The document provides information about the landscape values of St. Agnes Parish in Cornwall, England. It describes the various villages, hamlets, and coastal features within the parish. Local people value the unique character of each small community as well as the dramatic coastline, mining heritage, and well-preserved medieval field patterns. However, concerns include the lack of affordable housing for young Cornish residents and impacts of tourism, such as increased prices and seasonal demands on infrastructure. The document highlights how the landscape and cultural traditions are intertwined, with many local legends and place names tied to the area's history and landscape features.

1. LANDSCAPE VALUES
St. AGNES PARISH, CORNWALL, ENGLAND
Porth Towan
Porthtowan
Cambrose
Mawla
Menagissey
Wheal Rose
Scorrier
Mount
Hawke
Skinner's
Bottom Blackwater
Two
Burrows
Carnhot
Wheal
Busy
Mithian
Downs
Three
Burrows
Silverwell
Mingoose
Goonvrea
Goonbell
Towan
Cross
Perrancoombe
Chapel Porth
St. Agnes
St. Agnes
Beacon
Higher Bal
New Downs
Cross Combe
Trevellas
Airfield
Mithian Gollawater
Tubby's Head
Carn Gowla
St. Agnes
Head
New Downs
Head
Polberro
Cove
Trevaunance
Cove
Trevellas
Porth
Green Island
Pen a Grader
Hanover Cove
Calf and Cow
Tobban Horse
Wheal Concord
The Parish is one of the most picturesque and attractive of all Cornish settlements with its landscape setting, the quality of the buildings, the feel of its streets and the warmth
of its people. It has an unrivalled interplay of the built environment with large areas of greenery right within the village core that make an extremely attractive place but locally
distinctive. The parish has several villages and hamlets: Silverwell, Blackwater and Skinner's Bottom to the south, St Agnes village in the centre, Mount Hawke to the southwest
and Mithian to the west. Each one has a very special character.
Cornish people have remained rural based, working class, and free thinking whilst holding a strong sense of justice.
St. Agnes Parish - Bryanek
Unlike many coastal parishes in Cornwall, St Agnes thrives all year round. People have shifted from traditional employment areas such as agriculture, mining/quarrying, fishing
and forestry, they have moved into wholesale/retail trading, manufacturing, tourism and construction. Several communities can be found in St Agnes, such as: Cornish families
that have lived there for centuries; English people settling to retire or live a different paced life; Surfers from around the globe that wait for the big wave; Visiting walkers and
nature lovers; Enthusiasts of the industrial past; Artists crafting in pottery, metal and paint; and People that passed through and fell in love with a small corner of Cornwall. Some
of the things people have said about living in St Agnes, are written here as blue text.
Community Concerns and Responses
Some key local concerns mentioned by local people.
People are responding to some of these concerns, for example two hundred people signed a petition requesting that new affordable housing should be developed in
St. Agnes and to enable young Cornish people live in the village and access its schools and facilities. Local government is trying to respond by addressing this need.
However local people also want a new process where their landscape values are acknowledged and respected. Whilst acknowledging that if the village is to have a
future, young people must be able to settle, they do not want to suffer the results of bad developers. Many want to influence how development proceeds in their Parish
by asking that new houses are built using local materials so they are in keeping, and sites chosen do not impact on landscape features that are important to local people.
The community map drawn by several local people and illustrated here, show features valued by them, the key viewing points in the parish and the direction the
landscape is best viewed from.
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Bathing water quality can cause health problems for surfers
Waste management is not adequate as the shared storm water
storage design is too small for more frequent high volume storms
High seasonal demand use on resources more wear and tear on
roads passing through Churchtown
Tourism related concerns
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Increase in house prices outsiders who buy up cottages in the centre.
Lack of affordable housing so local young people have to rent and are asked to pay higher rents in the
summer to compete with tourists.
Increased urban development has increased flood vulnerability in Petersville
Age skewered population influences how resources are invested in the village - too many park benches in strange places
Immigration
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Cheap housing that is in keeping - mundig was used extensively in the area (concrete from mine spoil
degrades quickly - concrete cancer)
Old people want to down size their homes but they have no where smaller to move into
Fish/shell fish decline caused by over exploitation from commercial fishing, and divers
Pressures of modern farming demands the enlargement of old fields for the machines used and to ensure profitability.
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Low farmgate prices offered for produce (higher volumes available at more accessible areas with cheaper transport)
Lack of local wholesale markets increases transportation costs of goods
The coastal reefs are not protected for the sole use of local fishermen. They are out fished by medium scale fishing fleets that put down too many pots.
Resource Scarcity
Transportation / access
The legend has been incorporated into local events throughout the year. Children symbolically fire clay objects in the beacon fire
lit on May day and the Giants leads everyone back to the village. The clay is mixed with a local variety found as a rare horseshoe
deposit at the foot of the Beacon
Cultural Legacy
The legend of Bolster giant links the people to their landscape
Many Cornish myths and legends are linked to the landscape and incorporated into daily life through community
"fiestas" and this is as true for St. Agnes as anywhere in the Cornwall.
"There is an argument that anyone can be Cornish if they embrace what it is to be Cornish. So that an outsider is considered
more Cornish if they learn about the history, culture and language than say someone that was born here. There is some truth
to that. Why should being born here just make you Cornish? Many that were born here are reluctant to embrace "Cornishness",
they suffer from inertia and are often only kicked out of it by outsiders wanting to retain the differences. So who is more
Cornish?"
Community Taking Responsibility
The independent free thinking manifests in St. Agnes through its many organisations and activities. There are well over fifty local organisations
and committees. The sense of community and cohesion is very strong, St. Agnes offers activities for all ages and interests, many annual events
are organised throughout the year such as Bolster day in May, Carnival in August and several charity balls as well as Christmas and Easter
celebrations.
People care about the place, its management and the decisions taken that determine how development influences their future. Several local
historians have written books on the area and the local Museum contains key historical facts and local stories about the parish, its people and
their stories.
There was an attempt to rebuild the harbour destroyed in 1915 and 1916, but it was not possible to reconstruct it. However the money was donated to
pay for the keel of the local gig boat and local people raised the rest needed; it was launched in April 2005 as Bryanek, the old name for St Agnes.
Bathing Water Quality concerns local people. Surfers frequently get infections and diseases; they suspected it was the water quality. During storm events
Combined Stormwater Drainage (storage/treatment) system has to be shut down because of too much water, consequently raw sewage flows directly down
the river to the sea at Trevaunance cove. Locally based Surfers against Sewage started in St Agnes and has campaigned for; Improvements in tank design
so they store more water/sewage during frequent heavy rains; Larger fines for companies that illegally discharge sewage; and Improved bathing water.
The Landuse Image is part of the Millennium Map which is copywrite of Get Mapping plc.
ASIAN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
AND COMMUNICATION
CULTURAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL
INFORMATION EXCHANGE
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
1/F MANILA OBSERVATORY BUILDING
ATENEO UNIVERSITY CAMPUS
LOYOLA HEIGHTS, QUEZON CITY, PHILIPPINES
HISTORIC ENVIRONMENT SERVICE
CORNWALL COUNTY COUNCIL
KENNALL BUILDING, TRURO, TRI 3AY UK.
LEGEND
MITHIAN CHURCH
SEA CAVES
"FOOT PRINT"
IN A BOULDER
ROUNDS, IRON
AGE SETTLEMENTS
COASTLINE
WIND CROPPED TREES
BARROWS
OLD FIELD PATTERNS
RIVER
BOUNDARY
500 0 500 1000 1500
SCALE 1 : 20,000
St. Agnes landscape is dominated by the rocky coast,
scattered mine ruins, wind cropped heather and tree-
lined valleys.
"Its not a cosy landscape, but striking in a beautiful way, it has a
majesty on a grand scale".
St. Agnes Church,
roofscape and Stippy Stappy
Unprotected are the remnants of the railway
system that once brought many tourists but
are now tucked away in folds of the valley.
Although St Agnes is a single village in nature, it retains separate elements,
such as Churchtown, Petersville, Rosemundy Vicarage, Goonbell and
Goonown. Green spaces scattered within a minescape separate these
elements ensuring each maintains its distinctive character. Development is
restricted in many parts of the village because several old buildings are
protected (grade 2 listed) and part of the village is a declared conservation
zone.
"The church is very re-assuring it's tucked into the village but still very visible".
Hedgerows
Wheals and
Engine Houses
Mine Shafts
Working
Stamp Heads
The ruins of Cornish pump engines are scattered throughout the
landscape. Wheal kitty has been restored as workshops, this shows
how the mining past can be part of future village life. Cornwall County
Council is seeking international recognition of the unique Cornish
"Minescape" and has applied for world heritage status; St Agnes
Parish is included in this bid. Yet many mining features go unnoticed
like the network of tunnels and shafts that are just below the surface.
"Some with ivy, some without, all special, all unique:
we love our wheals and engine houses".
Minescape
Views
Out of the mosaic of stonewall hedges
and fields, the beacon rises out of the
northwest plateau. Bryanek, the old
Cornish name for St. Agnes, means
prominent hill
"Looking for the beacon you are looking for home".
Landscape and its Importance to Local People
STEN SEN AGNES YU AN GWELLA YN BYS
St. Agnes tin is the best in the world
Many of the fields are medieval; all are marked
out by dry stonewall hedges and footpaths.The
fields patterns were kept unchanged because the
miners kept only a few animals for their own
food - only recently have farmers been forced to
merge fields for economic reasons.
"Our hedges here are made of mine rock; quarry stone was too expensive for most
people. They were made in the process of clearing the land for farming. The local
style is to have the stones laid so they stand up on short ends touching, they were
then back filled with clay sediments and mine waste - some are still toxic and
nothing grows on them."
Landscape Defined
"If you look up from the
beach at low tide across
to the Beacon you get an
impression of how the vast
heathland would have
stretched across all the
cliffs along here before
it was converted to
farmland."
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The multitude of caves, shafts and rock arches along the
coast are evidence that smuggling took place along this
coast, there is a hidden jetty at seal cove, an arch only
revealed at low tide and a shaft leading up into where the
old manor house was situated on the cliffs. The coast is
rocky and dangerous with fast tides and a regular sea fog.
"The rocks called calf and
cow are the full stop at the
end... we use them to
navigate in fog."
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Viewing point
and direction
The cliffs, headland and Beacon are carpeted in heather which
thrives on the nutrient poor mine spoil that was left across the
landscape.
Landscape Views
Seascape Views
"In spring glittering water dances from one side of the path to
the other just as you go into promised land at the top of water lane".
The four rivers have scoured out the valleys from the largely flat landscape
exposing the tin ore close to the surface. This enabled tin streamers to
gather black tin ore, crush it with stamp heads, smelt it until the white
metal crackled. This process still occurs at Blue Stream Tin mine in
Trevellas Combe at the base of Jericho Valley. The valleys give walkers
respite from the harsh winds, they are a sanctuary of tranquillity with gentle
streams winding through wind cropped trees.
Quiet Valleys
"You have to be careful of the tides, but you
can walk all along the beach at Chapelporth"
There are only three beaches in St Agnes,
Trevaunance cove, Chapelporth and
Porthtowan. The winter surf beach is
Trevaunance cove because of the prevailing
on-shore winds, in spring and summer
surfing moves to Porthtowan from about
May to October when the prevailing winds
change direction. Local people and children
surf throughout the year and have done so
since the 1930s when they just used body
boards.
Trees
Pretty Valley
and Glittering Stream
St. AGNES
MUSEUM TRUST
In the time of giant's there lived a troublesome giant called Bolster, who was of such enormous stature that he could stand with one foot
on Carn Brae and the other on St. Agnes Beacon a distance of 6 miles. Bolster himself was a terror to the surrounding countryside, stealing
sheep and cattle from the ordinary Cornish folk.
At that time St. Agnes lived in the same area. Bolster became infatuated with St Agnes and eventually fell in love with her. Tired of the
attention, and wishing rid of this evil brute, she asked him to prove his love for her by filling a hole in the cliff at Chapelporth with his
own blood. Bolster considered the task to be easy due to his huge size. Bolster went up to the cliffs at Chapelporth, plunged a knife
into his arm and waited for the hole to fill up. Eventually the giant lost so much blood that he died.
The hole actually led from the cliffs into the sea, a fact that St Agnes knew about but Bolster did not. The blood of Bolster is said to
have stained the cliffs at Chapelporth and the red mark is still visible today
Vibrant Coves
SOURCES :
St Agnes people that shared their landscape values; H Thomas, C Grub, R. Jerome, R.Radcliffe, D. Brown
St Agnes people that provided interviews, and information; R.Radcliffe, J.Symonds, N.Elkins, A.Parsons, J.Sawle, C.Hoskins, Al Blunsden,
M.Wills, C.Wills, J.Vassey, E.Earl, Andy (SAS), W.J.Doble, D.Gil-Cary, Lobster fishermen on the Quay
References used: Bizley, A.C. (1955) A Friendly Retreat, The St Agnes Museum Trust, 1994 edition.
Inspiration from C. Benny (2005) Down Quay, Photo history of St. Agnes.
Various articles from St Agnes Museum Trust Journal and data from the Museum itself.
Special thanks to: Tina at St Agnes Hotel, "Friday night club" Roads, Paths and Parish Boundary data was provided by
Cornwall County Council. Photos by Karen Lawrence, except; Bolster Giant by T. Greenslade "Spirit of Cornwall" and
Gig Bryanek from Trevaunance.com
PATH
"Tourists enjoy living in St Agnes, buy property and migrate becoming new comers".
"Outsiders own the businesses, the Cornish are the workers"
"Locals cannot afford to buy houses, they are the ones that rent".
"people work hard but they finish at five and are in the water, surfing by 6pm"
- some keep horses, others let their land or buildings to tourists"To survive farmers have to enlarge or diversify"
It is a slow development area -
UNIVERSITY OF STIRLING
STIRLING, SCOTLAND
St. Agnes Beacon
Print Date: SEPTEMBER 05, 2005 / File Name: CORNWALLFINALE1.APR / ESSC-Manila, Philippines-D.A.R.