Penwith

Penwith District

Population
 • 197351,690[1]
 • 200162,994[2]
History
 • Origin
 • Created1 April 1974
 • Abolished1 April 2009
 • Succeeded byCornwall unitary authority
StatusFormer district
ONS code15UF
GovernmentDistrict council
 • HQPenzance
 • MottoKensa ha Dewetha

Subdivisions
 • TypeCivil parishes

Aerial photo looking across Land's End to Cape Cornwall
Celtic cross near St Loy's Cove, St Buryan
Rocky cove at St Loy in the south of the district

Penwith (/ˌpɛnˈwɪθ/; Cornish: Pennwydh) is an area of Cornwall, England, located on the peninsula of the same name. It is also the name of a former local government district, whose council was based in Penzance. The area is named after one of the ancient administrative hundreds of Cornwall which derives from two Cornish words, penn meaning 'headland' and wydh meaning 'at the end'.

Natural England have designated the peninsula as national character area 156 and named it West Penwith. It is also known as the Land's End Peninsula.[3]

  1. ^ Local government in England and Wales: A Guide to the New System. London: HMSO. 1974. p. 38. ISBN 0-11-750847-0.
  2. ^ "Census 2001: Penwith". Census 2001. Office for National Statistics. 1 April 2001. Retrieved 5 January 2009.
  3. ^ NCA Profile:156 West Penwith (NE371) at publications.naturalengland.org.uk. Accessed on 8 September 2013