Cornwall (England : County) -- Description and travel
The village of Zennor, about a quarter of a mile distant, lies in a wild
and stony district. Within the very interesting church are some quaint
bench ends, one of which depicts a mermaid, complete with comb, mirror,
and fishy tail, but the carving is of a very primitive order. On Zennor
Beacon is the famous Zennor Quoit or Cromlech, the largest in Cornwall,
and one of the finest in the country. Between Zennor and St. Ives a wild
tract of country forms the parish of Towednack with an ancient church
within which is a true chancel arch, a constructional feature that is of
rare occurrence in Cornish churches.
The irregularly built little town of St. Ives, which has not inaptly
been called the "Art Centre of England", is made up of two distinct
parts. The older portion, which consists of oldfashioned houses, and
narrow tortuous streets, is situated on a low spit of land called the
"island", while "up-along" on the higher ground above the station, is
the favourite and fashionable holiday resort. The ancient name of the
place, Porth Ia, perpetuates the memory of another Irish saint, Ia, who
is claimed as a convert of St. Patrick, and who is said to have floated
from the shores of the Emerald Isle to those of Cornwall on a miraculous
leaf, "by which", Mr. Arthur Salmon tells us, "is clearly meant a
coracle of the kind still to be seen in parts of Wales". The cell of St.
Ia stood on the site of the present parish church, which is said to
contain her bones, and this saint is not to be confounded with those of
St. Ive, near Liskeard, or St. Ives in Huntingdonshire. The position of
St. Ives, on the western slope of an extensive bay, and with two
remarkably fine sandy beaches, is one of uncommon beauty. The finest
views of the town and the neighbourhood are those obtained from the
grounds of the Tregenna Castle Hotel, and from the Battery Rocks.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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