St John (parish: , village: ) is a coastal

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 a village in south-east

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, south of

Saltash Saltash () is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Cornwall". Saltash’s landmarks ...

and south-west of

Torpoint Torpoint () is a town and civil parish on the Rame Peninsula in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated opposite the city of Plymouth across the Hamoaze which is the tidal estuary of the River Tamar. Torpoint had a populatio ...

.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 ''Plymouth & Launceston''

Geography

The parish is opposite

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

, separated from it by St John's Lake, an inlet of The Hamoaze in

Plymouth Sound Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England. Description Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abo ...

. St John parish is in the St Germans Registration District and the population in the 2001 census was 375, increasing to 391 at the census 2011. To the north, the parish is bordered by St John's Lake and to the south by the sea. To the east, the parish is bordered by Millbrook, to the south-east by

Maker-with-Rame Maker-with-Rame () is a civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Rame Peninsula, approximately four miles (6.5 km) south of Saltash and two miles (3 km) west of Plymouth. The parish was formed in 1941 fr ...

and to the west by Antony parish. The Road outside the Church in St John - geograph

A few hundred metres north of St John village is an area of high ground called Vanderbands, the site of an

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 ...

castle mentioned by

John Norden John Norden (1625) was an English cartographer, chorographer and antiquary. He planned (but did not complete) a series of county maps and accompanying county histories of England, the '' Speculum Britanniae''. He was also a prolific write ...

(an English topographer who wrote a series of county histories) in his description of Cornwall published in 1728. The ''St John's Lake 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 ...

) is designated mainly for its bird interests, with 6000

wildfowl The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating o ...

and 10000

wader 245px, A flock of Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflats in order to foraging, ...

s overwintering on the mudflats. There is an unusual tidal ford on a minor public road. Part of the land designated as ''St John's Lake SSSI'' is owned by 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 ...

Parish church

The historic records for much of this area were kept at Mount Edgcumbe House but were destroyed during the war, however, a church existed here in 1080. The present church was built in about 1150. It was originally dedicated to St John the Evangelist but was later, probably in about 1490, changed to St John the Baptist. It stands in St John village at . The church was a Norman foundation but only the low western tower survives from the Norman period. The chancel and nave were rebuilt in the 15th century and subsequently restored.Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 113

Notable residents

Charles Adolphus Row (1816–1896), a Christian preacher and moral philosopher, was born here.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John Civil parishes in Cornwall Villages in Cornwall

Geography

Parish church

Notable residents

See also

References