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Penryn is one of Cornwall’s oldest Towns, receiving its first charter in 1263. Even further back there is archaeological evidence of at least three Iron Age settlements in the area. Medieval Penryn owed its existence to its harbour, but the building of a huge collegiate church by the bishops of Exeter really put Penryn on the map.

In 1327 half of Penryn’s population were foreigners, mostly Bretons. It must have been a cosmopolitan place with many languages to be heard, including Cornish. By 1547 the Borough of Penryn was sending two MP’s to Parliament. Over the centuries Penryn has been described as a town full of gardens and running water. Many older locals remember people selling their produce from their front room windows.

And this is what the guide is about – people. From the handsome and dashing cavalier Sir Nicholas Slanning, Royalist governor of Pendennis Castle to Doris Driscoll who went to work at the age of 16 for 5 shillings a week in the Penryn general store.