St Piran's Day - Patron of Cornwall and Tin Miners

Since landing on Cornish shores after being expelled from Ireland, St Piran has been a symbol of Cornwall. This is the legend as reported in Wikipedia:

• The heathen Irish tied him to a mill-stone, rolled it over the edge of a cliff into a stormy sea, which immediately became calm, and the saint floated safely over the water to land upon the sandy beach of Perranzabuloe in Cornwall. His first disciples are said to have been a badger, a fox and a bear
• He was joined at Perranzabuloe by many of his Christian converts and together they founded the Abbey of Lanpiran, with Piran as abbot.
• St Piran ‘rediscovered’ tin-smelting (tin had been smelted in Cornwall since before the Romans’ arrival, but the methods had since been lost) when his black hearthstone, which was evidently a slab of tin-bearing ore, had the tin smelt out of it and rise to the top in the form of a white cross (thus the image on the flag).

The people of Cornwall celebrate their namesake each year. 2015 will be no different with many towns and villages celebrating in their own special way. Redruth, a former mining town in Cornwall’s hey day. The town’s celebrations are said to be the largest and most extravagant in the county. You can see how they will celebrate this year, here.

To come and stay and join in these centuries old traditions, book now