St Eval () is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and hamlet in north

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is about four miles (6.5 km) southwest of

Padstow Padstow (; ) is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary, approximately northwest of Wadebridge, ...

. The parish population at the 2011 census was 960. Much of the village land was acquired by

compulsory purchase Compulsion, Compulsive, Compelling, or Compulsory may refer to: Psychology * Compulsive behavior, a psychological condition in which a person does a behavior compulsively, having an overwhelming feeling that they must do so. * Obsessive–compu ...

in 1938 to build an

RAF Coastal Command RAF Coastal Command was a formation within the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was founded in 1936, when the RAF was restructured into Fighter, Bomber and Coastal commands and played an important role during the Second World War. Maritime Aviation ...

Station,

RAF St Eval Royal Air Force St Eval or RAF St Eval is a former Royal Air Force station for the RAF Coastal Command, southwest of Padstow in Cornwall, England, UK. St Eval's primary role was to provide anti-submarine and anti-shipping patrols off the south ...

. Many buildings were demolished leaving only the

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

, the

Vicarage A clergy house is the residence, or former residence, of one or more priests or Minister (Christianity), ministers of a given religion, serving as both a home and a base for the occupant's ministry. Residences of this type can have a variety of n ...

, and Trevisker Farm. These buildings were effectively surrounded by RAF activity, and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

were taken over for RAF use, with the church

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

used as an observation post and navigation mark. The parish incorporates the southern part of

Porthcothan Porthcothan () is a coastal village between Newquay and Padstow in Cornwall, England, UK. It is within the civil parish of St Eval. Porthcothan lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Almost a third of Cornwall ha ...

and the hamlets of

Engollan Engollan is a hamlet south-west of Padstow in Cornwall, England. Engollan is in the civil parish of St Eval St Eval () is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and hamlet in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is about f ...

and Treburrick.

Parish church

In early times St Eval lay within the episcopal fief and peculiar deanery of Pawton. In 1297 the benefice was appropriated to the Dean and Chapter of Exeter; in 1312 the Dean and Chapter were in dispute with the vicar about the repair of the chancel. This was settled in 1322 by the vicar lengthening the chancel by and rebuilding its walls. The aisle and tower were added before 1662 and in 1725 collections were made throughout the diocese for funds to rebuild the tower. The merchants of Bristol acknowledged the usefulness of the church tower as a sea mark and provided the funds for this in 1727. The oldest part of the church is Norman but the north transept has been rebuilt. The south aisle is Perpendicular; the arcade has six arches but only four belong to the nave and the fifth arch is low but the sixth high again. Features of interest are the plain Norman font, the base of the rood screen, the octagonal pulpit dated 1688, and a good set of bench ends, reused in the restoration of 1889. The restoration was the work of J. D. Sedding. The stained glass (1989) commemorates the RAF station. The churchyard contains the war graves of 23 Commonwealth air force personnel of World War II. St Eval church (dedicated to St Uvelus or Eval, about whom nothing is known) was incorporated into the combined

benefice A benefice () or living is a reward received in exchange for services rendered and as a retainer for future services. The Roman Empire used the Latin term as a benefit to an individual from the Empire for services rendered. Its use was adopted by ...

St Mawgan St Mawgan or St Mawgan in Pydar () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The population of this parish at the 2011 census was 1,307. The village is situated four miles northeast of New ...

St Ervan St Ervan is a rural civil parish and hamlet in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated three miles (5 km) southwest of Padstow. St Ervan is named after St Erbyn, the original patron of the church, who is said to have bee ...

and St Eval, and subsequently into the Lann Pydar Benefice together with

St Columb Major St Columb Major is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as ''St Columb'', it is approximately southwest of Wadebridge and east of Newquay Ordnance Survey: Landran ...

. In medieval times there were chapels at Efflins (dedicated to St Katherine) and Trethewell.

Prehistoric settlement at Trevisker round

In 1955 and 1956 excavations were carried out on behalf of the Ministry of Works on the site currently occupied by Trevisker School and playground. The Excavation found evidence of a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

and

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

settlement. From the pottery found at Trevisker round at St. Eval it was possible to distinguish several stages of occupation. This was the first Bronze Age site of this kind in the UK. This type of Bronze Age pottery is known as ''Trevisker ware''.

Sale of Ministry of Defence housing

In 1996,

Annington Homes Annington Homes is a provider of privately rented homes in the United Kingdom, specialising in converting former Ministry of Defence (MoD) housing for the general public since 1996. Since 2012, the company has been a wholly owned subsidiary of T ...

purchased a number of

prefabricated home Prefabricated homes, often referred to as prefab homes or simply prefabs, are specialist dwelling types of prefabricated building, which are manufactured off-site in advance, usually in standard sections that can be easily shipped and assembled. ...

s in St Eval from the

Ministry of Defence A ministry of defence or defense (see American and British English spelling differences#-ce.2C -se, spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and Mi ...

as part of a £1.67bn national agreement. The homes, which had been constructed as temporary structures soon after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and lacked

insulation Insulation may refer to: Thermal * Thermal insulation, use of materials to reduce rates of heat transfer ** List of insulation materials ** Building insulation, thermal insulation added to buildings for comfort and energy efficiency *** Insulated ...

, were reconstructed by Annington while preserving the original roofs in order to relieve the company from a responsibility to provide

affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on ...

Notable parishioners

Nick Darke Nick Darke (1948–2005) was a British playwright. He was also known within Cornwall as a lobster fisherman, environmental campaigner, and chairman of St Eval Parish Council. Early life Nick's great-grandfather, William Leonard Darke, was a ...

, playwright and journalist, was born and grew up in St Eval * George Hawke, pioneer emigrant to Australia. whose diary was published as a book called ''Road to Byng'' by Yvonne McBurney, (1982) * The poet and author

John Pudney John Sleigh Pudney (19 January 1909 – 10 November 1977) was a British poet, journalist and author. He was known especially for his popular poetry written during the Second World War, but he also wrote novels, short stories and children's fict ...

served at RAF St Eval and wrote poems there.

Shops and businesses

St. Eval has a local shop which is home to a Post Office. Kernow Chocolate has its factory nearby.

Rick Stein Christopher Richard Stein, (born 4 January 1947) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur, writer and television presenter. Along with business partner (and first wife) Jill Stein, he runs the Stein hotel and restaurant business in the UK. T ...

group has an administration office in St. Eval

References

External links

Trevisker Round at St Eval

Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for St Eval
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Eval Civil parishes in Cornwall Villages in Cornwall