Penwith District Council

Penwith District
Shown within Cornwall
Population
• 1973	51,690[1]
• 2001	62,994[2]
History
• Preceded by	Borough of Penzance Borough of St Ives St Just Urban District West Penwith Rural District
• Created	1 April 1974
• Abolished	1 April 2009
• Succeeded by	Cornwall unitary authority
Status	Former district
ONS code	15UF
Government	District council
• HQ	Penzance
• Motto	Kensa ha Dewetha
Subdivisions
• Type	Civil parishes

Penwith (/ˌpɛnˈwɪθ/; Cornish: Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after one of the ancient administrative hundreds of Cornwall which derives from two Cornish words, penn meaning 'headland' and wydh meaning 'at the end'.

Natural England has designated the peninsula as National Character Area 156 and named it West Penwith. It is also known as the Land's End Peninsula.^[3]

The Penwith peninsula sits predominantly on granite bedrock that has led to the formation of a rugged coastline with many fine beaches. The contact between the granite and the adjoining sedimentary rock (mostly shales) is most clearly seen forming the cliffs at Land's End, the most westerly point in the district and this geology has resulted in the mining that has made Cornwall famous.^{[citation needed]} Tin and copper have been mined in the area since pre-Roman times and the landscape is dotted with ruined mine buildings. Inland, the peninsula is primarily granite with a thin top soil.^{[citation needed]} This combined with Cornwall's exposed position and the prevailing weather systems from the Atlantic Ocean means that, with the exception of the high moor areas, much of the area is a semi-bare plateau standing around 130 m above sea level. This is most evident on the north coast between St Just and Zennor where the remains of the ancient seabed of the Pliocene era are visible. Its highest point is Watch Croft (252 m).

There are several deep valleys cut into this plateau such as Lamorna on the south coast, where sufficient shelter from the weather is gained for trees to establish and grow. The shelter of these valleys and the mild climate gives Penwith a flora not seen anywhere else in the UK.^{[citation needed]}Penzance's Morrab Gardens is able to grow bananas. Penwith also contains an artificial lake, Drift Reservoir, which is located approximately 3 miles west of Penzance. In addition to Penwith's status as a Heritage coastline, west Penwith, an area of 90 square kilometres, is considered an Environmentally Sensitive Area. Penwith lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

The principal towns in Penwith are Penzance, the port town and seat of local government, and St Ives, one of the county's most popular seaside resorts. The district is largely rural, and contains many villages, principal amongst them being Botallack, Carbis Bay, Crowlas, Drift, Gulval, Gwithian, Hayle, Lamorna, Lelant, Long Rock, Ludgvan, Madron, Marazion, Morvah, Mousehole, Nancledra, Newlyn, Paul, Penberth, Pendeen, Porthcurno, Sancreed, Sennen, St Buryan, St Erth, St Hilary, St Just in Penwith, Treen and Zennor.

As a small peninsula at the tip of a larger peninsula, the district is somewhat isolated from the rest of the UK. Two major transport routes terminate in the district, the A30 road and the Great Western Main Line railway. The St Ives Bay Line provides local transport between St Ives, and the main line at St Erth. A ferry to the Isles of Scilly, 28 miles (45 km) west-south-west of the district, is based in Penzance.

The district contained the parishes of:

• Gwinear–Gwithian
• Hayle
• Ludgvan
• Madron, Marazion, Morvah
• Paul, Penzance, Perranuthnoe
• Sancreed, Sennen, St Buryan, St Erth, St Hilary, St Ives, St Just, St Levan, St Michael's Mount
• Towednack
• Zennor

Penwith - Wikipedia