St Mawes' Church, St Mawes

The name of the town comes from Saint Maudez, a Breton saint, and there was a chapel here dedicated to him with his holy well nearby. Its existence in 1427 is mentioned in George Oliver's Monasticon and it remained in use until the reign of Elizabeth I when it was abandoned. From that time until c. 1838 there was no chapel for the townspeople until a private chapel built in 1807 by the Earl Temple (afterwards Marquis and then Duke of Buckingham) was licensed by the Bishop. This was on a different site and was built between 1881 and 1884. St Mawes continued however to be in the parish of St Just in Roseland.[2]

The new church to serve the town of St Mawes was opened by the Bishop of Truro Dr George Wilkinson on 5 December 1884.[3] It was built in the Early English style, and consists of a chancel, nave, porch and bell turret. It was built of local stone with facings of St Stephen’s granite. The west window was given by the daughter of Staff-Commander Vincent of Southampton in memory of her parents and cost 100 guineas. The chancel window is a gift of the relatives of Miss Cullah who died whilst on a visit to St Mawes. The north and south chancel windows were presented by Mrs Kennerley and Mrs Payne. The building cost £1,500 and was designed by Revd. C. W. Carlyon.

The church is in a joint parish with

• St Just’s Church, St Just in Roseland