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Local Information for Penzance

Penzance or as a good Cornishman would have you call it Pen Sans, which comes from the old Cornish language ‘Pen’ meant point of land, or headland, and ‘Sans’ meant sacred or holy place to do with a church or religious site. Translated into modern English would become Holy Headland.

Penzance is situated in the far southwest of England and faces southeast into the English Channel. Situated in the shelter of the Mount's Bay, Penzance is bordered to the west by the fishing port of Newlyn and stretches towards the small town of Marazion to the east. The town's location gives it a unique subtropical climate, much warmer than most of the rest of Britain. It has provided port facilities for landing fish, but more importantly during Cornwall’s mining period, a facility for the shipping of Tin Ingots.

The reason for Penzance's relative success probably stems from late 16th and early 17th centuries when Queen Elizabeth I granted the town a Royal Market and King James I granted...More