In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Marazion like this:
MARAZION, or MARKET-JEW, a small town, a chapelry, and a sub-district, in Penzance district, Cornwall. The town stands on Mounts bay, under a hill, near the West Cornwall railway, 3¼ miles E by N of Penzance; was formerly called Marghasjewe and Marghasion; is called, by Leland, Marhasdethon or Forum-Jovis, -and by the editors of the old Mag. ...
Brit., Market-Jupiter, Market-Jew, or Market-Ju; is supposed, by some writers, to have been settled or inhabited by Jews, for collecting and selling tin, and to have been named by them MaraZion, signifying "Bitter-Zion;'' appears to have been once a place of considerable consequence, both as a seat of trade, and as the head-quarters of pilgrims to St. Michael's Mount; was pillaged by the French in the time of Henry VIII., and by the Cornish rebels in that of Edward V.; obtained a charter from Queen Elizabeth, vesting its government in a mayor, 8 aldermen, and 12 capital burgesses; lost much of its importance by the suppression of the neighbouring priory, and the growing prosperity of Penzance; was not included in any of the schedules of the new municipal act; is irregularly aligned, and indifferently built; is connected with St. Michael's Mount by a causeway 1,200 feet long, but above water during only 4 hours of every 12 of the tide; carries on rope-making, a large pilchard fishery, an import trade in coal, iron, and timber, and some business in connexion with neighbouring mines; and has a head post office‡ of the name of Marazion, Cornwall, a railway station, of the name of Marazion-Road, three inns, a church, four dissenting chapels, a public school, and charities £10. The church stands at some distance, and was recently rebuilt. The chapels are for Independents, Quakers, Wesleyans, and United Free Methodists. A weekly market is held on Saturday; and fairs, chiefly for cattle, are held on 20 March and 20 Sept.-The chapelryincludes the town, and is in the parish of St. Hilary. Acres, 871; of which 190 are water. Real property, £4,260. Pop. in 1851,1,379; in 1861,1,545. Houses, 312. A large tract of marsh was reclaimed by Dr. Moyle. The land is notable for producing a superior variety of turnip. Asbestos, actinolite, iron-ore, and other rare and useful minerals are found. About 1,000 Roman coins were discovered at the reclaiming of the marsh. The living is a p. curacy in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £66. * Patron, the Vicar of St. Hilary.—The sub-district contains also the rest of St. Hilary parish, all Perranuthnoe parish, and St. Michael's Mount extra-parochial tract. Acres, 4,909. Pop., 5,098. Houses, 1,037.
Marazion through time
Marazion is now part of Penwith district. Click here for graphs and data of how Penwith has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Marazion itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Marazion, in Penwith and Cornwall | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/3193
Date accessed: 26th April 2024
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