About St Ives

The famous Cornish resort of st.ives is loved by thousands of visitors for its superb beaches, its cobbled narrow streets and courtyards, its glittering sea and clear air and for its friendly hospitable people. Like all of west Cornwall, st.ives seems more like a sluice of the med, yet it remains reassuringly British. Within it’s maze like streets of the towns harbour area and in the ruggedness of its adjoining coastline lies a story of a colourful past that has forged the unique character of the st.ives of today. The town is named after St.Ia, one of a number of Irish missionaries who came to Cornwall and Wales during the 5th and 6th centuries, a time when trade and cultural influences flowed from Ireland into western Britain. Si Ia is said to have been a holy women, a princess or the daughter of an Irish Chieftain. There are a number of Irish tales of how Irish “Saints” sailed into Britain in baskets, sea shells even perched miraculously upon floating millstones. St Ia is said to have sailed across the Irish sea on a leaf, but her voyage was more like to have been made in a sea worthy coracle shape vessel constructed of leaf like hides. Legend and folk tale embroidered later stories. To this day ivy leaves are a feature of the st.ives coat of arms although this symbol may in turn may have originated as a punning reference to the already established name of ivies.

St Ia probably landed near the island like promontory that is such a striking feature of St.Ives today.

The island has remained an open space to this day because it was used traditionally for mending fishing nets and for drying washing. It is referred to by true born st.Ives people as the |”the island “ but never as the st.ives island. The chapel of St.nicohlas stands on top of the island. Originally medieval, it was a seamen's chapel and once displayed alight to guide incoming vessels to harbour, the building was also a customs lookout and a pilots watch house in its time, it was commandeer red by the war office at the end of the ninetieth century and in 1904 the authorities planned to demolish the building, fierce local opposition to the plan saved the chapel which still stands to this day and is still used for occasional services.