Gweek (, meaning ''forest village'') is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and village in

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately three miles (5 km) east of

Helston Helston () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: ...

. The civil parish was created from part of the parish of

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

by boundary revision in 1986. The name ''Gweek'' is first recorded as ''Gwyk'' in 1358 and is derived from the Cornish word ''gwig'', meaning "forest village", cognate with the Welsh ''gwig'' and

Old Breton Breton (, , ; or in Morbihan) is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language group spoken in Brittany, part of modern-day France. It is the only Celtic language still widely in use on the European mainland, albeit as a member of ...

''guic''. Gweek village has a pub, the ''Black Swan'', and a shop. The village is also home to the Cornish Seal Sanctuary. Gweek lies within the

Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The Cornwall National Landscape (formerly the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) covers in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom; that is, about 27% of the total area of the county. It comprises 12 separate areas, designated under the Na ...

(AONB). Almost a third of Cornwall has AONB designation, with the same status and protection as a National Park.

History

Gweek is at the head of navigation of the

Helford River The Helford River () is a ria (flooded river valley) in Cornwall, England, fed by small streams into its many creeks. There are seven creeks on the Helford; from west to east these are Ponsontuel Creek, Mawgan Creek, Polpenwith Creek, Polwheve ...

. It has been a port since Roman times and thrived in the Tudor period, with its own Customs House. In the 13th century, the townspeople of Helston bought the rights to the port of Gweek. During the mining boom, a tin-smelting

blowing house A blowing house or blowing mill was a building used for smelting tin in Cornwall and on Dartmoor in Devon, in South West England. Blowing houses contained a furnace and a pair of bellows that were powered by an adjacent water wheel, and they w ...

operated at the quayside. In Lewis's ''Topographical Dictionary of England'' published in 1848, the village was described as:

''GWEEK, a small port, in the hundred of Kerrier, W. division of Cornwall, 3½ miles (E. by S.) from Helston. The pilchard-fishery is carried on extensively, 200 boats being employed in taking the fish, which are cured in the various creeks and coves within the limits of the port. In addition to the fishery, the chief trade consists in the exportation of copper-ore, corn, moorstone, and oysters, and the importation of timber, coal, and limestone.''

In an August 1880 edition of The Cornishman newspaper, Gweek (along with Porthleven) was described as a prominent seaport, supplying coal, lime, timber, slate, etc to the neighbouring mines and inhabitants. Timber was unloaded from ships at Merthen Hole and floated up-river to Gweek on barges. The western wharf was owned by Mr Basset of Tehidy.

Musical activities

Gweek has a silver band which performs locally and provides music at some Anglican services in the Gweek Mission Church. The band also organises a yearly "band week". This starts with a concert of three local brass bands in a field overlooking the

. Afterwards, there is a pig roast with stalls and entertainment and at the end of the week a clay pigeon shoot. The Cornwall Fiddle Orchestra was formed in 2007 by fiddle player Hudson Swan. He was a member of Scottish band,

The Tannahill Weavers The Tannahill Weavers are a traditional Scottish music musical group.They released their first album in 1976, and were one of the first popular bands to incorporate the Great Highland Bagpipe in an ensemble setting. In doing so, they helped ch ...

but now lives in Cornwall and works as a violin teacher for the Cornwall Music Service. The orchestra rehearses weekly at Helston School.

Antiquities

The three-cornered Tolvan Holed Stone is an unusual megalith. It is about 800 metres north of Gweek behind Tolvan Cross Farm.

In literature

Gweek is featured in '' The Meaning of Liff'', a book by

Douglas Adams Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, humorist, and screenwriter, best known as the creator of ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy''. Originally a 1978 BBC radio comedy, ''The Hitchhiker's Guide to the ...

and John Lloyd, being used as a noun meaning "A coat hanger recycled as a car aerial". A passage in

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the workin ...

's novel ''

Hereward the Wake Hereward the Wake (Old English pronunciation /ˈhɛ.rɛ.ward/ , modern English pronunciation / ) (also known as Hereward the Outlaw or Hereward the Exile) was an Anglo-Saxon nobleman and a leader of local resistance to the Norman Conquest of E ...

'' features Gweek and its neighbouring woods. Kingsley received some of his education at nearby Helston Grammar School.

References

External links

The Village Website of Gweek
{{authority control Civil parishes in Cornwall Ports and harbours of Cornwall Villages in Cornwall