iKnow Cornwall
Truro Accommodation
Truro's Iconic Cathedral in Cornwall's Capital
Truro Cathedral Detail
Carving Detail on Truro Cathedral
Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro
Truro's Historic Plaza Cinema
The Passmore Edwards Library - historic buildings Truro
Hall for Cornwall, Truro's popular Cornwall Music Venue
Instricate Carving Work on Truro CathedralTruro Tourist Information Cathedral Cinema Truro Cornwall
As 'capitals' go, Truro feels quite small, as compared to Devon's capital Plymouth for example. Certainly this doesn't result in negative vibes. Truro's centre has much character and charm, giving off an air of mini-chic more akin to Devon's Exeter. It retains it's aloofness, no doubt influenced from it's powerhouse past as a stannery powerhouse and financial centre. It still looks rich, and has seen an influx of residents from outside of Cornwall, and elegant houses built by wealthy mine owners during the 19th and 20th centuries remain.
Truro Cathedral, much like Beverley and Ripon Cathedrals in Yorkshire, looks a little crammed in these days surrounded by modern day shops. This cathedral, built with Cornish granite and Bath stone is relatively new, with building completed as late as 1910. Public money built it, and Truro Cathedral is certainly the capital's iconic landmark. Marks of 19th century paternalism can be seen in the town, particularly the Passmore Edwards Library built by newspaper magnet John Passmore. Truro has much to offer on the cultural side, with the superb Truro Plaza Cinema, the excellent Royal Cornwall Museum which is home to a number of works by the Cornish artist John Opie, and now Truro has a major music and events venue in the contemporary hub that is the 'Hall for Cornwall'.
Truro History & Truro Cathedral
Truro's Blue Badge City walking tours are well worth tapping into, via the Tourist Information Centre. Take in Truro's fascinating history dating as far back as the 12th century when Chief Justice of England Richard Lucy built a castle here on what is now the Courts of Justice on Edward Street. Truro's history is intimately connected to Cornwall's mining booms of tin and copper. Strategically placed, it was once an important industrial port and stannery town, growing rich off the back of Cornish Miners. Falmouth pinched much of it's shipping trade eventually being blessed with it's much deeper harbour. However, Truro continued to grow during the Victorian period, with Queen Victoria making it officially a city in 1877.
Magnificent Georgian architecture abounds in Truro. Check out the Georgian houses on Leomon Street and the magical and superbly intact Georgian terrace, Walsingham Place adjacent to Victoria Square. The current Hall for Cornwall, site of the contemporary entertainment venue has a fascinating history too. This site has been the home of stannery courts, magistrates, city hall, a skating rink and picture house and police offices and the fire brigade through the years. A bitter battle took place during the 1980s between the council and the community - the council wanted to sell it off to developers. Truro residents had other ideas! The residents won their battle, and Hall for Cornwall is now a major entertainment and arts venue west of Plymouth!
Nothing signifies Truro's Victorian hey day more than it's ornate gothic revival cathedral. The first Cornish granite stones of Truro Cathedral were laid by the Duke of Cornwall, later Edward VII, in 1880. By 1910 this massive effort to revive the mammoth medieval gothic cathedral genre was complete. Truro Cathedral sits on the site of St Mary's Church which had been there since 1259. The Victorians combined gothic medieval style with modern building techniques to great effect. If you're in Truro make time to view this splendid cathedral both inside and out!. Truro Cathedral is open from 7.30am to 6pm Mon to Sat, 9.00am to 7pm on Sundays and from 9.30am during Bank holidays Truro Cathedral Office, St Mary's Street, Truro. Tel: .01872 276782.
Blue Badge Guides of Truro, Guided Walks, Tel: 01872 271257. Truro Tourist Information Centre, Municipal Buildings, Boscawen Street, Truro, Cornwall. Tel: 01872 274555.
Truro Cinema, Shops & Hall for Cornwall
Cornwall does well for historic cinemas, and one of the best is here in Truro - the Plaza (see weblink right for details). Built in 1938 it retains it's splendid 1930s fažade, whilst inside it's been refurbished offering four screens with all the usual state of the art sound and visual stuff, plus full wheelchair access, air conditioning and special facilities for the hard of hearing. Truro's Plaza Cinema won the UK's best independent cinema award in 2006, judged by a panel of cinema experts considering the spectrum of 250 independent cinemas across the UK. A well deserved reward indeed!
Check the Plaza Cinema's weblink to the right for full details on film showings, which usually blend a mix of mainstream and independent cinema.
The Plaza Truro Cinema, Lemon Street, Truro, TR1 2PN. Booking Line: 01872 272894.
Royal Cornwall Museum, Truro
The Royal Cornwall Museum here in Truro is most certainly one of Cornwall's real treasures. Renowned internationally for it's collection of rare minerals it's positively a Geologists haven. There's more, it's also a real centre for Newlyn School Art, plus older Cornish artists such as John Opie.
The focus of this museum is most certainly on Cornwall, reaching into the areas of ethnology, natural history and fine art. There's also a good collection of unwrapped mummies here! The renowned collection of rare minerals is primarily the work of Philip Rashleigh of Menabilly who built up his collection at the end of the 18th century.
On a parallel with the superb Newlyn School Art Gallery in Penzance, the Royal Cornwall Museum has amassed a superb collection of work by both the Newlyn School of artists and the St Ives school. Stanhope Forbes, Elizabeth Forbes, Julius Olsson, Norman Garstin, Annie Walke, Charles Napier Hemy and Sherwood Hunter are all here, plus other notable works are here by the Cornish painter John Opie, the sculptor Neville Northy Burnard and the Truro-born miniaturist Henry Bone. Unmissible for fine art, the Royal Cornwall Museum also has work on show by George Romney, John Constable, John Sell Cotman, Thomas Gainsborough, Samuel Prout, JMW Turner, Van Dyck, Sargent, Rossetti, and Rubens. A real treat!
Royal Cornwall Museum, River Street, Truro, Cornwall, TR1 2SJ. Tel 01872 272205.
Yarg Cornish Cheese, Lynher Dairies near Truro
The fine Yarg Cornish Cheese is made at Pengreep Farm near Truro. Alan Gray created the original recipe and in 1984 he moved to Netherton Farm, near Liskeard to make cheese with the Horrell Family.
The Mead family joined forces with the Horrells and started to make Yarg Cornish Cheese at Pengreep in 2001 and then, when the Horrells retired from farming and cheese making, the Meads took on the entire cheese making production. Yarg Cornish Cheese is made from milk of the Ayrshire, Jersey and Friesian cross herd at Pengreep and that of 10 other surrounding farms in the parish.
For more information on Yarg Cornish Cheese see Lynher Dairies weblink right.
Pengreep Farm, Ponsanooth, Truro, TR37JQ Near Truro. Tel. 01872 870789 /01872 870939.
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