St Agnes, Cornwall

infobox UK place
country = England
latitude= 50.2951
longitude= -5.2063
official_name= St. Agnes
population = Parish 7257, Village 2230
shire_district= Carrick
shire_county= Cornwall
region= South West England
Ambulance= South Western
Police= Devon & Cornwall Constabulary
Fire= Cornwall Fire & Rescue
constituency_westminster= Truro & Falmouth
post_town= St. Agnes|postcode_district = TR5
postcode_area= TR |dial_code= 01872
os_grid_reference= SW713507

St Agnes (Cornish Breanek) is a village and a parish in Carrick on the north coast of Cornwall, England, UK. It is in the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site, and lies halfway between the artists' colony of St Ives and the surfers' paradise at Newquay. It is one of the twelve sections of the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).

St Agnes 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.

With the demise of mining in Cornwall, St Agnes has become a popular tourist destination, offering excellent beaches at Trevaunance Cove, Chapel Porth National Trust beach, and nearby Perranporth and Porthtowan; walking (St Agnes Beacon and many cliff, coastal and country walks); painting (beautiful scenery), industrial archeology, stone-age remains and geology.

History

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".

Statistics

St Agnes Parish had a population of 7,257 [http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=7639] in April 2006; this includes nearby Porthtowan, Mount Hawke, Blackwater and Mithian as well as St Agnes village itself. The 2001 census figure for St Agnes village was 2,230 [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/NeighbourhoodProfileSearch.do?profileSearch=tr50uw] 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).

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 do the Miners and Mechanics Institute, the many pubs, bistros and restaurants and several sports clubs (including rugby union, football and surfing).

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 [http://www.st-agnes.com/about.php] and The Bolster, a local free newspaper named after the legendary Bolster giant.

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

Places of interest in the immediate vicinity

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 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.

A picture of Chapelporth Beach .

Bolster & Chapel Porth

Bolster & Chapel Porth is a large 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.

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 700-pound leatherback turtle. http://www.stagnesmuseum.org.uk

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.

Blue Hills Tin Streams

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

The Blue Hills area is also host to the Motor Cycling Club's Lands End Classic Trial, for both cars and bikes. 2008 marked the events centenary - the first run being held in 1908 [http://www.themotorcyclingclub.org.uk/] .

Heritage Coast

The World Heritage 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.

Stippy Stappy

Is a row of 18th century miners cottages on a very steep incline.

External links

* [http://www.ghostdatabase.co.uk/articles/dorcas/ St Agnes Ghost Story]
* [http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1215 World Heritage Listing for St.Agnes]
* [http://www.cornish-mining.org.uk/ Cornish Mining]
* [http://www.lookaroundcornwall.com/panos/st-agnes-village.htm St Agnes fullscreen 360 degree panorama]
* [http://www.aztecleisure.biz Aztec Leisure]
* [http://www.little-orchard-village.co.uk Little Orchard Village]
* [http://www.thearamay.com the Aramay St Agnes]
* [http://www.st-agnes.com/ St.Agnes tourist information]
* [http://www.stagnes.info/ St.Agnes tourist information]
* [http://www.argantel.com/location.htm St Agnes location maps and village information]
* [http://www.stagnesmuseum.org.uk/ St.Agnes Museum]
* [http://www.st-agnes-hotel.co.uk/ St.Agnes Hotel]
* [http://www.sas.org.uk Surfers Against Sewage]
* [http://www.chycor.co.uk/camping/rosehill/index.htm Rosehill Lodges]
* [http://www.atlantic.fm Atlantic FM]
* [http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=7639 2006 population]
* [http://neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/NeighbourhoodProfileSearch.do?profileSearch=tr50uw 2001 census]
* [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/prwe/prwe019.htm Bolster legend]
* [http://www.cornwall-online.co.uk/carrick/stagnes.htm More tourist information]
* [http://www.bluehillstin.com/ Blue Hills Tin Streams]
* [http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((text)='st%20agnes') Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for St Agnes]
* [http://www.ianlewis147.com/020_st_agnes_head_08.08.07/index.html Photographs taken on the coast path between St Agnes picnic area and Trevaunance Cove by Cornwall resident Ian Lewis]
* [http://www.ianlewis147.com/045_chapel_porth/index.html Photographs taken at Chapel Porth (St Agnes) by Cornwall resident Ian Lewis]