Penzance in the context of "St Michael's Mount"

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⭐ Core Definition: Penzance

Penzance (/pɛnˈzæns/ pen-ZANSS; Cornish: Pennsans) is a town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England. It lies 64 miles (103 km) west-southwest of Plymouth, 255 miles (410 km) west-southwest of London, and 9 miles (14 km) east of Land's End. Penzance railway station is the terminus of the Cornish Main Line and is both the southernmost and westernmost station in England. Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay, the town faces south-east onto the English Channel. As well as Penzance itself, the parish also includes the fishing port of Newlyn and the villages of Mousehole, Paul, Gulval, and Heamoor. At the 2021 census the population of the parish was 20,734 and the population of the Penzance built up area as defined by the Office for National Statistics was 14,960.

Penzance was granted a market charter in 1404 and was formally incorporated as a borough in 1614. Chapel Street has a number of interesting features, including the Egyptian House, The Admiral Benbow public house (home to a 19th-century smuggling gang and allegedly the inspiration for Treasure Island's "Admiral Benbow Inn"), the Union Hotel (including a Georgian theatre which is no longer in use), and Branwell House, where the mother and aunt of the Brontë sisters once lived. Regency and Georgian terraces and houses are common in some parts of the town. The nearby sub-tropical Morrab Gardens has a large collection of tender trees and shrubs, many of which cannot be grown outdoors anywhere else in the UK. Also of interest is the seafront with its promenade and the open-air seawater Jubilee Pool, one of the oldest surviving Art Deco swimming baths in the country.

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👉 Penzance in the context of St Michael's Mount

St Michael's Mount (Cornish: Karrek Loos yn Koos, meaning "hoar rock in woodland") is a tidal island in Mount's Bay near Penzance, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The island is a civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion by a causeway of granite setts, passable (as is the beach) between mid-tide and low water. It is managed by the National Trust, and the castle and chapel have been the home of the St Aubyn family since around 1650.

Historically, St Michael's Mount was an English counterpart of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France, which is also a tidal island, and has a similar conical shape, though Mont-Saint-Michel is much taller.

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Penzance in the context of Sherborne

Sherborne is a market town and civil parish in north west Dorset, in South West England. It is sited on the River Yeo, on the edge of the Blackmore Vale, 6 miles (10 kilometres) east of Yeovil. The parish includes the hamlets of Nether Coombe and Lower Clatcombe. The A30 road, which connects London to Penzance, runs through the town. In the 2021 census the population of Sherborne was 10,361.

Sherborne's historic buildings include Sherborne Abbey, its manor house, independent schools, and two castles: the ruins of a 12th-century fortified palace and the 16th-century mansion known as Sherborne Castle built by Sir Walter Raleigh. Much of the old town, including much of the abbey and many medieval and Georgian buildings, is built from distinctive honey-brown coloured Sherborne Stone.

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Penzance in the context of Cornwall

Cornwall (/ˈkɔːrnwəl/; Cornish: Kernow [ˈkɛrnɔʊ] or [ˈkɛrnɔ]) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is one of the Celtic nations and 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 is the Redruth and Camborne conurbation.

The county is predominantly rural, with an area of 1,375 square miles (3,562 km) and an estimated population of 585,655 in 2024. The county's major settlements include the city of Truro and St Austell in the centre, Redruth and Cambourne adjacent to each other in the south, and Penzance and Falmouth on the southern coast. For local government purposes most of Cornwall is a unitary authority area, with the Isles of Scilly governed by a unique local authority. The Cornish nationalist movement disputes the constitutional status of Cornwall and seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom.

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Penzance in the context of Land's End

Land's End (Cornish: Penn an Wlas or Pedn an Wlas) is a headland and tourist and holiday complex in western Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, on the Penwith peninsula about eight miles (13 km) west-south-west of Penzance at the western end of the A30 road. To the east of it is the English Channel, and to the west the Celtic Sea.

Land's End is the most westerly point of mainland England. However, it is not the westernmost point on mainland Great Britain. This title narrowly goes to Corrachadh Mòr in the Scottish Highlands.

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Penzance in the context of Maria Branwell

Maria Brontë (née Branwell; 15 April 1783 – 15 September 1821) was an English woman and the mother of the English writers Emily Brontë, Anne Brontë, Charlotte Brontë and of their brother Branwell Brontë, who was a poet and painter.

Born in Penzance, Maria Branwell was the daughter of a successful Methodist merchant and civic leader. After the deaths of her parents, at age 29, Branwell moved to Yorkshire to help her aunt with the domestic needs of Woodhouse Grove School. There she met Patrick Brontë, who also worked for the school as a classics examiner; they married after a brief courtship. Much of her married life was spent in Thornton. Maria Branwell gave birth to Maria (deceased in childhood), Elizabeth, Charlotte, Patrick (known as Branwell), Emily, and Anne. Shortly after Anne's birth, the family moved to Haworth. Within a year, Maria Branwell fell critically ill for eight months and died, aged thirty-eight. Maria's sister Elizabeth Branwell became ward for Maria's children.

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Penzance in the context of Redruth

Redruth (/rəˈdrθ/ rə-DROOTH, Cornish: Resrudh) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England. Redruth lies approximately at the junction of the A393 and A3047 roads, on the route of the old London to Land's End trunk road (now the A30), and is approximately 9 miles (14 km) west of Truro, 12 miles (19 km) east of St Ives, 18 miles (29 km) north east of Penzance and 11 miles (18 km) north west of Falmouth. At the 2021 census the population of the parish was 15,626 and the population of the built up area was 15,455.

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Penzance in the context of Penwith

Penwith (/ˌpɛnˈwɪθ/; Cornish: Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after one of the ancient administrative hundreds of Cornwall which derives from two Cornish words, penn meaning 'headland' and wydh meaning 'at the end'.

Natural England have designated the peninsula as national character area 156 and named it West Penwith. It is also known as the Land's End Peninsula.

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Penzance in the context of Cornish folklore

Cornish mythology is the folk tradition and mythology of the Cornish people. It consists partly of folk traditions developed in Cornwall and partly of traditions developed by Britons elsewhere before the end of the first millennium, often shared with those of the Breton and Welsh peoples. Some of this contains remnants of the mythology of pre-Christian Britain.

The folklore of Cornwall often consists of tales of giants, mermaids, Bucca, piskies or the 'pobel vean' (little folk.) These tales are still popular today, with some events hosting a 'droll teller' or storyteller, to share Cornish myths and legends. The myths and stories of Cornwall have found much publishing success, particularly in children's books. The fairy tale Jack the Giant Killer takes place in Cornwall. Many early British legends associate King Arthur with Cornwall, putting his birthplace at Tintagel, the court of King Mark of Cornwall, uncle of Tristan and husband of Iseult, the most famous Cornish lovers.

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Penzance in the context of St Ives, Cornwall

St Ives (Cornish: Porthia, meaning "St Ia's cove") is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times, it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial emphasis, and the town is now primarily a popular seaside resort. It is notable in achieving the title of Best UK Seaside Town from the British Travel Awards in both 2010 and 2011. It was named best seaside town of 2007 by The Guardian newspaper.

St Ives has become renowned for its number of artists, and is home to the Tate St Ives gallery, among other artistic outlets.

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