35 Facts About Penzance

Penzance is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom.

Penzance is the base of the pirates in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance.

At the time the libretto was written, 1879, Penzance had become popular as a peaceful resort town, so the idea of it being overrun by pirates was amusing to contemporaries.

In 1425, 1432 and 1440 ships in Penzance were licensed to carry pilgrims to the shrine of St James of Compostella, in north-west Spain.

In medieval times and later, Penzance was subject to frequent raiding by "Turkish pirates", in fact Barbary Corsairs.

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Amesquita's force seized supplies, raided and burned Penzance and surrounding villages, held a mass, and sailed away to successfully engage and put to flee a Dutch squadron of 46 ships.

Old arms of Penzance were the head of St John the Baptist on a charger, with the legend "Pensans anno Domini 1614".

Penzance has a long-standing association with the local parish of Madron.

In 1912, Penzance erected its first electric street lamps and the town's first cinema opened.

Travel to Penzance was easier than ever, with the Great Western Railway introducing the Cornish Riviera Express on 1 July 1904, which left London Paddington at 10:10am and arrived in Penzance just 7 hours later, two hours faster than the previous quickest service.

From 1964 to 2012 and again since 2020, Penzance Heliport offers a helicopter route to the Isles of Scilly.

Penzance was an ancient borough, which became a municipal borough in 1835.

Until 1934 the Municipal Borough of Penzance referred only to the town, but in 1934 the borough absorbed the nearby settlements of Newlyn, Paul and Mousehole, Gulval (from West Penwith Rural District) and Heamoor (from Madron Urban District).

In 1974 the Penzance Borough was abolished and replaced by Penwith District Council.

Civil Parish of Penzance was further extended in 2004 under District of Penwith Order 2002 to include Eastern Green, formerly part of the Ludgvan civil parish area.

Economy of Penzance has, like those of many Cornish communities, suffered from the decline of the traditional industries of fishing, mining and agriculture.

Penzance now has a mixed economy consisting of light industrial, tourism and retail businesses.

Penzance East has one of the highest unemployment rates in Cornwall, stated as 15.

From 1663, Penzance 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.

Penzance had its own submarine mine situated off the coast of the town next to the area known as Wherrytown.

The Bolitho Bank and the Penzance Bank were two of the largest, although the latter collapsed in 1896.

Large sections of Penzance are classified as ?conservation areas? under the Penwith local plan and are subject to special planning laws.

Penzance promenade has been destroyed in parts several times by storms.

Penzance has two comprehensive schools, Mounts Bay Academy and Humphry Davy School.

Penzance is the home of the pirates in Gilbert and Sullivan's comic opera, The Pirates of Penzance.

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At the time the libretto was written, 1879, Penzance had become popular as a peaceful resort town, so the idea of it being overrun by pirates was amusing to contemporaries.

Penzance is home to the new Newlyn Art Gallery establishment "The Exchange" which opened in 2007.

Penzance is home to a Salvation Army citadel, a Roman Catholic church, two Church of England parish churches, a Christadelphian meeting hall, two Evangelical independent churches, the Penwith pagan moot, an independent Baptist church and a Buddhist meditation group.

Penzance was formerly in the parish of Madron but St Mary's parish was established in 1871 and St Paul's in 1869.

Penzance is the home of Cornwall's most successful rugby teams, the Cornish Pirates.

Penzance was the home of Mounts Bay RFC, founded in 1999, originally as a team for local players who could not play for the professional Cornish Pirates.

Penzance played eight test matches and was the wicket keeper during England's 1986 Ashes win in Australia.

Penzance has been home to numerous persons of note, including actress Thandie Newton, model Jean Shrimpton and cricketer Jack Richards.

Penzance was the birthplace of Maria Branwell, mother of three famous novelists – Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bronte and Anne Bronte.

Penzance was the birthplace of the chemist Sir Humphry Davy.