Penzance
It is situated on the north-west side of Mount's bay, nearly opposite to St. Michael's Mount and Marazion, and consists of several streets, lighted with gas, and well paved. The houses are in general modern and neatly built, and the inhabitants are supplied with water from a spring about two miles and a half distant, which is conveyed into a reservoir at the head of North-street. A public library was established in 1818, and there are subscription and commercial newsrooms. The Penwith Agricultural Society, founded in 1813, holds its meetings for the distribution of premiums for improvements in husbandry at this place. The Royal Geological Society of Cornwall was established here in the same year, by Dr. Paris, under the patronage of George IV., and has a splendid collection of minerals illustrative of the sciences of geology and mineralogy, and a laboratory. A museum, also, has been established within the last few years, chiefly for natural history; many foreign and native specimens have been presented, and the institution appears to be promising well. The agreeable situation of the town, and the mild temperature of its climate, render it a favourite resort for invalids: baths are kept for the accommodation of visiters, and assemblies are held. The environs abound with beautiful scenery, affording pleasant rides; and the numerous boats for water excursions, and the shipping in Mount's bay, add greatly to the interest and cheerfulness of the place.
The harbour is very commodious. The pier, originally constructed in 1766, extended in 1785, and again in 1812, is now more than 600 feet in length; at the extremity of it a lighthouse was built in 1816, which is illuminated when there are ten feet of water in the harbour. A northern arm is about to be run out from the eastern end of the town, towards the head of the pier, so as to form a basin, and give increased shelter for shipping; and it is also in contemplation to make a floating-dock within, capable of containing steamers and large vessels. The trade consists principally in exporting copper-ore, china-clay, and pilchards; and in importing timber, iron, hemp, tallow, grocery, and shop goods of various sorts, for the supply of the neighbourhood. The pilchard-fishery is carried on at Mousehole and Newlyn, and the fish are brought to be shipped at this place, whence also are shipped about two-thirds of the Cornish tin. The number of vessels of above 50 tons registered at the port is 32, and the aggregate burthen 3284 tons; the amount of duties paid at the custom-house during the year is about £30,000. A packet sails weekly to the Scilly Islands, and a steam-packet plies between Penzance and London every fortnight. About 4000 blocks of tin are coined here every three months; there are two tin smelting-houses near the town, and several establishments for making the tin into bars and ingots for exportation. The regular market-days are Tuesday and Thursday, and a market is also held on Saturday: a very handsome market-house was erected in 1839, at an expense of £8000. The fairs are on March 25th, the Thursday after Trinity-Sunday, on Sept. 8th, and the Thursday before Advent-Sunday.
The government, by charter of James I., bestowed in the year 1615, was vested in a mayor, eight aldermen, twelve assistants, &c. The corporation now consists of a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors, under the act of the 5th and 6th of William IV., cap. 76; the number of justices of the peace is four, and the borough is divided into two wards. A grant of anchorage, keelage, and bushelage was made to the inhabitants by Henry VIII.: the dues from the pier, amounting to about £2100, and the tolls of the markets, to £800 per annum, form part of the corporation revenue. The corporation hold quarterly courts of session on the Friday following those for the county; and a court of record every alternate Friday, for the recovery of debts under £50. Petty-sessions for the Western division of the hundred take place here on the first Wednesday in every month; and a hundred court is held by the steward, every third Tuesday, in which debts can be recovered to an unlimited amount. The powers of the county debt-court of Penzance, established in 1847, extend over the registration-districts of Penzance and Scilly Islands. A handsome guildhall has been built. A gaol and house of correction, in which is a tread-wheel, was built in 1826, at an expense of £700, defrayed by a rate upon the inhabitants.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the patronage of the Rev. M. N. Peters; net income, £156. The old chapel, built in 1490, and dedicated to St. Mary Buryton, was partly burned by the Spaniards in 1595, and remained in ruins till 1680, when it was repaired and enlarged by the corporation: a cemetery was then inclosed, and the limits of the chapelry were made identical with those of the town. The building was taken down in 1832, and a new chapel erected on the site, which contains 2000 sittings, whereof 1000 are free; the expense was estimated at £4500, and the edifice is of granite in the later English style, with a lofty square embattled tower crowned by pinnacles. St. Paul's chapel, opened on Easter-Tuesday, 1843, owes its existence to the liberality of the Rev. Henry Batten, and is in the style that prevailed in the 13th century; the interior is carefully finished. Here are places of worship for Baptists, the Society of Friends, Independents, Primitive Methodists, and Wesleyans; also a synagogue. A grammar school is partly supported by the corporation, who allow the master £50 per annum. The poorlaw union of Penzance comprises 19 parishes or places, and contains a population of 50,100. There was a small oratory, dedicated to St. Anthony, near the pier, of which some vestiges were existing within the last 50 years. A mile to the west of the town are the remains of a considerable intrenchment called Castle Horneck, consisting of earth and pebbles; and half a mile to the north is another, named Castle Lescudjack. Two miles to the north is a very extensive triple intrenchment styled Castle-an-Dinas; and about four miles to the north of the town is one of the largest cromlechs in the county. Sir Humphrey Davy, the eminent natural philosopher and chymist, was a native of Penzance.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.