Zed for Zennor, appropriately in our A – Z Challenge, is
alphabetically the last parish in Britain.
The village lies in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty on the north
coast coastal road and path about 5 miles from St Ives.
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Zennor from Trewey Hill, with the Atlantic Ocean nearby |
Zennor has lots of history … way too much to include in this Z
for zee-end post … Zennor Quoit is a megalithic burial chamber about a mile
east of the village … it dates to between 2,500 – 1,500 BC and is one of the
eight remaining quoits on the West Penwith moors.
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Zennor Quoit |
St Senara’s Church, after whom Zennor is named, is dedicated
to the local saint, and is at least 1,400 years old, though it was rebuilt in
the 12th century (1100s). The
current building is partly Norman and partly 13th and 15th
centuries.
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Zennor Church: it is surrounded by a circular graveyard, the boundaries of which have existed since the Bronze Age, and in which parish residents have been buried for centuries. |
The tower contains tombstones, including one with an
inscription for a “Hen-pecked husband”
with a beautiful engraving for the “four
winds which daily toss this bubble”: don’t ask I haven’t seen them!!
The Mermaid Pew, showing the bench end |
The Mermaid of Zennor is a popular Cornish folk tale, the
legend of which has inspired many works: it makes interesting reading with then
lots of links to poets, folk songs, novels, children’s books (which Suzanne
Furness mentioned yesterday under Y for literature), art works, an opera, and a
hymn …
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Gurnard's Head: an Iron Age cliff castle/ promontory fort (In Cornish Ynyal - meaning 'desolate one' |
St Senara, too has an interesting history – another water
borne saint, this time from Brittany – who is highly venerated. The Mermaid’s chair, an ancient chair with
carvings of fish on the seat and a pew end with a depiction of the mermaid
admiring herself in a mirror, is believed to be at least 600 years old.
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Tiny pic of the pub sign - but I liked the sou'wester tree |
Wayside Folk Museum – see my M post – is on the outskirts of
the village … and the pub, the Tinner’s Arms – I know does folk nights.
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The Mermaid of Zennor - by John Reinhard Wegeulin (1900) |
It was originally built in 1271 to house the masons building
the church; while the name is derived from the Tinners, with records of tin
extraction in the area going back to Tudor times (1450s - 1603).
Apparently D H Lawrence stayed a fortnight in the pub in 1916 …
as you can see the pub sign (very tiny!) is a testimony to its origins.
It is a typical old English pub “all low beams and dark wood”
with a “warm fire in the winter”, which retains a medieval ambiance. Its special beers are “Tinner’s” and “Zennor
Mermaid” … it has a “sleepy, timeless quality in a way that has not changed in
centuries”.
The Tinner's Arms, Zennor (c/o P H Glasson) There's a menu on the website |
Food sounds good though … more 21st century:
Pigeon breast with mushrooms and tarragon sauce;
Terras Farm Duck breast with braised peas and Cornish new
potatoes;
Chocolate fudge cake with clotted cream; OR ‘Moomaid’ ice
cream made on the local farm;
OR … you can have an enjoyable ploughman’s with three Cornish
cheeses and home-baked bread.
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From Project Gutenberg - ebook of Traditions and Hearthside Stories of West Cornwall by William Bottrell (1800s) |
That is Z for Zennor and Zee end ... from Aspects of British
Cornish …
Hilary Melton-Butcher
Positive Letters Inspirational Stories