With the sea on three sides and the Tamar making the fourth boundary, Cornwall has always been almost an island. So when wandering tribes from Europe arrived, they were able to enjoy a life of comparative peace - scarcely disturbed by the hordes who ravaged the rest of the mainland. That is why, with only wind and weather to affect them, so many Neolithic and Bronze Age monoliths and barrows remain.
The richness of Cornwall's mineral deposits were not exploited until about 350 BC when Iron Age tribes from Europe came in search of tin. The people of this fair-haired, blue-eyed race were tall and finely built, probably the origins of the "giants" in Cornish folklore. They brought their knowledge of tin production with them as well as their culture and a completely new social structure. Evidence of this important occupation is still to be seen in hill forts, cliff castles and the "trevs" or settlements. The Tre-, Pol- and Pen- prefixes to family and place names which are so typical of Cornwall, also stem from that Iron Age period. These tribes introduced the Cornish language.
The next arrivals led the Cornish away from paganism to Christianity. These were holy men and women from Wales and Ireland who established their "cells" near water - rivers, wells or streams. Many of these, previously objects of pagan worship, then became shrines and places of pilgrimage. Today about a hundred holy wells exist. Some are looked upon as serving a special purpose - turning the affections of a loved one in the right direction, for example. Cornish churches (many near wells or water) are dedicated to those saints that have names not seen in other English counties, such as St Gluvias, St Probus and St Petroc.
The Norman Conquest brought many changes. King William's custom of rewarding his barons with large estates held good in Cornwall - even to Land's End. The Domesday Book must have looked impressive with its accounts of groups of manors belonging to this or that Norman overlord. But many of the so-called manors were little more than small farmsteads or "trevs" run by perhaps two people as they had been since Celtic times.
By the mid-12th century, Cornwall was Europe's largest supplier of tin, and stannary towns grew up at places where tin was tested. Royal charters for markets and fairs also encouraged trade while the building of numerous collegiate and other churches resulted in a more settled way of life. At sea, as on land, Cornwall prospered. Her sailors and fishermen gained renown at home and abroad. Perhaps one of her proudest occasions was when Fowey sent forty-seven ships to help the king besiege Calais in 1346. This was nearly twice the number mustered by the City of London.
When the Reformation came, Cornwall's beautiful churches were stripped and most of her collegiate establishments closed. The final blow came when Bibles were printed in English -a language that Cornishmen did not want to understand and certainly couldn't read. In an effort to preserve their culture, their way of life and their heritage, the people rebelled. Many lost their lives in the 1549 revolt, but in vain. Cornwall's identity was never completely overwhelmed however, and is still to be found today. Prosperity returned briefly in the 18th and 19th centuries when underground mining came into its own. Fortunes were made and lost overnight, but Cornwall faced a major disaster once again when cheap surface tin was imported from Malaya. |
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