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Portal:Cornwall

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Flag of Cornwall Porth Kernow a'gas dynnargh!
Welcome to the Cornwall Portal!
Saint Piran's Flag
Location of Cornwall

Cornwall (/ˈkɔːrnwɔːl, -wəl/; Cornish: Kernow; Cornish pronunciation: [ˈkɛrnɔʊ]; or [ˈkɛrnɔ]) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised by Cornish and Celtic political groups as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, Devon to the east, and the English Channel to the south. The largest urban area in the county is a conurbation that includes the former mining towns of Redruth and Camborne, and the county town is the city of Truro.

The county is rural, with an area of 1,375 square miles (3,562 km2) and population of 568,210. Outside of the Redruth-Camborne conurbation the largest settlements are Falmouth, Penzance, Newquay, St Austell, and Truro. For local government purposes most of Cornwall is a unitary authority area, with the Isles of Scilly having a unique local authority. The Cornish nationalist movement disputes the constitutional status of Cornwall and seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom.

Cornwall is the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula, and the southernmost county within the United Kingdom. Its coastline is characterised by steep cliffs and, to the south, several rias, including those at the mouths of the rivers Fal and Fowey. It includes the southernmost point on Great Britain, Lizard Point, and forms a large part of the Cornwall National Landscape. The national landscape also includes Bodmin Moor, an upland outcrop of the Cornubian batholith granite formation. The county contains many short rivers; the longest is the Tamar, which forms the border with Devon. (Full article...)

Selected article

U. minor 'Stricta', Coldrenick, Cornwall, before 1913

The field elm cultivar Ulmus minor 'Stricta', known as Cornish elm, was commonly found in South West England (Cornwall and West Devon), Brittany, and south-west Ireland, until the arrival of Dutch elm disease in the late 1960s. The origin of Cornish elm in the south-west of Britain remains a matter of contention. It is commonly assumed to have been introduced from Brittany. It is also considered possible that the tree may have survived the ice ages on lands to the south of Cornwall long since lost to the sea. Henry thought it "probably native in the south of Ireland". Dr Max Coleman of Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh, arguing in his 2002 paper on British elms that there was no clear distinction between species and subspecies, suggested that known or suspected clones of Ulmus minor, once cultivated and named, should be treated as cultivars, preferred the designation U. minor 'Stricta' to Ulmus minor var. stricta. The DNA of 'Stricta' has been investigated and the cultivar is now known to be a clone.

Mature trees labelled 'Cornish elm' are now largely restricted to Australia, where they were introduced in the 19th century (but see 'Stricta'-like cultivars below). (Full article...)

Selected biography

Cuthbert Mayne in a mezzotint by Daniel Fournier

Cuthbert Mayne (c. 1543–29 November 1577) was an English Catholic priest executed under the laws of Elizabeth I. He was the first of the seminary priests trained on the Continent to be martyred. Mayne was beatified in 1886 and canonised as one of the Forty Martyrs of England and Wales in 1970. (Full article...)


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Tregenna Castle

Selected quote

The whole Countrie of Britain ...is divided into iiii partes; whereof the one is inhabited of Englishmen, the other of Scottes, the third of Wallshemen, the fowerthe of Cornishe people, which all differ emonge them selves, either in tongue, ...in manners, or ells in lawes and ordinaunces
Polydore Vergil, Italian scholar writing in the Anglica Historia in 1535

Selected picture

Men-an-tol

Photo credit: Zinnmann

The Mên-an-Tol, literally meaning "the hole stone" in Cornish, is a small formation of standing stones near the Madron-Morvah road in Penwith.

General images

The following are images from various Cornwall-related articles on Wikipedia.

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  • Create Articles for listed buildings in Cornwall.
  • Create Articles for conservation areas in Cornwall.
  • Create Articles for public parks in Cornwall.
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  • Create Articles for notable Cornish politicians.
  • Expand Alfred Aaron de Pass and add more info on him to the institutions he donated art and money to in Cornwall (RIC, Falmouth Gallery etc).
  • Create Articles for notable Cornish artists.

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  • Create Articles for local groups and charities.
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Translations

  • Illustrate the new Russian article Корнцы if you can work with Russian Cyrillic script

Associated Wikimedia

The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:

Wikipedia in Cornish

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