Sennen

{{about|the parish of Sennen|the saint|Saints Abdon and Sennen|the band|Sennen (band)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}} {{Use British English|date=January 2014}}

{{Infobox UK place | static_image_name = The Last Church of England - geograph.org.uk - 169354.jpg | static_image_caption = Sennen parish church | country = England | map_type = Cornwall | coordinates = {{coord|50.070|-5.695|display=inline,title}} | official_name = Sennen | cornish_name = Sen Senan | population = 889 | population_ref = (2021) | civil_parish = Sennen | unitary_england = Cornwall | lieutenancy_england = Cornwall | region = South West England | constituency_westminster = St Ives | post_town = Penzance | postcode_district = TR19 | postcode_area = TR | dial_code = 01736 | os_grid_reference = SW358256 | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 11 | mapframe-point = none | mapframe-wikidata = yes }}

'''Sennen''' ({{langx|kw|Sen Senan}}) is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Sennen village is situated approximately {{convert|8|mi|km|spell=in}} west-southwest of Penzance.<ref name=OS>Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' {{ISBN|978-0-319-23148-7}}</ref>

Sennen parish is bounded by the sea to the west and bordered by the parishes of St Just to the north, St Buryan to the east, St Levan to the south.<ref name=Mapping /> The main settlements are Churchtown, Trevescan, Carn Towan, Sennen Cove and Land's End. The population was 889 at the 2021 census.

For the purposes of local government Sennen elects a parish council every four years. The main local authority is Cornwall Council.

==Geography== thumb|Aerial view of Sennen village and coastline, Cornwall, England. Sennen parish is situated at the western tip of the Penwith peninsula<ref name=OS /> and is exposed to prevailing westerly winds from the Atlantic. Geologically, it is located on the Land's End Granite, one of the five major granite batholiths that make up the spine of Cornwall (see Geology of Cornwall). Consequently, the parish has a bare moorland-like character with very few trees and no woodland.<ref name=OS />

The parish consists of {{convert|2284|acre|km2|0}} of land, {{convert|6|acre|m2}} of water and {{convert|64|acre|m2}} of foreshore. It includes the Longships, a group of rocky islets situated off Lands End.<ref name=Mapping>{{cite web |url=http://mapping.cornwall.gov.uk/website/ccmap/ |title=Cornwall Council interactive mapping |accessdate=2010-05-01 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130927050041/http://mapping.cornwall.gov.uk/website/ccmap/ |archivedate=27 September 2013 |df=dmy-all }} Cornwall Council online mapping. Retrieved June 2010</ref>

The church town, Sennen, is the most westerly village in mainland England and is {{convert|315|mi|km}} west-southwest of London. Below the village is the harbour settlement of Sennen Cove.

==Demographics== {| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;" |+ Census population of Sennen parish |- ! scope=col width=18%| Census ! scope=col width=18% class="unsortable"| Population ! scope=col width=18% class="unsortable"| Female ! scope=col width=18% class="unsortable"| Male ! scope=col width=18% class="unsortable"| Households ! scope=col width=10% class="unsortable"| Source |- !scope=row| 2001 || 829 || 424 || 405 || 361 || <ref name="wikidata-a08218995ada6ed07e35f13524a292a4b6851935-v20">{{Cite web|at=Tables KS001 (Usual resident population) and KS016 (Household spaces and accommodation type)|publisher=Office for National Statistics|title=Key Statistics|access-date=23 June 2025|url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2001_ks}}</ref> |- !scope=row| 2011 || 921 || 469 || 452 || 394 || <ref name="wikidata-23d93403bbd510e3eaf857bb0207b766770d8bc9-v20">{{Cite web|at=Table KS101EW (Usual resident population) and Table KS105EW (Household composition)|publisher=Office for National Statistics|title=Key Statistics|access-date=23 June 2025|url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2011_ks}}</ref> |- !scope=row| 2021 || 889 || 448 || 441 || 386 || <ref name="wikidata-1777794f031f3bb865bc1ba87bbd53bc9876131c-v20">{{Cite web|publisher=Office for National Statistics|title=Parish Profiles|access-date=5 August 2024|website=2021 United Kingdom census|url=https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/sources/census_2021_pp}}</ref> |}

==Church== {{main|St. Sennen's Church, Sennen}}

thumb|upright|A Cornish cross in the cemetery Sennen parish church is dedicated to St Sinninus but has also been dedicated to St John the Baptist. There has been a church here since at least the 15th century.<ref name="GENUKI">[http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/Sennen/] GENUKI website; Sennen. Retrieved June 2010</ref> A visit by members of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society on their annual excursion in August 1893 translated a Latin inscription on a stone at the base of the font as ″''In the year of the Lord 1441 [2, 3, or 4], this Church was dedicated on [the festival of] the beheading of St John the Baptist''″.<ref>{{cite journal|title=The Annual Excursion. 4th August, 1893.|journal=Report and Transactions of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society|year=1893–94|pages=82–87}}</ref> The present church has a chancel and nave, a south aisle and a north transept. A wall-painting depicting two round embattled towers was uncovered during restoration in 1867. There is also a headless alabaster figure representing the Virgin Mary in the transept. The church has a three-stage battlemented tower housing a ring of three bells.<ref name=GENUKI />

There are five Cornish crosses in the parish. One is at Escalls and another at Sennen Green. Trevilley cross is one of only two crosses with a crucifixus figure on a cross carved onto the stone (there is a cross on the other side of the head). A cross on the churchyard wall came from a site near the Giant's Stone. A fine cross in the cemetery adjoining the churchyard was found in use as a footbridge near Trevear and moved to the churchyard in 1878. About 1890 it was moved to its present position.<ref>Langdon, A. G. (1896) ''Old Cornish Crosses''. Truro: Joseph Pollard; pp. 39, 289-90, 92-93, 105 & 107-08</ref>

==Folklore traditions== On the old Christmas Day in the 1830s (and before) the farmers of St Sennen assembled for the festivities. One of the dishes was a pie made from 24 blackbirds. At midnight the young men went out to see the 'cattle kneel' and on their return they threw rushes onto the fire. The number of crackles, or the particular form assumed, told the fortunes of those who threw them into the fire.<ref>Rundle, S. (1884) "Cornubiana". In ''Transactions of the Penzance Natural History and Antiquarian Society''. pp. 347-358 at 350.</ref>

Local magical practices were also reported. In the late nineteenth century, Sennen girls performed traditional love divinations on Twelfth Night involving ivy leaves, rushes, and a turf fire. These rituals were believed to predict future marriages and deaths. Additionally, a folk magician named Dionysious Williams, who lived in nearby Mayon, was reputed to have used counter-magic to trap a thief using enchanted furze. Another tale describes a Sennen man rescuing his housekeeper from malevolent spirits inadvertently summoned from a spellbook.<ref>S. Young, ''Magicians, Red Heads and Small People: The Legends and Folklore of Sennen and Sennen Cove'' (Pwca Books, 2022), 65-70.</ref>

== Notable residents == *William John Hocking of the Royal Mint

thumb|The beach at Sennen from Cove Road

==Gallery== <gallery> File:Longships Lighthouse - geograph.org.uk - 188226.jpg|The Longships lighthouse and neighbouring islets are in Sennen parish File:Sennen Bay.jpg|Whitesand Bay is in Sennen parish File:Last Methodist Chapel in England - geograph.org.uk - 169335.jpg|Sennen Methodist Chapel </gallery>

==References== <references /> {{Commons category|Sennen}}

==External links== {{Portal|Cornwall}} * [http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((text)='sennen') Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Sennen]

Category:Sennen Category:Villages in Cornwall Category:Civil parishes in Cornwall Category:Beaches of Penwith