"Hats off to the past - Coats off to the future!"
Charity Registration No. 1129987

CORNISH QUEST

Cornish Quest is an educational charity based in Cornwall which has been established to encourage the earning of Cornish history, culture, language and law. Cornish Quest was registered  as a charity in 2009 and its Charity Commission registration number is 1129987. The organisation is run by a Board of nineTrustees.

We believe Cornish history and culture should be more widely accessible to all and we are committed to supporting the teaching and learning of Cornish heritage for people of all ages.

Please find out more about our recent projects on this page and explore the site which has plenty of resources on Cornish History.

You can support Cornish Quest by attending events and please consider making a donation. We are currently fund-raising to provide Cornish secondary schools with a  pack of reference books on Cornwall's mining industries.

SOME PREVIOUS CORNISH QUEST PROJECTS

CORNISH MINING REFERENCE BOOKS
Cornish Quest has just completed the donation of fourteen reference books on Cornish mining and technology to all secondary schools in Cornwall.
Some of the messages from schools:
"I was extremely impressed by the detail, breadth and variety of levels of information within the resources, they will enhance the college collection greatly."
"We have a Cornish/local section in the library where these new books will take pride of place"
"These books are going to help a great deal in our research"
"The History department have a module they deliver to the students which will find the resources an excellent source of information for the students to use in teaching classes as well as lessons held in the college library"
Cornish Mining Pack
  • Voices of the Cornish Mining Landscape -Sharron P. Schwartz
  • Richard Trevithick: The Quiz Book - The Trevithick Society
  • Horses Stood Still: The Lost Letters of Richard Trevithick - a Drama by Simon Parker 
  • The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site Learning Information Sheets
  • Climax Illustrated: The Climax War Effort
  • Genius: Richard Trevithick’s Steam Engines - Philip M Hosken
  • Holman Bros: Our Work During the Great War
  • Climax Illustrated: The Climax War Effort
  • Williams’ Perran Foundry: Illustrated Catalogue of Pumping and Winding Engines
  • Harvey & Company: General Engineers’, Hayle, Cornwall and London
  • Bal Maidens: Women and Girls of the Cornwall and Devon Mines - Lynnne Mayers
  • A Dangerous Place to Work! Women and Children of the Devon and Cornwall Mining Industries - Lynne Mayers
  • A Hazardous Occupation: Women and Girls of the Cornish Explosives Industries - Lynne Mayers 
  • Cornwall Transport and Industrial Heritage - John Vaughan
Cornish Quest was delighted to sponsor the Camborne School of Mines Team in the 38th Intercollegiate Mining Competition which took place between the March 30th - April 3rd 2016 in Butte, Montana, USA
Cornish Quest Welcomes Five New Trustees

Five new Trustees joined the Cornish Quest Board of Trustees at the Cornish Quest Annual General Meeting held on 16th January 2016.

Cornish Quest welcomes:

Dr Bernard Deacon
Phil Hosken
Kevin Bennetts
Steve Angove
Roy Gill
                        Cornish Mining Pack

Cornish Quest Trustees are in the process of putting together a pack of top level books and resources on Cornish mining to donate to every secondary school in Cornwall.
"Cornwall's mining and engineering has had such a profound and positive effect on Cornwall and the world.  It is important for children to know and understand this"
Cornish Quest is very grateful for support and assistance from partners and colleagues for their donations of resources to the Cornish Mining Schools Pack

Playwright, journalist and Cornish Bard Simon Parker has very generously gifted 40 CD copies of his drama 'The Horses Stood Still' which celebratesTrevithick's momentous achievements and, in the words of the author, 'allows Trevithick to put the record straight about his life, his work and his motivations'. The part of Trevithick is played by another outstanding Cornishman, Benjamin Luxon.  For more information about 'The Horses Stood Still' please follow this link

Listen to an excerpt from the play

Cornish Quest is also grateful to the Trevithick Society who have made a much appreciated donation of three sets of books for the pack:
  • The Richard Trevithick quiz book - Trevithick Society.
  • Our work during the Great War 1914-1018 - Holman Brothers Camborne.
  • Climax illustrated - Climax rock drill company.

These resources will all give young people in Cornwall an accessible insight into the international importance of Cornish mining.
'The Horses Stood Still' by Simon Parker
Illustrations from 'Climax illustrated' Climax rock drill company
The Richard Angove Bursary
The Richard Angove Bursary is an award made to an Institute of Cornish Studies student.  This is an annual book bursary in honour of Cornish Quest's first Treasurer, Richard Angove and is awarded to students of the Institute who show strong commitment to Cornwall and a clear understanding of Cornish history.

The Bursary is funded by donations from Cornish Quest, Mrs Angela Angove and Ms Juliette Angove.

         The Richard Angove Bursary 2016
The subject of this year's competition was:
What are the likely benefits to the cultural and political life of Cornwall of the government's recognition of National Minority status for the Cornish in 2014?
The winner of this year's Bursary was Alexandre Ollington who was awarded his prize at a St Piran's Day Conference held by the Institute of Cornish Studies at Penryn Campus on 4th March 2016. 
Chairman of Cornish Quest, Mrs Angela Angove presents James Lynch with the 2015 Richard Angove Bursary at the Association of Celtic Students of Ireland and Britain Conference.
                                      Richard Angove Bursary 2014
Will Orchard, Thomas Fidler and Miles Fowler are joint winners of the Richard Angove Bursary 2014
                                              Fundraising 2016
Following successful fundraisers at the St Day Christmas Bazaar in 2014 and 2015,  Cornish Quest will be running stalls at St Day Feast, Newlyn Fish Festival and St Day Christmas Bazaar

Please get in touch with admin@cornishquest if you are able to contribute good including hand-made gifts, especially those with a Cornish theme!
                   Cornish History Reference Pack for Schools
Secondary schoolchildren in Cornwall are able to explore all sorts of aspects of Cornwall's history by checking out the books about Cornwall donated recently by Cornish Quest to every Cornish secondary school.

The books are the same for each school and they are:

1. Cornovia - Craig Weatherhill
2. Cornwall in the Age of Steam - Charles Guthrie
3. The Saints of Cornwall - Catherine Rachel John
4. Cornwall's People - Carolyn Martin
5. Cornish! A Dictionary of Phrases, Terms and Epithets Beginning with the word "Cornish" Thornton B. Edwards
6. Life in Cornwall in the early C19th - ed. R M Barton
7. Life in Cornwall 1939-42 - Catherine Ince
8. The Falmouth Packets - Tony Pawlyn
9. Our Future is History -John Angarrack
10. Maga Schools' Cornish Dictionary
11. Cornish Place Names - Craig Weatherhill
12. Scoot Dances, Troyls, Furrys and Tea Treats - Merv, Alison & Jowdy Davey
13. The Theatre of Cornwall- Dr Alan Kent
14. The Ordinalia - Dr Alan Kent
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Humphry Davy School receives a pack of Cornish history reference books from Cornish Quest

‘The Camborne School of Mines - the History of Mining Education in Cornwall’

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Former Cornish Quest Trustee, Mr Laurie Piper has published a comprehensive volume charting 125 years of a unique Cornish institution, the Camborne School of Mines.

Published by the Trevithick Society with funding support from the Cornish Mining World Heritage Site Partnership, ‘The Camborne School of Mines - the History of Mining Education in Cornwall’ is the result of many year’s research by Lawrence Piper, a former Principal of what is now Cornwall College.