Ertach Kernow - Gorran Haven, more than a sleepy coastal village
Gorran Haven. ‘There's not much to see in this sleepy south-coast village, save for a smattering of seasonal shops and tea-rooms, but the seaside setting is undeniably pretty – and it's an ideal lunch stop if you're trekking on the coast path.’ A shame the Lonely Planet guidebook writers didn’t look a little further at the parish of St Goran as a whole. Gorran Haven has like other Cornish coastal villages been somewhat blighted by the growth of housing not occupied by local residents, but this parish has worthies working to make their community appealing for local people and visitors alike. Gorran Haven is an attractive village as its website attest with many older buildings and streets to see.
Further inland is the historic centre of the parish St Goran Churchtown. It’s here the origins of the parish began around the medieval church of St Goran. The parish as a whole has a population of just over 1,300 in the 2021 census, a drop of about 100 from the previous record taken in 2011. No doubt there are many more houses built since then which have no recorded occupiers for obvious reasons. Some years ago when carrying out research for an old friend and his family history I asked him where his ancestors carrying his surname came from, he replied London. I was pleased to tell him that they actually came from St Goran having emigrated to England in 1815. He was thrilled to have a real Cornish connection. No doubt it was hard to make a living and at that time livelihoods would have been mostly based on fishing and farming.
As always click the images for larger view
When looking at the history of a Cornish parish there is always the church to mention, most often dating from the medieval period. Within the parish of St Goran are two churches, the mother church at St Goran and a chapel of ease at Gorran Haven as well as the non-denominational Haven Church. The Church of England benefice for St Goran also includes The Church of St Michael and all Angels at Caerhays. The Church of St Goran located inland at the churchtown largely dates from the 13th century, although there are small traces of the earlier Norman church, including the late 12th century font which has the Bodrugan coat of arms. There were additions to the building during the 14th and 15th centuries including the south aisle and stonework for the windows. As with many churches the medieval stained glass was lost during the Commonwealth period in the 17th century. Happily despite the restoration of the Victorian period, which often included degrees of cultural vandalism, some fifty-three 15th and 16th century benchends survive. The porch was rebuilt in the 16th century and the tower in the 17th following its collapse. Originally the tower had a steeple but was rebuilt as seen now and now has a peel of ten bells, some dating to the 18th century and four more recent ones. Recent internal modernisation has brought St Goran’s into the 21st century for contemporary use within the community whilst still retaining most of its historic fabric.
The chapel of ease at Gorran Haven dedicated to St Just is a 15th century church and believed to have been built by Henry Bodrugan. Unfortunately Henry has had some bad press over the centuries and ended up on the wrong side of the Crown having to leap over a cliff to avoid capture. Hence the nearby well-known coastal landmark named after him ‘Bodrugan’s Leap’. As a historic Cornish family the Bodrugan’s had reached a high degree of Cornish power and wealth and had built a what has been described as a castle at Goran which was mentioned by Dr William Borlase as ‘Bodrugan 'castle' in 1760 as being very extensive - a large hall and kitchen, and a chapel converted into a barn.’ It is now thought that this was a high-status residence even perhaps a fortified manor house at best, its remnants were demolished around 1786. However the small church at Gorran Haven survives and has had a mixed history. The village was originally named in earlier records in 1374 as Porthjust before evolving to Portheast, later Goran Haven and now Gorran Haven. The church dedicated to St Just as can be seen by an exterior view is small, with a capacity of just 44 people. Following the turbulence of the Reformation it seems this small chapel of ease passed into the secular hands of the Edgcumbe family becoming by the late 1700’s a fish cellar. Within a hundred years it had become almost a ruin with the roof gone and the walls in disrepair. Some restoration work took place around the middle of the century before the well-known church architect Piers St. Aubyn became involved and unlike some of his other church restoration work treated the small church kindly. Today it is a lovely small church of architectural interest with its pentagonal tower and a fine doorway leading into the narrow side alleyway.
Following the relaxation of laws relating to religious services a group of independent church goers had met in Goran Haven from the early 18th century. By about 1812 they were using St Just, which was referred to as the Old Chapel. With numbers outgrowing the small St Just Church the group sought out land in 1863 and built their own church building. Freed from denominational interests in the 1970’s it was renovated in the 1980’s and again in 2016 ensuring its future for contemporary use.
One of the many important historical industrial type buildings still found in many communities are lime kilns. It has been suggested that the preserved lime kiln at Gorran Haven was the last to be built in Cornwall in 1880. It continued to be used until 1910. It has been said that this was the site of a limekiln built in 1812 but later research, including by Dr James Whetter, suggests that this earlier building was elsewhere. Other indications of occupation beyond fishing and farming within the wider parish is given in the 1868 National Gazetteer of Great Britain which mentions coal trade. This perhaps relates to the import and distribution of coal, however there is not one person in the 1871 census who gives their occupation relating to coal. Most occupations are farmers and their agricultural labourers and fishermen with a smattering of blacksmiths, wheelwrights, shopkeepers and publicans. The 1911 census records show Nicholas May formerly a fisherman was then trading as a coal merchant as his main occupation. What census records do not always show is that many people had more than one occupation. The pilchard fishing industry was seasonal and many of the men and women working within that sector would also have been farmers and farm labourers. Perhaps Nicholas had also worked as a coal merchant many decades earlier.
The current quay at Gorran Haven was built by John Charles Williams of the Caerhays Estate in 1888. Although there had been various quay’s over the centuries, many of these had been destroyed in storms and there hadn’t been one prior to the Williams built quay since 1820. Records of fishing taking place at Gorran Haven stretch back to 1270 and the taxation returns mention seines for the catching of pilchards. There was a continuing active community of fisher folk and in 1570 sixty-eight men were listed. From the late 19th century when fishing vessels needed to be registered under the Merchant Shipping Act 1894 some forty-three boats were listed at Gorran Haven. As the Caerhay’s estate ran down to the beach J C Williams purchased the area covering the quay area from the Duchy of Cornwall allowing him to build the new quay for use by the fishermen. The continuing story of the quay is extensive and beyond the scope of this article. The building formerly known as ‘Union Cellars’ was built about 1815 and originally had five seine lofts with pilchard processing being carried out below along with salt storage. There had been an earlier building used for that purpose and sale records show that part of it was later used as a watchhouse for coastguard personnel.
There was quite a number of coastguard personnel stationed at Gorran Haven as the census records testify. Like other south coast villages with sheltered coves and headlands smuggling was a way of life for many men within the fishing community. Many of the men also became an ancillary part of the Preventive Boat Service as the coastguard were formerly known as. Records show a number of smuggled shipments were intercepted by the revenue men and captures made. It was said that many of the smuggling arrangements were made in the village pubs like the Ship Inn.
Famous people associated with the area are Dr James Whetter the Cornish historian, author and politician who founded the Roseland Institute at Gorran Haven as a centre for Cornish Studies. He wrote a number of books including those on Gorran Haven, Falmouth, Glasney College, Cornwall in the 17th century, and a monthly publication ‘The Cornish Banner’. Further back in time the renowned geologist Charles William Peach resided at Gorran Haven and made a number of important discoveries. This was at a time when the origins of the earth began to be contested against prevailing biblical beginnings. There is a plaque in the village on the former Customs House where he resided, placed there by the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall.
So much for Lonely Planet and their view of Gorran Haven as a sleepy south-coast village, which in fact has an noteworthy past with several interesting historic buildings. The wider parish also has much of the same with a vibrant community and this is a locality well worth a visit come the spring.
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