Cornish nationalism


Cornish nationalism is a cultural, political and social movement that seeks the recognition of Cornwall – the south-westernmost part of the island of Great Britain – as a nation distinct from England.
Cornish nationalism is usually based on three general arguments:
  • that Cornwall has a Celtic cultural identity separate from that of England, and that the Cornish people have a national, civic or ethnic identity separate from that of English people;
  • that Cornwall should be granted a degree of devolution or autonomy, usually in the form of a Cornish national assembly;
  • and that Cornwall is legally a territorial and constitutional Duchy with the right to veto Westminster legislation, not merely a county of England, and has never been formally incorporated into England via an Act of Union.

    Autonomy movement

Cornish nationalists, such as Mebyon Kernow, generally seek some form of autonomy for Cornwall.
In 2003, a Cornwall Councillor Bert Biscoe commissioned a researcher to see if self-governing practices used in Guernsey could be applied to Cornwall.

Distinct cultural, national or ethnic identity

In 2001, campaigners prevailed upon the UK census to count Cornish ethnicity as a write-in option on the national census, although there was no separate Cornish tick box. In 2004 school children in Cornwall could also record their ethnicity as Cornish on the schools census.
In 2004, a campaign was started to field a Cornish national team in the 2006 Commonwealth Games. However, in 2006, the Commonwealth Games Federation stated that "Cornwall is no more than an English county".
The concept that the Cornish are a separate ethnicity is based on the Celtic origin and language of the Cornish, making them an ethnic minority distinct from people in the rest of England.
In September 2011, George Eustice, Conservative Member of Parliament for Camborne and Redruth, argued that Cornwall's heritage should be administered by a Cornish organisation rather than English Heritage.
On 24 April 2014 the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, announced that the Cornish people had been granted minority status under the Council of Europe's framework for the protection of national minorities, the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities.
On 5 March 2025, the UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was asked by Cornish MP Perran Moon to confirm the government’s commitment to national minority status for Cornwall. Starmer replied "We do recognise Cornish national minority status, not just the proud language, the history and the culture of Cornwall, but its bright future".

Constitutional status

The official position on the Duchy of Cornwall

The Duchy of Cornwall is a private estate that funds the public, charitable and private activities of The Prince of Wales and his family. The Duchy itself consists of around 54,424 hectares of land in 23 counties, mostly in the South West of England. The current Duke of Cornwall is William, Prince of Wales.
The Duchy estate was created in 1337 by Edward III, King of England, for his son and heir, Prince Edward; its primary function was to provide him and future Princes of Wales with an income from its assets. A charter ruled that each future ''Duke of Cornwall'' would be the eldest surviving son of the monarch and thus also the male heir to the throne.
The current Duke of Cornwall, Prince William, as eldest son of the reigning monarch, is also the Prince of Wales.

The rights of the Duchy of Cornwall

The rights of the Dukes of Cornwall include the right to intestate estates, bona vacantia, treasure trove, gold and silver deposits, waste land, foreshore, rivers and estuaries, mines, mineral rights, rights of common, castles, advowsons, and so on – whether in possession or reputed or claimed to be parcel of the Duchy of Cornwall – the Duchy being the body that collects the rents and dues on behalf of the Prince.. Furthermore, the entirety of the Isles of Scilly is claimed despite the Duchy's admitting that they were not included in, rather "omitted" from, the three Duchy Charters.

County or country?

On 15 May 2000 the Revived Cornish Stannary Parliament, a pressure group formed in 1974, dispatched an invoice to the chief officer of the Duchy of Cornwall, the Lord Warden of the Stannaries. This invoice demanded a refund of a calculated £20 billion overcharge in taxation on tin production from 1337 to 1837. This was calculated according to production figures and historic wealth calculation methods, and The Sunday Times Rich List, March 2000, respectively. Cornwall was charged at over twice the rate levied on the adjacent county of Devon. On 17 May 2000 The Guardian reported that the CSP claimed that the Duchy had levied an excess tax on tin production in Cornwall for five hundred years, and requested repayment within 120 days. The CSP argued that their action demonstrated how Cornwall was treated separately from England in the past, and thus should have special status today. They declared that if they received the money it would be spent on an agency to boost Cornwall's economy.
The Guardian went on to point out that the Duke of Cornwall himself, Charles, Prince of Wales, was in effect trustee and could sell off the Duchy's assets; thus, he would have difficulty in paying the bill. Charles did not receive any money from the state as Duke of Cornwall. His financial stability came from the £5–6m annual net surplus generated by the Duchy.
In July 2025, Cornwall Council supported a motion calling for Cornwall's recognition as the fifth nation of the United Kingdom, alongside England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Background

History of the separate Cornish identity

In 936, King Athelstan of England fixed Cornwall's eastern boundary at the Tamar. The Italian scholar Polydore Vergil in his Anglica Historia, published in 1535, wrote that "the whole Countrie of Britain ... is divided into iiii partes; whereof the one is inhabited of Englishmen, the other of Scottes, the third of Wallshemen, the fowerthe of Cornishe people, which all differ emonge them selves, either in tongue,... in manners, or ells in lawes and ordinaunces." Writing in 1616, Arthur Hopton stated: "England is ... divided into 3 great Provinces, or Countries ... every of them speaking a several and different language, as English, Welsh and Cornish."
During the Tudor period many travellers were clear that the Cornish were commonly regarded as a separate ethnic group. For example, Lodovico Falier, an Italian diplomat at the court of Henry VIII, said, "The language of the English, Welsh and Cornish men is so different that they do not understand each other." He went on to give the alleged 'national characteristics' of the three peoples, saying for example "the Cornishman is poor, rough and boorish". Another notable example is Gaspard de Coligny Châtillon, the French ambassador in London, who wrote saying that England was not a united whole as it "contains Wales and Cornwall, natural enemies of the rest of England, and speaking a different language". In 1603, the Venetian ambassador wrote that the late queen had ruled over five different 'peoples': "English, Welsh, Cornish, Scottish ... and Irish".
It seems however that the recognition by outsiders of the Cornish as a separate people declined with the language, which by the 19th century had essentially ceased to be used. The modern revival of the language, which had almost died out, has caused some interest in the concept of Cornish identity.

History of modern Cornish nationalism

The history of modern Cornish nationalism goes back to the end of the 19th century. The failure of Irish home rule caused Gladstone's Liberal party to revise and make more relevant its devolution policy by advocating the idea of 'home rule all round' applying to Scotland and Wales but opening the door for Cornish Liberals to use cultural themes for political purposes.
In April 1889, the Prime Minister, Lord Salisbury, at a meeting of the Primrose League in Bristol, spoke on the state of the Union. At the time, an Irish Cabinet "with all the appurtenances of government" was being considered. He said that "if Ireland were granted a Parliament and a Cabinet, Scotland would demand a Parliament and a Cabinet, and Wales would do the same." However, "if all these Parliaments were granted an unconstitutional injustice would be done to Cornwall, which was a separate country geographically", going on to talk about Cornish identity and culture: "On these grounds, which were set up as good reasons for granting separate and independent Governments to other parts of the empire, the claims of Cornwall could not be overlooked to a separate and independent Government, and if it was to come about, he hoped that all the alliances of the commission Parliaments and Cabinets would be friendly to the British Government."
Henry Jenner was an important figure in early 20th-century Cornish national awareness. He made the case for Cornwall's membership in the Celtic Congress, pioneered the movement to revive the Cornish language, and founded the Cornish Gorseth.
Some intellectual support for Cornish self-government has come from the Institute of Cornish Studies, affiliated to the University of Exeter.
In 2000, the Cornish Constitutional Convention launched a campaign for a Cornish Assembly. This was a cross-party movement representing many political voices and positions in Cornwall, from Mebyon Kernow and Cornish Solidarity to the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives. It collected over 50,000 petition signatures. A similar petition was started online by Mebyon Kernow in 2014, along with a series of "Assembly Roadshows". This only achieved 2655 signatures, a significant minority of which were not from Cornwall, leaving it far short of the 5000 needed.
On 14 July 2009, Dan Rogerson MP, of the Liberal Democrats, presented a Cornish 'breakaway' bill to the Parliament in Westminster: the Government of Cornwall Bill. The bill proposed a devolved assembly for Cornwall, similar to the Welsh and Scottish ones established ten years earlier. The bill stated that Cornwall should re-assert its rightful place within the United Kingdom. Rogerson argued that "Cornwall should re-assert its rightful place within the United Kingdom. Cornwall is a unique part of the country, and this should be reflected in the way that it is governed. We should have the right to determine areas of policy that affect the people of Cornwall the hardest, such as rules on housing ... Cornwall has the right to a level of self-Government. If the Government is going to recognise the right of Scotland and Wales to greater self-determination because of their unique cultural and political positions, then they should recognise ours."
The Cornish independence movement received unexpected publicity in 2004, when Channel 4's Alternative Christmas message, featuring the Simpsons, showed Lisa Simpson chanting Free Cornwall Now! / Rydhsys rag Kernow lemmyn! and holding a placard saying "UK OUT OF CORNWALL".