Mousehole (; )[Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 Land's End ] The village is in the civil parish of Penzance. An islet called St Clement's Isle lies about offshore from the harbour entrance.
Mousehole lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). 27% of Cornwall has AONB designation, with the same status and protection as a National Park.
History
The first mention of the village of
Mousehole is in 1283 and the first mention of
Portheness is in 1267. Although usually thought of as the same place, a document from 1309 names
Porthenys juxta Mousehole (i.e., next to Mousehole), implying two separate places. Compare with nearby
Newlyn which is separated by a stream from
Tolcarne and both were once considered individual places. There is also a 1339 document naming
Porthengrous juxta Porthenes (harbour by the cross, next to the harbour by the island).
If the amount of tax collected is indicative of how important a place was, in the 14th century, tax collected on the number of fishing boats from Mousehole was £5. Nearby
Marazion paid £1 6s 8d, Newlyn £1, Penzance 12s and
Porthgwarra and
Penberth 12s.
There were three medieval chapels, including the one on St Clement's island. In 1383 a chapel was dedicated to "the Blessed Virgin Mary" and was in ruins by 1414 due to storms. It was rebuilt around 1420 and finally destroyed during the
Reformation. Another chapel was licensed in 1441 and dedicated to St Edward the Confessor.
Records show that pilchards were exported to France as early as 1302, and in the late 18th century there were five Seine fishing and 55 boats based in the harbour.
Along with Marazion, it was one of the principal ports of Mount's Bay until the 16th century. Before its decline as a major commercial centre, Mousehole also had a number of fairs and markets, including the charter for a market on Tuesdays, with a fair for three days at the festival of St Barnabas, granted to Henry de Tyes in 1292.
Mousehole, like Penzance, Newlyn and Paul, was attacked in the 1595 raid on Mount's Bay by Spaniard Carlos de Amésquita, the only surviving building being the 'Keigwin Arms', a local pub. Outside the Keigwin Arms (now a private residence) is a plaque with the wording "Squire Jenkyn Keigwin was killed here 23 July 1595 defending this house against the Spaniards".
20th century
Although a lifeboat had been available in Mount's Bay for many years, a new lifeboat station at Penlee Point, on the outskirts of the village, was opened in 1913. On 19 December 1981 the entire lifeboat crew of eight was lost during an attempted rescue in
hurricane-force winds.
The lifeboat was moved to
Newlyn in 1983 but continues to be known as the "Penlee Lifeboat".
The village's harbourside was once the location of the Lobster Pot guest house, in which Dylan Thomas and Caitlin Macnamara spent their honeymoon after marrying at Penzance register office.
In 1936 the GPO Film Unit made The Saving of Bill Blewitt, a short film to promote the Post Office Savings Bank, featuring local postman Bill Blewitt.
Mousehole hosts a vibrant variety of festivals and community activities. It is known for its Christmas illuminations. Since 1981, every 19 December the lights have been turned off in memory of the victims of the lifeboat disaster. Tom Bawcock's Eve is a unique celebration held on 23 December each year to celebrate the ending of a famine in the 16th century by local resident Tom Bawcock. This festival is the inspiration behind the book The Mousehole Cat by Antonia Barber and the associated television productions. This festival is also the origin of stargazy pie, a mixed fish, egg and potato pie with fish heads protruding through the pastry. Mousehole also holds a small maritime festival every two years called 'Sea, Salt and Sail'.
Parts of the 1995 feature film Blue Juice were filmed in the village.
Local government
Mousehole was part of the
ancient parish of Paul, and from 1866 part of the civil parish of Paul. In 1894 Mousehole became part of Paul Urban District. The urban district was abolished in 1934 and Mousehole was absorbed into the municipal borough of Penzance.
[ Vision of Britain website: Paul UD] Penzance Municipal Borough was itself abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, and Mousehole became part of the new
Penwith District. The former borough was
Unparished area until 1980. The unparished area was formed into a civil parish in 1980,
and the new Penzance parish council elected to call itself a town council. Penwith District was abolished in 2009, and Mousehole now falls under the unitary
Cornwall Council.
Sport
There is a football team based nearby named Mousehole A.F.C., currently playing in the Southern League Division One South.
Notable residents
Penwith is believed to be the last part of Cornwall where the
Cornish language was spoken as the community language.
Dolly Pentreath, popularly known as the last recorded speaker of Cornish, is often reported as being from Mousehole and as having a memorial in the village.
In fact, she was from Paul (the parish of Paul historically included Mousehole).
A year after Dolly Pentreath died in 1777, Daines Barrington received a letter, written in Cornish and accompanied by an English translation, from a fisherman in Mousehole named William Bodinar stating that he knew of five people who could speak Cornish in that village alone. Barrington also speaks of a John Nancarrow from Marazion who was a native speaker and survived into the 1790s.[Ellis, P. Berresford (c. 1970) The Story of the Cornish Language. Penryn: Tor Mark Press]
John Keigwin (1641–1716), a scholar in the Cornish language,
Admiral of the fleet Caspar John GCB (1903–1984) lived in Mousehole in retirement. The artist Jack Pender (1918–1998) was born in Mousehole and spent most of his career there. English writer and illustrator Michelle Cartlidge lives in Mousehole.
The potter Jack Doherty lives in Mousehole where he has his studio.
Media and literary associations
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Charles de Lint, writer of many modern and urban fairy tales, set his novel The Little Country in the village of Mousehole.
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The Mousehole Cat, a children's book written by Antonia Barber and illustrated by Nicola Bayley, is also set in Mousehole and based on the legend of Tom Bawcock and the continuing tradition of Tom Bawcock's Eve.
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The local community radio station is Coast FM (formerly Penwith Radio), which broadcasts on 96.5 and 97.2 FM broadcasting.
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Mark Jenkin's film, Bait, was filmed in Mousehole. Bait tells the story of a fisherman battling to keep his way of life afloat in the face of gentrification.
Gallery
Mousehole fromm air Fossick.jpg|Aerial shot
Mousehole fromm air2 Fossick.jpg|Aerial shot
Mousehole rock pool from air Fossick.jpg|Aerial shot of rock pool
Mousehole St Clements Isle from air Fossick.jpg|St Clements Isle
File:Mousehole - Sea Salts and Sail Festival 1 - Kernow Skies.jpg|Sea Salts and Sail Festival
File:Mousehole - Sea Salts and Sail Festival 2 - Kernow Skies.jpg|Sea Salts and Sail Festival
File:Mousehole - Sea Salts and Sail Festival 3 - Kernow Skies.jpg|Sea Salts and Sail Festival
File:Mousehole - Sea Salts and Sail Festival 4 - Kernow Skies.jpg|Sea Salts and Sail Festival
File:Mousehole - Sea Salts and Sail Festival 5 - Kernow Skies.jpg|Sea Salts and Sail Festival
File:Mousehole - Sea Salts and Sail Festival 6 - Kernow Skies.jpg|Sea Salts and Sail Festival
File:Mousehole - Sea Salts and Sail Festival 7 - Kernow Skies.jpg|Sea Salts and Sail Festival
File:Mousehole - Sea Salts and Sail Festival 8 - Kernow Skies.jpg|Sea Salts and Sail Festival
File:Mousehole - Sea Salts and Sail Festival 9 - Kernow Skies.jpg|Sea Salts and Sail Festival
File:Mousehole Sailing Race.webm|Sail race video
File:The Old Coastguard Hotel Mousehole.jpg|The Old Coastguard Hotel and Restaurant
File:St_Clements_Isle_Mousehole_HDR.jpg|St Clements Isle
External links
