Privacy and cookie settings

Essential cookies support sign-in, security and quiz progress. Optional advertising and analytics require your permission. You can use Fact Central without accepting them.

Optional advertising and tracking are off until a valid consent choice is available.

Useful when testing the site. This preference applies even when you are signed out and stays until you change it or clear browser data.

Read our privacy policy or contact us.
Fact Central
Sign in

County in England

Cornwall

Cornwall has its own flag, its own ancient language, and a pasty so protected that only ones made in the county can legally carry the name.

Cornwall
Photo: Werner Wilmes, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Key information

County
Cornwall
Nation
England
Population
about 570,000 (2021 Census)
Known for
Pasties, surfing, tin mining, Land's End, the Eden Project, St Ives artists
What locals are called
Cornish (Cornishmen and Cornishwomen)
Famous people
Richard Trevithick, Sir Humphry Davy, Barbara Hepworth, Rick Stein (adopted Cornishman)
Football clubs
Truro City, Bodmin Town, Falmouth Town

About Cornwall

The pasty with a legal passport

The Cornish pasty has had Protected Geographical Indication status since 2011. To use the name, a pasty must be made in Cornwall, shaped like a D, crimped on the side rather than the top, and filled with beef, swede, potato and onion, with a peppery seasoning. Pasties were eaten in medieval Britain, even in wealthy households, long before they became the classic portable meal of Cornish miners. Tin mining in Cornwall, meanwhile, goes back to prehistoric times. The thick crimped edge could be held with dirty hands, then thrown away. Tin miners are said to have carried them underground, and a pasty could survive a long shift in a pocket. The Cornish also had a custom of marking a pasty with the owner's initials at one end, so a half-eaten lunch could be claimed later. Cornwall also gave the world the splits, saffron buns, hevva cake and clotted cream, which locals insist goes on the jam in a scone.

The land that dug itself hollow

For thousands of years, Cornwall was one of Europe's great sources of tin, and later copper. By the 19th century, engine houses with tall chimneys dotted the landscape from Camborne to St Just. Their ruins still stand on cliffs, especially around Botallack. The county's mining know-how went global. When mines failed, Cornish miners emigrated in huge numbers to places such as South Africa, Australia, Mexico and the United States. Wherever there was a mine, there tended to be a Cornishman, a saying that gave the world the term 'Cousin Jack'. The Cornish Mining landscape was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2006. The last working tin mine, South Crofty near Camborne, closed in 1998.

A county that thinks like a nation

Cornwall has its own language, Kernewek, a Celtic tongue closely related to Welsh and Breton. It faded as an everyday language in the 18th century, but revivalists brought it back and it is now taught and heard again, including on road signs. The county flag is St Piran's Flag, a white cross on a black background, said to represent white tin flowing from black rock. St Piran, patron saint of tin miners, is celebrated on 5 March. Cornwall's cultural identity is also tied to the Duchy of Cornwall, created in 1337 for Edward, the Black Prince. It is still held by the monarch's eldest son.

Inventors, engineers and a very bright lamp

Richard Trevithick of Camborne built a full-size steam road locomotive that chugged up Camborne Hill on Christmas Eve 1801. It was nicknamed the Puffing Devil. It preceded the steam-railway era, though horse-drawn railways already existed, such as the Middleton Railway, opened in 1758. Sir Humphry Davy, born in Penzance, invented a safety lamp for miners and discovered several elements, including sodium and potassium. Another Cornish figure, Barbara Hepworth, settled in St Ives in 1939 and made sculpture that is now loved around the world. Her studio, garden and home there are open as a museum.

Land's End, surf and a giant greenhouse

Land's End is the most westerly point of mainland England, and Lizard Point is the most southerly. St Michael's Mount near Marazion becomes an island at high tide, and you can cross a stone causeway to it when the tide is out. The Eden Project, near St Austell, opened in 2001 in a former china clay pit. Its giant biomes hold rainforest and Mediterranean plants. Nearby, the Lost Gardens of Heligan were rescued from neglect in the 1990s. Newquay is the heart of British surfing, while Fistral Beach hosts major competitions. Add Tintagel, the clifftop ruins linked in legend with King Arthur, and the pub quiz answers write themselves.

Strange customs and sporting passions

Cornwall loves a festival. At Padstow, the 'Obby 'Oss dances through the streets on May Day. At Helston, the Furry Dance takes place on Flora Day, normally 8 May, with townspeople dancing in and out of houses and shops. When 8 May falls on a Sunday or Monday, the celebration usually moves to the preceding Saturday. Mazey Day in Penzance and Golowan celebrate midsummer. The county's great sport is rugby union. Cornwall has a proud county team, nicknamed 'Kernow', whose fans sing 'Trelawny' (the Song of the Western Men). Wrestling, with its own Cornish style and rules, is also an old tradition, and it has even been compared with Breton wrestling. Hurling the silver ball at St Columb Major, an ancient game played through the streets in Shrovetide, is a rowdy tradition in which two sides try to carry a silver-coated ball to goals about two miles apart.

Related articles

Report an error