Penryn, Cornwall

Penryn, Cornwall

Penryn is now part of Falmouth, but has separate roots. Penryn, whose name comes from the Cornish 'pen rynn', meaning the 'end of a point or promontory'.

Penryn old town is now a conservation area, and the Jacobean and Georgian buildings have been restored. It still keeps its own identity, partly due to its situation on a promontory between two creeks. With a large proportion of its buildings dating back to Tudor, Jacobean and Georgian times, the town has been designated as an important Conservation area. The local museum is housed in the Town Hall and brings the history to life.

Penryn was a medieval port and exported granite. It eventually lost out as Falmouth grew in importance.

Penryn Borough was enfranchised by the Bishop of Exeter in 1236, granted a weekly market in 1259 by Henry III. It could also hold a Charter Fair annually on the Feast of St. Thomas the Martyr. In 1265 the large Collegiate Church of Glasney was founded, where the Antron River enters the Creek.

Soon Penryn had expanded to be a busy port, with half the population the town being foreigners. By the 18th century, there was a large commercial centre along the river, with quays for the coal yards and quarried granite, warehouses for merchants and chandlers’ shops. In its prime Penryn exported dressed granite all over the world.

Penryn Plastics makes plastic mouldings locally.

There is fishing for brown and rainbow trout on the Argal and College reservoirs just to the west of the town.

Around Penryn Ernie Warmington

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