Linda Weir, (Men Coming Home. St Ives Harbour 02 Marine Paintings – Linda Weir, With Footnotes, #260

St Ives is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial emphasis, and the town is now primarily a popular seaside resort.

The origin of St Ives is attributed in legend to the arrival of the Irish saint Ia of Cornwall, in the 5th century. The parish church bears her name, and St Ives derives from it.

St Ives was the most important fishing port on the north coast. The pier was built by John Smeaton in 1767–70 but has been lengthened at a later date. The octagonal lookout with a cupola belongs to Smeaton’s design. More on St Ives…