St Ives, Cornwall
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St Ives harbour and the local rescue lifeboat. |
St Ives (
Cornish:
Porthia) is a
seaside town and
civil parish in the
Penwith district of
Cornwall,
United Kingdom. The town lies north of
Penzance, and west of
Camborne. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing as an industry. The decline in fishing, however, has caused a shift in commercial emphasis and the town is now primarily a
holiday resort.
The legendary origins of St Ives are attributed to the arrival of the Irish
Saint Ia, in the 5th Century AD. The parish church in St Ives still bears the name of this saint, and the name St Ives itself is believed to be a later anglicised corruption of that name.
The town was the site of a particularly notable atrocity during the
Prayer Book rebellion of
1549. The English
Provost Marshal came to St Ives and invited the mayor, John Payne, to lunch at an inn. He asked the mayor to have the
gallows erected during the course of the lunch. Afterwards the mayor and the Provost Marshall walked down to the gallows; the Provost Marshall then ordered the mayor to mount the gallows. The mayor was then
hanged for being a
Roman Catholic.
Modern St Ives came with the railway in
1877, the
St Ives Bay branch line from
St Erth. With it came the new generation of Victorian seaside holidaymakers. Much of the town was built during the latter part of the
19th century. The railway, which winds along the cliffs and bays, survived the
Beeching axe and has become a tourist attraction itself.
In
1928, the artists
Alfred Wallis,
Ben Nicholson and
Christopher Wood met at St Ives and laid the foundation for the artists' colony of today. In
1939, Ben Nicholson,
Barbara Hepworth and
Naum Gabo settled in St Ives. In
1993, a branch of the
Tate Gallery, the
Tate St Ives, opened here. The Tate also looks after the
Barbara Hepworth Museum and her
sculpture garden. It was the wish of the late sculptor to leave her work on public display in perpetuity. See also
list of St. Ives artists. The town also attracted artists from overseas like
Piet Mondrian who let the landscape influence their work.
St Ives Society of Artists and The Penwith Society
Prior to the 1940's the majority of artists in St Ives and further afield in West
Cornwall belonged to the St Ives Society of artists however events in the late 1940's led to a growing dispute between the between the
abstract and
figurative artists within the group. In 1948 the abstract faction broke away from the St Ives Society forming the
Penwith Society of artists led by
Barbara Hepworth and
Ben Nicholson.
St Ives is home to 3 celebrations of interest. John Knill a former Mayor of St Ives constructed the Knill Steeple a granite monument overlooking the town of St Ives. In 1797 John Knill laid down instructions for the celebration of the Knill Ceremony which was to take place every 5 years on the 25th of July. The ceremony itself involves The Mayor of St Ives, a customs officer, and a vicar - accompanied by 2 widows and 10 girls who should be the 'daughters of fishermen, tinners, or seaman'. For more details see
Article about John KnillA second celebration of perhaps greater antiquity is St Ives feast which is a celebration of the founding of St Ives by St Ia and takes place on the Sunday and Monday nearest February 3rd every year. The day itself includes a civic procession to Venton Ia or the well of St Ia and other associated activities however, it is most notable for being one of the 2 surviving examples of
Cornish Hurling (however in a more gentle format than its other manifestation in
St Columb Major).
A third festival is the St Ives May Day which is a modern revival of
May Day Customs that were at one time common throughout the west of Cornwall.
St Ives railway station is linked to the
Paddington to
Penzance main rail route via the
St Ives branch line which runs regular services to
St Erth station. A
Park-and-Ride facility for visitors to St Ives runs from
Lelant Saltings railway station, which was opened on
27 May 1978 specifically for this purpose.
The town also has regular services via National Express Coach to
London Victoria,
Heathrow and numerous other destinations throughout the UK. The nearest airports to St Ives are
Newquay and
Plymouth.
Prior to 1974 the St Ives Borough Council was the principal local authority for what now forms the civil parish of St Ives. Since the reform of English local government in 1974 St Ives has elected a town council. The principal local authority function for St Ives is now undertaken by
Penwith District Council and the
Cornwall County Council. For the purposes of election to Cornwall County Council, St Ives forms a single multi-member electoral division returning two members.
Porth Meor beach is St Ives' major surfing area, and is overlooked by holiday apartments. A rocky hill, which features a single cliff-top
chapel, separates the beach from Porth Gwydden, a much smaller beach. Much of the town's outskirts are built on steep terrain.
St Ives is also well known from the
nursery rhyme and
riddle "
As I Was Going to St Ives", although it is not clear whether the rhyme refers to the Cornish town or one of
several other St Ives around the country.
*
List of St. Ives artists*
St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)*
List of topics related to Cornwall*
St. Ives photos*
Photographs of St. Ives from viewsofcornwall.com*
St. Ives (DMOZ.org)*
St Ives Hotel & Guest House Association*
Postcards of St. Ives and Lelant*
Letter from the St. Ives Arts Club, 1898
