St Buryan was visited by King John in the early 13th century who, after landing at Sennen from Ireland, travelled to the parish to stay the night. The purpose of the visit was an inspection of local mining works in the area and resulted in the import of German engineers to improve their efficiency. By the 14th century St Buryan's importance as a regional centre had grown sufficiently that in 1302 King Edward granted it a weekly market, to be held on Saturdays, and two yearly fairs of three days each to be held on the feasts of St Buryan and St Martin.