Cornish Heritage in Penzance - Programme of Activities

Cornish Heritage in Penzance activities can be found by clicking one of the categories below

Our latest presentation at Cornish Heritage in Penzance

Click on the posters to expand the view

Our programme advance notice is subject to additional events, activities and illustrated talks. Posters for these will be added as and when these are confirmed.

Programme to end of December 2024
Red River Singers

Details of the latest presentations can be seen enlarged by clicking the images.

All are welcome to attend and most of these events are free. Please donate to help support the sharing of local Penzance and Cornish heritage in Penzance.

A showcase of earlier illustrated talks carried out by Cornish Heritage in Penzance at their centre at 62 Morrab Road, the former Penzance Library can be seen below. These have included a wide selection of local and Cornish topics.

An illustrated talk at Cornish Heritage in Penzance

Cornish Language Classes

There will be classes on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month and a Cornish language evening on the first Thursday of the month. The dates can be found on the Cornish Heritage in Penzance programme.

Cornish language evenings are held from 7:00pm to 9:00pm with refreshments included, with a cost of £3.00 per evening. The evening are structured to provide learning with experienced teachers for people of all abilities and an entertaining social evening with games and activities. You are welcome to turn up on the evening.

Please book if possible by emailing klassanhay@gmail.com but you are also welcome to turn up on the evening.

Further information email: admin@bewnanskernow.org.

Our earlier presentations at Cornish Heritage in Penzance

Click on the posters to expand the view

Red River Singers
Tin in Antiquity
The History of the Newlyn Lights
'The History of the Penzance Water System'
Rick Rescorla with Trevor Smitheram
The History of Heamoor
'Talk the Walke'
The Cornish Ordinalia
Dr Borlase with Professor James Scourse
A Short Talk of Simpson Bros Ltd
Creating a sustainable Penzance
CHIP - Hwerow Hweg 9th July 2024
Take a look at Cornish Archaeology
Godolphin Bal 25th June 2024
'A39' Cornish Political Theatre in the 1980s by Paul Farmer
The Bus Drivers of Penzance 28th May
The History of Girls Education in Penzance and notably of Penzance Girls' Grammar School'
Celebrating 10 years of Cornish National Minority Status
Torrey Canyon Disaster 23rd April
Cornish Dialect Stories with Trevor Smitheram
Identifying Articles Found in Cornwall
HMS Warspite in Cornwall 1947-1956
Brenda Wootton Presentation & Film
The Penzance Playgoers - Mike Sagar-Fenton
Photographs - Waves & Storms & Light over Cornwall - Illustrated talk by Mike Newman (Penzance Photographer)
Montol Festival Talk
Montol Workshop
Ancient Penwith 12th December 2023
Cornish Heritage in Penzance - Red River Singers
Penzance Promenade
Gold & Silver in Cornwall & Devon
Skilful Aunts and Knowing Men - Folklore and Healthcare
Jubilee Pool
Golowan Festival
The Mayor Speaks
Jack Michell Penzance firefighter and wartime hero
Churches of Cornwall
Simon Parker with Mike Sagar-Fenton
Postcard's of Old Penzance
The Cornish Celtic Way
The Tremenheeres of Tremenheere
Curriculum Kernewek
The History of the Penlee Lifeboats
The Madron Workhouse
The evolution of the Cornish Pirate rugby team
Cornish Heritage in Penzance - Opening Event

Projects

The Dr Borlase Project

Is there an aspect of Penwith history you are curious about? Join a short term project to research and share a specific piece of Penwith History, of your choosing, with a small group of people.

Cornish Heritage in Penzance has received funding from the Penwith Landscape Partnership to run a project on Dr William Borlase, rightly known as the 'The Father of Cornish Studies' (1696-1772).  As part of this we will run a short-term Penwith history project where participants identify an aspect of Penwith history to research. The group will follow a 'manifesto' derived from the way in which Dr Borlase himself worked:

The Borlase 'Manifesto'

  1. Choose a topic about Penwith's natural history or historic environment, or the Cornish language of Penwith.
  2. Produce a tightly-written notebook of observations.
  3. Correspond with someone (probably within the group) about your research, preferably by handwritten letter!
  4. Teach someone.
  5. Publish (online, or hard copy).

Contact us to find out more at: admin@bewnanskernow.org

Exhibitions

The first exhibitions at Cornish Heritage in Penzance begin on 1 August 2023 with the theme for our first year is 'Cornish Curiosity'.  We will look at the people and institutions behind the development of our knowledge of Cornwall.

Dr William Borlase - Pioneer of Cornish Research in the eighteenth century. Dr Borlase was Rector of Ludgvan and St Just, and the author of 'The Antiquities of Cornwall' and the 'Natural History of Cornwall'.

'Tell Me What's Happening in My Duchy of Cornwall !'  This exhibition will explore The Register of Edward the Black Prince 1351-1365 - a twice weekly record of events in the Duchy of Cornwall in the fourteenth century, compiled by the Duke's officials to inform the first Duke of Cornwall.

Dr Barham's Questions - Dr Barham, a surgeon from Truro, was commissioned to write a report on the work, homelife and health of children and young people working in the Cornish mines. His investigations and questions led to the 1842 Report which includes first-hand accounts from young people.

A Building for The Curious - This building, the former Penzance Public Library building, has a long history of nurturing the curious. It began its life as the Penzance Mining and Science School. The exhibition will look at the history of this much-loved civic building and the stories of the people behind its operation.