159-610: Kneehigh Theatre was an international touring theatre company founded in 1980 by Mike Shepherd and based in Cornwall , England. The company was based in barns on the southern Cornish coast, at Gorran Haven , but the administration was in Truro . On 3 June 2021, Kneehigh announced it would close. Kneehigh was started in 1980 by Mike Shepherd. Early productions were performed in village halls, marquees, cliff-tops and quarries. Their productions were often based around mythological tales such as
318-746: A folk music tradition that has survived into the present and is well known for its unusual folk survivals such as Mummers Plays , the Furry Dance in Helston played by the famous Helston Town Band , and Obby Oss in Padstow . Newlyn is home to a food and music festival that hosts live music, cooking demonstrations, and displays of locally caught fish. Cornish people Modern ethnicities The Cornish people or Cornish ( Cornish : Kernowyon , Old English : Cornƿīelisċ ) are an ethnic group native to, or associated with Cornwall and
477-478: A national myth recounting a legendary Celtic history of Brittonic warriors, including King Arthur . The Matter of Britain was supported by texts such as the Historia Regum Britanniae , a pseudohistorical account of the history of the ancient Britons, written in the mid-12th century by Geoffrey of Monmouth . The Historia Regum Britanniae chronicled the lives of legendary kings of
636-943: A "mixture of reasons"; to raise money for charity; to celebrate their community; to present their grievances to the Parliament of England , but gathered pace across the West Country as a revolt against the king. Cornish was the most widely spoken language west of the River Tamar until around the mid-1300s, when Middle English began to be adopted as a common language of the Cornish people. As late as 1542 Andrew Boorde , an English traveller, physician and writer, wrote that in Cornwall there were two languages, "Cornysshe" and "Englysshe", but that "there may be many men and women" in Cornwall who could not understand English. While
795-538: A Celtic language enthusiast, published his book Handbook of the Cornish Language . He based his work on Cornish as it was spoken in the 18th century, although his pupil Robert Morton Nance , with his orthography, Unified Cornish , later steered the revival more towards the Middle Cornish that had been used in the 16th century, before the language became more heavily influenced by English. This set
954-644: A Cornish national identity. 59,456 of these were described as Cornish only, 6,261 as Cornish and British, and 17,782 as Cornish and at least one other identity, with or without British. Within Cornwall the total was 73,220 (14% of the population) with 52,793 (9.9%) as Cornish only, 5,185 (1%) as Cornish and British, and 15,242 (2.9%) as Cornish and at least one other identity, with or without British. In Scotland 467 people described themselves as having Cornish national identity. 254 with Cornish identity only, 39 as Scottish and Cornish, and 174 having Cornish identity and at least one other UK identity (excluding Scottish). In
1113-415: A capacity to distance themselves from their Englishness. Ancestry was seen as the most important criterion for being categorised as Cornish, above place of birth or growing up in Cornwall. This study supports a 1988 study by Mary McArthur that had found that the meanings of Cornishness varied substantially, from local to national identity. Both studies also observed that the Cornish were less materialistic than
1272-595: A complete Roman departure from Britain , and Cornwall then experienced an influx of Celtic Christian missionaries from Ireland who had a profound effect upon the early Cornish people, their culture, faith and architecture. The ensuing decline of the Roman Empire encouraged the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain . The Angles , Jutes , Frisii and Saxons , Germanic peoples from northern Europe, established petty kingdoms and settled in different regions of what
1431-479: A cross argent'). According to legend Saint Piran adopted these colours from seeing the white tin in the black coals and ashes during his discovery of tin. The Cornish flag is an exact reverse of the former Breton black cross national flag and is known by the same name " Kroaz Du ". Since the 19th century, Cornwall, with its unspoilt maritime scenery and strong light, has sustained a vibrant visual art scene of international renown. Artistic activity within Cornwall
1590-422: A distinct Cornish culture has been attributed to Cornwall's geographic isolation. Contemporaneously, the underlying notion of Cornish culture is that it is distinct from the culture of England , despite its anglicisation , and that it is instead part of a Celtic tradition. According to American academic Paul Robert Magocsi , modern-day Cornish activists have claimed several Victorian era inventions including
1749-729: A distinctly Brittonic Celtic heritage. The Cornish language was granted official recognition under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2002, and in 2014 the Cornish people were recognised and afforded protection by the UK Government under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities . In the 2021 census, the population of Cornwall, including the Isles of Scilly ,
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#17327876186251908-525: A first language in the late 18th century. In the 20th and 21st centuries, it has been revived by a small number of speakers. It is closely related to the other Brythonic languages ( Breton and Welsh ), and less so to the Goidelic languages . Cornish has no legal status in the UK. There has been a revival of the language by academics and optimistic enthusiasts since the mid-19th century that gained momentum from
2067-759: A large part of the Cornwall National Landscape . The national landscape also includes Bodmin Moor , an upland outcrop of the Cornubian batholith granite formation. The county contains many short rivers; the longest is the Tamar , which forms the border with Devon. Cornwall had a minor Roman presence, and later formed part of the Brittonic kingdom of Dumnonia . From the 7th century, the Britons in
2226-668: A large urban centre in south west Devon, is an important location for services such as hospitals, department stores, road and rail transport, and cultural venues, particularly for people living in east Cornwall. Cardiff and Swansea , across the Bristol Channel, have at some times in the past been connected to Cornwall by ferry, but these do not operate now. The Isles of Scilly are served by ferry (from Penzance) and by aeroplane, having its own airport: St Mary's Airport . There are regular flights between St Mary's and Land's End Airport , near St Just, and Newquay Airport ; during
2385-505: A lesser extent shares commonalities with the Welsh language , although they are not mutually intelligible . The language functioned as a community language in Cornwall until a language shift to the English language was completed during the late 18th century. The demise of the Cornish language is attributed to English cultural influence, particularly the political and religious dominance of
2544-471: A major impact upon the Cornish people. Cornwall's economy was fully integrated into England's, and mining in Cornwall , always an important source of employment and stability of the Cornish, experienced a process of industrialisation resulting in 30 per cent of Cornwall's adult population being employed by its mines. During this period, efforts were made by Cornish engineers to design steam engines with which to power water pumps for Cornish mines thus aiding
2703-401: A means to earn wealth by using their mining skill. This has resulted in a concentration of Cornish names on and around Teesside that persists into the 21st century. Large numbers of the 19th century Cornish emigrants eventually returned to Cornwall, whilst the rate of emigration from Cornwall declined after World War I. However, the global connections of the remaining Cornish diaspora , which
2862-401: A nation comparable to the English, Irish, Scots and Welsh, "has practically vanished from the popular consciousness" outside Cornwall, and that, despite a "real and substantive" identity, the Cornish "struggle for recognition as a national group distinct from the English". However, in 2014, after a 15-year campaign, the UK government officially recognised the Cornish as a national minority under
3021-680: A raid from the Tamar to Land's End, and the end of Cornish independence. However, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that in 825 (adjusted date) a battle took place between the Wealas (Cornish) and the Defnas (men of Devon) at Gafulforda . The Cornish giving battle here, and the later battle at Hingston Down, casts doubt on any claims of control Wessex had at this stage. In 838, the Cornish and their Danish allies were defeated by Egbert in
3180-747: A recognised national minority in the United Kingdom , which (like the Welsh and Bretons ) can trace its roots to the Brittonic Celtic ancient Britons who inhabited Great Britain from somewhere between the 11th and 7th centuries BC and inhabited Britain at the time of the Roman conquest . Many in Cornwall today continue to assert a distinct identity separate from or in addition to English or British identities. Cornish identity has also been adopted by some migrants into Cornwall, as well as by emigrant and descendant communities from Cornwall,
3339-628: A result, in 2005 its promoters received limited government funding. Several words originating in Cornish are used in the mining terminology of English, such as costean , gossan , gunnies , kibbal, kieve and vug . The Cornish language and culture influenced the emergence of particular pronunciations and grammar not used elsewhere in England. The Cornish dialect is spoken to varying degrees; however, someone speaking in broad Cornish may be practically unintelligible to one not accustomed to it. Cornish dialect has generally declined, as in most places it
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#17327876186253498-603: A state which became increasingly centralised in London, and by the early- Tudor period the Cornish had begun to see themselves as "a conquered people whose culture, liberties, and prosperity had been downgraded by the English". This view was exacerbated in the 1490s by heavy taxation imposed by King Henry VII of England upon the impoverished Cornish to raise funds for his military campaigns against King James IV of Scotland and Perkin Warbeck , as well as Henry VII's suspension of
3657-699: A treaty was agreed, Anglo-Saxon political influence stretched westwards until some time in the late 10th century when "Cornwall was definitively incorporated into the Kingdom of England ". The Norman conquest of England , which began with an invasion by the troops of William, Duke of Normandy (later, King William I of England ) in 1066, resulted in the removal of the Anglo-Saxon derived monarchy, aristocracy, and clerical hierarchy and its replacement by Normans , Scandinavian Vikings from northern France and their Breton allies, who, in many cases, maintained rule in
3816-610: A unified genetic identity. Throughout classical antiquity the Celts spoke Celtic languages , and formed a series of tribes, cultures and identities, notably the Picts and Gaels in the north and the Britons in the south. The Britons were themselves a divided people; although they shared the Brythonic languages , they were tribal, and divided into regional societies, and within them sub-groups. Examples of these tribal societies were
3975-433: A variety of theatrical elements including puppetry , live music (often played with folk instruments such as ukuleles and dulcimers ) and an emphasis on visual imagery. Between 1989 and 2006, Sue Hill and Bill Mitchell were working as part of Kneehigh on work that was happening outdoors and on site, influenced heavily by such groups as Footsbarn Theatre and Welfare State International . However, feeling that Kneehigh
4134-551: A very infertile soil which covers the flat and marshy heaths of the interior of the peninsula. This is home to rare plants, such as the Cornish Heath , which has been adopted as the county flower . Cornwall's only city, and the home of the council headquarters , is Truro. Nearby Falmouth is notable as a port. St Just in Penwith is the westernmost town in England, though the same claim has been made for Penzance , which
4293-742: Is a ceremonial county in South West England . It is recognised by Cornish and Celtic political groups as one of the Celtic nations , and is the homeland of the Cornish people . The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Devon to the east, and the English Channel to the south. The largest urban area in the county is a conurbation that includes the former mining towns of Redruth and Camborne , and
4452-403: Is by F. H. Davey Flora of Cornwall (1909). Davey was assisted by A. O. Hume and he thanks Hume, his companion on excursions in Cornwall and Devon, and for help in the compilation of that Flora, publication of which was financed by him. Cornwall has a temperate Oceanic climate ( Köppen climate classification : Cfb ), with mild winters and cool summers. Cornwall has the mildest and one of
4611-665: Is concentrated in English-speaking countries such as Australia, Canada, South Africa and the United States, are "very strong". Their outreach has contributed to the international spread of Methodism , a movement within Protestant Christianity that was popular with the Cornish people at the time of their mass migration. "Cousin Jacks" is a nickname for the overseas Cornish, thought to derive from
4770-594: Is documented in a dedicated online journal. Local television programmes are provided by BBC South West & ITV West Country . Radio programmes are produced by BBC Radio Cornwall in Truro for the entire county, Heart West , Source FM for the Falmouth and Penryn areas, Coast FM for west Cornwall, Radio St Austell Bay for the St Austell area, NCB Radio for north Cornwall & Pirate FM . Cornwall has
4929-426: Is larger. St Ives and Padstow are today small vessel ports with a major tourism and leisure sector in their economies. Newquay on the north coast is another major urban settlement which is known for its beaches and is a popular surfing destination, as is Bude further north, but Newquay is now also becoming important for its aviation-related industries. Camborne is the county's largest town and more populous than
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5088-510: Is now South Central Ontario in what were the counties of Northumberland, Durham and Ontario, ranging from the towns of Port Hope and Cobourg in the east, to Whitby in the west and to the north ends of those counties. In 1825 a band of 60 Cornishmen left Falmouth for Mineral del Monte in central Mexico with 1,500 tonnes (1,500 long tons ; 1,700 short tons ) of mining machinery with which to apply their mining skill and technologies to resuscitate Mexico's ailing silver mining industry after
5247-416: Is now little more than a regional accent and grammatical differences have been eroded over time. Marked differences in vocabulary and usage still exist between the eastern and western parts of Cornwall. Saint Piran 's Flag is the national flag and ancient banner of Cornwall, and an emblem of the Cornish people. The banner of Saint Piran is a white cross on a black background (in terms of heraldry 'sable,
5406-603: Is the largest Cornish festival in the world, held in the Kadina , Moonta and Wallaroo towns on the Yorke Peninsula, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors bi-annually. European fishing ventures in and around Newfoundland during the 16th century were the earliest Cornish activity in what was to become Canada. However, permanent settlement by the Cornish across the Atlantic Ocean was rare until at least
5565-534: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle in 891 as On Corn walum . In the Domesday Book it was referred to as Cornualia and in c. 1198 as Cornwal . Other names for the county include a latinisation of the name as Cornubia (first appears in a mid-9th-century deed purporting to be a copy of one dating from c. 705), and as Cornugallia in 1086. Cornwall forms the tip of the south-west peninsula of
5724-653: The A30 which connects Cornwall to the M5 motorway at Exeter , crosses the border south of Launceston , crosses Bodmin Moor and connects Bodmin, Truro, Redruth, Camborne, Hayle and Penzance. Torpoint Ferry links Plymouth with Torpoint on the opposite side of the Hamoaze . A rail bridge, the Royal Albert Bridge built by Isambard Kingdom Brunel (1859), provides the other main land transport link. The city of Plymouth,
5883-593: The Anglo-Saxons who colonised Great Britain from their homelands in northern Europe and drove the Celts to Britain's western and northern fringes. Recent genetic studies based on ancient DNA have complicated this picture, however. During the Bronze Age , most of the people that had inhabited Britain since the Neolithic era were replaced by Beaker People , while scholars have argued that the introduction of
6042-795: The Atlantic Bronze Age system, and which extended over most of the areas of present-day Ireland, England, Wales, France, Spain, and Portugal. During the British Iron Age , Cornwall, like all of Britain (modern England, Scotland, Wales, and the Isle of Man), was inhabited by a Celtic-speaking people known as the Britons with distinctive cultural relations to neighbouring Brittany . The Common Brittonic spoken at this time eventually developed into several distinct tongues, including Cornish , Welsh , Breton , Cumbric and Pictish . The first written account of Cornwall comes from
6201-511: The Battle of Hingston Down at Hengestesdune. In 875, the last recorded king of Cornwall, Dumgarth , is said to have drowned. Around the 880s, Anglo-Saxons from Wessex had established modest land holdings in the north eastern part of Cornwall; notably Alfred the Great who had acquired a few estates. William of Malmesbury , writing around 1120, says that King Athelstan of England (924–939) fixed
6360-733: The Bodmin Manumissions . One interpretation of the Domesday Book is that by this time the native Cornish landowning class had been almost completely dispossessed and replaced by English landowners, particularly Harold Godwinson himself. However, the Bodmin manumissions show that two leading Cornish figures nominally had Saxon names, but these were both glossed with native Cornish names. In 1068, Brian of Brittany may have been created Earl of Cornwall , and naming evidence cited by medievalist Edith Ditmas suggests that many other post-Conquest landowners in Cornwall were Breton allies of
6519-848: The Brigantes in the north, and the Ordovices , the Demetae , the Silures and the Deceangli in the west. In the extreme southwest, what was to become Cornwall, were the Dumnonii and Cornovii , who lived in the Kingdom of Dumnonia . The Roman conquest of Britain in the 1st century introduced Romans to Britain, who upon their arrival initially recorded the Dumnonii, but later reported on
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6678-478: The Celtic Sea , part of the Atlantic Ocean, is more exposed and therefore has a wilder nature. The High Cliff , between Boscastle and St Gennys , is the highest sheer-drop cliff in Cornwall at 223 metres (732 ft). Beaches, which form an important part of the tourist industry, include Bude , Polzeath , Watergate Bay , Perranporth , Porthtowan , Fistral Beach , Newquay , St Agnes , St Ives , and on
6837-554: The Celtic nations in Celtic languages and culture during the 1960s and 1970s spurred on the popularisation of the Cornish self-government movement . Since devolution in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, enthusiasts for Cornish culture have pressed for the Cornish language to be taught formally in Cornish schools, while Cornish nationalists have demanded greater political autonomy for Cornwall, for example that it be constituted as
6996-645: The Celtic tribes who inhabited what was to become Cornwall during the Iron Age , Roman and post-Roman periods. The name Cornwall and its demonym Cornish are derived from the Celtic Cornovii tribe. The Anglo-Saxon invasion and settlement of Britain starting from the late 5th and early 6th centuries and the arrival of Scots from Ireland during the same period gradually restricted the Romano-British culture and Brittonic language into parts of
7155-491: The Cornish engine , Christmas carols , rugby football and brass bands as part of this Cornish tradition. Cornish cultural tradition is most strongly associated with the people's most historical occupation, mining, an aspect of Cornish history and culture that has influenced its cuisine, symbols and identity. The Cornish writer C. C. Vyvyan wrote in her 1948 book Our Cornwall : "A man might live and die among us and never gain throughout his allotted span of life one glimpse of
7314-565: The Cornish language , Cornwall is Kernow which stems from the same Proto-Celtic root. Humans reoccupied Britain after the last Ice Age . The area now known as Cornwall was first inhabited in the Palaeolithic and Mesolithic periods. It continued to be occupied by Neolithic and then by Bronze Age people. Cornwall in the Late Bronze Age formed part of a maritime trading-networked culture which researchers have dubbed
7473-429: The Cornish unitary authority ." A campaign for the inclusion of a Cornish tick-box in the nationality section of the 2011 census failed to win the support of Parliament in 2009. As a consequence, posters were created by the census organisation and Cornwall Council which advised residents how they could identify themselves as Cornish by writing it in the national identity and ethnicity sections and record Cornish in
7632-525: The Council of Europe 's Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities , giving the Cornish the same status as the Welsh, Scots and Irish within the UK. Inhabitants of Cornwall may have multiple political allegiances, adopting mixed, dual or hyphenated identities such as "Cornish first and British second", "Cornish and British and European", or, like Phil Vickery (a rugby union prop for
7791-533: The Dumnonii often came into conflict with the expanding English kingdom of Wessex . Centwine of Wessex "drove the Britons as far as the sea" in 682, and by 690 St Bonifice , then a Saxon boy, was attending an abbey in Exeter, which was in turn ruled by a Saxon abbot. The Carmen Rhythmicum written by Aldhelm contains the earliest literary reference to Cornwall as distinct from Devon. Religious tensions between
7950-515: The Dumnonii , three of which may have been in Cornwall. However, after 410 AD, Cornwall appears to have reverted to rule by Romano-Celtic chieftains of the Cornovii tribe as part of the Brittonic kingdom of Dumnonia (which also included present-day Devonshire and the Scilly Isles), including the territory of one Marcus Cunomorus , with at least one significant power base at Tintagel in
8109-498: The Edwardian era and interwar period , Cornwall was branded as a rural retreat, a "primitive land of magic and romance", and as an "earlier incarnation of Englishness, a place more English than an England ravaged by modernity". Cornwall, the United Kingdom's only region with a subtropical-like climate , became a centre for English tourism , its coastline dominated by resort towns increasingly composed of bungalows and villas . John Nichols Thom , or Mad Tom, (1799 – 31 May 1838)
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#17327876186258268-405: The England national rugby union team and British and Irish Lions ), describe themselves as "Cornish" and "English". Meanwhile, another international rugby union player, Josh Matavesi , describes himself as Cornish- Fijian and Cornish not English. A survey by Plymouth University in 2000 found that 30% of children in Cornwall felt "Cornish, not English". A 2004 survey on national identity by
8427-431: The English Reformation and the Act of Uniformity 1549 which outlawed all church services within the Kingdom of England that were not in English. The exact date of the death of using the Cornish language is unclear and disputed, but popularly it is claimed that the last monolingual Cornish speaker was Dolly Pentreath , a Mousehole resident who died in 1777. The revival of Cornish began in 1904 when Henry Jenner ,
8586-419: The European Union and devolution , have been cited as the main stimulus to "a growing interest in Cornish identity and distinctiveness" in late-20th century Britain. The British are the citizens of the United Kingdom, a people who by convention consist of four national groups: the English , Northern Irish , Scots and Welsh . In the 1990s it was said that the notion that the Cornish are to be classified as
8745-458: The Hans Christian Andersen fairy-tale The Red Shoes , The Bacchae and the Cornish legend Tristan and Yseult . Their artistic director Emma Rice won Best Director 2002, Barclays Theatre Awards. Their productions have been performed in locations such as Restormel Castle , Minack Theatre , National Theatre , Shakespeare's Globe , Royal Shakespeare Company and the Eden Project as well as their award-winning Asylum Season. They used
8904-460: The Industrial Revolution , the tin and copper mines were expanded and then declined, with china clay extraction becoming a major industry. Railways were built, leading to a growth of tourism in the 20th century. The Cornish language became extinct as a living community language at the end of the 18th century , but is now being revived. The modern English name "Cornwall" is a compound of two terms coming from two different language groups: In
9063-402: The Kingdom of Great Britain , the Cornish language and to some degree identity had faded, largely replaced by the English language (albeit Cornish-influenced West Country dialects and Anglo-Cornish ) or British identity . A Celtic revival during the early-20th century enabled a cultural self-consciousness in Cornwall that revitalised the Cornish language and roused the Cornish to express
9222-469: The Middle Cornish that had been used in the 16th century, before the language became influenced by English. The visit of King George IV to Scotland in 1822 reinvigorated Scottish national identity , melding it with romanticist notions of tartan , kilts and the Scottish Highlands . As Pan-Celticism gathered pace in the early 20th century, Cornishman L. C. R. Duncombe-Jewell and the Cowethas Kelto-Kernuak (a Cornish language interest group) asserted
9381-454: The Norman language was in use by much of the English aristocracy, Cornish was used as a lingua franca , particularly in the remote far west of Cornwall. Many Cornish landed gentry chose mottos in the Cornish language for their coat of arms , highlighting its socially high status. However, in 1549 and following the English Reformation , King Edward VI of England commanded that the Book of Common Prayer , an Anglican liturgical text in
9540-399: The River Looe are both popular with tourists. The interior of the county consists of a roughly east–west spine of infertile and exposed upland, with a series of granite intrusions, such as Bodmin Moor , which contains the highest land within Cornwall. From east to west, and with approximately descending altitude, these are Bodmin Moor, Hensbarrow north of St Austell , Carnmenellis to
9699-437: The South African Republic . Although an international gold rush, the Cornish overwhelmingly formed the skilled labour force in the Witwatersrand , until the outbreak of the Second Boer War prompted a retreat. The discovery of lead ore and copper in North America prompted an influx of Cornish miners to the continent, particularly around the Upper Mississippi River . By the early 19th century Cornish people were present in
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#17327876186259858-471: The UK . They were an associate company of Bristol Old Vic and Shakespeare's Globe in London. Simon Harvey was resident associate director. Although the company varied between productions, there were a number of associate artists who were repeatedly involved with Kneehigh including: Cornwall Cornwall ( / ˈ k ɔːr n w ɔː l , - w əl / ; Cornish : Kernow ; Cornish pronunciation: [ˈkɛrnɔʊ] ; or [ˈkɛrnɔ] )
10017-475: The United Kingdom Census 2001 , despite no explicit "Cornish" option being available, approximately 34,000 people in Cornwall and 3,500 people elsewhere in the UK—a combined total equal to nearly 7 per cent of the population of Cornwall—identified themselves as ethnic Cornish by writing this in under the "other" ethnicity option. The census figures show a change in identity from West to East, in Penwith 9.2 per cent identified as ethnically Cornish, in Kerrier it
10176-452: The United Kingdom's fifth constituent country with its own Cornish Assembly . The Cornish people are concentrated in Cornwall, but after the Age of Discovery in the early modern period were involved in the British colonisation of the Americas and other transcontinental and transatlantic migrations . Initially, the number of migrants was comparatively small, with those who left Cornwall typically settling in North America or else amongst
10335-451: The Upper Peninsula of Michigan —particularly the mining town of Ishpeming . Additional waves of Cornish migrants followed the California Gold Rush of the mid-19th century; in the 1890s it was estimated that in California 's Grass Valley , over 60 per cent of the population was Cornish. It has a tradition of carols stemming from the Cornish who settled the area as gold miners in the 19th century. The carols have become "the identity of
10494-485: The West Yorkshire Playhouse in Leeds . After finishing a run of Brief Encounter at the Cinema Haymarket in the West End, the show toured the UK before going overseas to American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California, St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn , and the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis . After that, Kneehigh took their work to the United States , Australia , New Zealand , China and Syria and other countries, whilst continuing to tour work in
10653-490: The Westwalas (West Welsh) or Cornwalas (the Cornish). Conflict continued until King Athelstan of England determined that the River Tamar be the formal boundary between the West Saxons and the Cornish in the year 936, making Cornwall one of the last retreats of the Britons encouraging the development of a distinct Cornish identity; Brittonic culture in Britain became confined to Cornwall, parts of Devon , North West England , South West Scotland and Wales . Although
10812-442: The constitutional status of Cornwall and seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula , and the southernmost county within the United Kingdom. Its coastline is characterised by steep cliffs and, to the south, several rias , including those at the mouths of the rivers Fal and Fowey . It includes the southernmost point on Great Britain , Lizard Point , and forms
10971-461: The county town is the city of Truro . The county is rural, with an area of 1,375 square miles (3,562 km ) and population of 568,210. Outside of the Redruth-Camborne conurbation the largest settlements are Falmouth , Penzance , Newquay , St Austell , and Truro. For local government purposes most of Cornwall is a unitary authority area, with the Isles of Scilly having a unique local authority . The Cornish nationalist movement disputes
11130-458: The history of South Australia . Cornish identity was embraced strongly in the Yorke Peninsula, but also in the more outlying mining towns of Kapunda and Burra , where Cornish miners constituted a sizeable community. Methodism , was the main form of religious practice for the Cornish. Methodist sensibilities were held with strong conviction by the migrant Cornish in a direct rivalry with Catholic Irish people in Australia. The Kernewek Lowender
11289-416: The sub-Roman Westcountry , South Wales, Brittany, the Channel Islands, and Ireland through the fifth and sixth centuries. In Cornwall, the arrival of Celtic saints such as Nectan , Paul Aurelian, Petroc , Piran , Samson and numerous others reinforced the preexisting Roman Christianity. The Battle of Deorham in 577 saw the separation of Dumnonia (and therefore Cornwall) from Wales, following which
11448-460: The "Cornish Riviera", is more sheltered and there are several broad estuaries offering safe anchorages, such as at Falmouth and Fowey . Beaches on the south coast usually consist of coarser sand and shingle, interspersed with rocky sections of wave-cut platform . Also on the south coast, the picturesque fishing village of Polperro , at the mouth of the Pol River, and the fishing port of Looe on
11607-403: The "Westwalas" meaning West Welsh. The Battle of Deorham between the Britons and Anglo-Saxons is thought to have resulted in a loss of land links with the people of Wales. The Cornish people and their Brythonic Cornish language experienced a slow process of anglicisation and attrition during the medieval and early modern periods . By the 18th century, and following the creation of
11766-404: The "principal badge of [Cornish] nationality and ethnic kinship". The first effective revival of Cornish began in 1904 when Henry Jenner , a Celtic language enthusiast, published his book Handbook of the Cornish Language . His orthography , Unified Cornish , was based on Cornish as it was spoken in the 18th century, although his pupil Robert Morton Nance later steered the revival more towards
11925-701: The 19th century. The British colonisation of the Americas encouraged additional migration of the Cornish to the Canadas , particularly by those who served in Great Britain's Royal Navy . The creation of the colony of British North America spurred more people from Cornwall to settle in North America; they were registered as English migrants. Many Cornish (and other West Country) immigrants who had been agricultural labourers settled in an area of what
12084-424: The 1st-century BC Sicilian Greek historian Diodorus Siculus , supposedly quoting or paraphrasing the 4th-century BCE geographer Pytheas , who had sailed to Britain: The inhabitants of that part of Britain called Belerion (or Land's End) from their intercourse with foreign merchants, are civilized in their manner of life. They prepare the tin , working very carefully the earth in which it is produced ... Here then
12243-432: The 2021 census, 89,084 people in England and Wales described their national identity as Cornish only and 10,670 as Cornish and British. Within Cornwall, 79,938 people (14.0% of the population) specified a Cornish only identity and 9,146 (1.6%) Cornish in combination with British. Since 2006 school children in Cornwall have been able to record themselves as ethnically Cornish on the annual Schools Census (PLASC). Since then
12402-495: The AHS Heat Zone 1. Extreme temperatures in Cornwall are particularly rare; however, extreme weather in the form of storms and floods is common. Due to climate change Cornwall faces more heatwaves and severe droughts, faster coastal erosion, stronger storms and higher wind speeds as well as the possibility of more high-impact flooding. Cornish, a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic language family , died out as
12561-521: The Britons in a narrative spanning a time of two thousand years, beginning with the Trojans founding the ancient British nation and continuing until the Anglo-Saxon invasion of Britain in the 5th century forced the Celtic Britons to the west coast, namely Wales and Cornwall. Although broadly thought of as a work of fiction, Geoffrey of Monmouth's work had a lasting effect upon the identity of
12720-554: The Brittonic-speaking parts of the conquered lands. The shires of England were progressively divided amongst the companions of William I of England , who served as England's new nobility. The English would come to absorb the Normans, but the Cornish "vigorously resisted" their influence. At the time of the conquest, legend has it that Cornwall was under the governance of Condor , reported by later antiquarians to be
12879-849: The Celtic languages and material culture into Britain and Ireland was by means of cultural diffusion, rather than any substantial migration. Genetic evidence has also suggested that while ancestry inherited from the Anglo-Saxons makes up a significant part of the modern English gene pool (one study suggested an average 38% contribution in eastern England), they did not displace all of the previous inhabitants. A 2015 study found that modern Cornish populations had less Anglo-Saxon ancestry than people from central and southern England, and that they were genetically distinct from their neighbors in Devon . The study also suggested that populations traditionally labelled as "Celtic" showed significant diversity, rather than
13038-422: The Cornish adopting English language, culture and civic identity, a view reinforced by Cornish historian A. L. Rowse who said they were gradually "absorbed into the mainstream of English life". Although "decidedly modern" and "largely retrospective" in its identity politics , Cornish and Celtic associations have advanced the notion of a distinct Cornish national and ethnic identity since the late 20th century. In
13197-406: The Cornish coastline as well as its sheltered creeks and hidden anchorages. For many fishing villages , loot and contraband provided by pirates supported a strong and secretive underground economy in Cornwall. Legendary creatures that appear in Cornish folklore include buccas , knockers and piskies . Tales of these creatures are thought to have developed as supernatural explanations for
13356-585: The Cornish community flourished and stayed in central Mexico until the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Although the Cornish community in Mexico broadly returned to Cornwall, they left a cultural legacy; Cornish pasties , Cornish mining museums and a Cornish Mexican Cultural Society are all part of the local heritage and tradition in and around Mineral del Monte. The Witwatersrand Gold Rush of 1886 encouraged large numbers of Cornish miners to migrate to
13515-570: The Cornish male population migrated abroad"—three times that of the average of England and Wales —and totalling over a quarter of a million people lost to emigration between 1841 and 1901. There was a displacement of skilled Cornish engineers, farmers, merchants, miners and tradesmen, but their commercial and occupational expertise, particularly in hard rock mining , was highly valued by the communities they met. Within Great Britain, Cornish families were attracted from Cornwall to North East England —particularly on Teesside —to partake in coal mining as
13674-542: The Cornish people as a symbol of their identity, displayed on cars and flying from buildings including those of Cornwall Council . St Piran's Day is an annual patronal fête , and the pre-eminent Cornish festival celebrating Cornish culture and history on 5 March. The Cornish language is derived from the Brythonic branch of the Insular Celtic languages . It is closely related to the Breton language , and to
13833-491: The Cornish people held for the Cornish language. In the rebellion, separate risings occurred simultaneously in Bodmin in Cornwall, and Sampford Courtenay in Devon—which would both converge at Exeter , laying siege to the region's largest Protestant city. However, the rebellion was suppressed, thanks largely to the aid of foreign mercenaries in a series of battles in which "hundreds were killed", effectively ending Cornish as
13992-464: The Cornish people, which encouraged an influx of English people to Cornwall. By the mid-17th century the use of the Cornish language had retreated far enough west to prompt concern and investigation by antiquarians , such as William Scawen . As the Cornish language diminished the people of Cornwall underwent a process of English enculturation and assimilation , becoming "absorbed into the mainstream of English life". The Industrial Revolution had
14151-456: The Cornish. His "historical construct" characterised the ancient Britons as heroes, which later helped Celtic revivalists to redefine Cornishness as an identity closely related to ancient heroic Celtic folklore. Another strand of Cornish folklore is derived from tales of seafaring pirates and smugglers who thrived in and around Cornwall from the early modern period through to the 19th century. Cornish pirates exploited both their knowledge of
14310-577: The Cornovii, who were possibly a sub-group of the Dumnonii. Although the Romans colonised much of central and southern Britain, Dumnonia was "virtually unaffected" by the conquest; Roman rule had little or no impact on the region, meaning it could flourish as a semi- or fully independent kingdom which evidence shows was sometimes under the dominion of the kings of the Britons , and sometimes to have been governed by its own Dumnonian monarchy , either by
14469-730: The Dartmoor area). The stannary courts administered equity for the region's tin-miners and tin mining interests, and they were also courts of record for the towns dependent on the mines. The separate and powerful government institutions available to the tin miners reflected the enormous importance of the tin industry to the English economy during the Middle Ages. Special laws for tin miners pre-date written legal codes in Britain, and ancient traditions exempted everyone connected with tin mining in Cornwall and Devon from any jurisdiction other than
14628-784: The Dumnonians (who celebrated celtic Christian traditions) and Wessex (who were Roman Catholic ) are described in Aldhelm's letter to King Geraint . The Annales Cambriae report that in AD 722 the Britons of Cornwall won a battle at "Hehil" . It seems likely that the enemy the Cornish fought was a West Saxon force, as evidenced by the naming of King Ine of Wessex and his kinsman Nonna in reference to an earlier Battle of Llongborth in 710. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle stated in 815 (adjusted date) "and in this year king Ecgbryht raided in Cornwall from east to west." this has been interpreted to mean
14787-466: The English language, should be introduced to all churches in his kingdom, meaning that Latin and Celtic customs and services should be discontinued. The Prayer Book Rebellion was a militant revolt in Cornwall and parts of neighbouring Devon against the Act of Uniformity 1549 , which outlawed all languages from church services apart from English, and is specified as a testament to the affection and loyalty
14946-411: The English. The Cornish generally saw the English, or city people, as being "less friendly and more aggressively self-promoting and insensitive". The Cornish saw themselves as friendly, welcoming and caring. In November 2010 British Prime Minister, David Cameron , said "I think Cornish national identity is very powerful" and that his government would "devolve a lot of power to Cornwall – that will go to
15105-578: The Fall , a novella by American author Jim Harrison , detailing the lives of a Cornish American family in the early 20th century, contains several Cornish language terms. These were also included in the Academy Award winning film of the same name starring Anthony Hopkins as Col. William Ludlow and Brad Pitt as Tristan Ludlow. Early medieval Cornwall was associated with the Matter of Britain ,
15264-453: The Lizard peninsula is unusual, in that it is mainland Britain's only example of an ophiolite , a section of oceanic crust now found on land. Much of the peninsula consists of the dark green and red Precambrian serpentinite , which forms spectacular cliffs, notably at Kynance Cove , and carved and polished serpentine ornaments are sold in local gift shops. This ultramafic rock also forms
15423-589: The Normans, the Bretons being descended from Britons who had fled to what is today Brittany during the early years of the Anglo-Saxon conquest. She also proposed this period for the early composition of the Tristan and Iseult cycle by poets such as Béroul from a pre-existing shared Brittonic oral tradition. Soon after the Norman conquest most of the land was transferred to the new Breton–Norman aristocracy, with
15582-575: The Phoenicians sailed to Cornwall. In fact, he says quite the opposite: the production of Cornish tin was in the hands of the natives of Cornwall, and its transport to the Mediterranean was organized by local merchants, by sea and then overland through France, passing through areas well outside Phoenician control." Isotopic evidence suggests that tin ingots found off the coast of Haifa , Israel , may have been from Cornwall. Tin, required for
15741-492: The Roman road system extended into Cornwall with four significant Roman sites based on forts: Tregear near Nanstallon was discovered in the early 1970s, two others were found at Restormel Castle , Lostwithiel in 2007, and a third fort near Calstock was also discovered early in 2007. In addition, a Roman-style villa was found at Magor Farm , Illogan in 1935. Ptolemy 's Geographike Hyphegesis mentions four towns controlled by
15900-618: The South West increasingly came into conflict with the expanding Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex , eventually being pushed west of the Tamar; by the Norman Conquest Cornwall was administered as part of England, though it retained its own culture. The remainder of the Middle Ages and Early Modern Period were relatively settled, with Cornwall developing its tin mining industry and becoming a duchy in 1337. During
16059-575: The St Austell area on 1 April 2009 St Austell was the largest settlement in Cornwall. Cornwall borders the county of Devon at the River Tamar. Major roads between Cornwall and the rest of Great Britain are the A38 which crosses the Tamar at Plymouth via the Tamar Bridge and the town of Saltash , the A39 road (Atlantic Highway) from Barnstaple , passing through North Cornwall to end in Falmouth, and
16218-555: The boundary between English and Cornish people at the east bank of the River Tamar . While elements of William's story, like the burning of Exeter , have been cast in doubt by recent writers Athelstan did re-establish a separate Cornish Bishop and relations between Wessex and the Cornish elite improved from the time of his rule. Eventually King Edgar was able to issue charters the width of Cornwall, and frequently sent emissaries or visited personally as seen by his appearances in
16377-465: The chief criteria for 'being' Cornish, particularly among those who possessed such ties, while being born in Cornwall was also held to be important. A 2008 study by the University of Edinburgh of 15- and 16-year-old schoolchildren in Cornwall found that 58% of respondents felt themselves to be either 'Fairly' or 'Very much' Cornish. The other 42% may be the result of in-migration to the area during
16536-470: The closure of mines in particular considered by the Cornish to be both an economic and cultural disaster. This, coupled with the rise of Romantic nationalism in Europe inspired and influenced a Celtic Revival in Cornwall, a social, linguistic and artistic movement interested in Cornish medieval ethnology . This Revivalist upsurge investigated Cornwall's pre-industrial culture, using the Cornish language as
16695-493: The coast and are also rare in the central upland areas. Summers are, however, not as warm as in other parts of southern England. The surrounding sea and its southwesterly position mean that Cornwall's weather can be relatively changeable. Cornwall is one of the sunniest areas in the UK. It has more than 1,541 hours of sunshine per year, with the highest average of 7.6 hours of sunshine per day in July. The moist, mild air coming from
16854-574: The common language of the Cornish people. The Anglicanism of the Reformation served as a vehicle for Anglicisation in Cornwall; Protestantism had a lasting cultural effect upon the Cornish by way of linking Cornwall more closely with England, while lessening political and linguistic ties with the Bretons of Brittany. The English Civil War , a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists , polarised
17013-424: The county town Truro. Together with the neighbouring town of Redruth , it forms the largest urban area in Cornwall, and both towns were significant as centres of the global tin mining industry in the 19th century; nearby copper mines were also very productive during that period. St Austell is also larger than Truro and was the centre of the china clay industry in Cornwall. Until four new parishes were created for
17172-723: The demise of Cornish mining in the 19th century. A "vigorous recruiting campaign" was launched to encourage the Cornish to aid with mining in Australia because of their experience and expertise. Free passage to South Australia in particular was granted to hundreds of Cornish miners and their families, so much so, that a large Cornish community gathered in Australia's Copper Coast , and South Australia's Yorke Peninsula became known as "Little Cornwall". It has been estimated between 1837 and 1840, 15 per cent of all assisted migrants to South Australia were Cornish. Cornish settlement impacted upon social, cultural and religious life throughout
17331-529: The earldom was given the status of a duchy , and Edward, the Black Prince , the first son and heir of King Edward III of England , became the first Duke of Cornwall as a means for the prince to raise his own capital. Large parts of Cornwall were owned by Edward, 1st Duke of Cornwall, and successive English Dukes of Cornwall became the largest landowners in Cornwall; The monarchy of England established two special administrative institutions in Cornwall,
17490-586: The early 6th century. King Mark of Cornwall is a semi-historical figure known from Welsh literature, from the Matter of Britain , and, in particular, from the later Norman-Breton medieval romance of Tristan and Yseult , where he appears as a close relative of King Arthur , himself usually considered to be born of the Cornish people in folklore traditions derived from Geoffrey of Monmouth 's 12th-century Historia Regum Britanniae . Archaeology supports ecclesiastical, literary and legendary evidence for some relative economic stability and close cultural ties between
17649-479: The essential Cornwall or the essential Cornishman." Cornwall has its own tradition of Christian saints , derived from Celtic extraction, that have given rise to localised dedications. Saint Piran is the 5th century Christian abbot, supposedly of Irish origin, who is patron saint of both tin miners and Cornwall. According to popular mythology, Piran, an Irish scholar who studied Christianity in Ancient Rome
17808-428: The extraction of mineral ore. Industrial scale tin and copper mining operations in Cornwall melded Cornish identity with engines and heavy industry, and Cornwall's leading mining engineer , Richard Trevithick , became "as much a part of Cornwall's heritage as any legendary giant from its Celtic past". Trevithick's most significant success was a high-pressure steam engine used to pump water and refuse from mines, but he
17967-447: The finance firm Morgan Stanley found that 44% of respondents in Cornwall saw themselves as Cornish rather than British or English. A 2008 University of Exeter study conducted in 16 towns across Cornwall found that 59% felt themselves to be Cornish and 41% felt "More Cornish than English", while for over a third of respondents the Cornish identity formed their primary national identity. Genealogy and family history were considered to be
18126-607: The first Cornish-born painter to gain widespread attention; his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy and he was described by Joshua Reynolds as "like Caravaggio and Velázquez in one". Artists who appreciated the quality of Cornwall's natural light , such as J. M. W. Turner , began to visit, with more following after the opening of the Great Western Railway , including Whistler and Sickert . Stanhope Forbes and Frank Bramley settled in Cornwall in
18285-626: The first being the Duchy of Cornwall (one of only two in the Kingdom of England) and the second being the Cornish Stannary Courts and Parliaments (which governed Cornwall's tin industry). These two institutions allowed "ordinary Cornish people to believe that they had been granted a unique constitutional status to reflect their unique cultural identity". However, the Duchy of Cornwall gradually lost its political autonomy from England,
18444-400: The frequent and deadly cave-ins that occurred during 18th-century Cornish tin mining, or else a creation of the oxygen-starved minds of exhausted miners who returned from the underground. Celtic crosses , many dating from between the 7th and 15th centuries, are found in Cornwall and have been used as inspiration in modern and contemporary Cornish visual arts. In the 1780s, John Opie was
18603-553: The island of Great Britain , and is therefore exposed to the full force of the prevailing winds that blow in from the Atlantic Ocean. The coastline is composed mainly of resistant rocks that give rise in many places to tall cliffs. Cornwall has a border with only one other county, Devon , which is formed almost entirely by the River Tamar , and the remainder (to the north) by the Marsland Valley . The north and south coasts have different characteristics. The north coast on
18762-453: The language through private study. Cornish speakers are geographically dispersed, meaning there is no part of Cornwall where it is spoken as a community language. As of 2009, it is taught in fifty primary schools, although regular broadcast in Cornish is limited to a weekly bilingual programme on BBC Radio Cornwall . Daily life in Cornwall therefore is conducted in the English language, albeit with some regional peculiarities . Legends of
18921-558: The last Earl of Cornwall to be directly descended from the ancient monarchy of Cornwall. The Earldom of Cornwall had held devolved semi- sovereignty from England, but in 1067 was granted to Robert, Count of Mortain , King William I's half-brother, and ruled thereafter by an Anglo-Norman aristocracy; in the Domesday Book , the record of the great survey of England completed in 1086, "virtually all" landowners in Cornwall "had English names, making it impossible to be sure who
19080-423: The latter sometimes referred to as the Cornish diaspora . Although not included as a tick-box option in the UK census, the numbers of those writing in a Cornish ethnic and national identity are officially recognised and recorded. Throughout classical antiquity , the ancient Celtic Britons formed a series of tribes , kingdoms, cultures and identities throughout Great Britain; the Dumnonii and Cornovii were
19239-401: The lion's share going to Robert, Count of Mortain , half-brother of King William and the largest landholder in England after the king with his stronghold at Trematon Castle near the mouth of the Tamar. Subsequently, however, Norman absentee landlords became replaced by a new Cornish-Norman ruling class including scholars such as Richard Rufus of Cornwall . These families eventually became
19398-446: The main language section. Additionally, people could record Cornwall as their country of birth. Like other identities, Cornish has an allocated census code, (06), the same as for 2001, which applied and was counted throughout Britain. People were first able to record their ethnicity as Cornish in the 2001 UK Census, and some 37,000 people did so by writing it in. A total of 83,499 people in England and Wales were described as having
19557-509: The merchants buy the tin from the natives and carry it over to Gaul , and after traveling overland for about thirty days, they finally bring their loads on horses to the mouth of the Rhône. The identity of these merchants is unknown. It has been theorized that they were Phoenicians , but there is no evidence for this. Professor Timothy Champion, discussing Diodorus Siculus's comments on the tin trade, states that "Diodorus never actually says that
19716-475: The most important mining areas in Europe until the early 20th century. It is thought tin was mined here as early as the Bronze Age , and copper, lead, zinc and silver have all been mined in Cornwall . Alteration of the granite also gave rise to extensive deposits of China Clay , especially in the area to the north of St Austell, and the extraction of this remains an important industry. The uplands are surrounded by more fertile, mainly pastoral farmland. Near
19875-611: The neglect caused by the Mexican War of Independence . Following their sea voyage they attempted to dock at Veracruz but were forced away by the Spanish to a beach at Mocambo from where they hauled their machinery through jungle and swamp to Santa Fe . During this haul through the jungle, the Cornishmen and their Mexican helpers fell victim to yellow fever , resulting in 30 Cornish and 100 Mexican fatalities. The fever forced
20034-693: The new rulers of Cornwall, typically speaking Norman French , Breton-Cornish, Latin , and eventually English, with many becoming involved in the operation of the Stannary Parliament system, the Earldom and eventually the Duchy of Cornwall . The Cornish language continued to be spoken and acquired a number of characteristics establishing its identity as a separate language from Breton . The stannary parliaments and stannary courts were legislative and legal institutions in Cornwall and in Devon (in
20193-464: The north and west of Great Britain by the 10th century, whilst the inhabitants of southern, central and eastern Britain became English and much of the north became Scottish. The Cornish people, who shared the Brythonic language with the Welsh, Cumbrics and Pics, and also the Bretons who had migrated across the sea to escape the Anglo-Saxon invasions, were referred to in the Old English language as
20352-498: The number identifying as Cornish has risen from 24% to 51% in 2017. The Department for Education recommends that parents and guardians determine the ethnicity of children at primary schools whilst pupils at secondary schools can decide their own ethnicity. Traditionally, the Cornish are thought to have been descended from the Iron Age Celts , making them distinct from the English, many (but not all) of whom are descended from
20511-421: The populations of Cornwall, neighbouring Devon and England as published in a 2012 Oxford University study. Throughout medieval and Early Modern Britain , the Cornish were at some points accorded the same status as the English and Welsh and considered a separate race or nation, distinct from their neighbours, with their own language, society and customs. A process of Anglicisation between 1485 and 1700 led to
20670-523: The populations of England and Wales. However, Cornwall in the English Civil War was a staunchly Royalist enclave, an "important focus of support for the Royalist cause". Cornish soldiers were used as scouts and spies during the war, for their language was not understood by English Parliamentarians. The peace that followed the close of the war led to a further shift to the English language by
20829-567: The ports and plantations of the Caribbean . In the first half of the 19th century, the Cornish people were leaders in tin and copper smelting, while mining in Cornwall was the people's major occupation. Increased competition from Australia, British Malaya and Bolivia , coupled with the depletion of mineral deposits brought about an economic decline for Cornish mining lasting half a century, and prompting mass human migration from Cornwall. In each decade from 1861 to 1901, "around 20% of
20988-585: The practice of Cornishmen asking if job vacancies could be filled by their cousin named Jack in Cornwall. From the beginning of Australia's colonial period until after the Second World War, people from the United Kingdom made up a large majority of people coming to Australia, meaning that many Australian-born people can trace their origins to Britain. The Cornish people in particular were actively encouraged to emigrate to Australia following
21147-506: The privileges of the Cornish Stannaries. Having provided "more than their fair share of soldiers and sailors" for the conflict in northern England , and feeling aggrieved at "Cornwall's status as England's poorest county", a popular uprising out of Cornwall ensued—the Cornish rebellion of 1497 . The rebellion was initially a political march from St Keverne to London led by Thomas Flamank and Michael An Gof , motivated by
21306-512: The production of bronze , was a relatively rare and precious commodity in the Bronze Age – hence the interest shown in Devon and Cornwall's tin resources. (For further discussion of tin mining see the section on the economy below .) In the first four centuries AD, during the time of Roman dominance in Britain , Cornwall was rather remote from the main centres of Romanization – the nearest being Isca Dumnoniorum , modern-day Exeter . However,
21465-417: The publication in 1904 of Henry Jenner 's Handbook of the Cornish Language . It is a social networking community language rather than a social community group language. Cornwall Council encourages and facilitates language classes within the county, in schools and within the wider community. In 2002, Cornish was named as a UK regional language in the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages . As
21624-784: The sculptor Barbara Hepworth , at the outbreak of the Second World War . They were later joined by the Russian emigrant Naum Gabo , and other artists. These included Peter Lanyon , Terry Frost , Patrick Heron , Bryan Wynter and Roger Hilton . St Ives also houses the Leach Pottery, where Bernard Leach , and his followers championed Japanese inspired studio pottery. Much of this modernist work can be seen in Tate St Ives . The Newlyn Society and Penwith Society of Arts continue to be active, and contemporary visual art
21783-527: The second half of the twentieth century. A 2010 study by the University of Exeter into the meaning of contemporary Cornish identity across Cornwall found that there was a "west-east distance decay in the strength of the Cornish identity." The study was conducted amongst the farming community as they were deemed to be the socio-professional group most objectively representative of Cornishness. All participants categorised themselves as Cornish and identified Cornish as their primary ethnic group orientation. Those in
21942-584: The south coast Gyllyngvase beach in Falmouth and the large beach at Praa Sands further to the south-west. There are two river estuaries on the north coast: Hayle Estuary and the estuary of the River Camel , which provides Padstow and Rock with a safe harbour. The seaside town of Newlyn is a popular holiday destination, as it is one of the last remaining traditional Cornish fishing ports, with views reaching over Mount's Bay. The south coast, dubbed
22101-493: The south coast, deep wooded valleys provide sheltered conditions for flora that like shade and a moist, mild climate. These areas lie mainly on Devonian sandstone and slate . The north east of Cornwall lies on Carboniferous rocks known as the Culm Measures . In places these have been subjected to severe folding, as can be seen on the north coast near Crackington Haven and in several other locations. The geology of
22260-568: The south of Camborne , and the Penwith or Land's End peninsula. These intrusions are the central part of the granite outcrops that form the exposed parts of the Cornubian batholith of south-west Britain, which also includes Dartmoor to the east in Devon and the Isles of Scilly to the west, the latter now being partially submerged. The intrusion of the granite into the surrounding sedimentary rocks gave rise to extensive metamorphism and mineralisation , and this led to Cornwall being one of
22419-541: The southwest brings higher amounts of rainfall than in eastern Great Britain, at 1,051 to 1,290 mm (41.4 to 50.8 in) per year. However, this is not as much as in more northern areas of the west coast. The Isles of Scilly, for example, where there are on average fewer than two days of air frost per year, is the only area in the UK to be in the Hardiness zone 10. The islands have, on average, less than one day of air temperature exceeding 30 °C per year and are in
22578-549: The stannary courts in all but the most exceptional circumstances. Cornish piracy was active during the Elizabethan era on the west coast of Britain. Cornwall is well known for its wreckers who preyed on ships passing Cornwall's rocky coastline. During the 17th and 18th centuries Cornwall was a major smuggling area. In later times, Cornwall was known to the Anglo-Saxons as "West Wales" to distinguish it from "North Wales" (the modern nation of Wales ). The name appears in
22737-500: The summer season, a service is also provided between St Mary's and Exeter Airport , in Devon. Cornwall has varied habitats including terrestrial and marine ecosystems. One noted species in decline locally is the Reindeer lichen , which species has been made a priority for protection under the national UK Biodiversity Action Plan . Botanists divide Cornwall and Scilly into two vice-counties: West (1) and East (2). The standard flora
22896-480: The sunniest climates of the United Kingdom, as a result of its oceanic setting and the influence of the Gulf Stream . The average annual temperature in Cornwall ranges from 11.6 °C (52.9 °F) on the Isles of Scilly to 9.8 °C (49.6 °F) in the central uplands. Winters are among the warmest in the country due to the moderating effects of the warm ocean currents, and frost and snow are very rare at
23055-471: The survivors to abandon their equipment and head inland up into the mountains to Xalapa to try to escape the mosquitos for three months, until the end of the rainy season. Once the rainy season closed the Cornish and Mexican miners continued their 250-mile (402 km) "Great Trek" to Mineral del Monte, transporting their machinery to an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 m) above sea level and arriving at their destination on 1 May 1826. Following their arrival,
23214-415: The title of duke or king. This petty kingdom shared strong linguistic, political and cultural links with Brittany , a peninsula on continental Europe south of Cornwall inhabited by Britons; the Cornish and Breton languages were nearly indistinguishable in this period, and both Cornwall and Brittany remain dotted with dedications to the same Celtic saints . The Sack of Rome in the year 410 prompted
23373-461: The tone for the next few decades; as the revival gained pace, learners of the language disagreed on which style of Cornish to use, and a number of competing orthographies—Unified Cornish, Unified Cornish Revised , Modern Cornish, Kernewek Kemmyn —were in use by the end of the 20th century. A standard written form was agreed in 2008. Cornish is a restored and living modern language , but most of its speakers are enthusiasts, persons who have learned
23532-518: The town", some of the members of the Grass Valley Cornish Carol Choir are descendants of the original Cornish settlers. Most migratory Cornish to the United States were classified as English or British, meaning that the precise number of Cornish Americans is difficult to estimate. The aggregate number of immigrants from Cornwall to the United States before World War I is suggested to be around 100,000. The survival of
23691-518: The use of Cornish kilts and tartans as a "national dress ... common to all Celtic countries". In 1924 the Federation of Old Cornwall Societies was formed to facilitate, preserve and maintain Celticity in Cornwall, followed by the similar Gorseth Kernow in 1928, and the formation of the Cornish nationalist political party Mebyon Kernow in 1951. Increased interest and communication across
23850-530: The west primarily thought of themselves as Cornish and British/Celtic, while those in the east tended to think of themselves as Cornish and English. All participants in West Cornwall who identified as Cornish and not English described people in East Cornwall, without hesitation, as equally Cornish as themselves. Those who identified as Cornish and English stressed the primacy of their Cornishness and
24009-480: Was 7.5 per cent, in Carrick 6.6 per cent, Restormel 6.3 per cent, North Cornwall 6 per cent, and Caradon 5.6 per cent. Weighting of the 2001 Census data gives a figure of 154,791 people with Cornish ethnicity living in Cornwall. The Cornish have been described as "a special case" in England, with an "ethnic rather than regional identity". Structural changes to the politics of the United Kingdom , particularly
24168-469: Was Cornish and who was English by race". However, there was a persistent and "continuing differentiation" between the English and Cornish peoples during the Middle Ages, as evidenced by documents such as the 1173 charter of Truro which made explicit mention of both peoples as distinct. The Earldom of Cornwall passed to various English nobles throughout the High Middle Ages , but in 1337
24327-435: Was a Cornishman self-declared messiah who, in the 19th century led the last battle to be fought on English soil, known as the Battle of Bossenden Wood . While not akin to the Cornish rebellions of the past, he did attract some Cornish support as well as mostly Kentish labourers, although his support was primarily of religious followers. In the latter half of the 19th century Cornwall experienced rapid deindustrialisation, with
24486-631: Was also the builder of the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive . On 21 February 1804, the world's first locomotive-hauled railway journey took place as Trevithick's unnamed steam locomotive hauled a train along the tramway of the Penydarren ironworks, near Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. The construction of the Great Western Railway during the Victorian era allowed for an influx of tourists to Cornwall from across Great Britain. Well into
24645-491: Was initially centred on the art-colony of Newlyn , most active at the turn of the 20th century. This Newlyn School is associated with the names of Stanhope Forbes , Elizabeth Forbes , Norman Garstin and Lamorna Birch . Modernist writers such as D. H. Lawrence and Virginia Woolf lived in Cornwall between the wars, and Ben Nicholson , the painter, having visited in the 1920s came to live in St Ives with his then wife,
24804-581: Was pulling in two different directions, one based in studios and theatres, and the other based in the landscape, Hill and Mitchell formed their own company Wildworks . The first Wildworks productions were initially co-productions with Kneehigh until 2006 when they made Souterrain , their first independent production. In the autumn of 2007, Kneehigh toured village halls in Cornwall with Blast! A Cornish Expose Performed by 3 Complete Idiots! and presented Noël Coward 's Brief Encounter in Birmingham and at
24963-531: Was recorded as 570,300. The Cornish self-government movement has called for greater recognition of Cornish culture, politics, and language, and urged that Cornish people be accorded greater status, exemplified by the call for them to be one of the listed ethnic groups in the United Kingdom Census 2011 form. Both geographic and historical factors distinguish the Cornish as an ethnic group further supported by identifiable genetic variance between
25122-566: Was to be drowned in the Irish Sea by the High Kings of Ireland , but instead floated across to Perranporth in Cornwall by the will of God to preach the Gospel . Saint Piran's Flag , a centred white cross on a black field, was described as the "Standard of Cornwall" in 1838 and was re-introduced by Celtic Revivalists thereafter as a county flag of Cornwall. It has been seized upon by
25281-430: Was to become England, and parts of southern Scotland , progressively defeating the Britons in battle. The Saxons of the Kingdom of Wessex in particular were expanding their territory westwards towards Cornwall. The Cornish were frequently embattled with the West Saxons, who used their Germanic word walha (modern English: Welsh) meaning "stranger" or "foreigner", to describe their opponents, later specifying them as
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