THE HISTORY OF CORNWALL by Holly Taylor

4000-2400 BC Carn Brea Settlement. There is evidence, today, of a Neolithic settlement in a two acre site at Carn Brea near Redruth.
2400-600 BC The Celts invaded Britain, bringing with them a knowledge of metalworking.
600BC - AD50 There is evidence that the Celtic Language arrived in Cornwall. Forts were starting to appear in the County.
AD43 – AD410 The Romans arrive in Britain, however they make little impact in Cornwall.
AD577 The Battle of Deorham Down results in the split between the Cornish and the Welsh by the advancement of the Saxons.
AD600 St Piran’s Oratory, sometimes known as "The Lost Church" was founded at Perranporth.
AD936 Cornish evicted from Exeter. Anglo Saxon King Athelstan fixes the east bank of the River Tamar as the border between Cornwall and Wessex.
1066 Norman conquest. Robert De Mortain becomes earl of Cornwall and builds castle at Launceston. The castle was built to guard the main route into Cornwall.
1280 – 1290 Mappa Mundi shows four parts of Britain as England, Scotland, Wales and Cornwall.
1307 Tinners Charter granted by Edward 1. The Stannaries negotiated with King John to grant them special privileges and provide Cornwall with legal and political semi-independence.
1337 Edward the Black Prince, eldest son of Edward lll, becomes first Duke of Cornwall , being the first duke ever created in England and a title held by the Prince of Wales even today!
1497 Thomas Flamank and Michael Joseph An Gof led the Cornish Rebellion against Henry VII. The King had imposed a tax to fund the war against the Scots. Flamank and An Gof led a march on London with 15,000 followers to protest. Just outside London they were forced into battle. The two leaders were captured and hung in the capital for their part in the rebellion. A statue in their memory was unveiled in 1997 at St Kerverne.
1508 Charter of Pardon granted by Henry Vll restores the Cornish Stannary Parliament. The 1508 Charter of Pardon affected only Cornish tinners. The tinners paid the large sum of £1,000, to King Henry VII, funded by a general levy on all tinners. In return for the payment the King provided for the self-government of the Stannaries and a right for the tinners to veto statues and ordnances which affected them and the Stannaries.
1549 Cornish ‘Prayer Book Rebellion’ opposes new Protestant Prayer Book and its use of the English Language. The introduction of the new Prayer Book was seen as further erosion of the Cornish Heritage by the English government. The people of Cornwall and Devon rose again in rebellion. The rebellion was crushed by mercanaries from Italy and Germany and thousands of men died on the orders of the Earl of Somerset and Archbishop Cranmer.
1595 Spanish raiders attack Mousehole, Newlyn, Penzance and Paul. The Spanish raiders came from ports in the Brittany region of France. Some 200 Spanish invaded the small villages and set fire to many buildings. Drake sent ships from Plymouth to help fight the invasion and helped by Cornish resistance the Spanish returned to their ships and left Cornish shores.
1642 Civil Wars, in which the Cornish Army fight for the Royalist cause. The conflict between King Charles I and the "Parliamentarians" ended in defeat for the King and his ulimate execution. 3000 Cornish troops mobilised by the King's allies occupied Launceston even though it was reportedmost of Cornwall did not favour either side.
1688 Bishop Johnathon Trelawny imprisoned in the tower but later released. Born at Trelawne in the parish of Pelynt. Trelawny was one of the seven Bishops who petitioned against James II's Declaration of Indulgence, 1687 and 1688 (granting religious tolerance to the Catholics) and as a result of this he was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower on charges of 'seditious libel'. He was tried, acquitted and released three weeks later. Bishop Trelawny was immortalised in the song by Robert Stephen Hawker "The song of the Western men".
1743 John Wesley’s first of thirty to forty visits to Cornwall. Wesley preached mainly to the poor and set up health and illiteracy programmes for the people of Cornwall.
1801 Richard Trevithick’s road locomotive trialled in Camborne. Richard Trevithick ran his steam engine up Camborne Hill and several of his friends jumped on the engine to become the first steam engine passengers.
1815 End of Napoleonic Wars. Start of Cornwall’s Great Emigration. The skilled Cornish miners were in great demand around the world as the development of tin mining grew rapidly. This was one of the main reasons behind large scale emigration in Cornwall at this time.
1840 Hungry Forties in Cornwall, leading to food riots and continuing emigration.
1859 The Royal Albert Bridge at Saltash connects the Cornish railway system to the rest of Britain.
1866 The crash of Cornish copper mining. More emigration as mines close.
1880 Foundation stone of Truro Cathedral laid by HRH The Duke of Cornwall.
1904 Henry Jenner writes his handbook of the Cornish Language. The Great Western Railway introduces Cornish Riviera Limited train opening the way for mass tourism.
1914 - 1918 The first World War.
1928 First Cornish Gorsedd held at Boscawen-un.
1939 - 1945 Second World War.
1961 Tamar Road Bridge opened. Sponsored by Cornwall County Council and Plymouth City Council, Tamar Bridge was started in July 1959. The first vehicle to cross the bridge was the number 76 Bus to Callington in October 1961.
1997 500th Anniversary of Cornish Rebellion. A march to commemorate the uprising. The original route was followed from St Keverne, Cornwall via Guildford to London. A statue depicting An Gof and Flamank was unveiled at An Gof's home town of St. Keverne and a commemorative plaque can also be seen at Blackheath.
1998 Cornwalls last tin mine closes. The mine at South Crofty, near Redruth, closed in March 1998. Hundreds of local people gathered to mark the end of 4,000 years of tin mining.
1999 Cornwall awarded Objective One status. Cornwall defeats Gloucestershire in the Rugby Union County Championship.
2007 Truro City win The FA Vase at the New Wembley Stadium. A record 27.754 people gathered at the newly rebuilt Wembley Stadium as the Cornish side beat AFC Totton 3-1.