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Coordinates: 50°12'47?N 5°18'02?W? / ?50.212911, -5.300562
Pendeen is a small village close to the coastline, within the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, UK. It is 3 miles (4.8 km) away from the town of St Just and is part of the St. Just civil parish. It is 7 miles (11.3 km) from the town of Penzance.
Dotted around Pendeen are the villages of Carnyorth and Trewellard as well as the historical site: Geevor Tin Mine. In October 2005, Pendeen finished building its own Community Centre. It has a shop, two Inns, a post office, a primary school, fish and chip shop, parish hall, church and gem shop. There is a strong sense of community in the village and it has many clubs including an art club, silver marching band and a football club.
Pendeen Lighthouse at Pendeen Watch
Overlooking Pendeen, above the Church, is a hill which the locals have nicknamed "Raw Carn", because of the wind which seems always to blow cold at the summit. Like many other old Cornish coast villages, Pendeen was believed to be a secret place for smuggling activities off-shore. One mile down a coast road from Boscaswell sits Pendeen Lighthouse and its noticeable fog-warning siren can be heard from miles around.
Pendeen was the subject of the book 'Life in a Cornish Village' by the Rev. F. J. Horsefield in 1893. Horsefield, being an amateur historian, wrote of a multitude of fascinating aspects of Pendeen's past.
He wrote, for example, that Chun Castle, on the 'gump' (Cornish for moor) was most likely a Danish (pre-)viking castle. It was built when the indigenous Celts (viz. 'Cornu-Britons') asked Denmark for help against the invading Saxons. The gump itself was a battlefield with many discovered urns indicating this violent history. This is is now known to be untrue. Chun Castle is much older than first thought and is possibly Bronze age or earlier, and much more likely to be the site of a fortified village. Boscaswell, arguably a part of Pendeen, traces its name to Bos Castle. Horsefield suggests that what is now Boscaswell was once the site of another Danish castle. Again now not thought to be true, again a wrongful supposition and the name has nothing to do with castles.
Pendeen is famous for its Geevor Tin Mine. The Queen and The Duke of Edinburgh visited the mine in 1957. However, mining has occurred in Pendeen for over 3000 years. 2000 years ago the Romans brought Jews to Pendeen to work the mines. These Jews, suggests Horsefield, came as slaves from the then recently sacked Jerusalem. Moreover, when Horsefield wrote his book, he claimed that locals still called a piece of tin a 'Jew's piece'. Jewish influence can be witnessed around Pendeen through names such as the village 'Bojewyn' (meaning 'abode of the Jews'), 'Market Jew street' in Penzance, and the small town of 'Marazion' (of St Michael's Mount fame). Horsefield was mistaken with his interpretation of the names Market Jew Street and Marazion. Both places derive their names from the Cornish language. Marghas yow is Cornish for Thursday market and Thursday is still considered as market day by many local people. Most Cornish place names are from the Cornish language and the English word Jew has nothing to do with that ancient race.
Horsefield also writes of a large natural cave named 'Pendeen Vau', the entrance of which is to be found on a cliff. Apparently this cave is vast, going far below & into the sea. Existence of this cave, however, is disputed by current locals.
Pendeen is overlooked by a hill referred to by locals as 'The Carn'. This was the site of a quarry, and is believed to have been the site of prehistoric mine workings also. (Again not true. The quarry was the site used to mine the granite to build Pendeen church just over a hundred and fifty years ago.).
Below Boscaswell is an area known as 'The Craft' which is an area mostly over grown by gorse, fern and brambles, although many pathways exist. Here can be found abandoned mine buildings dating from the 1800s(including wash houses, engine houses and arsenic baths).
Pendeen boasts 3 beaches although some are more accessible than others. The largest of the 3 beaches was for many years the home of a wrecked ship until the army was called in to clear the wreck as it was presenting a danger to swimmers.
Below Pendeen Lighthouse can be found the wreck of 'The Liberty', although most of it has now been eroded away but the sea parts of the wreck are still visible at low tide on what locals call 'Liberty Rock' which is a favorite fishing spot.
(Source: Wikipedia) |