Community Assembly of Helston

The Community Assembly of Helston is located in a town and civil parish in Cornwall which is part of the Territory of Kernow in the British Isles. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula to the east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth. The former stannary and cattle market town is best known for the annual Furry Dance (known locally as the Flora Dance) which originates from the medieval period. The associated song and music was written in 1911. In 2001, the town celebrated the 800th anniversary of the granting of its Charter.

The name 'Helson' comes from the Cornish 'hen lys' (or ' old court ') and ' ton ' added later to denote a Saxon manor. The Domesday Book refers to Henliston (which survives as the name of a road in the town). Only one edition refers to Henlistona . It was granted its Charter by King John on 15 April 1201, for the price of forty marks of silver. It was here that tin ingots were weighed to determine the tin coinage duty when a number of stannary towns were authorised by royal decree.

It is a matter of debate as to whether Helston was once a port as no actual records exist. A common belief is that in the 13th century Loe Bar formed a barrier across the mouth of the River Cober cutting the town off from the sea. Geomorphologists believe the bar was most likely formed by rising sea levels, after the last ice age, blocking the river and creating a barrier beach. The beach is formed mostly of flint and the nearest source is found offshore under the drowned terraces of the former river that flowed between England and France, and now under the English Channel.