Facts about Cornwall
History
The Battle of Deorham in 577 saw the separation of Dumnonia (and therefore Cornwall) from Wales, following which the Dumnonii often came into conflict with the expanding English kingdom of Wessex. The Annales Cambriae report that in 722 AD the Britons of Cornwall won a battle at “Hehil”. It seems likely that the enemy the Cornish fought was a West Saxon force, as evidenced by the naming of King Ine of Wessex and his kinsman Nonna in reference to an earlier Battle of Lining in 710.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle stated in 815 “and in this year king Ecgbryht raided in Cornwall from east to west.” and thenceforth apparently held it as a ducatus or dukedom annexed to his regnum or kingdom of Wessex, but not wholly incorporated with it. In the same year Ecgbert, as a later document expresses it, disposed of their territory as it seemed fit to him, giving a tenth part of it to God.
General Info
Cornwall is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, with the River Tamar forming the border between them. It forms the westernmost part of the South West Peninsula of the island of Great Britain.
Cornwall was formerly a Brythonic kingdom and subsequently a royal duchy. It is the cultural and ethnic origin of the Cornish diaspora. The Cornish nationalist movement contests the present constitutional status of Cornwall and seeks greater autonomy within the United Kingdom in the form of a devolved legislative Cornish Assembly with powers similar to those in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
