Gweek
| Gweek Cornish: Gwig | |
| Cornwall | |
|---|---|
 The east bank of the river at Gweek, from the quay | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SW705268 |
| Location: | 50°5’46"N, 5°12’32"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 581 (2001) |
| Post town: | Helston |
| Postcode: | TR12 |
| Dialling code: | 01326 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Cornwall |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
Camborne and Redruth |
Gweek is a village in Cornwall, sitting approximately three miles east of Helston.
The name Gweek is first recorded as Gwyk in 1358 and is derived from the Cornish word gwig, meaning "village" or specifically "forest village", cognate with the Welsh gwig and Old Breton guic.[1]
Gweek is within the 'Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty', as is almost a third of the county.
There is one pub in the village, the Black Swan,[2] and a combined shop and post office.
The village is home to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary.
History
Gweek is at the head of navigation of the Helford River. It has been a port since Roman times and was a thriving port in the Tudor period, with its own Customs House.[3] During the mining boom, a tin-smelting blowing house operated at the quayside.[4]
In Lewis's Topographical Dictionary of England published in 1848, the village was described as:[5]
GWEEK, a small port, in the hundred of Kerrier, W. division of Cornwall, 3½ miles (E. by S.) from Helston. The pilchard-fishery is carried on extensively, 200 boats being employed in taking the fish, which are cured in the various creeks and coves within the limits of the port. In addition to the fishery, the chief trade consists in the exportation of copper-ore, corn, moorstone, and oysters, and the importation of timber, coal, and limestone.
In the 13th century, the townspeople of Helston buy the rights to the port of Gweek at the head of the Helford River.[6]
Big Society
Gweek has a silver band[7] which performs locally and provides music at some Anglican services in the Gweek Mission Church. The band also organises a yearly "band week". This starts with a concert of three local brass bands in a field overlooking the Helford River. Afterwards, there is a pig roast with stalls and entertainment and at the end of the week a clay pigeon shoot.
The Cornwall Fiddle Orchestra[8] was formed in 2007 by fiddle player Hudson Swan.[9] The orchestra rehearses weekly at Helston School.
Miscellany
In The Meaning of Liff, by Douglas Adams and John Lloyd, the word "Gweek" is given the meaning "A coat hanger recycled as a car aerial".
Outside links
 |
("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Gweek) |
References
- ↑ Weatherhill C. (2007) Cornish Place Names and Language. Ammanford: Sigma Press
- ↑ The Gweek Inn
- ↑ Scolding, Bill (2006) Five Walks around Constantine: heritage, landscape, wildlife. Constantine, Kerrier: Constantine Enterprises Company ISBN 0-9552816-0-1
- ↑ Barton, D. Bradford (1969) A History of Tin Mining and Smelting in Cornwall; revised edition. Cornwall Books, reprint 1989 ISBN 1-871060-03-6; p. 20 fn
- ↑ 'Gunthorpe – Gyhirn': A Topographical Dictionary of England (1848), pp. 360-62
- ↑ Le. Messurier, B. and Luck, L. (1998) Loe Pool and Mount's Bay. No. 12 in The National Trust Coast of Cornwall series of leaflets
- ↑ "Gweek Silver Band". http://www.gweeksilverband.org.uk.
- ↑ "Cornwall Fiddle Orchestra website". http://www.cornwallfiddleorchestra.com/index.htm.
- ↑ "Cornwall Music Service". http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=499.
