Penwith Local History Group | Penzance, Cornwall, UK

Penwith Local History Group

Welcome

We research the fascinating history of West Penwith by working with original sources as much as possible. We publish our findings every two or three years.

The Morrab Library showing the new extension.
Photo Glyn Richards

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On this Day 18th April 1824

Goldsmith Dislodges Rocking Stone of Treen

“In the parish of S. Levan, there is a promontory called Castle Treryn. This cape consists of three distinct groups of rocks. On the western side of the middle group near the top, lies a very large stone, so evenly, poised that any hand may move it to and fro; but ......... it is morally impossible that any lever, or indeed force, however applied in a mechanical way, can remove it from its present situation.”

Images of our publications

Our new publication is now available:

"Beyond the Bookshelves"

Edited by Sally Corbet

price £15.00
plus p&p

Click here to see all the Penwith Local History Group publications.

The Penwith Papers

Old Ovens in West Cornwall

Many old houses in the far west of Cornwall once had large open hearths but the ovens in the wall beside them were often blocked up and forgotten. The drawing of one in the old Zennor Wayside Museum shows the hole for the oven in the wall above the bench on the left (figure 1). These ovens date from the early seventeenth century to the late nineteenth century.