by Lisa Di Tommaso | Jul 19, 2026 | Blog, Images, Morrab Library, Photographic Archive
Join our Photo Archive intern, Sam Hill for his fourth blog, written during his time with us…
In our fourth instalment of the “Penzance Then and Now” blog post series, I shall be exploring some of the history of Penzance’s Pubs, Taverns, and Inns. When I was researching the last three blogs, I came across a great selection of images that show the historic nature of the town’s drinking spots.
It must be noted that not all the town’s drinking establishments are respresented in the Morrab’s collections, so if you do possess any historic images of these places please do get in contact with the Photo Archive team, as we would love to preserve them.
The Crown Inn
The Crown Inn has been designated as a Grade II listed building due to the early 19th century stucco style visible on the building. It is located on Victoria Square, which was constructed in 1829.
The Navy Inn
Located near the bottom of Queen Street, the Navy Inn is a 19th century building made from granite and stone. The name of the Inn derives from when the Royal Navy maintained a local depot nearby. The Inn is adjacent to Marine Place, the notorious location of the Marine Place murders in 1886 by James Hawke. The image below show the pub during the Ash Wednesday floods of 1962.
The Yacht Inn
The images below show both iterations of the Yacht Inn. The first photo shows the original building, which was a notable drinking spot for the seaweed gatherers of the town. After the construction of the Jubilee Pool in 1935, the Yacht Inn reopened with a new structure designed by Collins Minor Drewitt to resemble a bridge of a luxury cruiser.
The Dock Inn
Located at the bottom of Quay Street, the Dock Inn is an historic pub and B&B that has stood on the quay since the 18th century. It would have been a popular drinking spot for the sailors, fishermen, and townsfolk of old.
The Dolphin Tavern
One of Penzance’s most famous pubs, the Dolphin Tavern has a long and fascinating history. A building has been present on site since the 14th century, firstly being used as a recruitment centre by Vice Admiral John Hawkin before the Spanish Armada, and later, a local courthouse. The infamous Judge Jeffreys handed out severe sentences against smugglers and other criminals, with the ‘hanging room’ located in the basement. The tavern has reported numerous supernatural apparitions, with a young fair-haired man, a young Victorian woman, and a sea captain called George being seen.
The Turks Head
Supposedly the oldest pub within the town, the Turks Head is one of the first in England to bear its name after the Saracens, whom Christian Knights fought in the Crusades. After the Spanish burnt down most of Chapel Street during their Raid on Penzance in 1595, the Turks Head was one of the few stone buildings to have survived the blaze.
The Admiral Benbow
This pub was built by local legend and maritime salvager, Roland Morris, by combining two old cottages. The pub is home to an array of nautical paraphernalia, including ship figureheads, lanterns, and flint lock pistols. Local legend says that when it was a sailor’s rest during the 18th century, the building supposedly possessed an underground tunnel that ran down to the harbour to allow smugglers to move contraband product. One of the armed smugglers has been immortalised on the roof of the pub.
The Pirate Inn
The Pirate Inn on Alverton Road was originally a traditional farmhouse built either in 1674 or in 1701. These dates are known from two dates carved directly into the stonework. The building did not become a public house until 1953, in which the name of the pub most likely derived from Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic opera The Pirates of Penzance.
I hope you have enjoyed this visual pub crawl of some of the pubs of Penzance!
All the photos used in this post are accessible from the Morrab Library’s Photographic Archive, the link to which is here: https://photoarchive.morrablibrary.org.uk/
by Lisa Di Tommaso | Aug 22, 2026 | Blog, Images, Morrab Library, Photographic Archive
Our library was fortunate, and delighted, to host Sam Hill on a three month internship, where he worked in our Photo Archive.
As well as no less than seven blogs you can find links to below, and delivering an entertaining talk about his time with us and the discoveries he made in the collections, Sam has also written a longer academic paper about our collections, which we will add to our archive. This article explores West Cornwall’s maritime people and their working lives between 1865 and 1935, using images from our Photo Archive collections.
You can click on this link to read Sam’s article here: Exploring West Cornwall’s maritime people, by Sam Hill August 2026
Use these links to read Sam’s blogs:
An Introduction to Sam
Maritime Communities and meeting the Creatures of the Deep
Penzance Then and Now Part One: Market Jew Street and Chapel Street
Penzance Then and Now Part Two: Promenade and Alexandra Terrace
Penzance Then and Now Part Three: Alverton.
Penzance Then and Now Part Four: Pubs, Taverns and Inns
The working lives of the people of the Isles of Scilly explored through my third great grandfather Samuel Jenkins Guy.
We are so grateful to Sam for all of his hard work and great company while he was with us, and we wish him all the best for the future.
by Lisa Di Tommaso | Jun 14, 2026 | Blog, Images, Morrab Library, Photographic Archive
Join our Photo Archive intern, Sam Hill for his latest blog, written during his time with us…
During my time exploring the Morrab Library’s Photo Archive, I have come across so many wonderful pictures of Penzance that can truly transport you back in time. As such, I thought it would be worthwhile to write the “Penzance Then and Now” blog post series, which will explore snippets of the town’s history using the library’s photo archive collections and some contemporary images I have taken for comparison. In our first instalment, I shall display a range of photos that show the history of Market Jew Street and Chapel Street.
Walking up Market Jew Street is often a daily occurrence for the people of Penzance, with its cafes, shops, and pubs being frequented by locals. The street’s name, “Market Jew Street,” derives from the Cornish words for market, marghas, and Thursday, yow, which together made marghas yow and thus “Thursday Market.”
Image 1 and 2- Train station looking up towards Market Jew Street
Image 3 and 4- Albert Street looking up towards Market Jew Street https://photoarchive.morrablibrary.org.uk/items/show/22673
At the top of the street, the Market House towers over the main artery of Penzance. The space has been occupied by a market house and a guildhall since the Penzance Corporation bought the three-cornered plot of waste land in 1614.
The current Market House is a replacement of the 17th-century counterpart, as the town’s corporations wanted to replace the old and inadequate building. The new Market House was the product of an architectural competition held by the New Corporation in 1835. The winner was H. J. Whiting, but the commission was given to William Harris. The building took two years to build and was officially opened by the Mayor, Richard Pearce, on 28th June 1838, on the day of Queen Victoria’s Coronation.
Image 5, 6 and 7- Around the top of Market Jew Street – https://photoarchive.morrablibrary.org.uk/items/show/22829 / https://photoarchive.morrablibrary.org.uk/items/show/22789
Images 8 and 9
Images 10 and 11
The adjoining street, “Chapel Street”, derives from the Chapel of St. Mary, not from the Methodist Chapel erected on the street in 1814, which is often assumed. The street is named as “Our Lady Street” in 1549 and “Lady Street” in 1665.
Image 12, 13 and 14
In the 18th century, the street began to reflect the period of steady growth of the town through the construction of various attractive buildings. These buildings were unique for the area as they were built in brick with granite dressings, with good examples being No.15 “Crownley”, No.16 “Trevelyan Hotel”, No.18, No.19, No.20 and No.45.
Image 15 and 16
Image 17 and 18
Much of Chapel Street building was undertaken in the latter 18th century, but the main front of the Union Hotel is early- 19th century stucco, with fluted Ionic pilasters and volutes. Nowadays, Chapel Street is one of the many jewels of Penzance, and is the home of a range of amazing shops, pubs and eateries.
I hope you have enjoyed looking through some of the amazing photos of Penzance held at the Morrab Library. It is impossible to cover all the areas of Penzance, but if there is a place you are particularly interested in, then please do contact the Morrab Library Photographic Archive collection or visit the website to search the archive online: https://photoarchive.morrablibrary.org.uk/
