Historic Past of Penwith

Penwith has been inhabited for thousands of years, and fortunately many ancient monuments have survived. From the late Neolithic there are stone monuments such as Lanyon Quoit; stone circles from the later Bronze Age like the Merry Maidens and holed stones such as Men-an-Tol.

The Romans invaded Cornwall, but only kept a minimal hold over it, instead concentrating on trading with the locals for tin. Marazion 4 miles from Penzance was a centre of such a trade, it is the oldest town in Britain.

Cornwall is a Celtic area possessing its own language, Cornish. It was formerly an independent kingdom which lasted until the 10TH Century, with the language persisting for another 800 years. The Celts eventually became Christians, leaving us their legacy of the many distinctive Celtic crosses found in this area..

The Cornish are a seafaring people and have traded with many civilisations in the past. It is thought that there was trade with the Phoenicians, but there is little evidence to back this up. Nevertheless there was trade with the Romans for tin.

In more recent times these seafaring skills were put to another use, smuggling. The area has a rich history, full of tales of such enterprises.

Tin has been mined in Penwith for centuries and continued to be up to the 1980s. The industry leaves behind it a myriad of interesting remains.

 HOLY WELLS

 CHURCHES

 TIN MINING

 PRE-HISTORY

 MARITIME

For more information on individual historical sites in Penwith,  click on the map below.