St Ives (Cornish: Porthia) is a seaside town and civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance, and west of Camborne. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing as an industry. The decline in fishing, however, has caused a shift in commercial emphasis and the town is now primarily a holiday resort.
History
The legendary origins of St Ives are attributed to the arrival of the Irish Saint Ia, in the 5th Century AD. The parish church in St Ives still bears the name of this saint, and the name St Ives itself is believed to be a later anglicised corruption of that name.
The town was the site of a particularly notable atrocity during the Prayer Book rebellion of 1549. The English Provost Marshal came to St Ives and invited the mayor, John Payne, to lunch at an inn. He asked the mayor to have the gallows erected during the course of the lunch. Afterwards the mayor and the Provost Marshall walked down to the gallows; the Provost Marshall then ordered the mayor to mount the gallows. The mayor was then hanged for being a Roman Catholic.
Modern St Ives came with the railway in 1877, the St Ives Bay branch line from St Erth. With it came the new generation of Victorian seaside holidaymakers. Much of the town was built during the latter part of the 19th century. The railway, which winds along the cliffs and bays, survived the Beeching axe and has become a tourist attraction itself.
St Ives Society of Artists and The Penwith Society
Prior to the 1940's the majority of artists in St Ives and further afield in West Cornwall belonged to the St Ives Society of artists however events in the late 1940's led to a growing dispute between the between the abstract and figurative artists within the group. In 1948 the abstract faction broke away from the St Ives Society forming the Penwith Society of artists led by Barbara Hepworth and Ben Nicholson.
Festivals
St Ives is home to 3 celebrations of interest. John Knill a former Mayor of St Ives constructed the Knill Steeple a granite monument overlooking the town of St Ives. In 1797 John Knill laid down instructions for the celebration of the Knill Ceremony which was to take place every 5 years on the 25th of July. The ceremony itself involves The Mayor of St Ives, a customs officer, and a vicar - accompanied by 2 widows and 10 girls who should be the 'daughters of fishermen, tinners, or seaman'. For more details see Article about John Knill
A second celebration of perhaps greater antiquity is St Ives feast which is a celebration of the founding of St Ives by St Ia and takes place on the Sunday and Monday nearest February 3rd every year. The day itself includes a civic procession to Venton Ia or the well of St Ia and other associated activities however, it is most notable for being one of the 2 surviving examples of Cornish Hurling (however in a more gentle format than its other manifestation in St Columb).
The town also has regular services via National Express Coach to London Victoria, Heathrow and numerous other destinations throughout the UK. The nearest airports to St Ives are Newquay and Plymouth.
Local government
Prior to 1974 the St Ives Borough Council was the principal local authority for what now forms the civil parish of St Ives. Since the reform of English local government in 1974 St Ives has elected a town council. The principal local authority function for St Ives is now undertaken by Penwith District Council and the Cornwall County Council. For the purposes of election to Cornwall County Council, St Ives forms a single multi-member electoral division returning two members.
Geography
Porth Meor beach is St Ives' major surfing area, and is overlooked by holiday apartments. A rocky hill, which features a single cliff-top chapel, separates the beach from Porth Gwydden, a much smaller beach. Much of the town's outskirts are built on steep terrain.
"St Ives, Cornwall"