Mawnan (, meaning ''St Maunan'') is a village and

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 ...

in south

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. It is in the former administrative district of

Kerrier Kerrier () 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 district included ...

and is bounded to the south by the

Helford River The Helford River () 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, Polpenwith Creek, Polwheve ...

, to the east by the sea, and to the west by

Constantine Constantine most often refers to: * Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I * Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria Constantine may also refer to: People * Constantine (name), a masculine g ...

parish. The population was 1,454 in the 2001 census, rising slightly to 1,476 at the 2011 census. The

church town 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 ...

of the parish is Mawnan Church, also known simply as Mawnan, and the only large village in the parish is

Mawnan Smith Mawnan Smith () is a village in the civil parish of Mawnan in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately three miles south of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth. In 2019 it had an estimated population of 1020. The St Mawnan ...

, 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 (, 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 Falmouth. The ...

, Maenporth 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 A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain, or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland, is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

), noted for its

geological Geology (). is a branch of natural science concerned with the Earth and other astronomical objects, the rocks of which they are composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Earth s ...

and

biological Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, origin, evolution, and distribution of ...

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 bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

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 ...

s and

sea sponges Sponges or sea sponges are primarily marine invertebrates of the animal phylum Porifera (; meaning 'pore bearer'), a basal clade and a sister taxon of the diploblasts. They are sessile filter feeders that are bound to the seabed, and are on ...

, such as '' Botryllus schlosseri''. Mawnan lies within the

Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The Cornwall National Landscape (formerly the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) covers in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom; that is, about 27% of the total area of the county. It comprises 12 separate areas, designated under the Na ...

(AONB) and the

South West Coast Path The South West Coast Path is England's longest waymarked Long-distance footpaths in the UK, long-distance footpath and a National Trail. It stretches for , running from Minehead in Somerset, along the coasts of Devon and Cornwall, to Poole Harb ...

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 Breton most often refers to: *anything associated with Brittany, and generally **Breton people **Breton language, a Southwestern Brittonic Celtic language of the Indo-European language family, spoken in Brittany ** Breton (horse), a breed **Gale ...

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 Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

. There is a

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

dedicated to St

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...

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), 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
{{coord, 50, 06, N, 5, 06, W, region:GB_type:city, display=title Villages in Cornwall Civil parishes in Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall