Useful Cornish Links

Archives, Libraries and Museums

Cornish Language

Organisations

Government and Journalism

Archives, Libraries and Museums

Find out about the general heritage sector in Cornwall at Cornwall County Council's heritage site, from where there are several links.

Cornwall Record Office at Truro is an important resource provider that holds a wide range of materials dating from the 12th to the 20th centuries. The Courtney Library at the Royal Cornwall Museum has an extensive collection of Cornish material covering history, archaeology, geology, mining and religion with particular emphasis on the social and cultural history of Cornwall.

The Cornish Studies Library at the Cornwall Centre, Redruth, contains the world's best collection of printed and published items relating to the history, geography, customs, industries, language and other aspects of Cornish life. Additional items include Cornish newspapers (on microfilm), the Enumerators Returns for Cornwall of 1841, 1851, 1861, 1871, 1881,  1891 and 1901. These are available on microfilm, as are the General Register Office Indexes of Births, Marriages and Deaths from 1837 to 1939. The library has a good collection of Cornish photographs and an almost complete run of the Mining Journal.

Chris Bond's site - Cornovia - has much matter of interest to anyone researching the history of Cornwall. For research and data on contemporary Cornwall a starting point is the website of LINC (the Local Intelligence Network Cornwall)

The independent Morrab Library at Penzance houses an extensive Celtic collection and much material devoted to the Napoleonic period, as well as a wide variety of other material including some nineteenth century government reports. Viewing the specialist collections is by appointment only. For maritime links see the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, home to the Bartlett Library, open free to the public for research by prior arrangement.

The Cornwall Family History Society maintains a well resourced reading room in Truro. The Historic Environment Service of Cornwall County Council, holds a large collection of aerial photographs and maintains the Cornwall and Scilly Historic Environment Record, a unique database of archaeological ‘events’ from the Stone Age to the present. The CAU is home to two Objective One Funded initiatives: the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site and the Cornwall and Scilly Urban Survey.

Real Cornwall is a partnership project between The University of Exeter (Telematics Centre, Learning Teaching and Support Centre, and the Institute of Cornish Studies) and the Cornwall Centre (part of the Cornwall County Council Library Service).The Victoria County History was created in the late nineteenth century to produce an encyclopaedic national history in a series of volumes which cover, county by county, and parish by parish, the general and detailed history of England from earliest times to the present. See the Victoria County History of Cornwall.The A2A (Access to Archives project) provides access to a huge, unqualified amount of material in other record offices and general UK-wide repositories.

The National Archives contains much Cornish material. The British Library has the world's largest collection of domestic and overseas newspapers that include the Cornish published West Briton, Cornubian and Cornish Post and Mining News. The Bodleian Library is the main research library of the University of Oxford. COPAC will give you access to the catalogues of all the major research libraries in the UK. For a handy link to academic libraries in the HE sector go to Wolverhampton University's UK Active Map.

The Methodist Archives and Research Library is situated at the John Rylands Library, University Library of Manchester.The Duchy of Cornwall Office is located at 10 Buckingham Gate, London SW1E 6LA. It should be noted that access to the Duchy of Cornwall Archive, which is primarily an internal resource, is restricted.

[Back to top]

Cornish Language

The best gateway for information on the Cornish language is provided by the Cornish Language Partnership. From here you can link to the various revivalist societies. The Cornwall Film Festival happens every year in November and is a showcase for film and television produced on and in Cornwall, including works in the Cornish language.

[Back to top]

Organisations

The Trevithick Society is an organisation for everybody interested in industrial archaeology and all aspects of the industrial past in Cornwall. The Gorseth Kernow exists to maintain the national Celtic spirit of Cornwall. Trelawney’s Army is the official website for Cornish rugby supporters.

[Back to top]

Government and Journalism

Government Office South West has a comprehensive website related to contemporary governance in Cornwall and the south west region.For economic issues of relevance to Cornwall and the south west region see the South West of England Regional Development Agency and Cornwall’s Objective One programme. The Countryside Agency has links to the Rural Services Survey and the State of the Countryside Report for the south west region. 

Cornish World is an independent magazine aimed at lovers of Cornwall at home and abroad. Keep up-to-date with Cornish news at BBC Cornwall and the Western Morning News group of newspapers, which includes the West Briton, Cornish Gaurdian and Cornishman. For very lively online discussions of Cornish matters visit Cornwall24.

[Back to top]

^