Churches of the British Isles

St Just Chapel-of-Ease, Gorran Haven, is on the east side of Church Street, with the beach behind it. It was built as a chapel-of-ease in the 1400s, probably on the site of an older chapel. Sold by Queen Elizabeth I in 1568, in 1651 (thanks to the Protectorate) fishermen were storing tackle in it. By 1745 it was described as a ruin. In 1812 it became the Congregationalist Old Chapel Cellar before they built Mount Zion Chapel (below). In 1885 it was restored as an Anglican chapel.

Gorran Haven Bible Christian Chapel (BCC) is on the east side of Church Street. Its history is fairly muddled, but eleven men built it from local stone, hauling much of it back by horse and cart from Vault Beach. The chapel was registered as BCC at the start even though many of the builders were Congregationalists from St Just (above). Once complete, it became a member of the Congregation Union as Haven Church. The name Mount Zion Church (Independent) is in use today.

Gorran Haven Primitive Methodist Chapel edges onto the southern side of Canton, about two hundred metres west of St Just (above). Thought to have been built in 1830 by Primitive Methodists, the building is shown on an 1881 map as Wesleyan. The Methodist church celebrated its 160th anniversary on this site with a Flower Festival in 1990. The chapel closed perhaps around 1990, with planning documents showing a conversion into a private residence in 2012.

The site of Bodrugan Chapel was within Bodrugan Manor's grounds (now a holiday complex), outside the last corner before the sharp-descent into Portmellon on the road from Gorran Haven. Bodrugan Barton is described as 'medieval Barton owned by the Bodrugan family'. The manor comprised a farm house and chapel, possibly with a park. The chapel existed in 1372 but the entire manor was pulled down in 1786. Only a chapel wall remained as part of a barn.

The now-lost Galowras Old Chapel existed close to the equally now-lost castle of the same name, a little over 1.5 kilometres due west of Portmellon. Known as Gloeret in Domesday Book (1086) a chapel is listed here in 1309, possibly dedicated as St John's Chapel. This listing locates it at Galowras Manor House, a short way due north from Castle Hill - now Boslinney Barn B&B. The 1894-95 Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales confirms the chapel's existence.

All photos on this page by Jo Lewis, with additional information from The Saints of Cornwall, Nicholas Orme (OUP Oxford, 2000).