Penryn is one of the older towns of Cornwall, standing on its granite spur above a tidal river just upstream from Falmouth. In Kernewek it is Pennrynn, promontory. The town was founded and named in 1216 by the Bishop of Exeter, and the streets still keep to that medieval plan, running down to the quay.
Glasney and after
Glasney College, built in 1265, made Penryn a place of learning and church power; when it was dissolved and demolished in 1548, the grievance fed straight into the Prayer Book Rebellion of the following year. The town sent members to Parliament from 1554, and at least three of its mayors were convicted of piracy between 1550 and 1650, which the records note without embarrassment.
Granite and the modern town
Granite works took over in the nineteenth century, and the railway station opened on 24 August 1863 on the Truro to Falmouth line. Penryn RFC was founded in 1872 and is the oldest rugby club in Cornwall, and the campus opened in 2004 has brought the students back to a town that has been a place of study since Glasney.
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Last checked: 2026-10-11