Mevagissey
Encyclopedia
Mevagissey is a village, fishing port and civil parish in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The village is situated approximately five miles (8 km) south of St Austell
St Austell
St Austell is a civil parish and a major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the south coast approximately ten miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of the border with Devon at Saltash...

.

The village nestles in a small valley and faces east to Mevagissey Bay. The inner and outer harbours are busy with a mixture of pleasure vessels and working fishing boats, the remains of a once major industry. However, tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...

 has supplanted fishing as the dominant industry in recent years.

Mevagissey village centre consists of narrow streets with many places to eat and shops aimed at the tourist trade. The outer areas are built on the steep slopes of the surrounding hillsides and are mostly residential.

Early history and name

The first recorded mention of Mevagissey dates from 1313 (when it was known as Porthhilly), although there is evidence of settlement dating back to the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

. Towards the end of the 17th century, Porthhilly merged with the hamlet of Lamoreck to make the new village. It was named after two Irish saints, St Meva and St Issey (the "g" comes from hag, the Cornish word for "and"). At this time the main sources of income for the village were pilchard fishing and smuggling and the village had at least ten inns, of which two (the Fountain and the Ship) still remain.

Andrew Pears
Andrew Pears
Andrew Pears was farmer's son from Cornwall, born in 1766, who invented the transparent soap. He moved to London in 1789 from his home in Mevagissey, Cornwall, where he had trained as a barber....

, the founder of Pears' Soap was born in the village in 1768 and set up a barber shop here until he moved to London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 in 1789.

Mevagissey had a power station built in 1895, powered by pilchard oil, which provided electricity for the lighthouse and surrounding streets. Local sources claim that it was the first town in the country to have electric street lighting.

Mevagissey is home to 3 Cornish Holy Wells. The Brass Well and Lady's Well are both situated on the manor of Treleaven, the other Holy Well
Holy well
A holy well, or sacred spring, is a small body of water emerging from underground and revered either in a Pagan or Christian context, often both. Holy wells were frequently pagan sacred sites that later became Christianized. The term 'holy well' is commonly employed to refer to any water source of...

 is within the gardens of Mevagissey House, the old vicarage.

Mevagissey Harbour

The current harbour is built on the site of a medieval quay. The first Act of Parliament allowing the new port to be built was passed in 1774. The inner harbour, consisting of the current East and West Quays, was constructed from this time. An outer harbour was added in 1888, but seriously damaged in a blizzard in 1891. The outer walls were rebuilt by 1897. The harbour was given charitable trust
Charitable trust
A charitable trust is an irrevocable trust established for charitable purposes, and is a more specific term than "charitable organization".-United States:...

 status in 1988.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution
Royal National Lifeboat Institution
The Royal National Lifeboat Institution is a charity that saves lives at sea around the coasts of Great Britain, Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as on selected inland waterways....

 (RNLI) stationed a lifeboat
Lifeboat (rescue)
A rescue lifeboat is a boat rescue craft which is used to attend a vessel in distress, or its survivors, to rescue crewmen and passengers. It can be hand pulled, sail powered or powered by an engine...

 at Port Mellon in 1869 but in 1888 moved it to Mevagissey. It was kept afloat in the harbour for a few years but in 1896 was moved into a purpose-built concrete boat house. The following year a new boat, the James Chisholm (RNLI number 403), was installed. This operated until 1930 when the station was closed. The neighbouring station at had recently been equipped with a motor lifeboat and this could cover the coast around Mevagissey. The old boat house has since been used as an aquarium; that at Port Mellon has been converted into a house.

There are currently 63 registered fishing vessels in the harbour worked by 69 fishermen. The harbour also offers tourist fishing trips and there is a regular summer passenger ferry to Fowey
Fowey
Fowey is a small town, civil parish and cargo port at the mouth of the River Fowey in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 2,273.-Early history:...

.

Heligan

The Heligan estate
Heligan estate
The Heligan estate was the ancestral home of the Tremayne family, near Mevagissey in Cornwall. The family also held property at Sydenham near Marystow in Devon....

 is located on the steep slopes above Mevagissey, albeit mostly in the adjoining civil parish of St Ewe
St Ewe
St Ewe is a civil parish and village in mid-Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated approximately five miles southwest of St Austell.-Antiquities:...

. The long term home of the Tremayne family, the estate is now best known as the location of the Lost Gardens of Heligan
Lost Gardens of Heligan
The Lost Gardens of Heligan, near Mevagissey in Cornwall, are one of the most popular botanical gardens in the UK. The style of the gardens is typical of the nineteenth century Gardenesque style, with areas of different character and in different design styles.The gardens were created by members of...

, a recently restored Victorian garden.

Mevagissey today

Each year at the end of June, Mevagissey celebrates Feast Week, a week of family fun, music, and floral dances through the streets; finally at the end of the week there is a carnival and a fantastic fireworks display.

A small park in Mevagissey is popularly known as "Hitler's Walk". It was named after a district councillor in the 1930s who acquired the nickname of the notorious Nazi leader because of his officious habit of walking up and down checking on the boats moored in the harbour.

Mevagissey is within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty is an area of countryside considered to have significant landscape value in England, Wales or Northern Ireland, that has been specially designated by the Countryside Agency on behalf of the United Kingdom government; the Countryside Council for Wales on...

 which along with National Parks, are considered to be the most special landscapes in the country and belong to an international family of protected areas. There are 41 AONB's in England and Wales. The purpose of the AONB designation is to conserve and enhance the natural beauty of the area. The designation gives a formal recognition to an area’s landscape importance.

Cultural associations

Refined soap was invented by Andrew Pears
Andrew Pears
Andrew Pears was farmer's son from Cornwall, born in 1766, who invented the transparent soap. He moved to London in 1789 from his home in Mevagissey, Cornwall, where he had trained as a barber....

 of Mevagissey.

The writer Susan Cooper
Susan Cooper
Susan Mary Cooper is an English author best known for The Dark Is Rising, an award-winning five-volume saga set in and around England and Wales. The books incorporate traditional British mythology, such as Arthurian and other Welsh elements with original material ; these books were adapted into a...

 based two of her books ('Over Sea, Under Stone' and 'Greenwitch') from her awarded 'The Dark Is Rising
The Dark is Rising Sequence
The Dark Is Rising is the name of a five-book series of children's contemporary fantasy novels by Susan Cooper, published in 1965–1977, which depicts the struggle between the forces of good, called The Light, and the forces of evil, known as The Dark...

' series in Mevagissey where she used to holiday as a child. In the books she just changed the name to Trewissick. Mevagissey House is the vicarage from the first book 'Over Sea Under Stone' where Jane first meets the mysterious Mr Hastings.

The Wurzels
The Wurzels
The Wurzels are a British Scrumpy and Western band...

wrote a song called "Mevagissey".

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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