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Paul, Cornwall
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Paul is a village and civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall. The village itself falls within the current boundaries of the civic parish of Penzance, however there is a separate Paul parish council which is responsible for the surrounding area.
majority of the village of Paul falls in the Penzance South ward of the Penwith District Council and the Penzance town council. For purposes of elections to Cornwall County Council, Paul falls within the 3 member single Penzance Electoral division.
of the history of Paul is connected with its parish church.
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Encyclopedia
Paul is a village and civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall. The village itself falls within the current boundaries of the civic parish of Penzance, however there is a separate Paul parish council which is responsible for the surrounding area.
Local government
The majority of the village of Paul falls in the Penzance South ward of the Penwith District Council and the Penzance town council. For purposes of elections to Cornwall County Council, Paul falls within the 3 member single Penzance Electoral division.
History
Much of the history of Paul is connected with its parish church. The church itself as legend would have it is said to have been founded in 490- a very rough date and not documented - by Paul Aurelian, a Welsh saint known in Brittany as Paol Aurelian in Breton. There is no historical evidence to support his ever coming to West Penwith. He was founder of the cathedral at Saint-Pol-de-Léon, the city named after him. However this church could have been dedicated to Paul the Apostle, or Paulinus of York, there is no documentary evidence to prove any of these three Saint Pauls was the original dedicatee of the church. It was only named 'St.Pol-de-Leon' in 1907 and is probably connected with Henry Jenner who decided with W. C. Borlase to drive out 'Englishness' and stamp consistent spelling of Cornish place names on the O.S. maps. The first documented name for Paul Church comes from the registers of Bishop Bronescombe, when on 2nd May 1259 the first recorded Priest was installed, as Rector in his own right, in the 'Ecclesie Sancti Paulini' -Church of St. Paul.
Paul village, original name 'Brewinney' and its church have a long association with Mousehole and the church has served as this community's parish church since its inception. Paul was one of the communities along with Mousehole, Newlyn, and Penzance to be destroyed in the Spanish raid of 1595 carried out by Carlos de Amésquita.
Cornish language (memorials)
Within the village churchyard there is a memorial to Dolly Pentreath, reputedly and disputedly the last native speaker of Cornish. This memorial was placed there by Louis Lucien Bonaparte, a relative of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Vicar of Paul in the 19th Century.
The Cornish language writers Nicholas Boson, Thomas Boson and John Boson are all buried in Paul Churchyard, and a monument in the church by John Boson (to Arthur Hutchens, d. 1709) is the only surviving lapidary inscription in traditional Cornish.
Traditions
Like many Cornish communities Paul has its own community celebration or feast day. Paul feast is held on the Sunday nearest 10th October every year when the village is decorated and a civic service takes place on the Sunday of the feast itself led by the Mayor of Penzance and the Chairman of Penwith District Council. There is speculation } that the feast may be an example of the Celtic practice of celebrating Samhain or Allantide.
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