest of England. If they had their way, the United Kingdom would be made of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Cornwall, which explains why anyone who is not Cornish is considered to be a foreigner!

At the end of the day, the Cornish people can be summed up by the Duchy's motto, One and All!