Penzance (Cornish: Pensans) is a town, civil parish, and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, UK.
Granted various Royal Charters from 1512 onwards and incorporated in 1614, it has a population of 20,255 people and is currently Penwith's principal town.
Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay, the town faces south-east onto the English Channel, is bordered to the west by the fishing port of Newlyn and to the east by the civil parish of Ludgvan. The town's location gives it a temperate climate that makes it warmer than most of the rest of Britain.
Although commonly perceived as the southernmost town on the UK mainland, Penzance is the second most southerly, with nearby Helston marginally taking this honour by only 3 kilometres.
History
The reason for Penzance's relative success probably stems from the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries when Henry IV of England granted the town a Royal Market. Henry VIII later granted the right to charge harbour dues and King James I granted it the status of a borough.
During the English Civil War Penzance was sacked by the forces of Sir Thomas Fairfax apparently for the kindness shown to Lord Goring and Lord Hoptons troops during the conflict
Penzance borough council undertook several major projects, including the building of the Market House (which was the home of the corn exchange and the then guildhall), and the harbour, the first pier of which was built in 1512. The southern arm of the pier was built in 1766 and extended in 1785.
Civil improvements in this period included the construction in 1759 of a reservoir which supplied water to public pumps in the streets.
Penzance has a long-standing association with the local parish of Madron. Madron church was in fact the centre of most religious activity in the town until 1871, when the church of St. Mary (prior to this period a Chapel of ease) was granted parish status by church authorities.
In 1755 the Lisbon earthquake caused a tsunami to strike the Cornish coast over 1,000 miles away. The sea rose eight feet in ten minutes at Penzance, ebbed at the same rate, and continued to rise and fall for 5 hours.
Economy
The economy of Penzance has, like many Cornish communities, suffered from the decline of the traditional Cornish industries of fishing, mining and agriculture. Penzance now has a mixed economy consisting of light industrial, tourism and retail businesses. However, like the rest of Cornwall, housing remains comparatively expensive, wages low and unemployment high within the parish area. House prices have risen 274% in 10 years the fastest rise in the UK. The fishing port of Newlyn, which falls within the parish boundaries, provides some employment in the area, but has also been greatly affected by the decline in the fishing industry over the last 30 years. In the 2004 index of deprivation Penzance is listed as having 3 wards within the top 10% percent for employment deprivation, Penzance East (125th most deprived in England) Penzance West (200th most deprived in England), Penzance Central (712th most deprived in England) 18-31% of households in the parish being described as "poor households". The Penzance East Ward also has one the highest unemployment rates in Cornwall stated as 15.4%.
Mining
Following Sir Humphry Davy’s contribution to the mining industry, The Miners' Association began mining classes in Penzance. As mining in the area became more complex the Penzance Mining and Science School was founded in 1890. The school continued to teach mining until 1910 when it was amalgamated with Camborne and Redruth Mining School forming the School Of Metallipherous Mining in Camborne, which is now known as the Camborne School of Mines. This institution has now moved to the Combined Universities in Cornwall campus at Tremough, Falmouth. Penzance from 1663 was a coinage town, responsible for the collection of tin taxation on behalf of the Duchy of Cornwall it held this status for 176 years. According to William Pryce in his 1778 book Mineralogia Cornubiensis Penzance coined more tin than the towns of Liskeard, Lostwithiel, and Helston put together. Penzance also had its own sub-marine mine situated off the coast of the town next to the area known as Wherrytown. The mine known as 'Wheal' Wherry was worked from the period 1778 to 1798 and again from 1836 to 1840. Founded by "a poor 57 year old miner" named Thomas Curtis, the mine was said to be "very rich at depth" and was connected to the shore by a wooden bridge; the ore being transported by Wherry boat. The mine suffered considerable damage in 1798 when an American ship broke anchor off nearby Newlyn and smashed into the bridge and head gear. Later attempts at mining were not as profitable. During the 19th century and until 1912, Penzance had the largest tin smelting house in Cornwall, operated by the Bolitho family. The smelting works were situated at Chyandour. As a consequence of this concentration of mining wealth Penzance also became a centre for commercial banking. The Bolitho bank (now part of Barclays Bank) and the Penzance Bank were two of the largest, although the latter collapsed in 1896.
Festivals
Every June since 1991, the Golowan Festival (which includes Mazey Day) has been held in the town. Before the 1930s Penzance was the scene of large May Day celebrations, which saw local children making and using tin 'May horns' and 'May whistles'. The Feast Day of Corpus Christi was also celebrated in Penzance. The Corpus Christi fair has been a long standing event in the town, and is currently undergoing attempts to revive it in a more traditional format.
Allantide, a Cornish version of Halloween, was also a popular activity in the town. Many of these customs were recorded by local antiquarian M. A. Courtney and have influenced historical views of traditional Cornish cultural activities.
Penzance will be the host of the Gorseth Kernow open ceremony and esethvos in 2007.
Music and theatre
Penzance is the home of the pirates in Gilbert and Sullivan's opera The Pirates of Penzance. At the time the libretto was written, 1879, Penzance had long been a peaceful town, so the very idea of it being overrun by pirates was amusing.
Penzance is home to the Acorn Theatre sited within a former Methodist Chapel. The theatre provides a mixture of theatre film dance music and cabaret and is partially public funded. The Savoy is an independent cinema located in the Town opened in 1912 and originally named the Victoria Hall music hall, The Savoy is one of the locations of performances sponsored by the Penwith film society (an arts cinema society based in the Penwith area). It is reputedly the oldest continuously used cinema in Britain. Prior to World War II Penzance was also home to a further 3 cinemas and at least 2 theatres, one of which the Pavilion Theatre is now home to an amusement arcade.
Musician Patrick Wolf has a song entitled Penzance.
Art galleries
Penzance will be home to the new Newlyn Art Gallery establishment "the exchange" which will open in 2007. Penzance is also the home of Penlee House, an art gallery and museum notable for its collection of paintings by members of the Newlyn School. Within Penzance town centre there are a growing number of commercial art galleries.
