Cornwall's earliest history is of special interest, mainly because many of the structures erected by the first inhabitants are still in place. Wandering around West Penwith today, you can find stone field enclosures that date back to the time of the pyramids, burial sites dating back 5,000 years, stone circles dating back to the Bronze Age, and even well preserved ancient villages.

Cornwall has always been remote from the rest of England, originally for geographical reasons. Contact with the Romans was minimal, though for millennia the inhabitants had contact with the natives of Brittany, and hence with trading routes through Europe.

Today Cornwall claims a strong cultural political independence and local identity, comparable with other Celtic regions of Britain. The Cornish language, which once died out, has recently been revived and is taught in schools.

'Celtic' Cornwall represents only a small part of its known history, which extends from the arrival of agricultural settlers 6,000 years ago, through the eras of the stone monument makers, to the 19thC when Cornwall produced most of the World's tin.