St Just-in-Penwith is home to arguably the oldest working theatre in Britain,
standing in the heart of the community for over 600 years, this Plen-an-
Gwary is a scheduled ancient monument and one of only two surviving
outdoor amphitheatres in Cornwall.
In English, ‘plen-an-gwary’ means ‘place of the play’; the plen has acted as
a theatre, sports arena and meeting place in the centre of the town since the
Middle ages and still is in daily use as a vibrant and living part of the town,
cared for by St Just Town Council. More recently, it has become inextricably
linked to the spectacular large scale performances of the Ordinalia cycle, and
the town’s annual community Lafrowda festival.
It is not a museum piece, a tourist attraction or a recreation of a piece
of history, but a real theatre with real history and a real part to play in
Cornwall’s future.
In order to mount larger events in the plen-an-gwary properly and safely,
companies used the small wooden building next to the Plen, when the site
went up for sale in 2006 a vigorous campaign was started by the St Just &
District Trust with support of the local community.
In March 2007 Penwith District Council kindly purchased the site (£70,000),
in order to give the town a chance to raise the money to secure it in
perpetuity. We now have a limited window of opportunity to repay the money
to ensure future generations can continue to enjoy the plen as a working
auditorium. Without this site, it would be impossible to use the plen for larger
scale events. |
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