Before the rise of Newlyn as an important settlement the landing rights and most properties within the Newlyn area were owned by the
Manor of Alverton. Newlyn's history has been strongly linked to its role as a major fishing port. The natural protection afforded by the
Gwavas Lake (an area of seawater in
Mount's Bay) led to many local fishermen using this area as a preferred landing site. The
Spanish Raid of 1595 destroyed Penzance,
Mousehole and Paul as well as Newlyn. In 1620 the
Mayflower stopped off at Newlyn old quay to take on water. A plaque on the quay reads: In 1755, the
Lisbon earthquake caused a
tsunami to strike the Cornish coast more than away from the epicentre. The sea rose in ten minutes at Newlyn, and ebbed at the same rate. The 19th-century French writer, Arnold Boscowitz, claimed that "great loss of life and property occurred upon the coasts of Cornwall". Before the 19th century, "Newlyn" referred only to the area near the old quay. The part of the village that now contains the fish market was known as "Streetanowan", this was separated at high tide from "Newlyn Town" the site of the lower part of the modern harbour being reclaimed land and formerly a beach. In fact Newlyn comprises three discrete hamlets all previously separated by bodies of water, being Tolcarne (Tal Carn: Brow of the Rocks), Street-an-owan (Street-an-Owan: Oxen Street) and Trewarveneth (Farm/Manor on the Hill). Newlyn (like Mousehole) was part of the
ancient parish of
Paul. It was common for villagers to climb the relatively steep route from "Newlyn Cliff" to Paul via the area which is now known as Gwavas to worship at Paul Church. Until the mid-20th century an ancient stone cross was present on this route at "Park an Grouse" (The Field of the Cross), this cross was one site of veneration of the Cornish sea deity
Bucca, (others were the beaches of Newlyn and Mousehole) the name 'Bucca' has often been used as a nickname for people who reside in Newlyn: the location of the cross is now unknown. In 1851 Newlyn became the separate ecclesiastical parish of Newlyn St Peter. The church of St Peter was built in the Early English style in 1859–66. The interior is embellished with various works of art including the altarpiece and a statue of the Madonna and Child (by the then vicar the Rev.
Allan G. Wyon). "The ensemble is an outstanding example of Anglo-Catholic embellishment of the period [1936–55]" (Peter Beacham). Father Wyon was the vicar from 1936 until his retirement in 1955. There is a Cornish cross by the road near the churchyard; it was found at
Trereife about 1870 and much later placed near the church by the Rev.
W. S. Lach-Szyrma. In the 1880s a number of artists moved to the town and formed an artists' colony. The painters of Newlyn came to be known as the
Newlyn School. In 1896 Newlyn was the scene of the
Newlyn riots following protests over the landing of fish on a Sunday by fishermen from the north of England, the local Cornish fishermen being members of the
Methodist church and as such strong supporters of
sabbatarianism. From 1915, the
Ordnance Survey tidal observatory was established in the harbour and for the next six years measurements of tidal height were taken every 15 minutes. This tidal gauge data was used to calculate the
mean sea level at Newlyn,
Ordnance Datum Newlyn, which became the
vertical datum the Ordnance Survey uses to map altitudes throughout Great Britain. In 1937, the fishing vessel
Rosebud sailed to London to deliver a petition to the
Minister of Health on behalf of those villagers whose homes were threatened under the government's
slum clearance scheme. During the Second World War Newlyn was a base for the air sea rescue craft covering the
Western Approaches. The harbour was bombed during the war, hitting the collier
Greenhithe, which was beached in the harbour at the time and supplied coal to the east coast drifters, which travelled to Newlyn during the mackerel fishing season between the wars. Reporting the event on the
"Germany Calling" propaganda broadcast
Lord Haw-Haw announced that the
Luftwaffe had sunk a British cruiser in Newlyn Harbour. The 2014 LP
Cornish Pop Songs by indie band the Hit Parade contains several songs referencing Newlyn fishing industry including "The Ghost of the Fishing Fleet", a comment on the declining investment in the area, neglect by central government and the recent influx in tourist trade.
Newlyn and the Cornish language Newlyn, along with nearby Mousehole and Paul, was the last stronghold of the
Cornish language, presumably due to the strength of its fishing fleet.
William Gwavas,
James Jenkins,
Nicholas Boson,
Thomas Boson,
John Boson,
John Keigwin, and John Kelynack Jnr had roots in or strong links with the district. Subsequently, several antiquarians including Prince
Louis Lucien Bonaparte,
Daines Barrington,
Georg Sauerwein and
Henry Jenner who all collected Cornish writings or sayings, and the latter two became proficient in its use.
Local government In 1894 Newlyn became part of
Paul Urban District, while Tolcarne on the eastern side of the stream was in
Madron Urban District. The urban districts were abolished in 1934 and Newlyn and Tolcarne were absorbed into the
municipal borough of Penzance. Penzance Municipal Borough was itself abolished in 1974 under the
Local Government Act 1972, and Newlyn became part of the new
Penwith district. The former borough was
unparished until 1980. The unparished area was formed into a civil parish in 1980, and the new Penzance parish council chose to call itself a town council. Newlyn returns five councillors to Penzance Town Council. Penwith District was abolished in 2009, and Newlyn now falls under the unitary
Cornwall Council, with the town being shared between two divisions,
Penzance Promenade in the east and
Newlyn and Mousehole in the west. Since 2021, the town has been part of the new
Mousehole, Newlyn and St Buryan division. ==Geography==