Newlyn is about a mile west of Penzance, and now Newlyn is one of the largest fishing ports in England. Newlyn has been a fishing port since the middle ages. The name comes from new stream. It started life primarily as a pilchard port, but today lands a variety of fish from local mackerel to the catch of deep sea trawlers such as turbot, monkfish and hake. The village is a knot of narrow streets with the original fisherman's cottages and pubs
Except for the harbour, Newlyn was completely destroyed in the 1595 Spanish raid. The harbour was extensively expanded in the last century, and today's fishing fleet comprises over 200 boats. Although many of the old cottages survive, 135 cottages were demolished by the local government in 1937 in spite of a petition against the changes being taken to the steps of the House of Commons by the fishing lugger Rosebud.
The Newlyn fishing fleet give rise to fish auctions and a variety of fish related businesses. The Newlyn, Pilchard Museum has closed, but there is still a business there salting pilchards.
Newlyn harbour is the home base of the lifeboat, the 'Mabel Alice', which replaced the previous boat, the 'Solomon Browne', which was lost with all hands in 1981.
Newlyn has an artists colony. The Newlyn School style of painting was founded during the 18th century with the emphasis on open air subjects. The movement flourished particularly during the late nineteenth century and was a group of painters who started the plein air movement in England, following the lead in France, where many of them trained. . It is known for a number of artists, including Stanhope Forbes (founder of the Newlyn School of Artists), Lamorna Birch, Frank Bramley, Norman Garstin, Laura Knight, Alfred Munnings. There is a permanent exhibition of this school of artists at the Newlyn Orion Art Gallery and the Penlee House gallery in Penzance.
Following the extension of the Great Western Railway to Cornwall in 1877 both St Ives and Newlyn began to attract artists, drawn by the scenery, quality of light, simplicity of life and the sea.. The artists known as the Newlyn School were led by Stanhope Forbes and Frank Bramley who settled there in the early 1880s. Newlyn painting combined the Impressionist doctrine of working directly from the subject, and often in the open air (plein-airism), with subject matter drawn from rural life, particularly fishermen. Forbes's The Health of the Bride and Bramley's A Hopeless Dawn are quintessential Newlyn masterpieces.
Newlyn Orion Gallery exhibits the work of a wide variety work, past and present, of local artists in both contemporary and traditional fields. The Gallery was built with money from the philanthropist John Passmore Edwards on land by the LeGrice family. Trustees were appointed and it was used by the Newlyn Society of Artists, who elected a committee to organise the exhibitions. It opened in 1895. In 1957 the Society of Artists became the official tenants of the Passmore Edwards Gallery. In the late 1950s the Gallery first received funding from the Arts Council.
The work of the Newlyn School is exhibited at Penlee House Gallery. It was built in 1865 as a private house and now completely refurbished, offers changing displays drawn from its own collections, supplemented by loans from public and private collections, reflecting the rich heritage of west Cornwall.
Newlyn, Cornwall Genealogical Information from Genuki
The Rosebud and the Newlyn Clearances Michael Sagar-Fenton