Portal:Cornwall

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Flag of Cornwall Porth Kernow a'gas dynnargh!
Welcome to the Cornwall Portal!
Saint Piran's Flag
Location of Cornwall

Cornwall (/ˈkɔːrnwɔːl, -wəl/; Cornish: Kernow; Cornish pronunciation: [ˈkɛrnɔʊ]; or [ˈkɛrnɔ]) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised by Cornish and Celtic political groups as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Devon to the east, and the English Channel to the south. The largest settlement is Falmouth, and the county town is the city of Truro.

The county is rural, with an area of 1,375 square miles (3,562 km2) and population of 568,210. After Falmouth (23,061), the largest settlements are Penzance, Newquay, St Austell, and Truro. For local government purposes most of Cornwall is a unitary authority area, with the Isles of Scilly having a unique local authority. The Cornish nationalist movement disputes the constitutional status of Cornwall and seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom.

Cornwall is the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula. Its coastline is characterised by steep cliffs and, to the south, several rias, including those at the mouths of the rivers Fal and Fowey. It includes the southernmost point on Great Britain, Lizard Point, and forms a large part of the Cornwall National Landscape. The national landscape also includes Bodmin Moor, an upland outcrop of the Cornubian batholith granite formation. The county contains many short rivers; the longest is the Tamar, which forms the border with Devon. (Full article...)

Selected article

Waves breaking on the Doom Bar at high water

The Doom Bar (previously known as Dunbar sands, Dune-bar, and similar names) is a sandbar at the mouth of the estuary of the River Camel, where it meets the Atlantic Ocean on the north coast of Cornwall, England. Like two other permanent sandbanks further up the estuary, the Doom Bar is composed mainly of marine sand that is continually being carried up from the seabed. More than 60 percent of the sand is derived from marine shells, making it an important source of agricultural lime, which has been collected for hundreds of years; an estimated 10 million tons of sand or more has been removed from the estuary since the early nineteenth century, mainly by dredging.

The estuary mouth, exposed to the Atlantic Ocean, is a highly dynamic environment, and the sands have been prone to dramatic shifts during storms. According to tradition, the Doom Bar formed in the reign of Henry VIII, damaging the prosperity of the port of Padstow a mile up the estuary.

Until the twentieth century, access to Padstow's harbour was via a narrow channel between the Doom Bar and the cliffs at Stepper Point, a difficult passage for sailing ships to navigate, especially in north-westerly gales when the cliffs would cut off the wind. Many ships were wrecked on the Doom Bar, despite the installation of mooring rings and capstans on the cliffs and quarrying away part of Stepper Point to improve the wind. In the early twentieth century the main channel moved away from the cliffs, and continued dredging has made it much safer for boats, but deaths have occurred on the bar as recently as May 2020.

A Cornish legend relates that a mermaid created the bar as a dying curse on the harbour after she was shot by a local man. The Doom Bar has been used in poetry to symbolise feelings of melancholy, and has given its name to the flagship ale from the local Sharp's Brewery. (Full article...)

Selected biography

Drawing of Mark on a throne, with sword and staff
King Mark of Cornwall, drawn by Howard Pyle in 1905
Mark of Cornwall (Latin: Marcus, Cornish: Margh, Welsh: March or Marchell, Breton: Marc'h) was a sixth-century King of Kernow (Cornwall), possibly identical with King Conomor. He is best known for his appearance in Arthurian legend as the uncle of Tristan and the husband of Iseult who engages with Tristan in a secret liaison, giving Mark the epithet "Cuckold King". (Full article...)


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St Buryan's Church

Selected quote

The whole Countrie of Britain ...is divided into iiii partes; whereof the one is inhabited of Englishmen, the other of Scottes, the third of Wallshemen, the fowerthe of Cornishe people, which all differ emonge them selves, either in tongue, ...in manners, or ells in lawes and ordinaunces
Polydore Vergil, Italian scholar writing in the Anglica Historia in 1535

Selected picture

Minack Theatre

Photo credit: Tim Lewy

The Minack Theatre is an open-air theatre, constructed above a gully with a rocky granite outcrop jutting into the sea of the south Cornish coast.

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The following are images from various Cornwall-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  • Create Articles for listed buildings in Cornwall.
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  • Create Articles for public parks in Cornwall.
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  • Create Articles for notable Cornish politicians.
  • Expand Alfred Aaron de Pass and add more info on him to the institutions he donated art and money to in Cornwall (RIC, Falmouth Gallery etc).
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  • Illustrate the new Russian article Корнцы if you can work with Russian Cyrillic script

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Wikipedia in Cornish

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