Welcome to Gunwalloe Parish
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Welcome to our small parish of Gunwalloe , lying between Cury and the sea with its romantic coastline linked with King Arthur and Phoenician tin traders. There are local stories of smuggling, looted wrecks and buried treasure. We can name 76 wrecks along this coast between 1526 and 1931. The Primrose sloop of war was lost in 1807, with all her crew except one boy, in Gunwalloe Cove. This is a land of rare birds, Hoopoe, Kittiwake, Cormorant, Lapwing, Quail, Reed Warbler etc, with rare vegetation , sea holly, bird’s-foot trefoil, kidney vetch, sea bindweed together with dragon flies and adders!
The parish name is taken from the Breton saint Winwaloe, whose mother is reputed to have grown a third breast when she had triplets! The village was originally owned by the Penrose family but was eventually sold, mostly to sitting tenants and the National Trust. In the past fishing was important from the shingle beach with the name of Fishing Cove, but this has largely died out. The parish includes two further hamlets of Berepper and Chivarloe. In 1841 the population was 298 which fell to 135 in 1901 rising to 226 in 1991.
Close to the church is the site of the manor house of Winnianton, which in 1086 included most of the south west of Cornwall. Roger De Carminow was Lord of the Manor, a Crusader and a descendant of King Arthur. His effigy is at St Mawgan-in-Meneage Church. Cury with Gunwalloe were manorial chapels, linked with Breage, from the thirteenth to the nineteenth centuries.
The Church at Gunwalloe is one of Christian worship, prayer and meditation, reading the Bible – to help you accept Christ as your Saviour and His disciple. Every Sunday of the year at 3.00 pm the pilgrims’ evensong and eucharist is celebrated here and visitors are warmly invited to join us all.
The Vicarage, Nancemellyon Road, MULLION, HELSTON TR12 --- Tel: +44 (0)1326 240 325
Email: Web-warden