From the granting of borough status in 1614 through to its development as an industrial port and then as a fashionable seaside resort, the west Cornwall town of Penzance has a proud and distinctive history. This is embodied in the many fine buildings that have survived to illustrate its fascinating and varied past.

Penzance in 50 Buildings examines the history of the town through a selection of these buildings, from the eccentric early nineteenth-century Egyptian House to the cutting-edge Truro and Penwith College campus, celebrating the town’s architectural heritage in a new and accessible way. Local author and historian Michael Sagar-Fenton guides the reader on a tour of remarkable and individual buildings that tell the story of the town in their own unique fashion.