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Penzance Harbour, Cornwall, England
Author: Marktee1 (Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike 3.0)
Penzance is a town on the southwestern tip of Cornwall, England. It has a population of 21,000 people. The most westerly major town in Cornwall, it is about 500 km (300 mi) from London.
Guide to Penzance Hotels
Here's a list of hotels in Penzance that you can book online, with full description, star rating, address, location map, evaluation, and prices as offered by different booking sites. This helps you to make your room booking with the site that offers the best price.
St Mary's Church, Penzance
Author: Tony Atkin (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
More on Penzance
Penzance is located within Mount's Bay, which opens into the English Channel. The area has been inhabited since prehistoric times, as evidenced in the discovery of prehistoric stone axes in the area. The diswcovery of a Roman fort at Calstock provided proof that the Romans had also established themselves in Penzance.Penzance does not appear in the Domesday Book of 1086, even though it most certainly has been settled by then. Its first mention was in the Assize Roll in 1284, as Pensans. The church that gave the town its name is said to date to the 12th century.
In 1332 Penzance became a market town when it received a Royal Charter to hold a market. The right was granted by King Edward III to Alice de Liste. The weekly market held on Wednesdays helped Penzance to grow. It was also allowed to hold a fair, lasting seven days, during the Feast of St Peter.
Penzance Promenade, with Jubilee Pool in the background
Author: Phil Williams (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic)
Penzance was given town status by King James I in 1614. In 1755 it was hit by a tsunami caused by the Lisbon earthquake whose epicenter is 1000 km away. It caused the sea to rise eight feet in Penzance, but fortunately little damage was recorded.
By the 19th century, Penzance had become a regional center. The West Cornwall Railway was built to terminate at Penzance Railway Station in 1852. Its population peaked in 1861 at 3,843 people. Then, as with other towns in Cornwall, it registered a decline, to 3,088 in 1901, and to a low of 2,616 in 1921. Population increased once more, to 4,888 in 1931 and 5,545 in 1951.
Today the economy of Penzance depends on light industries, tourism and the retail trade.
Visiting Penzance
It takes about 6 hours to drive from London to Penzance. Take the M4 motorway, followed by the M5 and then the A30 road. Trains from London Paddington station to Penzance takes 5 hours. There are also trains from Plymouth (2 hours) and Bristol (4 hours).
Penzance Railway Station
Author: Geof Sheppard (Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported)
Places of Interest in Penzance
- Branwell House
Historic building, once home to the mother and aunt of the famous Brontë sisters. - Penzance Seafront
Waterfront with promenade and the Jubilee Bathing Pool, the oldest surviving swimming baths in the country. - Trereife House
Grade II listed manor house in the outskirts of Penzance.
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