Kresen Kernow, A home for Cornwall’s archives (2026)

The wrestling sources at Kresen Kernow form a rich, dispersed archive spanning books, manuscripts, organisational records, and visual material. Rather than a single collection, they collectively document the evolution, social role, and cultural significance of wrestling in Cornwall, offering multiple entry points for historical research. 280 records available.

The wrestling results within the Kresen Kernow catalogue represent a broad and multi-format body of historical material, rather than a single unified collection. Searching “wrestling” surfaces a cross-section of Cornwall’s sporting heritage preserved through archives, library holdings, and visual records.

1. Types of sources available
The catalogue reveals that wrestling appears across multiple record types, including:

• Books and published works – e.g. modern historical studies such as Cornish Wrestling: A History by Mike Tripp, offering structured, research-driven narratives of the sport.
• Manuscripts and archival documents – including minute books, correspondence, programmes, and administrative records (e.g. those of wrestling organisations).
• Photographs and visual media – glass negatives, postcards, lantern slides, and photographic collections capturing wrestlers, events, and community gatherings.
• Printed ephemera – posters, scrapbooks, and event materials that document competitions and local festivities.

Together, these formats show wrestling not just as a sport, but as a social and cultural activity embedded in Cornish life.

2. Chronological depth
The sources span a wide historical range:

• Organisational records (e.g. Cornish Wrestling Association materials) cover the early–mid 20th century and beyond.
• Printed works and photographs extend both backwards into earlier traditions and forwards into contemporary documentation.
• The wider archive itself holds material covering hundreds of years of Cornish history, within which wrestling appears as a recurring theme.

This allows researchers to trace wrestling from folk practice to formalised sport.

3. Subject framing and categorisation
Within the catalogue, wrestling is typically indexed under:

• “Sport” and “Leisure”
• More specific tags such as “Cornish wrestling”

However, subject tagging is not exhaustive, meaning relevant material may also be found indirectly through:

• Place names (e.g. fairs, towns, feast days)
• Personal names (wrestlers, promoters)
• Associated activities (festivals, community events)

This reflects the reality that wrestling often appears embedded within broader records, rather than isolated.

4. Cultural and geographic scope
The sources highlight:

• Wrestling as a distinctively Cornish tradition, deeply tied to identity and local custom
• Its diasporic spread, with references to Cornish wrestling abroad (e.g. in emigrant communities) within published histories
• Connections to rival or related styles (e.g. Devonshire wrestling), showing regional interaction

5. Research value
Taken together, the wrestling materials at Kresen Kernow provide:

• Primary sources (records, photographs, programmes) for reconstructing events and practices
• Secondary interpretations (books, studies) for contextual understanding
• Evidence of wrestling as both sport and spectacle, intertwined with fairs, betting, and communal gatherings

Featured image is:

Glass plate negative, cornish wrestling, Bodmin.
Reference number: GE/2/E/2400.
Date: 7 Sep 1940
Format: Glass negative Photograph
Tags: cornish, cornwall, crowds, throwing, flat caps, sticklers, charity
Linked name: CRO/UK/1280