John Knill Celebrations

If you’re staying with us in a Knill year, you’re in for a real treat! Every five years on 25 July (St James Day), St Ives celebrates the wonderfully quirky John Knill Ceremony.

The event honours the wishes of John Knill, a former customs officer and Mayor of St Ives. In his 1797 will, he set out very specific instructions for a ceremony to be held every five years – and the town has followed them ever since. The first ceremony took place in 1801, overseen by Knill himself, and it’s continued for over 200 years (most recently in 2021).

Knill even built his own memorial – a 15-metre granite obelisk called Knill’s Steeple on Worvas Hill. Although he intended it to be his mausoleum, he actually died in London. The steeple bears his coat of arms and the motto Nil Desperandum (“Never Despair”), along with Resurgam (“I shall arise”) and the words, “I know that my Redeemer liveth.”

On the day, a fiddler leads ten dancing maids and two widows from the town in procession to the steeple. They circle the monument, sing the Hundredth Psalm, and wear white knot ribbons. As Knill requested, the participants receive a token payment and lunch afterwards. The ceremony is still overseen by the Mayor, Customs Officer and Vicar, and organised by St Ives Town Council.

It’s a lovely, colourful tradition and a unique slice of St Ives history. Even if you’re not here in a ceremony year, the walk up to Knill’s Steeple is well worth it for the views alone!