Mousehole

Mousehole Cornish: Porthynys
Cornwall
Mousehole and its harbour
Location
Grid reference:	SW468264
Location:	50°4’59"N, 5°32’20"W
Data
Post town:	Penzance
Postcode:	TR19
Dialling code:	01736
Local Government
Council:	Cornwall
Parliamentary constituency:	St Ives

Mousehole (ˈmaʊzəl) is a village and fishing port in western Cornwall. It stands some 2½ miles south of Penzance on the western shore of Mount's Bay.

The village is in the civil parish of Penzance and is renowned as one of the most picturesque harbours in England. An islet called St Clement's Isle lies 440 yards offshore from the harbour entrance.

History

Mousehole, along with Marazion, was until the 16th century one of the principal ports of Mount's Bay. Before its decline as a major commercial centre, Mousehole also had a number of fairs and markets, including the charter for a market on Tuesdays, with a fair for three days at the festival of St Barnabas, granted to Henry de Tyes in 1292. Mousehole, like many communities in Mount's Bay, fell within the authority of the Manor of Alverton; all early charters, fairs etc. associated with Mousehole are associated with this manorial estate.

Mousehole, like Penzance, Newlyn, and Paul, was destroyed by a Spanish raiding party in 1595 led by Spaniard Carlos de Amésquita, the only surviving building being the 'Keigwin Arms', a local pub. Outside the Keigwin Arms (now a private residence) is a plaque with the wording "Squire Jenkyn Keigwin was killed here 23rd July 1595 defending this house against the Spaniards".

Cornish language

Dolly Pentreath

Penwith is believed to be the last part of Cornwall where the Cornish language was spoken as the community language. Dolly Pentreath, the last recorded speaker is often reported as being from Mousehole and there is a memorial to her in the village. In fact, she was from the nearby parish of Paul (historically the church town and mother community for Mousehole).

A year after Dolly Pentreath died in 1777, Daines Barrington received a letter, written in Cornish and accompanied by an English translation, from a fisherman in Mousehole named William Bodinar stating that he knew of five people who could speak Cornish in that village alone. Barrington also speaks of a John Nancarrow from Marazion who was a native speaker and survived into the 1790s.

The modern village

A traumatic and defining event in the recent history of the village was the Penlee lifeboat disaster of the 19 December 1981, in which the lifeboat and its entire crew of eight, all based in Mousehole, were lost during an attempted rescue in hurricane-force winds.

Since the 1980s, Mousehole has seen an increase in second home ownership and a corresponding decline in resident population. The village’s historic harbourside hotel, The Lobster Pot – in the 1930s a guest house run by Wyn Henderson, friend to poet Dylan Thomas – was replaced by modern luxury apartments. It was in the Lobster Pot in 1938 that Dylan Thomas spent his honeymoon, after marrying Caitlin MacNamara at Penzance register office.

Mousehole hosts a vibrant variety of festivals and community activities. It is known for its Christmas illuminations, created each year to raise money for charity. Since 1981, every December 19 the lights have been turned off in memory of the victims of the lifeboat disaster.

Tom Bawcock's Eve is a unique celebration held on December 23 each year to celebrate the ending of a famine in the 16th century by local resident Tom Bawcock. This festival is the inspiration behind the book The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber and the associated television productions. Tom Bawcock's Eve is also the origin of 'Star Gazey Pie', a mixed fish, egg and potato pie with fish heads protruding through the pastry. Mousehole also holds a small maritime festival every two years called 'Sea, Salt and Sail'.

Outside links

• Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Mousehole