Each culture has their own variation on this legend, from the ‘Sirens’ of Ancient Greece, the ‘Melusine’ of Normandy, to the ‘Mami Wata’ spirits of West, Central, and Southern Africa. Supposedly the result of ocean-weary sailors mistaking aquatic mammals such as manatees for the figure of a woman, the well-known image of a creature with the head and torso of a female but the tail of a fish from the waist downwards has become a popular feature in folklore. įor as long as man has gone to sea, there have been tales of mermaids. Locals say the carving was made around 400 years ago in memory of a man named Matthew Trewhella, who, so the story goes, ran off to sea with a mermai. One of these ends bears a carving depicting a woman with long flowing hair and a fish tail. The ‘Mermaid Chair’, which sits alone in a darkened corner of the church, is a seat made from two medieval bench ends. It is fitting that the church is named after a woman who came to Cornwall from the sea, as St Senara’s Church is also the resting place of the last surviving relic of another local legend – The Mermaid of Zennor. Notwithstanding she founded the church in Zennor so to bring Christianity to the local Celtic people, before moving on to Ireland to spread the word of God. As a harsh punishment he had her nailed into a barrel and cast out to sea, where she eventually washed up on the Cornish shore. Historical fact records little of her, but legends claim Asenora’s husband, a Breton King, suspected her of infidelity when she became pregnant. The church was dedicated to Saint Senara who legend has it was a Breton Princess also known as Asenora. The pub known as the ‘Tinner’s Arms’ is located opposite ‘St Senara’s Church’ and was, according to folklore originally built in 1271 to house the masons who built the church.

Although the church itself is of Norman origins, it is said to stand on the site of a Celtic church dating back to the 6 th Century AD. Along the Atlantic Coast of Cornwall, a few miles west of St Ives, sits the small village named “Zennor.” The village is home to 196 residents, a small pub, a few guest houses, and a church.

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