Description
Gorran (St Goran), two villages and a parish in Cornwall. The villages stand 2 miles N of Dodman Point, 2 S of Mevagissey, and 8 S of St Austell station on the G.W.R. One of them is on the coast, at the entrance of Mevagissey Bay, bears the name of Gorran Haven or Port East, is a coastguard station, has a very old pier, and is supposed to have been anciently a place of some consequence. The parish includes also the hamlets of Rescassa, Tregavarras, Pennare, Treveor, Menegwins, and Trevarrick. There is a post, money order, and telegraph office under St Austell. Acreage, 4961; population, 928. The manor belonged to the Bodrugans, had a mansion, called Bodrugan Castle, long ago destroyed, and passed to Lord Mount-Edgecumbe. Sir Henry Bodrugan was attainted for treason at the accession of Henry VII., and being in danger of capture, he fled to a vessel by a tremendous leap over a cliff, at a spot which is still called Bodrugan's Leap. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Truro, with Gorran Haven annexed; joint value, £220 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Truro. The church stands on an eminence, and has a pinnacled tower of 1606. Chapels anciently stood at Gorran Haven, Bodrugan, and Galowras. There are Wesleyan and Bible Christian chapels.
Gorran, Cornwall
Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England and Wales, 1894-5
