Mevagissey, Cornwall - Harbour - RP postcard c.1950s

• Postcard

   

• Picture / Image:  The Harbour, Mevagissey, Cornwall [real photo]
• Publisher: none stated
• Postally used: yes
• Stamp:  2d brown Wilding
• Postmark(s): St Austell, date not clear
• Sent to:  Castle Bromwich
• Notes / condition: 

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Text from the free encyclopedia WIKIPEDIA may appear below to give a little background information (internal links may not  work) :

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Mevagissey (/ˌmɛvəˈɡɪzi/; Cornish: Lannvorek) is a village, fishing port and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.[1] The village is situated approximately five miles (8 km) south of St Austell.[2] The parish population at the 2011 census was 2,015,[3] whereas the ward population at the same census was 4,354.[4]

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. It has a thriving fishing industry and is the second biggest fishing port in Cornwall.

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.

History and toponymy

St Peter's Church, Mevagissey

Former Mevagissey Methodist Chapel

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.[citation needed]

The old name of the parish was Lamorrick, and it was part of the episcopal manor of Tregear. The church was dedicated to Saints Meva and Ida in 1259 by Bishop Bronescombe and in 1329 Sir Otho Bodrugan appropriated it to Glasney College. The Norman church was cruciform and some Norman work remains but the church was more or less rebuilt in the 15th century. In the Commonwealth period the tower became ruinous and the bells were taken down and sold to a Quaker of St Austell.[5] According to tradition there has been a church on the same site since about 500 AD. Meva may well be the same as St Mewan and Issey is also the patron saint of St Issey.[6]

Mevagissey is home to three holy wells. The Brass Well and Lady's Well are both situated in the manor of Treleaven,[7] and the third is within the gardens of Mevagissey House, the old vicarage.[1]

Towards the end of the 17th century, Porthhilly merged with the hamlet of Lamoreck (or Lamorrick) to make the new village. It was re-named "Meva hag Ysi", after two saints; St Mevan/Mewan, a Welsh man and an Irish woman, St Issey or Ida/Ita, (hag is the Cornish word for "and"). There is no evidence for why this new name was adopted but it may have been due to the Church replacing a Cornish name with a Christian one.[8] The modern Cornish name is Lannvorek, after the old parish name. 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 the Fountain and the Ship still remain.

Andrew Pears, the founder of Pears' Soap was born in the village[9] in 1768 and set up a barber's shop here until he moved to London in 1789.

The 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 status in 1988.

The Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) stationed a lifeboat at Portmellon 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 Fowey 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 Portmellon has been converted into a house.[10]

Mevagissey lighthouse was built in 1896 to mark the south breakwater that protects the small harbour.

In 1880 there were around sixty fishing-boats engaged in the mackerel fishery, and herring and pilchards were also important fisheries.[11] Pilchards were also imported from Plymouth for curing at the Cornish Sardine Factory and the imported salt was also used for adding to butter at the same factory. Barley, grown nearby, was exported to Campbeltown, Scotland.[12][13][14]

There are currently 63 registered fishing vessels in the harbour worked by 69 fishermen.[citation needed] The harbour also offers tourist fishing trips and there is a regular summer passenger ferry to Fowey.