St Agnes, Cornwall

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For other uses, see Saint Agnes (disambiguation).

St Agnes, in Cornish Breanek, is a village, within a parish of the same name, in Carrick on the north coast of Cornwall, England, UK. Situated half way between the artists' colony of St Ives and the surfers' paradise at Newquay, it grew up as a fishing and farming community which, from Roman times (perhaps earlier) until the early part of the 20th century, relied heavily on tin mining as a source of income into the area. With the demise of tin mining it has become a popular tourist destination, offering good surfing beaches (Trevaunance Cove, Chapel Porth National Trust beach and nearby Perranporth), walking (St Agnes Beacon and many cliff, coastal and country walks), painting (beautiful scenery), industrial archeology, stone-age remains and geology. With a variety of accommodation ranging from the St Agnes Hotel, an 18th century hostelry in the centre of the village, to An Trenaw, a typical modern self catering bungalow, St Agnes has managed to retain its Cornishness whilst being very open and welcoming to the modern world.

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[edit] History

[edit] The harbour

According to cornwall-online, "From ancient times the Tonkin family monopolised the mining wealth of the area and when they saw that greater wealth could be achieved by opening up trade from Ireland and Wales they set about trying to construct a harbour at Trevaunance Cove. After three attempts a harbour was built in 1710 but the process had been costly over £6,000 had been spent on the harbour 'experiments' and the family were in debt. The estate was relinquished in 1719 and the unmaintained harbour was swept away into the sea in 1730. Sixty years later, a copper mining boom added new impetus to the quest for a harbour. The newly formed St. Agnes Harbour co. constructed the last of the St. Agnes harbours in 1798. The harbour enabled the development of pilchard fishery and general sea-borne trade. The harbour stood for 118 years but again due to the lack of maintenance it was washed away in the storms of 1915/16".

[edit] Statistics

St Agnes Parish had a population of 7,257 [1] in April 2006; this includes nearby Porthtowan and Mount Hawke as well as St Agnes village itself. The 2001 census figure for St Agnes village was 2,230 [2] in 1,013 households. Unemployment at 3.8% (2001 census) compares to a national average of 3.4%. The retired population represented 20.8% (national average 13.6%), those in full time employment were 28.6% (40.6%) and those self employed were 14.9% (8.3%). These and other factors put St Agnes in 15,862nd position in the most deprived scale out of 32,482 thus approximately in the middle (in 2001).

[edit] Social

With a predominantly Christian population (or no religion), there are three churches: Anglican, Methodist and Catholic. These also act as centres of social gathering as does the Miners and Mechanics Institute, the many pubs, bistros and restaurants and several sports clubs (including rugby, football and surfing).

[edit] Commercial

St Agnes is unusual, for a village of its size, in being relatively "self-sufficient" with local shops and business enterprises being promoted actively by the chamber of commerce [[3]] and The Bolster, a local free newspaper named after the giant of legend.

It is also the home of Atlantic FM, which broadcasts across the whole of Cornwall from their studios at the "Wheal Kitty Workshops".

[edit] Places of interest in the immediate vicinity

[edit] St Agnes Beacon

"The Beacon", a local landmark now owned by the National Trust, rises 629 feet in isolation from the surrounding landscape with the sea at its feet. St. Agnes derives its old Cornish name, Bryanick (pointed or prominent hill) from this dominant landmark. The top of the Beacon offers a truly panoramic view of the cliffs from St. Ives in the south to Padstow in the North, as well as splendid inland views over much of Carrick and the eastern part of Penryn. On a clear day, 23 miles of coast and 32 church towers can be seen from the top.

[edit] Bolster & Chapel Porth

A great earthen bulwark believed to date from the Dark Ages. It originally ran from Chapel Porth to Trevaunance Cove. According to legend, Bolster was a giant who fell in love with a young maiden called Agnes. As proof of his love Agnes demanded that the giant fill a small hole at the edge of the cliff with his blood. Being such a small hole the giant willingly did so. However, he was unaware that the hole was bottomless and opened into a sea cave. Bolster continued to fill the cave until he was so weak that he fell into the sea to his death; the blood stained cave can be found at Chapel Porth.

[edit] St Agnes Parish Museum

The St. Agnes Parish Museum offers an opportunity to study in more detail the landscape and the history of St. Agnes. The Museum is run by volunteers and is a registered charity established to promote the heritage of St. Agnes. The mining and seafaring history of St. Agnes is explained in displays and on film. The natural history display includes a 700lb leatherback turtle. http://www.stagnesmuseum.org.uk

[edit] Wheal Coates

One of the best known and most picturesque groups of cliff-top mine buildings in Cornwall, offering superb coastal views. The buildings are owned by the National Trust.

[edit] Blue Hills Tin Streams

These traditional workings are situated in Jericho Valley. The process by which tin is extracted is demonstrated and explained.

[edit] Heritage Coast

The landscape around St. Agnes is promoted and cared for by the St. Agnes to Newquay Countryside Management Service. The service strives to balance the differing needs of the many users of the countryside and focuses on building an understanding between all those who live, work and visit the area so that all are working towards a common goal of protection and appreciation of the environment.

[edit] External links


 
Civil Parishes of Carrick District
Flag of United Kingdom United Kingdom | Flag of England England | Cornwall

Chacewater | Cubert | Cuby | Falmouth | Feock | Gerrans | Gwennap | Kea | Kenwyn | Ladock | Mylor | Penryn | Perran-ar-worthal | Perranzabuloe | Philleigh | Probus | Ruan Lanihorne | St Agnes | St Allen | St Clement | St Erme | St Just-in-Roseland | St Michael Penkivel | St Newlyn East | Tregony | Truro | Veryan


Coordinates: 50°18′45″N, 5°12′13″W

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