English Heritage sites near Zennor Parish
CHYSAUSTER ANCIENT VILLAGE
3 miles from Zennor Parish
The houses line a 'village street', and each had an open central courtyard surrounded by a number of thatched rooms.
CARN EUNY ANCIENT VILLAGE
7 miles from Zennor Parish
Among the preserved ancient villages in the South West, occupied from the Iron Age until late Roman times. It includes the foundations of stone houses, and an intriguing underground passage.
BALLOWALL BARROW
7 miles from Zennor Parish
In a spectacular cliff-edge position, this unique Bronze Age tomb had a long and complex history as a sacred site. Seen as excavated in 1878 by Cornish antiquarian William Borlase.
TREGIFFIAN BURIAL CHAMBER
9 miles from Zennor Parish
A Neolithic or early Bronze Age chambered tomb with an entrance passage, walled and roofed with stone slabs, leading into the central chamber.
HALLIGGYE FOGOU
19 miles from Zennor Parish
Roofed and walled in stone, this complex of passages is the largest and best-preserved of several mysterious underground tunnels associated with Cornish Iron Age settlements.
PENDENNIS CASTLE
24 miles from Zennor Parish
Visit Pendennis Castle, Falmouth, a mighty fortress built by Henry VIII to defend against invasion. Enjoy unmissable views and travel back to wartime Cornwall.
Churches in Zennor Parish
Zennor: St Senara
Welcome to the parish church of Zennor: St Senara in the
Anglican Diocese of Truro, Cornwall. Zennor church nestles
among green fields on the north Cornish coast and the tower
stands tall in a beautiful rugged landscape.The circular
graveyard is an Iron Age site overlying the Stone and Bronze Age
boundaries of this ancient land. Christianity came to Zennor
when the Age of Saints followed the fall of the Roman Empire.
Originally dedicated to St. Senara, Zennor is one of the few
places to begin with a Z. The Cornish language hardened in the
16th century and the S changed to Z. The first window in the
chancel shows her holding the church.
The Saxons and Normans built churches so the foundation of
Zennor could be a thousand years old. In Medieval times Zennor
church was constantly improved and enlarged. Now people
come from all over the world to see the famous carving from
those times of a mermaid on a pew end.
For centuries the inhabitants of this windswept parish have
brought their children to Zennor church to be baptised and their
dead to be buried. They have celebrated marriages and sought
comfort in times of stress. At harvest and Christmas this
historic building fills to bursting with the sound of traditional
hymns and carols.
In the tower are tombstones with interesting inscriptions. One is
for the ‘Hen-pecked husband’ with a beautiful engraving for the
‘four winds which daily toss this bubble’. Another is to John
Quick who died in 1784 and ‘excell’d his equals’. On the wall
outside, to the west of the porch, is a memorial to John Davy
who died in 1891. He was the last person to speak Cornish as
his native tongue.
The fortunes of the parish have varied over the centuries and in
1841 the population of Zennor had increased to 1025. Today
the inhabitants have dwindled to a bare 200 and they struggle to
maintain this venerable building. Why not join them and give
thanks for the many thousands of people who have cared for
this church so that it is still here for us to enjoy.
Pubs in Zennor Parish
Gurnard's Head
Set in beautiful countryside with magnificent sea and moorland views, and startlingly painted a deep yellow colour externally, this free house on the north coast road is named after a nearby prominent headland. It has a large bar with sever...
Tinner's Arms
Ancient and timeless granite village pub close to the cliffs, on the north coast of the Penwith peninsula. The Sharp's Doom Bar is rebadged as Tinners Ale, and the Sharp's Sea Fury appears as Zennor Mermaid in honour of a local legend. Phon...