The story of what lies beyond the beloved 'Nearly There Trees' at Cookworthy Knapp on the A30 — and Cornwall's centuries-old claim to independence.
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A Copse with many names
The 'Nearly There trees', the 'Nearly home trees', the 'Are we there yet trees', and even the 'Nowhere near yet trees!' Cookworthy Knapp might have as many names as it has admirers, and it must surely be one of the most instantly recognisable, best-loved stretches of woodland copse in the country.
Thousands of motorists pass beneath it every day, muttering some version of its nickname as the beech trees rise above the road. But I wonder how many of them, in that rush of excitement, stop to think about the 'fair isle' that's waiting just beyond them.
A Proud and Independent Spirit
The Cornish are a proud folk — full of tales, history, romance and myth. Strike up a conversation in the right ale house, with its thick granite walls and dark oak furniture, and you'll still find a salty fisherman or two from the Kingdom of Kernow who’ll insist, with a naughty glint in the eye, that Cornwall is an independent nation. It's a claim, they'll tell you, that is stronger even than those of the Scots or the Welsh.
The Ballad of Trelawny and the Legend of 20,000 Cornishmen
Nowhere is that pride sung louder than in 'Trelawny' — the song that thunders from proud chests and swaying ale mugs of Shanty singers and choirs from coast to coast. The exploits of brave Trelawny, armed with 'a good sword and a trusty hand,' bellow through the taverns with real, tangible fervour, a story to be told.
Except — as so often happens in folklore passed down through the centuries — a little poetic licence may have blended two of Cornwall's most famous tales into one.
Sir Jonathan Trelawny certainly did grow from Cornish beginnings to become Bishop of Bristol, and it’s certainly true that he did refuse to read King James II's pro-Catholic Declaration of Indulgence in 1688 - an act of treason that landed him briefly in the Tower of London. But there was no battle. No fighting. No insurrection. He stood trial, the charges were dropped, and most of Cornwall carried on entirely unbothered by the events unfolding so far away in London.
The Real Story: An Gof's Rebellion of 1497
So where did the story of '20,000 Cornishmen' marching to free him actually come from?
Nearly 200 years earlier, in 1497, it really did happen — just to a different man, for a different cause. An army of proud revolutionaries, led by Michael Joseph An Gof (a name that still marks places right across Cornwall, if you know where to look), marched on London itself. Their grievance: crushing new taxes, layered on top of the removal of Cornish mining rights — all to help King Henry VII fund his war against another proud nation daring to claim its own independence: Scotland.
A royal decree that ended mining struck at the very lifeblood of Cornish wealth. Resentment turned to armed revolt, led by An Gof alongside Thomas Flamank. Together they marched their men — unchallenged — through Devon, Somerset, Dorset and along the south coast of England, gathering provisions and support along the way, right to the very edges of London itself.
The March on Blackheath
At Blackheath, the King became aware of the growing horde massing on his capital. Already deep in preparation for his war with Scotland, Henry VII already had a formidable army assembled in London, and he moved his forces to meet the Cornish head-on — publicly declaring he'd strike on the 19th of June.
He didn't wait. At dawn on the 17th of June 1497, An Gof and his rebellion woke to find themselves facing a far better-equipped and far better-trained army, vastly outnumbering their own.
The outcome was swift and brutal. The King's forces surrounded the rebels within hours. Ordinary captured men were ransomed back to their families or had their possessions seized and sold. An Gof and Flamank were shown no mercy — dragged to London and hanged, then drawn and quartered. Their remains were displayed at sites across the city, and their heads left on pikes at London Bridge.
Thus ended the Cornish rebellion. But their actions led to a claim to independence that has never quite faded.
Cornwall's Border, The Tamar — Cornwall's Own Wall of Independence.
And here's the thing — it's not as outlandish a claim as it sounds. Take a proper look at a map of England.
Cornwall borders just one other county — Devon — separated by the mighty River Tamar. Everybody knows it's jam first, then cream, on your scone or split (and it needs to be a ‘geet’ dollop of Boddington's Berries strawberry jam from Mevagissey, smothered in Rodda's clotted cream, if you want the true taste of Cornish heaven), but far fewer people know that the source of the Tamar rises just three and a half miles from the Cornish coast.
Scotland has Hadrian's Wall. Wales has Offa's Dyke — solid, deliberate constructs marking their border with England. Cornwall's border needs no wall at all. The River Tamar does the job on its own, cutting Cornwall away from England with a quiet sibilant knowing.
Every Day, just passing in a flash.
And this is where it circles back to those trees. Every day, thousands of eager travellers pass the Nearly There trees, excitement building through those last few short minutes before the road plunges down the hill towards the Dunheved bridge. Few of them probably realise just how significant that crossing on the river really is.
That wonderful sign meets every single one of us — 'Welcome to Cornwall, Kernow a'gas dynergh’ — right as we cross the river that separates Cornwall from the English mainland. Those short 3 miles of trees and fields that separate 'the Trees' from the River are almost exactly the same distance that connects Cornwall to the rest of England.
Cornwall — 422 miles of rugged coastline, connected to the rest of England by the thinnest fingernail of farmland. Just think about that for a moment, practically an island!
A special place
That handful of beech trees marks more than just 'nearly there' or 'nearly home'. It marks the last stretch of mainland before an ancient, proudly independent nation that's held its own story through millennia, from moor to myth and castle to chronicle, coast to coast, and sea to sea.
It's exactly why it's the print we keep in our living room — so that we can pass those trees every single day, long after the drive itself is over.
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You can find the Nearly There Trees alongside the rest of our art collection on our site:
https://surfshackdesigns.co.uk/collections/cornwall-art-prints-canvas
Please browse our [site] for our whole catalogue of prints, canvases, clothing and gifts - bringing the sights and feelings of your favourite Cornish places and memories into your home.
*Disclaimer: Surf Shack Designs has no political affiliations. This blog is written purely for the purpose of entertainment.*
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