MORE THAN A TOWN AND ALMOST A CITY
What’s the UK’s smallest city? Is it Wells in Somerset, with its 2.11 square miles? Or is it the City of London, with its population of just 8,072? Well, all that wouldn’t have mattered if Marazion had become a city in 2021. The beautiful Cornish town in the stunning Mount’s Bay, just down the coast from Penzance, is home to just under 1,500 residents and would definitely have been granted the moniker of the ‘UK’s smallest city’ as well as the Duchy’s second city after Truro should its plucky bid to gain city status have been granted. But it wasn’t to be so it’s still a town. Only, in our opinion, it’s more than that. Marazion, which means ‘Thursday market’ in old Cornish, is one of the prettiest spots in the South West. It’s a historical powerhouse, with the mighty St Michael’s Mount on its watery doorstep, tales of pirates all around (see Prussia Cove just down the coast) and plenty of Roman history behind it (it was known as Ictis by the empire). It’s also a sporting mecca, particularly for kitesurfing due to its superb southwesterly winds. It’s a sailing paradise, with national championships in the summer. It’s an arts haven too, with some fab galleries and a vibrant artist community. And it’s a natural wonder, lying next to the huge reed bed of Marazion Marsh, which is home to more wildlife than you can shake an otter at, so who cares if Marazion isn’t a city? It’s much more than that to us.