The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word PENZANCE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
P
E
N
Z
A
N
C
E
More clues leading to the result PENZANCE
- Fishing port in distant land — a change from Britain all round
- Town in New Zealand, one flooded with cash
- Feeling sorry about the last character in Cornish town
- Punishment imprisoning unknown character in 15 22 across
- To start with Paul Cezanne designed a backdrop for Gilbert & Sullivan
- Last character absorbed in act of humiliation in town in south-west
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Cornish town" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cornish town = penzance.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.