Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Penzance

Penzance is a busy market town, fishing port and tourist centre in Cornwall, 7 miles from St. Ives (Cornwall). It is situated on Mounts Bay, and is the most Westerly town in Britain.

The name means "the holy headland".

Penzance, then a small place, was burned by the Spanish in 1595, along with nearby Mousehole.

It developed as a holiday centre in the Regency period, taking advantage of the exceptionally mild local climate.

The High Street, built on a curve on a hill, has as its central focus the Market House, dated 1836, and a statue of Humphrey Davy.

The astonishing Egyptian House, tucked away in a back street, dates from 1835.

The first announcement of Nelson's victory at the Battle of Trafalgar was made at the Union Hotel.

The public Morrab Gardens contain much lush vegetation, including palm trees.

Penzance is the terminus of the railway line that runs through Devon and Cornwall, and steamer and helicopter services run to the Scilly Islands.

Humphrey Davy, scientist and inventor, was born at Penzance.

"The Pirates of Penzance" is a much loved comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, involving a young man who as a baby was apprenticed by mistake to a pirate, instead of to a pilot. It was first performed at Paignton.

Places in Penzance

Egyptian House, Jubilee Pool, Lighthouse Centre, Morrab Gardens, Penlee House Gallery and Museum, Penzance Station, St. Anthony`s Gardens

Places in Penzance...

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