Mevagissey, Cornwall

Description
Mevagissey, a village and a parish in Cornwall. The village, which took its name from two saints, St Mevan and St Issey, stands on a beautiful bay of its own name, 5 1/2 miles S of St Austell station on the G.W.R. A pier was constructed in 1890 at a cost of £22,000, but was destroyed by a severe storm in 1891. It was rebuilt in 1895 at a cost of £30,000, making the harbour accessible at all tides. It is a sub-port to Fowey. Many of the inhabitants are engaged in the pilchard fishing, and there are in the village a sardine factory and curing places for pilchards and other kinds of fish; and it also carries on an import trade in coal, timber, salt, and other things. It was so fearfully scourged by cholera in 1849 that its inhabitants moved into tents till it was cleansed. It has a post, money order, and telegraph office, a good inn, a coastguard station, a lifeboat station, a market on Saturdays, and a fair on St Peter's day. The parish contains also the hamlets of Penwarne, Tregiskey, and Trelaven. Acreage, 1381; population, 2200. The surface is hilly. The bay measures 3 miles across the entrance, and 1 1/2 mile thence to the head; is bounded on the N by Black Head, 153 feet high, on the S by Chapel Point, commanding a fine view of the coast eastward to the entrance of Plymouth Sound; and has a depth of 18 feet within the pier at high water of spring tides. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Truro; net value, £142 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Truro. The church is ancient, and has lost its tower; it was restored in 1888. There are Congregational, Wesleyan, United Methodist, and Primitive Methodist chapels; also Liberal and Conservative clubs.