The Ordnance Survey publishes the Explorer series of maps which are
ideal for walkers. Scale 1 : 25 000 2.5 inches to 1 mile / 4cm to 1km. Available in local bookshops or click on the links below to order online.
"By Tre, Pol and Pen you will know the Cornishmen"
Cornwall's place names are very different to those in other places around the UK.
If you have visited Wales, you will notice that Cornwall's place names have some resemblance to Welsh names.
Cornwall is a Celtic land and its language is one of the Brythonic group of languages to which Welsh and Breton also belong.
While the Cornish language is believed in some traditions to have originally stopped being spoken in the late 1700s, when Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole died, there are other suggestions made by William Bodinar in the same time period that there were still a number of Cornish speakers in Mousehole after the death of Dolly Pentreath including himself.
The Cornish Language has undergone a number of revivals since that time. The originator of these was Henry Jenner(1848 -1934), a Celtic scholar and cultural activist. He published a Handbook of the Cornish Language. He is buried at St Uny Church, Lelant, near St Ives.
An example of written Cornish language
English Translation of above Cornish example
Another important figure in the Cornish Language movement was Robert Morton Nance (1873-1959), a student of Jenner. He wrote many books and leaflets in Cornish including a Cornish - English Dictionary. Robert Morton Nance or Mordon, using his Bardic name, was a co-founder of the Gorseth Kernow.
These two important cultural figures jointly founded the first Old Cornwall Society at St Ives.
See our Culture and Tradition page for more information about the founding of Gorseth Kernow and Old Cornwall Societies.
Today, there are a number of revived forms of the language. These vary in spelling and pronounciation.
By understanding just a few of the most often used Cornish words you can get a better idea of where you are and enjoy exploring Cornwall even more.
Tre as in Trebetherick, Trelissick, Tregony and many more Cornish place names means a homestead and its nearby buildings, literally a town.
Pol in Polbathic, Poldhu, Polzeath, Polruan, Polkerris, Polperro means a pool
Pen in Pendennis, Penryn, Penrose, Pentire, Penberth, Penzance means an end of something, a headland or head.
Wheal in Wheal Jane, Wheal Kitty, East Wheal Rose means a mine.
Bal in Baldhu is another word meaning a mine working.
Porth (Port) in Perranporth, Porthtowan, Porthleven, Porth (near Newquay), Portreath means a bay, port or harbour.
Towan in Porthtowan meaning sand dunes.
Perran as in Perranporth, Perranarworthal, Perranzabuloe, Perranuthnoe - named after St Piran/St Perran, the Patron Saint of Cornwall.
Hayle as in the town of Hayle means an estuary.
Cos in Cosgarne, Coswarth means a forest, a wood or group of trees.
Venton/Fenton in Ventongimps, Ventongollan, Ventonleague meaning a spring or fountain.
Lan in Lanhydrock, Lanteglos, Landewednack meaning a sacred enclosure such as a church, monastery etc.
Bos/Bod in Bodmin, Bosigran, Boscawen meaning home or dwelling.
Ros in Roseland, Roskear meaning a moor, heath, or common.
Some phrases in Cornish:
Onen hag oll - One and All
Kernow bys vyken - Cornwall forever
Cornish dialect
Cornish dialect is still spoken although it is not heard as often as it was 20 years ago. Here are a few words:
avee? - Have you? dreckley - soon, but with no great urgency airy mouse - a bat (literally an air mouse) stank - to walk heavily bulhorns - snails cloam - crockery, pottery, etc. scat - to break or hit grammersow - woodlouse
We will be adding new words and phrases to this page regularly so visit us again soon.
