Timeline of Cornish history
Encyclopedia
400,000 - 200,000 BC
- Ancestors of modern humans visited CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
for the first time; http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5042 Cornwall is too far south to be under the ice sheet, and is joined to Continental Europe.
10,000 BC
- Rising sea levels cut Cornwall off from the Continent as the ChannelEnglish ChannelThe English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
floods.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5042
4000 BC
- Examples of Cornish Stone AgeStone AgeThe Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...
, Bronze AgeBronze AgeThe Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
and Iron AgeIron AgeThe Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
structures are Chûn QuoitChûn QuoitThe best preserved of all quoits in Cornwall, UK is Chûn Quoit, located in open moorland near Pendeen and Morvah. The uphill walk is worthwhile because this is perhaps the most visually satisfying of all the quoits...
, Boscawen-UnBoscawen-UnBoscawen-Un is a Bronze age stone circle close to St Buryan in Cornwall, UK. It consists of 19 upright stones in an ellipse with diameters 24.9m and 21.9m, with another, leaning, stone just south of the centre. There is a west-facing gap in the circle, which may have formed an entrance. It is...
and Chysauster Ancient VillageChysauster Ancient VillageChysauster Ancient Village is a late Iron Age and Romano-British village of courtyard houses in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, which is currently in the care of English Heritage...
. First Cornish hedgeCornish hedgeA Cornish hedge is a style of hedge built of stone and earth found in Cornwall, south-west England. Sometimes hedging plants or trees are planted on the hedge to increase its windbreaking height. A rich flora develops over the lifespan of a Cornish hedge...
s.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5042
2000 BC
- Mining in Cornwall has existed from the early Bronze AgeBronze AgeThe Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
around 2150BC and it is thought that Cornwall was visited by metal traders from the eastern Mediterranean. It has been suggested that the CassiteridesCassiteridesThe Cassiterides, meaning Tin Islands , are an ancient geographical name of islands that were regarded as situated somewhere near the west coasts of Europe...
or "Tin Islands" as recorded by HerodotusHerodotusHerodotus was an ancient Greek historian who was born in Halicarnassus, Caria and lived in the 5th century BC . He has been called the "Father of History", and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a...
in 445BC may have referred to the Scilly Islands and CornwallCornwallCornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
as when first discovered they were both thought to have been islands.
750 BC
- The Iron AgeIron AgeThe Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
reaches Cornwall, permitting greater scope of agricultureAgricultureAgriculture is the cultivation of animals, plants, fungi and other life forms for food, fiber, and other products used to sustain life. Agriculture was the key implement in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that nurtured the...
through the use of new iron ploughs and axes.
600 BC
- The first Celts have arrived by this point, although it is disputed when.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5042
330 BC
- PytheasPytheasPytheas of Massalia or Massilia , was a Greek geographer and explorer from the Greek colony, Massalia . He made a voyage of exploration to northwestern Europe at about 325 BC. He travelled around and visited a considerable part of Great Britain...
of Massilia (now Marseilles), a Greek merchant and explorer, circumnavigated the British IslesBritish IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
between about 330 and 320 BC and produced the first written record of the islands. He described the Cornish as civilised, skilled farmers, usually peaceable, but formidable in war.
100 BC
- 60 BC Greek historian Diodorus SiculusDiodorus SiculusDiodorus Siculus was a Greek historian who flourished between 60 and 30 BC. According to Diodorus' own work, he was born at Agyrium in Sicily . With one exception, antiquity affords no further information about Diodorus' life and doings beyond what is to be found in his own work, Bibliotheca...
named Cornwall "Belerion" - "The Shining Land", the first recorded place name in the British IslesBritish IslesThe British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. - 43 BC First attempted invasion of British Mainland by Julius CaesarJulius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
. Over the next century, the Romans come to rule Cornwall, then part of DumnoniaDumnoniaDumnonia is the Latinised name for the Brythonic kingdom in sub-Roman Britain between the late 4th and late 8th centuries, located in the farther parts of the south-west peninsula of Great Britain...
. - 19 AD - Total eclipse in Cornwall.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5042
55–60 AD
- Construction of NanstallonNanstallonNanstallon is a village in central Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately two miles west of Bodmin.Nanstallon is in the civil parish of Lanivet overlooking the River Camel valley and the Camel Trail long distance path. The present terminus of the Bodmin and Wenford Railway at...
Roman fort near Bodmin. One of only a few Roman sites in Cornwall.
300
- 360 and after: various Germanic peoplesGermanic peoplesThe Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
came to Roman BritainRoman BritainRoman Britain was the part of the island of Great Britain controlled by the Roman Empire from AD 43 until ca. AD 410.The Romans referred to the imperial province as Britannia, which eventually comprised all of the island of Great Britain south of the fluid frontier with Caledonia...
: raiders, Roman armies recruited from among German tribes, authorized settlers: ref. Aelle of SussexAelle of SussexÆlle is recorded in early sources as the first king of the South Saxons, reigning in what is now called Sussex, England, from 477 to perhaps as late as 514....
400
- Cornwall's native name (Kernow) appeared on record as early as 400. The Ravenna CosmographyRavenna CosmographyThe Ravenna Cosmography was compiled by an anonymous cleric in Ravenna around AD 700. It consists of a list of place-names covering the world from India to Ireland. Textual evidence indicates that the author frequently used maps as his source....
, compiled c. 700 from Roman material 300 years older, lists a route running westward into Cornwall and on this route is a place then called Durocornovio (Latinised from British Celtic duno-Cornouio-n – "fortress of the Cornish people"). In Latin, 'V' represented and was pronounced as a 'W' and the fortress name refers to TintagelTintagelTintagel is a civil parish and village situated on the Atlantic coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The population of the parish is 1,820 people, and the area of the parish is ....
. - King MarkMark of CornwallMark of Cornwall was a king of Kernow in the early 6th century. He is most famous for his appearance in Arthurian legend as the uncle of Tristan and husband of Iseult, who engage in a secret affair.-The legend:Mark sent Tristan as his proxy to fetch his young bride, the Princess Iseult, from...
, of Tristan and IseultTristanTristan is one of the main characters of the Tristan and Iseult story, a Cornish hero and one of the Knights of the Round Table featuring in the Matter of Britain...
fame, probably ruled in the late 5th century. According to Cornish folklore, he held court at TintagelTintagel CastleTintagel Castle is a medieval fortification located on the peninsula of Tintagel Island, adjacent to the village of Tintagel in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The site was possibly occupied in the Romano-British period, due to an array of artefacts dating to this period which have been found on the...
. King SalomonSalomon of CornwallSalomon was a late 5th century Cornish 'warrior prince', possibly a King of Cornwall.St Levan according to the Life of St Kybi was a Cornishman and the father of Kybi. In the department of Morbihan are four places probably connected to the same saint, who probably lived in the 6th or 7th century...
, father of Saint Cybi, ruled after Mark. - 410: Emperor Honorius recalls the last legions from Britain. There is some uncertainty: some say that this "rescript" refers not to BritanniaBritanniaBritannia is an ancient term for Great Britain, and also a female personification of the island. The name is Latin, and derives from the Greek form Prettanike or Brettaniai, which originally designated a collection of islands with individual names, including Albion or Great Britain. However, by the...
(= Britain) but to Bruttium in Italy. - Mid-5th century - first waves of settlers from Cornwall, and Devon, go to BrittanyBrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
- 433: The Britons call the AnglesAnglesThe Angles is a modern English term for a Germanic people who took their name from the ancestral cultural region of Angeln, a district located in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany...
to come and help them [as mercenaries ] against the PictPICTPICT is a graphics file format introduced on the original Apple Macintosh computer as its standard metafile format. It allows the interchange of graphics , and some limited text support, between Mac applications, and was the native graphics format of QuickDraw.The original version, PICT 1, was...
s. - about 446: The "Groans of the BritonsGroans of the BritonsThe Groans of the Britons is the name of the final appeal made by the Britons to the Roman military for assistance against barbarian invasion. The appeal is first referenced in Gildas' 6th-century De Excidio et Conquestu Britanniae; Gildas' account was later repeated in Bede's Historia...
" last appeal (possibly to the ConsulConsulConsul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire. The title was also used in other city states and also revived in modern states, notably in the First French Republic...
AetiusFlavius AëtiusFlavius Aëtius , dux et patricius, was a Roman general of the closing period of the Western Roman Empire. He was an able military commander and the most influential man in the Western Roman Empire for two decades . He managed policy in regard to the attacks of barbarian peoples pressing on the Empire...
) for the Roman army to come back to Britain.
500
- 500 The Kingdom of CornwallKingdom of CornwallThe Kingdom of Cornwall was an independent polity in southwest Britain during the Early Middle Ages, roughly coterminous with the modern English county of Cornwall. During the sub-Roman and early medieval periods Cornwall was evidently part of the kingdom of Dumnonia, which included most of the...
emerged around the 6th century which included the tribes of the DumnoniiDumnoniiThe Dumnonii or Dumnones were a British Celtic tribe who inhabited Dumnonia, the area now known as Devon and Cornwall in the farther parts of the South West peninsula of Britain, from at least the Iron Age up to the early Saxon period...
and the Cornish CornoviiCornovii (Cornish)The Cornovii were a Celtic tribe who inhabited the far South West peninsula of Great Britain, during the Iron Age, Roman and post-Roman periods and gave their name to Cornwall or Kernow....
. The origins of the neighbouring Kingdom of WessexWessexThe Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
are also in this period. - 490 to 510: likely range of dates for the Battle of Mons BadonicusBattle of Mons BadonicusThe Battle of Mons Badonicus was a battle between a force of Britons and an Anglo-Saxon army, probably sometime between 490 and 517 AD. Though it is believed to have been a major political and military event, there is no certainty about its date, location or the details of the fighting...
, in which Romano-British Celts defeated an invading Anglo-Saxon army. - 525 - earliest known example of written CornishCornish languageCornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
in a LatinLatinLatin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
manuscript of De Consolatione PhilosophiaeConsolation of PhilosophyConsolation of Philosophy is a philosophical work by Boethius, written around the year 524. It has been described as the single most important and influential work in the West on Medieval and early Renaissance Christianity, and is also the last great Western work that can be called Classical.-...
by Boethius, which used the words ud rocashaas. The phrase means "it (the mind) hated the gloomy places". - 535/6 - Extreme weather events of 535–536 cause European famine.
- After 540s - Plague of JustinianPlague of JustinianThe Plague of Justinian was a pandemic that afflicted the Eastern Roman Empire , including its capital Constantinople, in 541–542 AD. It was one of the greatest plagues in history. The most commonly accepted cause of the pandemic is bubonic plague, which later became infamous for either causing or...
, which would affect all of Europe. - 577 Battle of DeorhamBattle of DeorhamThe Battle of Deorham or Dyrham was fought in 577 between the West Saxons under Ceawlin and Cuthwine and the Britons of the West Country. The location, Deorham, is usually taken to refer to Dyrham in South Gloucestershire. The battle was a major victory for the West Saxons, who took three important...
Down near BristolBristolBristol is a city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, with an estimated population of 433,100 for the unitary authority in 2009, and a surrounding Larger Urban Zone with an estimated 1,070,000 residents in 2007...
results in the separation of the West Welsh (the Cornish) from the Welsh by the advance of the SaxonsSaxonsThe Saxons were a confederation of Germanic tribes originating on the North German plain. The Saxons earliest known area of settlement is Northern Albingia, an area approximately that of modern Holstein...
. The earliest Cornish saints systematically convert Cornwall to Christianity, a considerable period before the conversion of the Anglo-Saxon peoples of England (the territory east of the River Tamar). According to tradition these early monastic foundations were made by Christian preachers or Christian Druids from other Celtic lands, mainly Ireland (as in the cases of Saint PiranSaint PiranSaint Piran or Perran is an early 6th century Cornish abbot and saint, supposedly of Irish origin....
and Saint Gwinear), Wales (as in the case of Saint PetrocPetrocPetroc is a further education college in Devon, England, with a catchment area covering more than . It serves up to 20,000 students each year—including distance and work-based learners all over the UK—from entry level courses, through FE, higher education and beyond. The college employs...
and the Children of BrychanBrychanBrychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog in South Wales.-Life:Celtic hagiography tells us that Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and his wife, Marchel, heiress of the Welsh kingdom of Garthmadrun , which the couple later inherited...
), and Brittany (as in the case of Saint Mylor).
600
- 664 The Synod of WhitbySynod of WhitbyThe Synod of Whitby was a seventh century Northumbriansynod where King Oswiu of Northumbria ruled that his kingdom would calculate Easter and observe the monastic tonsure according to the customs of Rome, rather than the customs practised by Iona and its satellite institutions...
determines that England is again an ecclesiastical province of Rome, with its formal structure of dioceses and parishes. The Celtic Church of Dumnonia is not party to the decision and the Cornish Church remains monastic in nature.
- 682 CentwineCentwine of WessexCentwine was King of Wessex from circa 676 to 685 or 686, although he was perhaps not the only king of the West Saxons at the time.The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports that Centwine became king circa 676, succeeding Æscwine...
, king of Wessex drove the Britons of the West at the sword's point as far as the sea. (ASC) This resulted in the West Saxon occupation of the north-eastern district of Cornwall. Even today several Saxon place names are found in that area, i.e. Widemouth (OE wid), CanworthyCanworthy WaterCanworthy Water is a settlement in northeast Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated beside the River Ottery at approximately seven miles northeast of Camelford....
(OE worthig), Crackington HavenCrackington HavenCrackington Haven is a coastal village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is located in the civil parish of St Gennys at at the head of a cove on the Atlantic coast. The village is seven miles south-southwest of Bude and four miles north-northeast of Boscastle.Middle Crackington and Higher...
(OE hæfen), OtterhamOtterhamOtterham is a village and a civil parish in north Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated approximately ten miles south of Bude and six miles north of Camelford....
(OE hamm).
700
- 710 - Battle of Lining (probably between the rivers LynherRiver LynherThe River Lynher flows through east Cornwall, UK, passing St Germans and enters the River Tamar at the Hamoaze, which in turn flows into Plymouth Sound.-Geography:...
and Tamar) resulted from King GeraintGeraint of DumnoniaGeraint was a King of Dumnonia who ruled in the early 8th century. During his reign, it is believed that Dumnonia came repeatedly into conflict with neighbouring Anglo-Saxon Wessex. Geraint was the last recorded king of a unified Dumnonia, and was called King of the Welsh by the Anglo-Saxon...
of Cornwall's refusal to allow the Celtic church to follow the call of the English church (which was perhaps 300 years younger) to conform to the standards of Rome. The battle was fought against the West Saxon King Ine and his kinsman, Nonna.
- 722 - Battle of HehilBattle of HehilThe Battle of Hehil was a battle won by a British force, probably against the Anglo-Saxons of Wessex in the year 721 or 722. The location is unknown, except that it was apud Cornuenses ....
- The Cornish Britons together with their friends and allies, push back a West-SaxonAnglo-SaxonsAnglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
offensive at "Hehil", unlocated, but probably somewhere in modern Devon.
800
- 807 - Unsuccessful Cornish alliance with Danes.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5042
- 815 The Anglo Saxon Chronicle states "& þy geare gehergade Ecgbryht cyning on West Walas from easteweardum oþ westewearde."...and in this year king Ecgbryht harried the Cornish from east to west.
- 825 The Battle of Gafulforda, unidentified but perhaps GalfordGalfordGalford can refer to:* Galford, a place near Lewdown in Devon, England, the site of a battle between Cornish and Devonian forces in the early 9th century...
, near Lewdown. The Anglo Saxon Chronicle only states: "The West Wealas (Cornish) and the Defnas (men of Devon) fought at Gafalforda". - 838 Battle of Hingston Down - The Cornish in alliance with the Danes were defeated by Egbert of WessexEgbert of WessexEgbert was King of Wessex from 802 until his death in 839. His father was Ealhmund of Kent...
at Hingston DownHingston Down, DevonHingston Down is a hill spur approximately one mile east of Moretonhampstead and 10 miles west of Exeter in Devon. Some historians now claim that this was the site of the 838 battle between a Cornish/Danish alliance against the West Saxons rather than at the site at Hingston Down near Callington,...
(Anglo-Saxon ChronicleAnglo-Saxon ChronicleThe Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
). In 838 the eastern Cornish border was still on the River ExeRiver ExeThe River Exe in England rises near the village of Simonsbath, on Exmoor in Somerset, near the Bristol Channel coast, but flows more or less directly due south, so that most of its length lies in Devon. It reaches the sea at a substantial ria, the Exe Estuary, on the south coast of Devon...
–River TawRiver TawThe River Taw rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor. It reaches the Bristol Channel away on the north coast of Devon at a joint estuary mouth which it shares with the River Torridge.-Watercourse:...
line) and the site of the battle is disputed, but now believed to be at Hingston DownHingston Down, DevonHingston Down is a hill spur approximately one mile east of Moretonhampstead and 10 miles west of Exeter in Devon. Some historians now claim that this was the site of the 838 battle between a Cornish/Danish alliance against the West Saxons rather than at the site at Hingston Down near Callington,...
near MoretonhampsteadMoretonhampsteadMoretonhampstead lies on the edge of Dartmoor and is notable for having the longest one-word name of any place in England. The parish church is dedicated to St. Andrew. George Oliver and John Pike Jones , 1828, Exeter: E. Woolmer. Moretonhampstead is twinned with Betton in France.-History:The...
in Devon. The only record of this is from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle which state: "There came a great ship army to the West Wealas where they were joined by the people who commenced war against Ecgberht, the West Saxon king. When he heard this, he proceeded with his army against them and fought with them at Hengestesdun where he put to flight both the Wealas and the Danes".. As a result it would appear that a bishop, who was subject to the Archbishop of CanterburyArchbishop of CanterburyThe Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, was shortly afterwards appointed for Cornwall. His name was Bishop KenstecKenstecKenstec was a medieval Bishop of Cornwall.He was consecrated between 833 and 870. His death date is unknown.-References:* Powicke, F. Maurice and E. B. Fryde Handbook of British Chronology 2nd. ed. London:Royal Historical Society 1961-External links:...
, whose see was placed in the monastery of Dinnurrin, possibly, Dingerein, the city of King Gerennius, now GerransGerransGerrans is a coastal civil parish and village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village adjoins Portscatho on the east side of the peninsula...
. - 875 King Dungarth (DonyarthDonyarthKing Donyarth is thought to have been a 9th century King of Cornwall, now part of the United Kingdom.He is known solely from an inscription on King Doniert's Stone, a 9th century cross shaft which stands in St Cleer parish in Cornwall. His social status is not recorded there...
) of Cerniu ("id est Cornubiae") drowns in what is thought to be the River FoweyRiver FoweyThe River Fowey is a river in Cornwall, United Kingdom.It rises about north-west of Brown Willy on Bodmin Moor, passes Lanhydrock House, Restormel Castle and Lostwithiel, then broadens at Milltown before joining the English Channel at Fowey. It is only navigable by larger craft for the last ....
. - 880s - the Church in Cornwall is having more Saxon priests appointed to it and they control some church estates like Polltun, Caellwic and Landwithan (Pawton, in St BreockSt BreockSt Breock is a village and a civil parish in north Cornwall, United Kingdom. St Breock village is 1 mile west of Wadebridge immediately to the south of the Royal Cornwall Showground. The village lies on the eastern slope of the wooded Nansent valley...
; perhaps CelliwigCelliwigCelliwig, Kelliwic or Gelliwic, is perhaps the earliest named location for the court of King Arthur. It may be translated as 'forest grove'.-Literary references:...
(Kellywick in EgloshayleEgloshayleEgloshayle is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated beside the River Camel immediately southeast of Wadebridge. The civil parish extends southeast from the village and includes Washaway and Sladesbridge.-History:Egloshayle was a Bronze Age...
?); and LawhittonLawhittonLawhitton is a civil parish and village in east Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated two miles southwest of Launceston and half-a-mile west of Cornwall's border with Devon at the River Tamar....
). Eventually they passed these over to Wessex kings. However according to Alfred the GreatAlfred the GreatAlfred the Great was King of Wessex from 871 to 899.Alfred is noted for his defence of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of southern England against the Vikings, becoming the only English monarch still to be accorded the epithet "the Great". Alfred was the first King of the West Saxons to style himself...
's will the amount of land he owned in Cornwall was very small.
900
- 926 The entry in the Anglo-Saxon ChronicleAnglo-Saxon ChronicleThe Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the Chronicle was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alfred the Great...
reads....This year fiery lights appeared in the north part of the heavens. And Sihtric perished: and king Aethelstan obtained the kingdom of the North-humbrians. And he ruled all the kings who were in this island: first, Huwal king of the West-Welsh (Cornish); and Constantine king of the Scots; and Uwen king of the people of Guent; and Ealdred, son of Ealdulf, of Bambrough : and they confirmed the peace by pledge, and by oaths, at the place which is called Eamot, on the 4th of the ides of July [12 July]; and they renounced all idolatry, and after that submitted to him in peace. - 927 William of MalmesburyWilliam of MalmesburyWilliam of Malmesbury was the foremost English historian of the 12th century. C. Warren Hollister so ranks him among the most talented generation of writers of history since Bede, "a gifted historical scholar and an omnivorous reader, impressively well versed in the literature of classical,...
, writing around 1120, says that Athelstan evicted the Cornish from ExeterExeterExeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
and perhaps the rest of DevonDevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
: "Exeter was cleansed of its defilement by wiping out that filthy race". The area inside the city walls still known today as 'Little Britain' is the quarter where most of the Cornish Romano-British aristocracy had their town houses, from which the Cornish were expelled. Under Athelstan's statutes it eventually became unlawful for any Cornishman to own land, and lawful for any Englishman to kill any Cornishman (or woman or child). - 928 It is thought that the Cornish King HuwalHuwal of the West WelshHuwal was a Brythonic monarch of the early to mid-10th century recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The Chronicle refers to him as "king of the West Welsh", the usual Anglo-Saxon name for the Cornish or southwestern Britons...
, "King of the West Welsh" was one of several kings who signed a treaty with Aethelstan of Wessex at Egmont Bridge. - 930 Armes PrydeinArmes PrydeinArmes Prydein is an early 10th-century Welsh prophetic poem from the Book of Taliesin.In a rousing style characteristic of Welsh heroic poetry, it describes a future where all of Brythonic peoples are allied with the Scots, the Irish, and the Vikings of Dublin under Welsh leadership, and together...
, (the Prophecy of Britain), this early Welsh poem mentions 'Cornyw', the Celtic name for Cornwall. It foretells that the Welsh together with Cornwall, Brittany, Ireland and Cumbria would expel the English from Britain. This poem also demonstrates any early allegiance between the Celtic people of Britain. - 936 Athelstan fixed Cornwall's eastern boundary as the east bank of the TamarRiver TamarThe Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
. There is no record of Athelstan taking his campaigns into Cornwall and it seems probable that Huwal, King of the Cornish, agreed to pay tribute thus avoiding further attacks and maintaining a high degree of autonomy. Prior to this the West Saxons had pushed their frontier across the Tamar as far west as the River Lynher, but this was only temporary. It was long enough, however, for Saxon settlement and land charters to influence our modern day inheritance of placenames: between Lynher and Tamar there are today many more English than Cornish place names, as is also the case in that other debatable land between Ottery and Tamar in north Cornwall. - 944 Athelstan's successor, Edmund I of EnglandEdmund I of EnglandEdmund I , called the Elder, the Deed-doer, the Just, or the Magnificent, was King of England from 939 until his death. He was a son of Edward the Elder and half-brother of Athelstan. Athelstan died on 27 October 939, and Edmund succeeded him as king.-Military threats:Shortly after his...
, styled himself "King of the English and ruler of this province of the Britons" - 981 The Vikings lay waste "Petroces stow" (probably PadstowPadstowPadstow is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately five miles northwest of Wadebridge, ten miles northwest of Bodmin and ten miles northeast of Newquay...
) according to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. - 986 Olaf Tryggvason allegedly visits the Isles of ScillyIsles of ScillyThe Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
- 997 The Dartmoor town of LydfordLydfordLydford, sometimes spelled Lidford, is a village, once an important town, in Devon situated north of Tavistock on the western fringe of Dartmoor in the West Devon district.-Description:The village has a population of 458....
, near the Cornish/Wessex border just east of the Tamar is completely destroyed by an angry mob of Danish Vikings. The surprise attack on Lydford is ordered by the King of Denmark and Viking leader Sweyn Forkbeard (previously, Lydford was believed to be impregnable against Viking attack). However, Cornwall is left alone as Sweyn Forkbeard has no intention of crushing Cornwall—unlike Wessex.
1000
- 1013 Cornwall's enemy and Anglo-Saxon neighbour, WessexWessexThe Kingdom of Wessex or Kingdom of the West Saxons was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the West Saxons, in South West England, from the 6th century, until the emergence of a united English state in the 10th century, under the Wessex dynasty. It was to be an earldom after Canute the Great's conquest...
is crushed and conquered by a Danish army under the leadership of the Viking leader and King of Denmark Sweyn Forkbeard. Sweyn annexes Wessex to his Viking empire which includes Denmark and Norway. He does not, however, annex Cornwall, Wales and Scotland, allowing these "client nations" self rule in return for an annual payment of tribute or "danegeld". - 1014-1035 The Kingdom of CornwallKingdom of CornwallThe Kingdom of Cornwall was an independent polity in southwest Britain during the Early Middle Ages, roughly coterminous with the modern English county of Cornwall. During the sub-Roman and early medieval periods Cornwall was evidently part of the kingdom of Dumnonia, which included most of the...
, WalesWalesWales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, much of ScotlandScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Ireland were not included in the territories of King Canute the GreatCanute the GreatCnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F... - 1016 - Famine throughout Europe.http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Famine
- 1066 - Norman ConquestNorman conquest of EnglandThe Norman conquest of England began on 28 September 1066 with the invasion of England by William, Duke of Normandy. William became known as William the Conqueror after his victory at the Battle of Hastings on 14 October 1066, defeating King Harold II of England...
brings many Bretons into Cornwall. The Cornish and Breton languages are mutually intelligible at this point. - 1066 According to William of WorcesterWilliam WorcesterWilliam Worcester , was an English chronicler and antiquary.-Life:He was a son of William of Worcester, a Bristol citizen, and is sometimes called William Botoner, his mother being a daughter of Thomas Botoner from Catalonia....
, writing in the 15th century, CadocCadoc of CornwallAccording to William of Worcester, writing in the fifteenth century, Cadoc was a survivor of the Cornish royal line at the time of the Norman Conquest of England in 1066 and was appointed as the first Earl of Cornwall by William the Conqueror....
, was described as the last survivor of the Cornish royal line at the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066. - 1066 William the Conqueror may have granted Cornwall to Brian of BrittanyBrian of BrittanyBrian of Brittany in English, or Brien de Bretagne in French, was a Breton noble who fought for William I of England. He was born in about 1042, the second son of Odo, Count of Penthièvre...
. - 1067 - Harold GodwinsonHarold GodwinsonHarold Godwinson was the last Anglo-Saxon King of England.It could be argued that Edgar the Atheling, who was proclaimed as king by the witan but never crowned, was really the last Anglo-Saxon king...
's sons, who have taken refuge in Ireland, raid SomersetSomersetThe ceremonial and non-metropolitan county of Somerset in South West England borders Bristol and Gloucestershire to the north, Wiltshire to the east, Dorset to the south-east, and Devon to the south-west. It is partly bounded to the north and west by the Bristol Channel and the estuary of the...
, DevonDevonDevon is a large county in southwestern England. The county is sometimes referred to as Devonshire, although the term is rarely used inside the county itself as the county has never been officially "shired", it often indicates a traditional or historical context.The county shares borders with...
and Cornwall from the sea. - 1068 The Battle of ExeterBattle of ExeterThe Siege of Exeter occurred in 1068 when William the Conqueror marched a combined army of Anglo-Normans west to mop up pockets of Saxon resistance....
- the Cornish attacked the SaxonAnglo-SaxonsAnglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...
stronghold of Exeter but were eventually driven back by an Anglo-Norman army sent to mop up pockets of resistance. - 1069 Brian of Brittany, lord of Cornwall, defeats the sons of Harold near the River TawRiver TawThe River Taw rises at Taw Head, a spring on the central northern flanks of Dartmoor. It reaches the Bristol Channel away on the north coast of Devon at a joint estuary mouth which it shares with the River Torridge.-Watercourse:...
- 1070 (ca.) Robert, Count of MortainRobert, Count of MortainRobert, Count of Mortain, 1st Earl of Cornwall was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother of William I of England. Robert was the son of Herluin de Conteville and Herleva of Falaise and was full brother to Odo of Bayeux. The exact year of Robert's birth is unknown Robert, Count of Mortain, 1st...
made Earl of CornwallEarl of CornwallThe title of Earl of Cornwall was created several times in the Peerage of England before 1337, when it was superseded by the title Duke of Cornwall, which became attached to heirs-apparent to the throne.-Earl of Cornwall:...
. - 1086 Domesday SurveyDomesday BookDomesday Book , now held at The National Archives, Kew, Richmond upon Thames in South West London, is the record of the great survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086...
- 1099 Mounts Bay inundated by the sea making St Michael's MountSt Michael's MountSt Michael's Mount is a tidal island located off the Mount's Bay coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a civil parish and is united with the town of Marazion by a man-made causeway of granite setts, passable between mid-tide and low water....
an island
1100
- 1120 IngulphIngulphIngulph was a Benedictine abbot of Crowland, head of Crowland Abbey in Lincolnshire. He was an Englishman who, having travelled to England on diplomatic business as secretary of William, Duke of Normandy in 1051, was made Abbot of Crowland in 1087 at Duke William's instigation after he had...
's Chronicle records Cornwall as a nation distinct from England. - 1154-1214 (effective)/1242 (formal) Angevin EmpireAngevin EmpireThe term Angevin Empire is a modern term describing the collection of states once ruled by the Angevin Plantagenet dynasty.The Plantagenets ruled over an area stretching from the Pyrenees to Ireland during the 12th and early 13th centuries, located north of Moorish Iberia. This "empire" extended...
, which includes other Brythonic areas such as Brittany and parts of Wales. - 1173 Reginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of CornwallReginald de Dunstanville, 1st Earl of CornwallReginald de Dunstanville , Earl of Cornwall , High Sheriff of Devon, Earl of Cornwall, was an illegitimate son of Henry I of England and Lady Sybilla Corbet.Reginald had been invested with the Earldom of Cornwall by King...
, grants a charter to his 'free bugesses of Triueru' and he addresses his meetings at TruroTruroTruro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...
to: "All men both Cornish and English" suggesting a continuing differentiation. Subsequently, for Launceston, Reginald's Charter continues that distinction - "To all my men, French, English and Cornish". - 1198 William de Wrotham (Lord Warden of the StannariesLord Warden of the StannariesThe Lord Warden of the Stannaries used to exercise judicial and military functions in Cornwall, United Kingdom, and is still the official who, upon the commission of the monarch or Duke of Cornwall for the time being, has the function of calling a Stannary Parliament of tinners...
) writes of those working tin in Cornwall paying twice the taxation of their Devon counterparts.
1200
- 1214 - Battle of BouvinesBattle of BouvinesThe Battle of Bouvines, 27 July 1214, was a conclusive medieval battle ending the twelve year old Angevin-Flanders War that was important to the early development of both the French state by confirming the French crown's sovereignty over the Angevin lands of Brittany and Normandy.Philip Augustus of...
confirms French crown's sovereignty over the duchy of NormandyDuchy of NormandyThe Duchy of Normandy stems from various Danish, Norwegian, Hiberno-Norse, Orkney Viking and Anglo-Danish invasions of France in the 9th century...
's lands in BrittanyBrittanyBrittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...
and NormandyNormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, meaning Cornwall and Brittany are once more in separate states. - 1235-1237 - Cornish militia fight against the Scots http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5749
- 1265 Work starts on the Lostwithiel Stannary PalaceLostwithiel Stannary PalaceThe Stannary Palace, circa 1265–1300, is reputed to be the oldest non-ecclesiastical building in Cornwall and was said to have been built as a replica of the Great Hall of Westminster. Its original function was as a Court dealing with the Cornish tin industry...
. It is reputed to be the oldest non-ecclesiastical building in Cornwall and was said to have been built as a replica of the Great Hall of Westminster. Its original function was as a Court dealing with the Cornish tin industry. - 1265 Glasney CollegeGlasney CollegeGlasney College was founded in 1265 at Penryn, Cornwall, by Bishop Bronescombe and was a centre of ecclesiastical power in medieval Cornwall and probably the best known and most important of Cornwall's religious institutions.-History:...
was founded at PenrynPenryn, CornwallPenryn is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Penryn River about one mile northwest of Falmouth...
. - c 1280 - Mappa MundiMappa mundiMappa mundi is a general term used to describe medieval European maps of the world. These maps range in size and complexity from simple schematic maps an inch or less across to elaborate wall maps, the largest of which was 11 ft. in diameter...
shows the four constituent parts of Britain as England, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall
1300
- 1307 The Tinners Charter is granted by Edward I.
- 1310-1314 In Europe, climate change leads to the Great Famine of 1315–1317Great Famine of 1315–1317The Great Famine of 1315–1317 was the first of a series of large scale crises that struck Northern Europe early in the fourteenth century...
- 1336 Edward, the Black PrinceEdward, the Black PrinceEdward of Woodstock, Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Prince of Aquitaine, KG was the eldest son of King Edward III of England and his wife Philippa of Hainault as well as father to King Richard II of England....
was named Duke of CornwallDuke of CornwallThe Duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in the peerage of England.The present Duke of Cornwall is The Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning British monarch .-History:...
. - 1338-1339 French raids along the ChannelEnglish Channel naval campaign, 1338-1339The English Channel naval campaign of the years 1338 and 1339 saw a protracted series of raids conducted by the nascent French navy and numerous privately owned raiders and pirates against English towns, shipping and islands in the English Channel which caused widespread panic, damage and financial...
- 1350 Black DeathBlack DeathThe Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
kills half of the BodminBodminBodmin is a civil parish and major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the centre of the county southwest of Bodmin Moor.The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character...
population. http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5749
1400
- 15th century: the emergence of a popular Cornish literature, centred on the religious-themed mystery playMystery playMystery plays and miracle plays are among the earliest formally developed plays in medieval Europe. Medieval mystery plays focused on the representation of Bible stories in churches as tableaux with accompanying antiphonal song...
s (see Cornish literature). - 1455–1487 Wars of the RosesWars of the RosesThe Wars of the Roses were a series of dynastic civil wars for the throne of England fought between supporters of two rival branches of the royal House of Plantagenet: the houses of Lancaster and York...
, the feud between the Courtenays and Bonvilles in Cornwall and Devon. - 1480s-1551 Sweating sicknessSweating sicknessSweating sickness, also known as "English sweating sickness" or "English sweate" , was a mysterious and highly virulent disease that struck England, and later continental Europe, in a series of epidemics beginning in 1485. The last outbreak occurred in 1551, after which the disease apparently...
- 1485 Polydore VergilPolydore VergilPolydore Vergil was an Italian historian, otherwise known as PV Castellensis. He is better known as the contemporary historian during the early Tudor dynasty. He was hired by King Henry VIII of England, who wanted to distance himself from his father Henry VII as much as possible, to document...
, an Italian cleric commissioned by King Henry VIIHenry VII of EnglandHenry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
to write a history of England, states that "The whole country of Britain is divided into four parts, whereof the one is inhabited by Englishmen, the other of Scots, the third of Welshmen, the fourth of Cornish people ... and which all differ among themselves either in tongue, either in manners, or else in laws and ordinances." - 1497 The Cornish Rebellion of 1497Cornish Rebellion of 1497The Cornish Rebellion of 1497 was a popular uprising by the people of Cornwall in the far southwest of Britain. Its primary cause was a response of people to the raising of war taxes by King Henry VII on the impoverished Cornish, to raise money for a campaign against Scotland motivated by brief...
- 1497 Michael An GofMichael An GofMichael Joseph and Thomas Flamank were the leaders of the Cornish Rebellion of 1497....
, Thomas FlamankThomas FlamankThomas Flamank was a lawyer from Cornwall who together with Michael An Gof led the Cornish Rebellion against taxes in 1497....
and James Tuchet, 7th Baron AudleyJames Tuchet, 7th Baron AudleySir James Tuchet, 7th Baron Audley was born in the Heleigh Castle, Staffordshire, England to John Tuchet, 6th Baron Audley and Ann Echingham....
the leaders of the rebellion, were executed at TyburnTyburnTyburn is a former village just outside the then boundaries of London that was best known as a place of public execution.Tyburn may also refer to:* Tyburn , river and historical water source in London...
. - 1497 Second Cornish Uprising of 1497Second Cornish Uprising of 1497The Second Cornish Uprising is the name given to the Cornish uprising of September 1497 when the pretender to the throne Perkin Warbeck landed at Whitesand Bay, near Land's End, on 7 September with just 120 men in two ships...
- The Cornish march on ExeterExeterExeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
and TauntonTauntonTaunton is the county town of Somerset, England. The town, including its suburbs, had an estimated population of 61,400 in 2001. It is the largest town in the shire county of Somerset....
before the pretender to the English throne Perkin WarbeckPerkin WarbeckPerkin Warbeck was a pretender to the English throne during the reign of King Henry VII of England. By claiming to be Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York, the younger son of King Edward IV, one of the Princes in the Tower, Warbeck was a significant threat to the newly established Tudor Dynasty,...
was captured at Beaulieu AbbeyBeaulieu AbbeyBeaulieu Abbey, , was a Cistercian abbey located in Hampshire, England. It was founded in 1203-1204 by King John and peopled by 30 monks sent from the abbey of Cîteaux in France, the mother house of the Cistercian order...
in HampshireHampshireHampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. - 1498 - Plague.
1500
- 1508 By the 'Charter of Pardon' granted by Henry VIIHenry VII of EnglandHenry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
Cornwall's legal right to its own Parliament was confirmed and strengthened. - 1509 King Henry VIIIHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
's coronation procession includes "nine children of honour" representing "England and France, GasconyGasconyGascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
, Guienne, NormandyNormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
, AnjouAnjouAnjou is a former county , duchy and province centred on the city of Angers in the lower Loire Valley of western France. It corresponds largely to the present-day département of Maine-et-Loire...
, Cornwall, Wales and Ireland." - 1509-1510 - Plague.
- 1531 From the court of King Henry VIIIHenry VIII of EnglandHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, the Italian diplomat Lodovico Falier writes in a letter that "The language of the English, Welsh and Cornish men is so different that they do not understand each other". He also claims it is possible to distinguish the members of each group by alleged "national characteristics". - 1533-1540 - Henry VIII founds Church of EnglandChurch of EnglandThe Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
and commences ReformationEnglish ReformationThe English Reformation was the series of events in 16th-century England by which the Church of England broke away from the authority of the Pope and the Roman Catholic Church....
. - 1536-1545 - Dissolution of the MonasteriesDissolution of the MonasteriesThe Dissolution of the Monasteries, sometimes referred to as the Suppression of the Monasteries, was the set of administrative and legal processes between 1536 and 1541 by which Henry VIII disbanded monasteries, priories, convents and friaries in England, Wales and Ireland; appropriated their...
including most religious houses in Cornwall - 1538 Writing to his government, the French ambassador in London, Gaspard de ColignyGaspard de ColignyGaspard de Coligny , Seigneur de Châtillon, was a French nobleman and admiral, best remembered as a disciplined Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion.-Ancestry:...
Châtillon, indicates ethnic differences thus: "The kingdom of England is by no means a united whole, for it also contains Wales and Cornwall, natural enemies of the rest of England, and speaking a [different] language". - 1542 - Andrew Borde writes in the Boke of the Introduction of Knowledge, "In Cornwall is two speches, the one is naughty Englysshe, and the other is Cornysshe speche. And there be many men and women the which cannot speake one worde of Englysshe, but all Cornyshe."
- 1548 Glasney CollegeGlasney CollegeGlasney College was founded in 1265 at Penryn, Cornwall, by Bishop Bronescombe and was a centre of ecclesiastical power in medieval Cornwall and probably the best known and most important of Cornwall's religious institutions.-History:...
is closed and much of the cultural heritage held there is destroyed - 1549 The Cornish rise up in the Prayer Book RebellionPrayer Book RebellionThe Prayer Book Rebellion, Prayer Book Revolt, Prayer Book Rising, Western Rising or Western Rebellion was a popular revolt in Cornwall and Devon, in 1549. In 1549 the Book of Common Prayer, presenting the theology of the English Reformation, was introduced...
--some 5,000 "rebels" were killed by mercenary forces. The main confrontations were the siege of ExeterExeterExeter is a historic city in Devon, England. It lies within the ceremonial county of Devon, of which it is the county town as well as the home of Devon County Council. Currently the administrative area has the status of a non-metropolitan district, and is therefore under the administration of the...
, the battles of Fenny Bridges, Woodbury CommonWoodbury Common, DevonWoodbury Common in East Devon is an area of common land that is predominantly heathland adjacent to the village of Woodbury, Devon.Within the common is Woodbury Castle, an Iron Age hill fort situated on a viewpoint overlooking westwards the villages of Woodbury and Woodbury Salterton and across the...
, Clyst St MaryClyst St MaryClyst St Mary is a small village and civil parish east of Exeter on the main roads to Exmouth and Sidmouth in East Devon. The name comes from the Celtic word clyst meaning 'clear stream'.-Description:...
, Clyst Heath (where 900 unarmed Cornish prisoners were killed) and Sampford CourtenaySampford CourtenaySampford Courtenay is a village and civil parish in West Devon in England, most famous for being the place where the Western Rebellion, otherwise known as the Prayerbook rebellion, first started, and where the rebels made their final stand...
. Following this, Provost Marshal Sir Anthony KingstonAnthony KingstonSir Anthony Kingston was an English royal official, holder of various positions under several Tudor monarchs.-Life:He was son of Sir William Kingston of Blackfriars, London...
was sent into Cornwall to seek retribution. The Book of Common PrayerBook of Common PrayerThe Book of Common Prayer is the short title of a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion, as well as by the Continuing Anglican, "Anglican realignment" and other Anglican churches. The original book, published in 1549 , in the reign of Edward VI, was a product of the English...
was enforced resulting in a decline in the use of the Cornish languageCornish languageCornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
. - 1555 - Famine.
- 1578 - Plague in Penzance.
- 1585–1604 - Anglo-Spanish War, intermittent conflict, never declared, many raids on shipping; coastal defences strengthened.
- 1586 - Famine http://www.1911encyclopedia.org/Famine
- 1588 - Spanish ArmadaSpanish ArmadaThis article refers to the Battle of Gravelines, for the modern navy of Spain, see Spanish NavyThe Spanish Armada was the Spanish fleet that sailed against England under the command of the Duke of Medina Sidonia in 1588, with the intention of overthrowing Elizabeth I of England to stop English...
. The first sighting is on July 19, when it appears off St Michael's MountSt Michael's MountSt Michael's Mount is a tidal island located off the Mount's Bay coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is a civil parish and is united with the town of Marazion by a man-made causeway of granite setts, passable between mid-tide and low water....
. Soon afterwards, 55 English ships set out in pursuit from PlymouthPlymouthPlymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...
under the command of Lord Howard of EffinghamCharles Howard, 1st Earl of NottinghamCharles Howard, 1st Earl of Nottingham , known as Howard of Effingham, was an English statesman and Lord High Admiral under Elizabeth I and James I...
, with Sir Francis Drake as Vice Admiral. There is an inconclusive skirmish off Eddystone Rocks, and the Spanish fleet sails eastwards up the Channel. - 1595 - Battle of CornwallBattle of CornwallThe Battle of Cornwall was a Spanish raid in Cornwall in 1595 during the Anglo-Spanish war of 1585-1604. It was the only attempted Spanish raid of the area since Fernando Sánchez de Tovar's destruction of English coastal towns in the 14th century.-Landings:...
. Spanish forces under DonDon (honorific)Don, from Latin dominus, is an honorific in Spanish , Portuguese , and Italian . The female equivalent is Doña , Dona , and Donna , abbreviated "Dª" or simply "D."-Usage:...
Carlos de AmesquitaCarlos de AmésquitaCarlos de Amésquita was a Spanish naval officer of the 16th century. He is remembered for an action whilst on a routine patrol, known as the Battle of Cornwall, during the Anglo-Spanish War 1585–1604....
, land in PenzancePenzancePenzance is a town, civil parish, and port in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is approximately 75 miles west of Plymouth and 300 miles west-southwest of London...
area raiding and sacking settlements, including NewlynNewlynNewlyn is a town and fishing port in southwest Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Newlyn forms a conurbation with the neighbouring town of Penzance and is part of Penzance civil parish...
A detailed description of the Spanish raid of 1595 can be found here.
1600
- 1603 Following Queen Elizabeth I's death, the Venetian ambassador writes that the "late queen had ruled over five different 'peoples'--English, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish and Irish".
- 1616 Arthur Hopton (ambassador to Madrid) writes that "England is ... divided into three great Provinces, or Countries ... speaking a several and different language, as English, Welsh and Cornish".
- 1616 - PocahontasPocahontasPocahontas was a Virginia Indian notable for her association with the colonial settlement at Jamestown, Virginia. She was the daughter of Chief Powhatan, the head of a network of tributary tribal nations in Tidewater Virginia...
may have visited Indian QueensIndian QueensIndian Queens is a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated west of Goss Moor and north of Fraddon approximately ten miles west-southwest of Bodmin....
, although this is disputed. - 1618–1648 Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
- 1620 - The MayflowerMayflowerThe Mayflower was the ship that transported the English Separatists, better known as the Pilgrims, from a site near the Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Massachusetts, , in 1620...
, en route to America with the Pilgrim Fathers stops off at Newlyn to take on water. - 1640 Charles ICharles I of EnglandCharles I was King of England, King of Scotland, and King of Ireland from 27 March 1625 until his execution in 1649. Charles engaged in a struggle for power with the Parliament of England, attempting to obtain royal revenue whilst Parliament sought to curb his Royal prerogative which Charles...
recalls Parliament in order to obtain money to finance his military struggle with Scotland. Parliament agrees to fund Charles, but only on condition he answer their grievances relating to his 11-year "personal rule" or "tyranny". Charles refuses and dissolves Parliament after a mere 3 weeks, hence the name of the "Short ParliamentShort ParliamentThe Short Parliament was a Parliament of England that sat from 13 April to 5 May 1640 during the reign of King Charles I of England, so called because it lasted only three weeks....
" - 1642 The Cornish played a significant role Civil WarEnglish Civil WarThe English Civil War was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists...
as Cornwall was a RoyalistCavalierCavalier was the name used by Parliamentarians for a Royalist supporter of King Charles I and son Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum, and the Restoration...
stronghold in the generally Parliamentarian south-west. The reason for this was that Cornwall's rights and privileges were tied up with the royal DuchyDuchyA duchy is a territory, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess.Some duchies were sovereign in areas that would become unified realms only during the Modern era . In contrast, others were subordinate districts of those kingdoms that unified either partially or completely during the Medieval era...
and Stannaries and the Cornish saw the Civil War as a fight between England and Cornwall as much as a conflict between King and Parliament. - 1642–1646 - The First "English" Civil WarFirst English Civil WarThe First English Civil War began the series of three wars known as the English Civil War . "The English Civil War" was a series of armed conflicts and political machinations that took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1651, and includes the Second English Civil War and...
- 1642 First Battle of LostwithielBattle of LostwithielThe Battles of Lostwithiel or Lostwithiel Campaign, took place near Lostwithiel and Fowey during the First English Civil War in 1644.After defeating the Army of Sir William Waller at the Battle of Cropredy Bridge, King Charles marched west in pursuit of the Parliamentarian army of the Earl of...
. - 1643 January 19 - Cornish Royalist victory at the Battle of BraddockBraddock, CornwallBraddock is a village and a civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated about seven miles west of Liskeard, and five miles south-east of Bodmin....
- 1643 May 15 - Cornish Royalist victory at the Battle of StrattonStratton, CornwallStratton is a small town situated near the coastal resort of Bude in north Cornwall, UK. It was also the name of one of ten ancient administrative shires of Cornwall - see "Hundreds of Cornwall"...
. - 1644 August 1 - King Charles I arrived in Cornwall and spent the night at TrecarrelLezantLezant is a civil parish and village in east Cornwall, United Kingdom. Lezant village is situated approximately five miles south of Launceston. The population of the parish in the 2001 census was 751.-Geography:...
near Launceston - 1644 August 31 - Cornish Royalist victory at the Second Battle of Lostwithiel.
- 1645 Cornish Royalist leader Sir Richard Grenville, 1st BaronetSir Richard Grenville, 1st BaronetSir Richard Grenville, 1st Baronet was a Cornish Royalist leader during the English Civil War.He was the third son of Sir Bernard Grenville , and a grandson of the famous seaman, Sir Richard Grenville...
made Launceston his base and he stationed Cornish troops along the River TamarRiver TamarThe Tamar is a river in South West England, that forms most of the border between Devon and Cornwall . It is one of several British rivers whose ancient name is assumed to be derived from a prehistoric river word apparently meaning "dark flowing" and which it shares with the River Thames.The...
and issued them with instructions to keep "all foreign troops out of Cornwall". Grenville tried to use "Cornish particularist sentiment" to muster support for the Royalist cause and put a plan to the Prince which would, if implemented, have created a semi-independent Cornwall. - 1646 Following the Roundhead victory at the Battle of NasebyBattle of NasebyThe Battle of Naseby was the key battle of the first English Civil War. On 14 June 1645, the main army of King Charles I was destroyed by the Parliamentarian New Model Army commanded by Sir Thomas Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell.-The Campaign:...
in 1645 they had proceeded towards Cornwall reaching Launceston on 25 February 1646 and Bodmin by 2 March 1646. There were skirmishes but the Cornish were vastly outnumbered. Fairfax offered Hopton terms and the surrender took place at TresillianTresillianTresillian is a small village in central Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated three miles east of Truro on the A390 road.Tresillian was the home of Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice of the King's Bench between 1381 and 1387. A famous event of the English Civil War took place here in 1645...
Bridge, TruroTruroTruro is a city and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The city is the centre for administration, leisure and retail in Cornwall, with a population recorded in the 2001 census of 17,431. Truro urban statistical area, which includes parts of surrounding parishes, has a 2001 census...
, on 15 March 1646. - 1646 The siege of Pendennis CastlePendennis CastlePendennis Castle is a Henrician castle, also known as one of Henry VIII's Device Forts, in the English county of Cornwall. It was built in 1539 for King Henry VIII to guard the entrance to the River Fal on its west bank, near Falmouth. St Mawes Castle is its opposite number on the east bank and...
began in April 1646 and lasted for five months. Parliamentary forces attacked the castle from both land and sea and it finally surrendered on 17 August 1646. - 1648 The Gear RoutThe Gear RoutThe Gear Rout was a Cornish insurrection of 1648 following the end of the English Civil War. It involved some 500 Cornish rebels who fought on the Royalist side against the Parliamentarian forces of Sir Hardress Waller....
- The last Cornish armed uprising involving some 500 rebels. - 1648–1649 - Second English Civil WarSecond English Civil WarThe Second English Civil War was the second of three wars known as the English Civil War which refers to the series of armed conflicts and political machinations which took place between Parliamentarians and Royalists from 1642 until 1652 and also include the First English Civil War and the...
- 1649–1651 - Third English Civil WarThird English Civil WarThe Third English Civil War was the last of the English Civil Wars , a series of armed conflicts and political machinations between Parliamentarians and Royalists....
- 1651: June: Capture of the Isles of ScillyIsles of ScillyThe Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
by Admiral Robert BlakeRobert Blake (admiral)Robert Blake was one of the most important military commanders of the Commonwealth of England and one of the most famous English admirals of the 17th century. Blake is recognised as the chief founder of England's naval supremacy, a dominance subsequently inherited by the British Royal Navy into... - 1652 Battle of PlymouthBattle of PlymouthThe Battle of Plymouth was a naval battle in the First Anglo-Dutch War. It took place on 26 August 1652 and was a short battle, but had the unexpected outcome of a Dutch victory over England. General-at-Sea George Ayscue of the Commonwealth of England attacked an outward bound convoy of the Dutch...
off Cornish coast, part of First Anglo-Dutch WarFirst Anglo-Dutch WarThe First Anglo–Dutch War was the first of the four Anglo–Dutch Wars. It was fought entirely at sea between the navies of the Commonwealth of England and the United Provinces of the Netherlands. Caused by disputes over trade, the war began with English attacks on Dutch merchant shipping, but... - 1676 - Chesten MarchantChesten MarchantChesten Marchant or Cheston Marchant, who died in 1676 at Gwithian, Cornwall is believed to have been the last monoglot Cornish speaker, as opposed to other speakers such as Dolly Pentreath who could also speak English.-References:...
supposedly the last Cornish monoglot, dies.
1700
- 1702 - Sidney GodolphinSidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of GodolphinSir Sidney Godolphin, 1st Earl of Godolphin, KG, PC was a leading English politician of the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
becomes Lord Treasurer until 1710
- 1715 Jacobite uprising in CornwallJacobite uprising in Cornwall of 1715The Jacobite uprising in Cornwall of 1715 was the last uprising against the British Crown to take place in the county of Cornwall.-Background information to the event:...
- 1715 - Lizard lighthouseLizard LighthouseThe Lizard Lighthouse is a lighthouse in Lizard Point in Cornwall, United Kingdom, built in 1752. A light was first exhibited from that point in 1619, but demolished in 1630. Trinity House took responsibility for the station in 1771...
built. - 1743 - John WesleyJohn WesleyJohn Wesley was a Church of England cleric and Christian theologian. Wesley is largely credited, along with his brother Charles Wesley, as founding the Methodist movement which began when he took to open-air preaching in a similar manner to George Whitefield...
visits Cornwall for first time. MethodismMethodismMethodism is a movement of Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations, claiming a total of approximately seventy million adherents worldwide. The movement traces its roots to John Wesley's evangelistic revival movement within Anglicanism. His younger brother...
will become dominant during the next hundred years.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5772 - 1747 - Admiral Boscawen wins fame at Cape FinisterreCape Finisterreright|thumb|300px|Position of Cape Finisterre on the [[Iberian Peninsula]]Cape Finisterre is a rock-bound peninsula on the west coast of Galicia, Spain....
by singly engaging the French fleet until the English fleet arrive - 1755 A tsunamiTsunamiA tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...
caused by the Lisbon earthquake1755 Lisbon earthquakeThe 1755 Lisbon earthquake, also known as the Great Lisbon Earthquake, was a megathrust earthquake that took place on Saturday 1 November 1755, at around 9:40 in the morning. The earthquake was followed by fires and a tsunami, which almost totally destroyed Lisbon in the Kingdom of Portugal, and...
strikes the Cornish coast - 1756-1763 Seven Years' WarSeven Years' WarThe Seven Years' War was a global military war between 1756 and 1763, involving most of the great powers of the time and affecting Europe, North America, Central America, the West African coast, India, and the Philippines...
- 1771 Birth of Richard TrevithickRichard TrevithickRichard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...
- 1777 - Death of Dolly PentreathDolly PentreathDolly Pentreath, or Dorothy Pentreath was probably the last fluent native speaker of the Cornish language, prior to its revival in 1904 and the subsequent small number of children brought up as bilingual native speakers of revived Cornish.She is often stated to have been the last monoglot speaker...
- 1778 Humphry DavyHumphry DavySir Humphry Davy, 1st Baronet FRS MRIA was a British chemist and inventor. He is probably best remembered today for his discoveries of several alkali and alkaline earth metals, as well as contributions to the discoveries of the elemental nature of chlorine and iodine...
born in Penzance - 1779 William MurdochWilliam MurdochWilliam Murdoch was a Scottish engineer and long-term inventor.Murdoch was employed by the firm of Boulton and Watt and worked for them in Cornwall, as a steam engine erector for ten years, spending most of the rest of his life in Birmingham, England.He was the inventor of the oscillating steam...
the Scottish inventor moves to Cornwall. Whilst in Cornwall he carried out important work on steam engines and gas-lightsGas lightingGas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
. - 1788 - James RuseJames RuseJames Ruse was a Cornish farmer who, at the age of 23, was convicted of breaking and entering and was sentenced to seven years' transportation to Australia. He arrived at Sydney Cove on the First Fleet with 18 months of his sentence remaining...
, a Cornishman from Launceston, arrives in New South WalesNew South WalesNew South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
aboard the transport Scarborough, part of the First FleetFirst FleetThe First Fleet is the name given to the eleven ships which sailed from Great Britain on 13 May 1787 with about 1,487 people, including 778 convicts , to establish the first European colony in Australia, in the region which Captain Cook had named New South Wales. The fleet was led by Captain ...
of Australian convict ships. - 1792 - Cornwall County Library (public) founded in Truro.
- 1792-1802 - French Revolutionary WarsFrench Revolutionary WarsThe French Revolutionary Wars were a series of major conflicts, from 1792 until 1802, fought between the French Revolutionary government and several European states...
- 1796 - Earthquake in St Hilary.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5772
1800
- 1801 - Richard TrevithickRichard TrevithickRichard Trevithick was a British inventor and mining engineer from Cornwall. His most significant success was the high pressure steam engine and he also built the first full-scale working railway steam locomotive...
built a full-size steam road carriage. - 1814 - Royal Geological Society of CornwallRoyal Geological Society of CornwallThe Royal Geological Society of Cornwall is a geological society based in Cornwall in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1814 to promote the study of the geology of Cornwall, and is the second oldest geological society in the world....
founded. - 1815 - The Davy lampDavy lampThe Davy lamp is a safety lamp with a wick and oil vessel burning originally a heavy vegetable oil, devised in 1815 by Sir Humphry Davy. It was created for use in coal mines, allowing deep seams to be mined despite the presence of methane and other flammable gases, called firedamp or minedamp.Sir...
containing a candle, devised by Sir Humphry Davy. - 1818 - Royal Institution of CornwallRoyal Institution of CornwallThe Royal Institution of Cornwall was founded in Truro, Cornwall, United Kingdom, in 1818 as the Cornwall Literary and Philosophical Institution. The Institution was one of the earliest of seven similar societies established in England and Wales. The RIC moved to its present site in River Street...
- 1832 - Royal Cornwall Polytechnic SocietyRoyal Cornwall Polytechnic SocietyThe Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society is an educational, cultural and scientific charity, based in Falmouth, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The Society exists to promote innovation in the arts and sciences...
founded in Falmouth. - 1834 - Augustus SmithAugustus SmithAugustus John Smith was governor of the Isles of Scilly for over thirty years, and was largely responsible for the economy of the islands as it is today.-Biography:...
obtains the Isles of ScillyIsles of ScillyThe Isles of Scilly form an archipelago off the southwestern tip of the Cornish peninsula of Great Britain. The islands have had a unitary authority council since 1890, and are separate from the Cornwall unitary authority, but some services are combined with Cornwall and the islands are still part...
, and evicts the inhabitants of some of the smaller islands. - 1852 - Construction of the Cornwall RailwayCornwall RailwayThe Cornwall Railway was a broad gauge railway from Plymouth in Devon to Falmouth in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The section from Plymouth to Truro opened in 1859, the extension to Falmouth in 1863...
began - 1858 The Miners AssociationThe Miners AssociationThe Miners Association was founded in 1858 by Robert Hunt FRS, and the Royal Cornwall Polytechnic Society.The Association was formed to create a body that would discuss, develop, address the needs and represent the hard rock mining industry within the south west region of the United...
established. - 1858 - The Cornish Foreshore CaseCornish Foreshore CaseThe Cornish Foreshore Case was an arbitration case held between 1854 and 1858 to resolve a formal dispute between the British Crown and the Duchy of Cornwall over the ownership of the foreshore of the county of Cornwall in the southwest of England...
1854-1858 confirmed that the Duke of CornwallDuke of CornwallThe Duchy of Cornwall was the first duchy created in the peerage of England.The present Duke of Cornwall is The Prince of Wales, the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning British monarch .-History:...
, was considered to be a quasi-sovereign within the Duchy of CornwallDuchy of CornwallThe Duchy of Cornwall is one of two royal duchies in England, the other being the Duchy of Lancaster. The eldest son of the reigning British monarch inherits the duchy and title of Duke of Cornwall at the time of his birth, or of his parent's succession to the throne. If the monarch has no son, the...
territory. - 1859 - The Royal Albert BridgeRoyal Albert BridgeThe Royal Albert Bridge is a railway bridge that spans the River Tamar in the United Kingdom between Plymouth, on the Devon bank, and Saltash on the Cornish bank. Its unique design consists of two lenticular iron trusses above the water, with conventional plate-girder approach spans. This gives...
(sometimes called the Brunel Bridge or Saltash Bridge) was opened. Two days later (May 4) the main line of the Cornwall Railway opened giving access to Cornwall from the railways of Devon. - 1860s - Louis Lucien BonaparteLouis Lucien BonaparteLouis Lucien Bonaparte was the third son of Napoleon's second surviving brother, Lucien Bonaparte. He was born at Thorngrove, mansion in Grimley, Worcestershire, England, where his family were temporarily interned after having been captured by the British en route to America A philologist and...
visits Cornwall. - 1876 - Reestablishment of Cornwall as a diocese, with the see at Truro
- 1877 - Bishop Benson consecrated the first Bishop of TruroBishop of TruroThe Bishop of Truro is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Truro in the Province of Canterbury.The present diocese covers the county of Cornwall and it is one of the most recently created dioceses of the Church of England...
- 1883 - Artists' colony established at NewlynNewlynNewlyn is a town and fishing port in southwest Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Newlyn forms a conurbation with the neighbouring town of Penzance and is part of Penzance civil parish...
http://www.utopia-britannica.org.uk/pages/CORNW.htm - 1883 - Artists' colony established at LamornaLamornaLamorna is a fishing village and cove in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Penwith peninsula approximately four miles south of Penzance.-Newlyn School of Art and the Lamorna Colony:...
http://www.utopia-britannica.org.uk/pages/CORNW.htm - 1888 School of MinesCamborne School of MinesThe Camborne School of Mines , commonly abbreviated to CSM, was founded in 1888. It is now a specialist department of the University of Exeter. Its research and teaching is related to the understanding and management of the Earth's natural processes, resources and the environment...
was established. - 1888 Local Government ActLocal Government Act 1888The Local Government Act 1888 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which established county councils and county borough councils in England and Wales...
- 1888 - Artists' colony established at St IvesSt Ives, CornwallSt Ives is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial...
- 1890 - Bob FitzsimmonsBob FitzsimmonsRobert James "Bob" Fitzsimmons , was a British boxer who made boxing history as the sport's first three-division world champion. He also achieved fame for beating Gentleman Jim Corbett, the man who beat John L. Sullivan, and is in The Guinness Book of World Records as the Lightest heavyweight...
of Helston is the first native Briton heavy-weight boxing champion. - 1891 - Severe winter weather, including snowdrifts 20 feet (6.1 m) deep.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5919
- 1896 - Stannaries Court (Abolition) Act 1896.,
1900
- 1904 - Cornwall accepted into Celtic CongressCeltic CongressThe International Celtic Congress is a cultural organisation that seeks to promote the Celtic languages of the nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man. It was formed out of previously existing bodies that had sought to advance the same goals such as the Celtic...
- 1910 - Truro CathedralTruro CathedralThe Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Truro is an Anglican cathedral located in the city of Truro, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. It was built in the Gothic Revival architectural style fashionable during much of the nineteenth century, and is one of only three cathedrals in the United Kingdom...
completed. - 1920 First Old Cornwall Society founded in St Ives.
- 1921 Cornwall's deepest mine, the 3,500 ft Dolcoath mineDolcoath mineDolcoath mine was a copper and tin mine in Camborne, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. Its name derives from the Cornish for 'Old Ground', and it was also affectionately known as The Queen of Cornish Mines. The site is north-west of Carn Brea. Dolcoath Road runs between the A3047 road and Chapel Hill...
, closes - 1928 First Gorseth KernowGorseth KernowGorseth Kernow is a non-political Cornish organisation, which exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall in the United Kingdom.-History:...
at Boscawen-unBoscawen-UnBoscawen-Un is a Bronze age stone circle close to St Buryan in Cornwall, UK. It consists of 19 upright stones in an ellipse with diameters 24.9m and 21.9m, with another, leaning, stone just south of the centre. There is a west-facing gap in the circle, which may have formed an entrance. It is...
, (instituted by Henry JennerHenry JennerHenry Jenner FSA was a British scholar of the Celtic languages, a Cornish cultural activist, and the chief originator of the Cornish language revival....
) symbolising the resurgent interest in Cornwall's CeltCeltThe Celts were a diverse group of tribal societies in Iron Age and Roman-era Europe who spoke Celtic languages.The earliest archaeological culture commonly accepted as Celtic, or rather Proto-Celtic, was the central European Hallstatt culture , named for the rich grave finds in Hallstatt, Austria....
ic cultural and linguistic heritage. Cornwall CollegeCornwall CollegeCornwall College is a further education college situated on various sites throughout Cornwall with its main centre in St Austell. The college is a member of the 157 Group of high performing schools...
founded. - 1930s - Unified CornishUnified CornishUnified Cornish is a variety of revived Cornish. Developed gradually by Morton Nance during and before the 1930s, it derived its name from its standardisation of the variant spellings of traditional Cornish MSS...
developed. - 1935 - Cornish author, Silas Kitto Hocking is first to sell a million books in his lifetime.
- 1944 Hill 112Hill 112Operation Jupiter was an attack launched by the British Second Army's VIII Corps on 10 July 1944. The objective of the attack was to capture the villages of Baron-sur-Odon, Fontaine-Étoupefour, Chateau de Fontaine and recapture Hill 112. Following the capture of these objectives the Corps would...
in NormandyNormandyNormandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is in France.The continental territory covers 30,627 km² and forms the preponderant part of Normandy and roughly 5% of the territory of France. It is divided for administrative purposes into two régions:...
acquired the name "Cornwall Hill" after Cornish soldiers of 5th Duke of Cornwall's Light InfantryDuke of Cornwall's Light InfantryThe Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry was an infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 to 1959. Its lineage is continued today by The Rifles....
suffered 320 casualties in the fighting here. - 1951 Cornish Political party, Mebyon KernowMebyon KernowMebyon Kernow is a left-of-centre political party in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It primarily campaigns for devolution to Cornwall in the form of a Cornish Assembly, as well as social democracy and environmental protection.MK was formed as a pressure group in 1951, and contained as members activists...
, or ("Sons of Cornwall"), was formed. - 1953 - Mebyon Kernow wins first council seat.
- 1954 - The first of three Formula 1Cornwall MRC Formula 1 RaceThe Cornwall MRC Formula 1 Races were three non-Championship motor races run to Formula One rules, held at Davidstow Circuit, in Cornwall, UK. There were two events in 1954 and one the following year, before the circuit ceased to host serious motor racing events.The second of these races marked the...
motor races was held at the Davidstow CircuitDavidstow CircuitDavidstow Circuit is a disused motor racing circuit and airfield built in Cornwall, in the United Kingdom. The circuit was built on the site of a World War II bomber base, RAF Davidstow Moor, opened in 1942. Davidstow circuit opened in 1952, and held three Formula 1 races between 1954-1955... - 1961 - Celtic LeagueCeltic League (political organisation)The Celtic League is a non-governmental organisation that promotes self-determination and Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man, known as the Celtic nations. It places particular emphasis on the indigenous Celtic languages...
founded at Rhos near WrexhamWrexhamWrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...
, includes Cornish branch. - 1962 - Goonhilly Receiving Station started, receives first transatlantic TV broadcast.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/cornwall/5338622.stm
- 1964 - Commercial helicopter service to Isles of Scilly is first in Europe.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5919
- 1966 - Closure of the railway lineNorth Cornwall RailwayThe North Cornwall Railway was a railway line running from Halwill in Devon to Padstow in Cornwall via Launceston, Camelford and Wadebridge, a distance of 49 miles 67 chains. Opened in the last decade of the nineteenth century, it was part of a drive by the London and South Western Railway to...
between Halwill Junction and Wadebridge - 1967 - Closure of the railway line between Wadebridge and Padstow
- 1967 The Torrey CanyonTorrey CanyonThe Torrey Canyon was a supertanker capable of carrying a cargo of 120,000 tons of crude oil, which was shipwrecked off the western coast of Cornwall, England in March 1967 causing an environmental disaster...
supertanker disaster causing severe damage to the nearby sea and coastline. - 1971 The Kilbrandon ReportRoyal Commission on the Constitution (United Kingdom)The Royal Commission on the Constitution, also referred to as the Kilbrandon Commission or Kilbrandon Report, was a long-running royal commission set up by Harold Wilson's Labour government to examine the structures of the constitution of the United Kingdom and the British Islands and the...
into the British constitution recommends that, when referring to Cornwall - official sources should cite the Duchy not the County. This was suggested in recognition of its constitutional position. - 1972 Local Government Act 1972Local Government Act 1972The Local Government Act 1972 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974....
- special dispensation for Scilly. - 1973 - The UK joins the EECEuropean Economic CommunityThe European Economic Community The European Economic Community (EEC) The European Economic Community (EEC) (also known as the Common Market in the English-speaking world, renamed the European Community (EC) in 1993The information in this article primarily covers the EEC's time as an independent...
, which was to become the EUEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
. - 1977 Plaid CymruPlaid Cymru' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
MP Dafydd WigleyDafydd WigleyDafydd Wigley, Baron Wigley is a Welsh politician. He served as Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001 and as an Assembly Member for Caernarfon from 1999 until 2003. He was leader of the Plaid Cymru party from 1991 to 2000...
confirms in Parliament that the Stannators right to veto Westminster legislation is confirmed by Parliament. - 1979 - First European Parliament election contested in Cornwall and Plymouth (European Parliament constituency)Cornwall and Plymouth (European Parliament constituency)Cornwall and Plymouth was a European Parliament constituency covering Cornwall and Plymouth in England.Prior to its uniform adoption of proportional representation in 1999, the United Kingdom used first-past-the-post for the European elections in England, Scotland and Wales...
- 1980s - Split in Cornish language revival, with Modern CornishModern CornishModern Cornish is a variety of the revived Cornish language. It is sometimes called Revived Late Cornish or Kernuack Dewethas, to distinguish it from other forms of contemporary revived Cornish....
and Kernewek KemmynKernewek KemmynKernewek Kemmyn is a variety of the revived Cornish language.Kernewek Kemmyn was developed, mainly by Ken George, from Unified Cornish in 1986. It takes much of its inspiration from medieval sources, particularly Cornish passion plays, as well as Breton and to a lesser extent Welsh...
being developed. - 1987 - Cornwall has Britain's first air ambulance service.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5919
- 1988 - CamelfordCamelfordCamelford is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall, United Kingdom, situated in the River Camel valley northwest of Bodmin Moor. The town is approximately ten miles north of Bodmin and is governed by Camelford Town Council....
disaster. 20 tonnes of aluminium sulphate were accidentally emptied into reservoir, tainting the water supply to 20,000 people, causing brain damage in some cases.http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/455871.stm - 1991 - First windfarm in Cornwall.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5919
- 1992 - Pirate FMPirate FMPirate FM is one of the Independent Local Radio stations for Cornwall, playing a range of music from the 1960's to the present day.-Background:...
launched. First commercial station in Cornwall. - 1993 - Tate St IvesTate St IvesTate St Ives is an art gallery in St Ives, Cornwall, England, exhibiting work by modern British artists, including work of the St Ives School. The three storey building, designed by architects Evans and Shalev, lies on the site of an old gas works, overlooking Porthmeor Beach. It was opened in...
art gallery in St Ives, opened. - 1993 The joint Cornwall and Devon bid for Objective One funds fails because of Devon's high GDP.http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=5919
- 1997 Keskerdh Kernow 500 march to London.
- 1998 South CroftySouth CroftySouth Crofty is a metalliferous Tin and Copper mine located in the village of Pool, Cornwall, England UK. An ancient mine, it has seen production for over 400 years, and extends almost two and a half miles across and down and has mined over 40 lodes. Evidence of mining activity in South Crofty has...
tin mine closes in March 1998 when ores began to be produced more cheaply abroad. - 1999 English China ClaysEnglish China Clays plcEnglish China Clays plc or ECC was a mining company involved in the extraction of china clay, based in St Austell, Cornwall. It was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but in 1999 was acquired by Imetal.-History:...
taken over by French owned company, ImerysImerysImerys is a French multinational company. It is a constituent of the CAC Mid 60 index.-History:The Company was founded in 1880 and for many years was known as Imetal....
in a £756m deal. - 1999 - South West Regional AssemblySouth West Regional AssemblyThe South West Regional Assembly was the regional assembly for the South West region of England, established in 1999.It was wound up in December 2008, and its functions taken on by the Strategic Leaders' Board, the executive arm of the newly established South West Councils. Cllr. Angus Campbell,...
established, but is not elected.
2000
- 2001 - Eden projectEden ProjectThe Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall in the United Kingdom, including the world's largest greenhouse. Inside the artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world....
opened - 2001 - Cornish AssemblyCornish AssemblyThe Cornish Assembly is a proposed devolved regional assembly for Cornwall in the United Kingdom along the lines of the Scottish Parliament, National Assembly for Wales and Northern Ireland Assembly.-Overview:...
declaration containing the signatures of 50,000 people was handed into 10 Downing Street10 Downing Street10 Downing Street, colloquially known in the United Kingdom as "Number 10", is the headquarters of Her Majesty's Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, who is now always the Prime Minister....
on Wednesday 12 December 2001. - 2001 - The Cornish were allocated the ethnic code of '06' for the 2001 Census - (see Census 2001 Ethnic Codes)
- 2002 - The Cornish languageCornish languageCornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
is officially recognised by the Government. - 2004 - Cornwall merged into South West England (European Parliament constituency)South West England (European Parliament constituency)South West England is a constituency of the European Parliament. For 2009 it elects 6 MEPs using the d'Hondt method of party-list proportional representation, reduced from 7 in 2004.-Boundaries:...
- 2008 - The Standard Written FormStandard Written FormThe Standard Written Form or SWF of the Cornish language is an orthography standard that is designed to "provide public bodies and the educational system with a universally acceptable, inclusive, and neutral orthography"...
of the Cornish languageCornish languageCornish is a Brythonic Celtic language and a recognised minority language of the United Kingdom. Along with Welsh and Breton, it is directly descended from the ancient British language spoken throughout much of Britain before the English language came to dominate...
was formally agreed. - 2009 - An election for Cornwall's new unitary council took place on 4 June 2009. There are now 123 councillors.
- 2010 - Wave HubWave hubThe Wave Hub is a wave power research project. The project is developed approximately off Hayle, on the north coast of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The hub is a 'socket' sitting on the seabed for wave energy converters to be plugged into; it will have connections to it from arrays of four kinds of...
installed off the Cornish coast near HayleHayleHayle is a small town, civil parish and cargo port in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River and is approximately seven miles northeast of Penzance...
. The world's largest wave energy site.
See also
- List of years in the Kingdom of England
- List of years in Great Britain
- History of CornwallHistory of CornwallThe history of Cornwall begins with the pre-Roman inhabitants, including speakers of a Celtic language that would develop into Brythonic and Cornish. Cornwall was part of the territory of the tribe of the Dumnonii. After a period of Roman rule, Cornwall reverted to rule by independent...
- Kingdom of CornwallKingdom of CornwallThe Kingdom of Cornwall was an independent polity in southwest Britain during the Early Middle Ages, roughly coterminous with the modern English county of Cornwall. During the sub-Roman and early medieval periods Cornwall was evidently part of the kingdom of Dumnonia, which included most of the...
- Miss Susan Gay's Falmouth chronologyMiss Susan Gay's Falmouth chronologyA chronology of the town of Falmouth was described by Miss Susan E. Gay in Old Falmouth , pages 230–238.-Before the eighteenth century:*9th century. Pendennis supposed to have been fortified by the Danes.*1120 The naming of Gyllyngvase....
External links
- Timeline of Cornish History 400,000 BC - 1066 AD Cornwall County CouncilCornwall County CouncilCornwall Council is the unitary authority for Cornwall, in England, United Kingdom. The council, and its predecessor Cornwall County Council, has a tradition of large groups of independents, having been controlled by independents in the 1970s and 1980s...
webpage - Timeline of Cornish History 1066-1700 AD Cornwall County Council webpage
- Timeline of Cornish History 1700 to 1800 AD Cornwall County Council webpage
- Timeline of Cornish History 1800 AD to date Cornwall County Council webpage