The Island
The "island" (which is technically an isthmus) was once known as Pendinas. This is the Cornish for "fortified headland".
Consequently, and given the ideal geography, it is thought that there might have been an Iron Age promontory fort here. No archaeological remains have been recorded but the island has been heavily altered during centuries of military and urban construction, so they could have been obliterated by that.
Another possibility for the name is from mediaeval/Tudor fortifications to protect the town from French pirates. A small stone fort (known as "the castle") was built near the base of the headland, at the end of the 15th Century, to house a battery of cannons.
On walks
- St Ives (4.3 mile walk)
Get the iWalkCornwall app
Download the app and use it to explore the walks and to purchase a guided route.
The app will direct you to the start of the walk via satnav.
The app guides you around the walk using GPS, removing any worries about getting lost.
The walk route is described with detailed, regularly-updated, hand-written directions.
Each time there is a new direction to follow, the app will beep to remind you, and will warn you if you go off-route.
A map shows the route, where you are at all times and even which way you are facing.
Each walk is packed with information about the history and nature along the route, from over a decade of research than spans more than 3,000 topics.
Once a walk is downloaded, the app doesn't need a phone or wifi signal during the walk.
The app counts down distance to the next direction and estimates time remaining based on your personal walking speed.
We keep the directions continually updated for changes to the paths/landmarks - the price for a walk includes ongoing free updates.
