Cornwall Heritage Awards 2026 Object of the Year

Hurling Ball, Silver-plated, 3lbs 6oz.
Won by 26 year old Oliver Hocken of Truro on May 29 1856, the day after his marriage. The hurling match was played to celebrate the end of the Crimean War. Today hurling is under threat, but this ball represents Cornish community, celebration and camaraderie.

Hurling is a sport thought to have originated in Cornwall. Traditionally, games were played on Saints’ Days or feasting celebrations, and the balls are inscribed with the names of the winners.
 
This silver-plated ball from 1856 weighs 3lbs 6oz. Its inscription reads: “Won by Oliver Hocken of Truro aged 26 in the Hurling Match played at the celebration of the peace with Russia May 29 1856, being the day after his marriage. Henry Sewell Stokes Esq., Mayor of Truro.” That day marked the end of the Crimean War, and the match lasted three-quarters of an hour, with goals at Lambessow Gate and Buck’s Head. Every detail tells a story of ceremony, community, and Cornish character.
 
Hurling is now under threat. The last regularly held match in St Columb Major has been cancelled for safety reasons, a stark reminder that this ancient, living tradition is fragile. The sport is a mix of rugby and football, played with energy, teamwork, and physicality - yet even this vibrant heritage risks disappearing.
 
This ball is a link across centuries, commemorating peace after conflict, when communities came together in celebration. Holding it, you can almost hear the cheer of a festive day, and the spirit of endurance, courage, and camaraderie that defines Cornwall. This ball is a reminder that hard times pass, that joy survives, and that our Cornish traditions are alive, precious, and worth protecting.

Lanner Women's Institute (WI) scrapbook, 1965. In 1965, as part of a competition inspired by jubilee celebrations, WI groups across Cornwall created scrapbooks chronicling 'Our Village Today'. The scrapbooks are fabulous surveys of villages and everyone in them, brilliantly showcasing the community connections of the time - local love letters to people, places, landscape and traditions.

In 1965, as part of a competition and inspired by jubilee celebrations, WI groups across Cornwall created scrapbooks chronicling 'Our Village Today'. We look after 15 WI scrapbooks at Kresen Kernow, each one a love letter to the people, place, landscape and traditions of the area.
The scrapbooks are all different, but most are handmade and handwritten, with contributions from different WI members.  Many include paintings, sketches, photographs, articles and notes. They are all creative, beautifully made and record the customs, experiences and daily life of Cornish communities. From Carbis Bay and Madron in the west (describing Madron’s countryside and parish life, with photographs, text, illustrations and newspaper clippings), to St Erth (containing articles, illustrations, journals, nature notes and photographs), to Polzeath, Devoran, Par and St Blazey, Newquay, St Eval, Caradon and onwards.

The most recent addition and our chosen example for object of the year, is 'Our village today - 1965. Lanner'. We have chosen it to represent the WI scrapbooks because it is one of the best. It details the Lanner of 1965, its people, buildings, nature, businesses, history, fashion and community - local, national and global changes since then make it a fascinating snapshot of time. It is a magnificent object reflecting and recording a Cornish community – and our shared history.

This wooden blue board was used by pioneer waverider, Anne Stephens, from 1921 off Fistral and other Cornish beaches. She is among the first known Cornish female surfers. The board was passed on to her son, George, who used it regularly until he gave it to us in 2007.

Long before surfing became associated with Cornwall two pioneering sisters were already riding the waves at Fistral. In 1921, Anne and Dora Stephens were photographed with the striking blue board currently on display in Surf! at National Maritime Museum Cornwall, a board that carried with it the currents of empire, migration, and memory.

It had travelled thousands of miles from South Africa, sent by their uncle Alfred Perrin, a member of the Cornish tin mining diaspora who had settled in Port Elizabeth and surfed at Muizenberg Beach. Like many Cornish families, the Perrins were part of a global movement of miners and engineers who exported skills, and quietly re-imported cultural influences. Even the novelist Agatha Christie would surf at Muizenberg the following year, in 1922.
But this story has more to it than global connections. It is about women at the forefront of a sport long assumed to be male. At a time when Cornwall and Cornish maritime heritage are often reduced to clichés of pirates and pasties, smuggling and mining, Anne and Dora’s story reveals something more expansive: confidence, athleticism, modernity, and a quiet challenge to the status quo.

Anne’s son, George Hogg, rode this same board for most of his life, a living link between Cornwall’s industrial diaspora and its emerging surf culture. We also remember George as one of our key founders of the National Maritime Museum Cornwall, shaping our collections and ensuring that all aspects of Cornish maritime history would not be forgotten.

This model of a telephone box, which once stood outside Bude Station, was presented to Bude–Stratton by their twinned town, Ergué-Gabéric, in 2017.
It celebrates more than 50 years of enduring friendship and the strong ties shared between the two communities.

The model telephone box is symbolic of how the Cornish community of Bude and Stratton is strongly linked to that of Brittany in France. The original telephone box stood outside of Bude railway station and in itself played an important part in serving Bude’s community at a time when private telephones were rare. The iconic telephone box was presented as a gift to Ergué-Gabéric in 1985, where it continued to serve the community, most recently as a micro-library.  Bude-Stratton has been twinned with Ergué-Gabéric since 1979. Each town has a strong and active twinning association, with the towns hosting each other on alternate years. Twinning events allow the opportunity for the towns to celebrate each other’s communities. Previous events held at Bude have included pasty making demonstrations, Cornish songs and dancing. Gifts are exchanged at these events that traditionally represent aspects of the town’s culture and community. The model of the telephone box as a micro-library was commissioned by the Mayor of Ergué-Gabéric and presented to Bude-Stratton in 2017.  The significance and importance of ongoing links between the Cornish and Breton communities will be further strengthened this year by the Lorient Interceltic Festival. This year’s festival has been dedicated to Cornwall and the cultural bridges between the two nations. The Interceltic Festival is the largest gathering of Celts in the world and the largest Festival in Britanny. It is also only a short drive from Ergué-Gabéric, where the links with the communities of Bude and Stratton are so strong.