Penwith, Cornwall

In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Penwith like this:

PENWITH, a hundred in the extreme S W of Cornwall; containing Madron parish and twenty-six other parishes, and cut into two divisions, E and W. Acres of the E div., 49, 546. Pop. in 1851, 53, 757. Houses, 9, 878. Acres of the W.-div., 49, 872. Pop. in 1851, 28, 781. Houses, 5, 269. Pop. of the whole in 1861, 88, 953. Houses, 17, 191. Penwith proper is the Lands End; called by the ancient British Penwith, signifying"the left-hand headland; " and was known to the Saxons as Penwithsteort.

Penwith through time

Penwith is now part of CORNWALL Unitary Authority. Click here for graphs and data of how CORNWALL has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Penwith itself, go to Statistics.

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