St Mawes

Coordinates: 50°09′29″N 5°01′05″W / 50.158°N 5.018°W / 50.158; -5.018
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the former parliamentary borough, see St Mawes (UK Parliament constituency).

St Mawes
  • St Just-in-Roseland
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townTruro
Postcode districtTR2
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireCornwall
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cornwall
50°09′29″N 5°01′05″W / 50.158°N 5.018°W / 50.158; -5.018

St Mawes (

Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
(AONB).

History and geography

The village takes its name from the Celtic saint Saint Maudez (Mawe), who may have come from Ireland but is mainly venerated in Brittany.[1][2] A name: 'Musidum' in Roman times, has subsequently been applied to St. Mawes, although the source is dubious.[3]

St Mawes was once an important town[4] and was made a borough in 1563, returning two members to parliament. It was disfranchised in 1832. The town was described, in 1880, by an anonymous writer,[5]

... as a quiet little fishing village, and consists of a long straggling street, fronting the water; it has, however a good pier, which was erected in 1854; and a sea-wall, with a parapet was built not long ago, along the centre front of the town.

Henry VIII, built to counter the invasion threat from the Continent. Charles Henderson, writing in 1925, says of St Mawes, "an ancient fishing town which in late years has assumed the different and more sophisticated character of a watering place". The seal of St Mawes was Az. a bend lozengy Or between a tower in the sinister chief Arg. and a ship with three masts the sail furled in the dexter base of the second, with the legend "Commune Sigillum Burgi de St. Mawes al Mauditt.[6]

Royal family

St Mawes harbour

There have been frequent private visits to St Mawes by members of the royal family including

Queen's Coronation was re-enacted in great detail by the young people of the village in a ceremony entitled "The Children's Coronation".[8]

Church history

The church of St Mawes

The name of the town comes from Saint Maudez, a Breton saint, and there was a chapel here dedicated to him with his holy well nearby. Its existence in 1427 is mentioned in

George Oliver's Monasticon and it remained in use until the reign of Elizabeth I when it was abandoned. From that time until ca 1838 there was no chapel for the townspeople until a private chapel built in 1807 by the Marquis of Buckingham was licensed by the Bishop. This was on a different site and was rebuilt in 1881. St Mawes continued however to be in the parish of St Just in Roseland.[9] St Mawes' Church, St Mawes was opened in 1884. There is also a Methodist church, which was built in the first half of the 19th century and is a Grade II listed building.[10]

Demographics

According to 2011 UK census data, 714 people lived in St Mawes. 91% of residents were born in UK and the most common religion stated was Christian (74.8%).[11]

Cultural associations

The Square, St Mawes

The 1964

Murder Ahoy was filmed here, as was the 1964 film Crooks in Cloisters.[12] Cormoran Strike, the protagonist of the eponymous detective novel series
by Robert Galbraith, was raised in St. Mawes.

Transport

The St Mawes Ferry at Falmouth

A year-round ferry provides a service to Falmouth, which is less than a mile away by boat, but due to its proximity to the Fal estuary it is some 30 miles (48 km) away by road. The Place Ferry links the South West Coast Path and operates from Good Friday to the end of October.[13]

Notable residents

References

  1. ^ Into Cornwall, St Mawes, Information about St Mawes
  2. Doble, G. H.
    (1964) The Saints of Cornwall: part 3. Truro: Dean and Chapter; pp. 57-73
  3. ^ Drew, Samuel (1824) The Origin of Cornish Place Names.
  4. ^ 'Cornwall', in Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales To 1516, ed. Samantha Letters (Kew, 2005), British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/list-index-soc/markets-fairs-gazetteer-to-1516/cornwall accessed 29 March 2020
  5. ^ "St Mawes Castle". The Cornishman. No. 120. 28 October 1880. p. 6.
  6. ISBN 0-902899-76-7
    .
  7. ^ "Protected Jubilee tree is left dying after act of vandalism". Thisiscornwall. Retrieved 7 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Next generation play out the coronation - to the Queen's delight". Western Morning News. 1 June 2012.
  9. ^ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; pp. 115-16
  10. ^ Historic England. "METHODIST CHURCH, St. Just-in-Roseland (1312736)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 27 December 2017.
  11. ^ "City Population: St Mawes". Retrieved 29 September 2019.
  12. Internet Movie Database
  13. ^ "King Harry Ferry". Retrieved 1 March 2010.
  14. ^ "Barry Bucknell". Making the Modern World. Retrieved 5 December 2011.
  15. ^ "West Country property: the enchanting village". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  16. ^ "West Country property: the enchanting village". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  17. ^ "West Country property: the enchanting village". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 21 April 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2012.
  18. ^ BT Phone Book

Bibliography

Further reading
  • Pollard, Chris (2007). The Book of St Mawes. Wellington, Somerset: Halsgrove.
    ISBN 978-1-84114-631-7
    .

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to St Mawes.
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