St Mawes

The village takes its name from the Celtic saint Saint Maudez (Mawe), who may have come from Ireland but is mainly venerated in Brittany.[http://www.intocornwall.com/engine/azabout.asp?id=43&code=s Into Cornwall, St Mawes, Information about St Mawes]Doble, G. H. (1964) The Saints of Cornwall: part 3. Truro: Dean and Chapter; pp. 57-73 A name: 'Musidum' in Roman times, has subsequently been applied to St. Mawes, although the source is dubious.Drew, Samuel (1824) The Origin of Cornish Place Names.

St Mawes was once an important town'Cornwall', in Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales To 1516, ed. Samantha Letters (Kew, 2005), British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/list-index-soc/markets-fairs-gazetteer-to-1516/cornwall accessed 29 March 2020 and was made a borough in 1563, returning two members to parliament. It was disfranchised in 1832. The town was described, in 1880, by an anonymous writer,{{cite news|title=St Mawes Castle|work=The Cornishman|issue=120|date=28 October 1880|page=6}}

... as a quiet little fishing village, and consists of a long straggling street, fronting the water; it has, however a good pier, which was erected in 1854; and a sea-wall, with a parapet was built not long ago, along the centre front of the town''.

St Mawes Castle is a well-preserved coastal fortress from the time of Henry VIII, built to counter the invasion threat from the Continent. Charles Henderson, writing in 1925, says of St Mawes, "an ancient fishing town which in late years has assumed the different and more sophisticated character of a watering place". The seal of St Mawes was Az. a bend lozengy Or between a tower in the sinister chief Arg. and a ship with three masts the sail furled in the dexter base of the second, with the legend "Commune Sigillum Burgi de St. Mawes al Mauditt.{{cite book|last=Pascoe|first=W. H.|title=A Cornish Armory|page=134|year=1979|publisher=Lodenek Press|location=Padstow, Cornwall|isbn=0-902899-76-7}}

File:St Mawes Harbour April 2016.jpg

There have been frequent private visits to St Mawes by members of the royal family including Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Princess Margaret and more recently Charles III and Queen Camilla, the then-Duke and Duchess of Cornwall, who ended their stay in July 2008 by naming the new St Mawes ferry The Duchess of Cornwall. The Queen visited St Mawes in 1977 during her Silver Jubilee Tour.{{cite web|url=http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Protected-Jubilee-tree-left-dying-act-vandalism/story-11416450-detail/story.html |title= Protected Jubilee tree is left dying after act of vandalism |publisher=Thisiscornwall |access-date=2012-03-07}} In June 2002 for The Queen's Golden Jubilee and, with a brand new cast in June 2012 for the Diamond Jubilee, The Queen's Coronation was re-enacted in great detail by the young people of the village in a ceremony entitled "The Children's Coronation".{{cite news |title=Next generation play out the coronation - to the Queen's delight |url=https://infoweb.newsbank.com/apps/news/openurl?ctx_ver=z39.88-2004&rft_id=info%3Asid/infoweb.newsbank.com&svc_dat=UKNB&req_dat=F40D1930047444E2B32A215A4E7AC431&rft_val_format=info%3Aofi/fmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Actx&rft_dat=document_id%3Anews%252F149CA719E7ADDE10 |work=Western Morning News |date=1 June 2012}}

File:St Mawes' Church, St Mawes.JPG

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 ca 1838 there was no chapel for the townspeople until a private chapel built in 1807 by the Marquis of Buckingham was licensed by the Bishop. This was on a different site and was rebuilt in 1881. St Mawes continued however to be in the parish of St Just in Roseland.Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; pp. 115-16 St Mawes' Church, St Mawes was opened in 1884. There is also a Methodist church, which was built in the first half of the 19th century and is a Grade II listed building.{{NHLE|desc=METHODIST CHURCH, St. Just-in-Roseland |num=1312736|access-date=27 December 2017}}

According to 2011 UK census data, 714 people lived in St Mawes. 91% of residents were born in UK and the most common religion stated was Christian (74.8%).{{Cite news|url=https://www.citypopulation.de/en/uk/southwestengland/cornwall/E34000157__st_mawes/|title=City Population: St Mawes|access-date=2019-09-29}}

File:The Square, St Mawes (9549378808).jpg

The 1964 Agatha Christie film Murder Ahoy was filmed here, as was the 1964 film Crooks in Cloisters.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057974/locations] Filming locations for Crooks in Cloisters on the Internet Movie Database Cormoran Strike, the protagonist of the eponymous detective novel series by Robert Galbraith, was raised in St. Mawes.

file:St Mawes Ferry at Falmouth.jpg

A year-round ferry provides a service to Falmouth, which is less than a mile away by boat, but due to its proximity to the Fal estuary it is some {{convert|30|mile}} away by road. The Place Ferry links the South West Coast Path and operates from Good Friday to the end of October.{{cite web|url=http://www.kingharryscornwall.co.uk|title=King Harry Ferry|access-date=1 March 2010}}

• Barry Bucknell — BBC TV presenter who popularised Do It Yourself (DIY) in the United Kingdom.{{cite web|url=http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/people/BG.0028/ |publisher=Making the Modern World |access-date=2011-12-05| title=Barry Bucknell}}
• David Richards — former racing driver and owner of Aston Martin{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/westcountryproperty/3364005/West-Country-property-the-enchanting-village.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421101618/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/westcountryproperty/3364005/West-Country-property-the-enchanting-village.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-04-21 |work=The Telegraph|access-date=2012-05-19| title=West Country property: the enchanting village}}
• Frank Williams — founder and team principal of the WilliamsF1 Formula One racing team{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/westcountryproperty/3364005/West-Country-property-the-enchanting-village.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421101618/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/westcountryproperty/3364005/West-Country-property-the-enchanting-village.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-04-21 |work=The Telegraph|access-date=2012-05-19| title=West Country property: the enchanting village}}
• Olga Polizzi — daughter of Lord Forte, sister of Sir Rocco Forte, and mother of The Hotel Inspector presenter Alex Polizzi.{{cite web|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/westcountryproperty/3364005/West-Country-property-the-enchanting-village.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130421101618/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/property/westcountryproperty/3364005/West-Country-property-the-enchanting-village.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2013-04-21 |work=The Telegraph|access-date=2012-05-19| title=West Country property: the enchanting village}}
• Lord Shawcross — former Attorney General, and his son William Shawcross, writerBT Phone Book

{{Reflist}}

• [http://pagesperso-orange.fr/pecia/hagiographie_243.htm Maurice Carbonnell, Saint Maudez - Saint Mandé, un maître du monachisme breton, 2009] : {{ISBN|2-914996-06-3}}

{{Portal|Cornwall}}

• {{cite book|last1=Pollard|first1=Chris|title=The Book of St Mawes|date=2007|publisher=Halsgrove|location=Wellington, Somerset|isbn=978-1-84114-631-7}}

{{Commons category|St Mawes}}

• [http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((text)='st%20mawes') Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for St Mawes]

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mawes}}

Category:Villages in Cornwall

Category:Fishing communities in England