
Mawnan ( kw, Maunan, meaning ''St Maunan'') is a village and
civil parish
In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...
in south
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...
, England, United Kingdom. It is in the former administrative district of
Kerrier
Kerrier ( kw, Keryer) was a local government district in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It was the most southerly district in the United Kingdom, other than the Isles of Scilly. Its council was based in Camborne (). Other towns in the dis ...
and is bounded to the south by the
Helford River
The Helford River ( kw, Dowr Mahonyer) is a ria (flooded river valley) in Cornwall, England, fed by small streams into its many creeks. There are seven creeks on the Helford; from west to east these are Ponsontuel Creek, Mawgan Creek, Polpenwi ...
, to the east by the sea, and to the west by
Constantine parish. The population was 1,454 in the 2001 census, rising slightly to 1,476 at the 2011 census. The
church town of the parish is Mawnan Church, also known simply as Mawnan, and the only large village in the parish is
Mawnan Smith, approximately three miles south of
Falmouth.
Geography
The parish is entirely rural and, as well as Mawnan Smith, includes the hamlets of
Carlidnack,
Bareppa, Penwarne,
Helford Passage
Helford Passage ( kw, Treth Heyl, meaning ''Estuary Beach'') is a village in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the north bank of the Helford River opposite Helford approximately five miles (8 km) south-southwest of ...
,
Maenporth
Maenporth ( kw, Meyn Borth, meaning ''stones cove'') is a cove and beach in west Cornwall, England. It is situated approximately two miles (3 km) south-southwest of Falmouth on the estuary of the River Fal.
Maenporth cove faces east acro ...
and
Durgan. The parish also contains several Victorian gardens, now open to the public:
Glendurgan,
Trebah, Carwinion, and
Penjerrick.
The coastline and cliffs south-east of the church town from Toll Point to Rosemullion Head forms the Rosemullion SSSI (
Site of Special Scientific Interest), noted for its
geological
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Eart ...
and
biological
Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary ...
interest. Marine species found here include ''
Mytilus''
mussel
Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other edible clams, whic ...
s, various
seaweed
Seaweed, or macroalgae, refers to thousands of species of macroscopic, multicellular, marine algae. The term includes some types of ''Rhodophyta'' (red), ''Phaeophyta'' (brown) and ''Chlorophyta'' (green) macroalgae. Seaweed species such as ke ...
s and
sea sponges
Sponges, the members of the phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), are a basal animal clade as a sister of the diploblasts. They are multicellular organisms that have bodies full of pores and channels allowing water to circulate through ...
, such as ''
Botryllus schlosseri
''Botryllus schlosseri'' is a colonial ascidian tunicate. It is commonly known as the star tunicate, but it also has several other common names, including star ascidian and golden star tunicate. Colonies grow on slow-moving, submerged objects, ...
''.
Mawnan lies within the
Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty
The Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers in Cornwall, England, UK; that is, about 27% of the total area of the county. It comprises 12 separate areas, designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 for ...
(AONB) and the
South West Coast Path
The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harbour in Dorset. Because it rises ...
follows the coast of the parish.
Etymology
It is suggested that Mawnan takes its name from a 6th-century Saint Maunanus, who was probably a
Breton monk who landed here about AD 520.
Churches

There are two Anglican churches: the 13th century parish church, the
Church of St Mawnan and St Stephen in Mawnan Church
[ and the 19th century Church of St Michael in Mawnan Smith village. The land for St Michael's Church was given by the Rogers family of Carwinion and the building was completed in 1874. John Rogers was rector here from 1807 to 1838.]
The village of Mawnan Smith also has a Methodist chapel
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...
. There is a Roman Catholic church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
dedicated to St Edward the Confessor in Old Church Road, which was completed in 1965.
Notable houses and gardens
Notable country houses in the parish include Bosloe, Bosveal, Carwinion, Penwarne, Nansidwell (c. 1905 by Leonard Stokes
Leonard Aloysius Scott Stokes (1858 – 25 December 1925) was an English architect and artist.
Leonard Stokes was born in Southport (then in Lancashire) in 1858 the son of Scott Nasmyth Stokes, a school inspector. He trained in London and tra ...
), Heyle and Bareppa. At Glendurgan and Trebah are fine 19th-century houses developed by the Fox family of Falmouth.[Peter Beacham; Nikolaus Pevsner (2014). ''Cornwall''. Yale University Press. p. 347. ]
References
External links
Mawnan Parish website
Mawnan Smith Community website
Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Mawnan
{{Camborne and Redruth CP navigation box
Villages in Cornwall
Civil parishes in Cornwall
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall