The name "Zennor Head" originates from the name of a local saint, Senara. According to local legend, Senara was thrown off a headland in Brittany in a barrel after being falsely accused of adultery by her husband and washed up on the Cornish coast, founding Zennor and giving her name to the eponymous village, before continuing to Ireland. The "s" changed to a "z", an occurrence common in the West Country but rare elsewhere, and as such is the largest coastal feature in the United Kingdom to begin with the letter "Z".
History
The headland is bordered by Cornish granite hedges, and the farming system dates from about 4000 BC, the time of the Bronze Age in Cornwall. The surrounding area and village of Zennor has been continually occupied for over 4,000 years. Zennor Head was mined extensively for copper and tin in the 19th century, and drainage adits remain visible on the eastern side. The promontory was donated to the National Trust in December 1953. The Southwest Coast Path was created in 1978, and runs along the top of Zennor Head as part of its, following the edge of the cliffs closely. Zennor in Darkness, the 1994 McKitterick Prize-winning novel by Helen Dunmore, was partly set around Zennor Head. In 2009 the headland suffered flooding which affected the cliff-top footpath. The promontory has been designated as part of the Penwith Heritage Coast.
Geography and geology
Zennor Head is located on the north coast of Cornwall, England, facing the Atlantic Ocean. A headland extending some, it is surrounded by steep cliffs plunging into the sea below. It is west of the town of St Ives, and north-east of the town of Penzance. The nearest human settlement is the village of Zennor, and the headland is flanked by two coves, Pendour and Porthzennor. The nearest headland is Gurnard's Head, 1.6 kilometres to the west. Access is from the SouthWest Coast Path, or the B3306 road. There is a deep inlet known as Horseback on the western side, where seabirds nest. The headland is topped by an Ordnance Survey "Trig Point". The Killas strata, which is exposed over the majority of Zennor Head, is a sedimentary rock formationlaid down in the Devonian period, between approximately 415 and 375 million years ago. Zennor Head is on the surface boundary of the so-called "Land's End Granite", part of the Cornubian batholith which dates from 279 to 274 myr. However, the intrusion of the granite into the Killas strata altered it metamorphically into a shale-type rock.
Fauna and Flora
Zennor Head is home to a variety of wildlife, including the Cornish chough. Grey seals have been sighted off the coast. Many seabirds nest on the cliffs, especially around Horseback Zawn, including herring gulls and fulmars. Kestrels hunt inland of the shoreline. The headland is primarily covered with grass, as well as heather, bracken, thyme and western gorse. In 1962, specimens of the comparatively rare western clover were found on Zennor Head. The lichen Dirina massiliensis has also been found high on the acid schist cliffs on the north-, seaward-side of the headland. The parasitic plant dodder is found growing on gorse. There are also typical coastal flowering plants such as kidney vetch, sea campion, and thrift.
