Parishes of Kerrier Deanery
Originally called St Breock-in-Kirrier (Kerrier), St Breaca or St Briack, the parish of 2888 hectares is now called Breage. It is bounded on the north by Crowan, on the east by Sithney, on the west by St Hilary and Germoe, and on the south by the sea. The parish gets its name from St Breaca, who came from Ireland with her brother Germoe around 460 AD and established a church here. Later the parish became a major mining area and at in 1841, when mining was at its peak, there were over 6000 people living here. In 1998 the parish population was 2885, 85% of whom lived in owner occupied homes.
Tregonning Hill (596 feet) and Godolphin Hill (495 feet) are in this parish. On the top of the former are the remains of a large Iron Age fort. It appears to have been of great strength and was one of the largest of the kind in Cornwall. The granite on Tregonning was of two types. One was used for ornamental building under the name of Breage stone; the other, abounding in talc, was worked as china clay.
Besides the churchtown, the principal villages in this parish are: Ashton, Trew, Rinsey, Kenneggy, Hendra, Tregunno, Trescowe, Trevurvas and Herland (where the Godolphin church stood). The fishing village of Porthleven was partly in this parish and partly in Sithney. The two new parishes of Godolphin and Porthleven were created from parts of this parish in 1846.
The church has strong links with the schools of the Parish:
St Breaca C of E School — HT Mr L Brocklehurst— 01326 573641
Germoe Community Primary School HT Mr Ian Fellows 01736 763310
Godolphin Primary School HT Mr Tony Phillips 01736 763318