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YOU ARE A SCHOLAR OF TRURO!
you don’t know your gothic from your elbow!
#1. Truro Cathedral is famous for its three massive spires. In what architectural style was the cathedral built during the 19th century?
Fun Fact: It was the first cathedral to be built on a new site in England since Salisbury Cathedral in 1220.
#2. For centuries, Truro was one of Cornwall’s “Stannary Towns.” What was the primary purpose of a Stannary town?
Fun Fact: Tin was Cornwall’s “liquid gold,” and the Crown took a tax on every block stamped in the town.
#3. Truro is built at the meeting point of two rivers. However, if you walk through the city center today, you might not see them. Why?
Fun Fact: The River Kenwyn and River Allen meet under the city; you can still see the water through certain grates in the pavement.
#4. A statue on Lemon Hill honors a famous Truro-born explorer. Who was he?
Fun Fact: Lander was the first European to follow the course of the River Niger to its delta in Africa.
#5. The main shopping street in Truro is called “Lemon Street.” Why was it given this name?
Fun Fact: William Lemon started as a humble mining clerk and became one of the wealthiest men in Cornwall.
#6. Truro once had a famous theatre that burnt down in a spectacular fire. What stands on that site today?
Fun Fact: The original building served as a Town Hall, a jail, and even a courthouse. When the theatre finally took over, it became the heart of Cornish entertainment, surviving several fires before its modern transformation into the Hall for Cornwall.
#7. Because the Cathedral was built so much later than others in England (starting in 1880), what did they have to do to make room for it?
Fun Fact: They didn’t destroy everything. If you look closely at the south side of the Cathedral today, a single aisle of the original 16th-century St. Mary’s Church was preserved and incorporated into the new Gothic structure!
#8. Truro is home to the Royal Cornwall Museum. What is its most famous ancient exhibit?
Fun Fact: Her name is Iset-Tayef-Nakht. She was a priestess and singer from Thebes. It’s a bit of a shock to find a perfectly preserved Egyptian mummy in the middle of Cornwall, but she has been one of the museum’s most popular residents for over 100 years.
#9. There is a massive bronze statue of a “Drummer” in Lemon Quay. What is unique about the material it is made from?
Fun Fact: The statue was sculpted by Tim Shaw and stands as a symbol of the “rhythm of the land.” By using local tin and copper, the artist literally fused the history of Cornish mining into the artwork itself.
#10. When you arrive in Truro by train, you cross a massive viaduct. Who originally designed the wooden viaducts that served Truro before they were replaced by stone?
Fun Fact: Brunel’s original wooden viaducts were known as “fan-frame” designs. While they looked beautiful, they were incredibly expensive to maintain, requiring a full-time gang of carpenters to replace rotting timber 365 days a year!