View source for Sennen

{{about|the parish of Sennen|the saint|Saints Abdon and Sennen|the popular surfing beach|Sennen Cove|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_width = 240
| 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 = 921
| population_ref = ''(2011)''
| civil_parish = Sennen
| unitary_england = [[Cornwall Council|Cornwall]]
| lieutenancy_england = [[Cornwall]]
| region = South West England
| constituency_westminster = [[St Ives (UK Parliament constituency)|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 parishes in England|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 in Penwith|St Just]] to the north, [[St Buryan]] to the east, [[St Levan]] to the south.<ref name=Mapping /> The [[Longships, Cornwall|Longships]], a group of rocky [[islet]]s situated off Lands End, are also within the parish.<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 main settlements are Churchtown, [[Trevescan]], [[Carn Towan]], [[Sennen Cove]] and [[Land's End]].

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

==Geography==
Sennen parish is situated at the western tip of the [[Penwith|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. The population was 829 at the 2001 [[census]].<ref name="GENUKI">[http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/Sennen/] GENUKI website; Sennen. Retrieved June 2010</ref>

The [[Churchtown, Cornwall|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]].

==Church==
{{main|St. Sennen's Church, Sennen}}
[[File:Sennen Church Yard Celtic Cross - geograph.org.uk - 941234.jpg|thumb|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 /> 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 [[Victorian restoration|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 [[Common Blackbird|blackbird]]s. 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

[[File:Sennen - Whitesands Beach - Doug Parry.jpg|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]
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[[Category:Sennen| ]]
[[Category:Villages in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Beaches of Penwith]]