Cornwall

Nearby places

St Just-in-Penwith

St Just-in-Penwith, (Cornish: Lannyust), is, as its name suggests, located in the district of Penwith on the far western tip of Cornwall. It should not be confused with St Just-in-Roseland which is to the south of Truro. Of the two parishes, this is more commonly referred to as 'St Just'. It is situated in the Deanery and Hundred of Penwith, and is bounded on the north by the sea and Morvah, on the east by Madron and Sancreed, on the south by St Buryan and Sennen and on the west by the sea. Land's End lies just to the south of the parish, the area is hilly open moorland with some farmland on the coast. It is probable that both parishes derive their names from Justus or St. Just, who was sent to England by Pope Gregory in A.D. 596, with St. Augustine and many other monks, to convert the Saxons. He was consecrated bishop by St Augustine in A.D. 604, and appointed to the See of Rochester by King Ethelbert. In A.D. 616 he was made Archbishop of Canterbury; and died in November 627.

Very little is recorded of St. Just, but that little is entirely to his praise; at the command of Pope Gregory the Great, he undertook the perilous but successful service of converting the English Saxons; he attained the highest ecclesiastical dignity from the suffrages of those who had been brought by the labours of St. Augustine and his followers, within the pale of the church; and he obtained deserved commendation from Pope Boniface the III. or IV. who, with one intermediate Pope, were the successors of St. Gregory, when the apostolic confirmation of his appointment to the metropolitan See was given, and himself honoured by the investiture of a pall. The Saxon Chronicle, literally translated, states: '..here Justus the Archbishop forth stepped', i.e. died, on the fourth of the Ides of November; the 10th of November is consecrated to him in the Roman Calendar. The parish feast however, is celebrated on the Sunday nearest to All Saints' day, namely November 1st.

The parish extends along the coast from seven to eight miles in length, and is from two to three miles wide. It is separated from the adjoining parishes of St. Buryan and Sancreed by a high ridge of barren hills which slope gradually towards the rocky cliffs of the sea. The cliffs, though not very high, are precipitous, craggy, and picturesque, and unapproachable even by small vessels, excepting in very fine weather. A great portion of the surface of the parish is uncultivated common, yielding but a scanty subsistence to a few sheep belonging chiefly to cottagers renting houses, in right of which they claim a limited share of the pasture. Its temperature is some degrees colder than that of the south coast, being exposed to north and northwest winds. Sea fogs coming from the south are prevalent and somewhat unpleasant, but they are temperate; and, unlike those arising from marshes, contain no miasma so are not unwholesome. The air is much charged with saline particles, producing verdure through the greater part of both summer and winter.

The soil in general is shallow and light, consisting of decomposed granite and peat-earth, consequently not adapted to produce heavy crops of wheat, but it is good grazing land, and yields fair crops of barley, oats, turnips, and potatoes; the last named especially is extensively cultivated. St Just is one of the oldest mining parishes in Cornwall. In the mid-1880s, it was a real mining-boom town having grown steadily over the previous half century. Mines had sprung up all over the district and there was plenty of work for everyone. As the Corninsh mining industry collapsed in the late 19th century there was a mass exodus of miners to the new world as a desperate poverty settled over those left at St Just. Many remains of very ancient workings are now scattered over the parish.

The town of St Just is the most westerly one in Britain; in size it would appear to be a village but it has its own Town Hall, town clock and a town council. It now comprises several streets diverging from a triagular space in the centre. At the end of the 20th century, regeneration started to improve the town whilst preserving its charms. The most important village in the parish was Pendeen. This became the centre of a new parish of Pendeen which was created from part of St Just in 1849.

There is a small airport at St Just where flights to the Isles of Scilly arrive and depart.

Cemeteries

• In the churchyard are numbers of small granite headstones, the greater part bearing initials and dates only. Mark Hattam has posted photographs of many gravestones.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published Monumental Inscriptions for:
  • The Parish Church - 703 entries
    
  • Municipal Cemetery - 1027 entries
    
  • Wesleyan Chapel - 1726 entries.
• War Memorial inscriptions for St Just parish are separately available.

Return to top of page

Census

Census information for this parish (1841 - 1901) is held in the Cornwall Record Office. The Cornwall Family History Society offers a census search service for its members. The Cornwall Family History Society have also published on-line census detail by surname on the FamilyHistoryonLine site.

Specific census information for this parish is available as follows:

• 1841. The 1841 Census of St Just-in-Penwith (HO107/144) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • Enumeration Districts 1-4.
  • Enumeration Districts 5-7.
  • Enumeration Districts 8 (including Merchant Shipping and Lighthouse) to 10.
• 1851.
  • The 1851 Census of St Just-in-Penwith (HO107/1919) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
    • Enumeration Districts 3e, 3f, 3g and 3h.
    • Enumeration Districts 3i, 3j, 3k, and 3l.
  • The New Zealand Society of Genealogists have compiled separate surname indexes of the 1851 Census for each Cornish registration district; St Just-in-Penwith is listed in Volume 29. The booklets are available in Cornwall at the Cornwall Centre (formerly known as the Cornish Studies Library), and is also available in the Cornwall FHS Library from which it can be purchased.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of St Just-in-Penwith is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG9/1597. Enumeration Districts 9 to 11.
  • RG9/1598. Enumeration Districts 12 to 14.
  • RG9/1598. Enumeration Districts 15 and 16.
• 1871.
  • The 1871 Census of St Just-in-Penwith is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
    • RG10/2343. Enumeration Districts 5 and 6.
    • RG10/2344. Enumeration Districts 9, 10 and 11.
    • RG10/2345:
      • Enumeration Districts 12 to 14.
      • Enumeration Districts 15 and 16.
  • The 1871 Census of St Just-in-Penwith is also available from the Cornwall Family History Society.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of St Just-in-Penwith is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG11/2349. Enumeration District 9, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
  • RG11/2350:
    • Enumeration Districts 10 to 13.
    • Enumeration Districts 14 to 16 [including Merchant Shipping].
• 1891. The 1891 Census of St Just-in-Penwith (RG12/1860) are available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • Enumeration Districts 9 to 13, [including Workhouses].
  • Enumeration Districts 14 to 16.
• 1901. The 1901 Census of St Just-in-Penwith (RG13/2257) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • Enumeration Districts 8 and 9.
  • Enumeration Districts 10 to 12.

Return to top of page

Church History

• Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SW3731 and was dedicated to St Just.
  Bishop Grandisson dedicated the high-altar of a church at this place on the 13th of July, 1336, the same day with St. Madron; but nothing now remains of that church, for the east end of the chancel, which was the only portion of it that remained at that time, was taken down to be rebuilt in the year 1834. The rest of the church was erected late in the fifteenth century, and it is of nearly the same plan as that for St. Burian.
  The church comprises a chancel, nave, north and south aisles and a vestry. When the east end of the chancel was taken down in 1834, an inscribed stone was found indicating that the monument marked the grave of an ecclesiastic of some dignity. In the same wall were found the fragments of a piscina and the capital of a Norman pier. The south arcade has six arches of irregular bredths, some pointed and others semi-circular. The north arcade has five arches of similar character. The arms are those of Ardwenack, Boscawenrose, Bray or Brea, and probably of Petit. The material of the arches and pillars is Caen stone. The tower arch is circular and has a plain soffit. There is a south porch, embattled and supported by buttresses with rudely cut finnials; a staircase from the inside led up to the roof. There is also a priest's door. In the north wall are a north door and vestry door, both blocked. The tower is of three stages and is finished with battlements and pinnacles; it contains three bells and a clock.
  Details about the plans of the modern church are available on-line.
  Further history of St Just church is available.
• Non-Conformist. Within the parish were chapels for the Wesleyans, Bible Christians and the United Methodist Free Church. The Wesleyan chapel (Bojewyan) is now a private house, converted in the 1990s and called "Sleepy Hollow".

Return to top of page

Church Records

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for St Just-in-Penwith are: E020312, M020311, M020312, P020311. These are searchable by surname.
  • LDS Film numbers are: 1630-1783 [0226216], 1784-1847 [0226217], 1847-1959 [0226218], 1630-81 (births 1653-60), 1681-1733, 1734-83, 1784-1812, 1813-1905 [1596685].
  • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1599 - 1877.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1630 - 1922, Burials 1599 - 1975, Marriages 1599 - 1980, Boyd's Marriage Index 1599 - 1812, Pallot's Marriage Index 1800 - 1812.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • Pre 1813 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials.
• Baptisms.
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published on CD, baptisms 1708 to 1840 for this parish.
  • Cornwall Legacy have published on CD, baptisms (1839 to 1900) of the Penzance Bible Christian Circuit. The Circuit covers Penzance, Sancreed, St Just, Madron, Gulval, St Hilary, Ludgvan, Paul, Sennen, St Buryan, Zennor, Towednack and Morvah.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD, records of the St Just Bible Christian Circuit. These comprise baptisms (1860 to 1900). The area covers St Just, Sancreed, St Buryan, Madron, Sennen and Morvah.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD, records of the St Just Wesleyan Circuit. These comprise baptisms (1856 to 1900), Wesleyan Chapel burials (1849-1900), Trewellard Wesleyan Chapel Baptisms 1894 to 1900. The areas cover St Just, St Leven, Sancreed, St Buryan, Madron, Morvah, Botallack and Paul.
• Marriages
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1599 to 1837, which is available in CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • Phillimore's marriages 1599 to 1812, and marriages 1813 to 1901 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • Diane Donohue has transcribed marriages at St Just-in-Penwith 1854 to 1872; these are on-line.
• Burials.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Burials 1813 to 1837, which is available in CD or Book formats.
  • Burials 1813 to 1899 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).

Return to top of page

Civil Registration

The parish of St Just-in-Penwith has been in the Penzance Registration District continuously from 1st July 1837. There were originally sub-districts at Marazion, Penzance, St Buryan, St Just, St Ives and Uny-Lelant but these have now been abolished. Parishes within the district are: Gulval, Ludgvan, Madron, Marazion, Morvah, Penzance, Perranuthnoe, St. Buryan, St. Erth, St. Hilary, St. Ives, St. Just in Penwith, St. Levan, St. Michael's Mount, St. Paul, Sancreed, Sennen, Towednack, Uny-Lelant, Wolfe Rock Lighthouse, and Zennor. The Superintendant Registrar can be contacted at: Alphington House, Alverton Place, Penzance, TR18 4JJ. Tel: 01736 330093.

Return to top of page

Description & Travel

• ePodunk's Cornwall page - providing general, plus some historical and genealogical information, about Cornwall and its parishes, together with links (mainly relating to general sites and services, rather than ones that are specific to Cornwall or particular parishes).
• Photographs of St Just-in-Penwith are available.
• More photographs of St Just-in-Penwith are also available.
• Mark Hattam has posted some photographs of St Just.
• Pictures of the parish church, Methodist chapel, and other landmarks in St Just are also available.

Return to top of page

Directories

• A copy of the Slater's Directory of 1852 for St Just and Sennen is available on-line.
• Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1873 St Just-in-Penwith.
• Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1883 St Just-in-Penwith.
• Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1893 St Just-in-Penwith.

Return to top of page

Genealogy

• OPC Assistance. The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates a service to help family historians; the OPC page for this parish is available on-line, from where the OPC can be contacted by email.
• The West Penwith Resources has produced a website for St Just to help family historians.
• British-Genealogy have a mailing list for those wanting to discuss ancestry in St Just-in-Penwith.

Return to top of page

Historical Geography

• Brea (Bret), Grid Reference 379280.
• Kelynack (Chelenoc, Chelenoch), Grid Reference 371300.

Return to top of page

History

A website dedicated to the history of St Just is available. The project has created a database of memorial inscriptions for St Just, Sancreed, Pendeen, Morvah Church and Tregerest Chapel. Records for Sennen, Zennor, St Buryan & Quaker memorial inscriptions will be transferred from written sources in due course. The database is growing month by month but already contains 12,500 records, an invaluable resource for local people and Cornish emigrants all over the world who want to research their family history and trace their ancestors.

Return to top of page

Land & Property

• The parish and town tithe maps, and accompanying survey books of c1840, provide a fascinating snap-shot of land use and ownership in the 19th century. In order to preserve the documents and improve access to them, the Cornwall Record Office are digitising these maps and survey books. The CD ROM tithe package include a map and survey books, together with a reader, for this parish; it is now available from the Cornwall Record Office. Details are on their website.

Return to top of page

Maps

• Map of the Penzance Registration District in which the parish lies.
• An old map of the parish of St Just-in-Penwith in the 19th century is also available.
• A map showing St Just-in-Penwith in the context of its neighbours is available.

Return to top of page

Manors

• Bojewyan Manor.
  Rentals 1811-14, 1880, rental with Trelissick 1802, rentals with other manors 1786-1887 (non consecutive), 1936-43, surveys 1771, 1809, 1830, map 1772-73, papers 19th cent and book of lives, with other manors 1812, 1815, 1820, 1831, 1847, 1872 in the Cornwall Record Office, Old County Hall, Truro TR1 3AY (collection ref: DD.WH).
• Kelynack Manor.
  Receiver's accounts c1690 in the Public Record Office, Ruskin Avenue, Kew, Richmond, Surrey TW9 4DU (ref: C107/112).
  • Rent rolls from 1728. In 1925 these were in the possession of RE Tonkin of Treverven, St Buryan.
  • Papers relating to mill leat c1724 are in the Cornwall Record Office, Old County Hall, Truro TR1 3AY (collection ref: DDX 6).
  • Survey nd in the Huntington Library, 1151 Oxford Road, San Marino, California 91108, USA (collection ref: EL (catalogue ref: vol 3, p824)).
• Laffrander or Lafronda Manor.
  Rental with Lelant 1737-49 in the Public Record Office (ref: C116/28).
• St Just (?St Just in Penwith) Manor.
  Bounds book c1737 in Cornwall Record Office (collection ref: DDX 6).
  Survey and valuation with other manors 1794 in the Cornwall Record Office (ref: Acc. Apr-June 1969). (It is not certain whether this is St Just in Penwith manor).
• Trewellard Manor.
  Rent roll 1545-46 and court roll 1546-48 in the British Library, Manuscript Collections, 96 Euston Road, London NW1 2DB (ref: Add MSS 32958 (9), 32965 (4).
  Survey book 1885 in the Cornwall Record Office (ref: Acc. Apr.-June 1957).

Return to top of page

Names, Personal

Information about the GRENFELL (GREENFIELD, GRENFIELD, GRINFIELD, GREENFILL) family of St Just is available on the Grenfell Family History Site. These include: baptisms, marriages, burials and census information.

Return to top of page

Occupations

• Information about the Mines around St Just and Pendeen, is available on-line.
• The St Just Mines Research Group have a website which includes information on Wheal Geevor, the Levant Mine and others mines.

Return to top of page

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• St Just-in-Penwith parish was part of the Penzance Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.
• Overseers' Accounts (1768 to 1789) are available in the Cornwall Record Office.

Return to top of page

Population

The parish of Pendeen was created from part of this parish in 1849.

Return to top of page

Probate Records

• Wills & Admons for St Just-in-Penwith parish, 1660-1730 are available on-line.

Return to top of page

Societies

The St Just & Pendeen Old Cornwall Society News Page is on-line.

Return to top of page

Statistics

The parish comprises 7622 acres of land, 12 acres of water and 117 acres of foreshore.

Return to top of page

Are you lost in the GENUKI hierarchy or arrived here from a Search Engine?
If so, use the up-arrow(s) at the top of the page to go up the hierarchy.

Copyright and Disclaimer The information on the GENUKI (www.genuki.org.uk) website must not be used for commercial purposes, and all specific restrictions concerning usage, copyright notices, etc., that are to be found on individual information pages within GENUKI must be strictly adhered to. Violation of these rules could gravely harm the cooperation that GENUKI is obtaining from many information providers, and hence threaten its whole future. Whilst we take every care to keep the information on our web pages accurate, we disclaim any warranty or representation, express or implied about its accuracy, completeness or appropriateness for a particular purpose. Thus, you assume full responsibility for its use, and you understand and agree that neither GENUKI as an organisation nor any of its maintainers or providers are responsible or liable for any claim, loss or damage as a consequence. GENUKI contains many hyperlinks and directives to sites developed by others. They are provided for your convenience only. We do not control nor guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness, or completeness of such sites, and in the event of a link to such a site being 'broken', or otherwise unavailable, our only recourse is to remove that link. Thank you for your cooperation. GENUKI is a registered trademark of the charitable trust GENUKI - see About GENUKI as an Organisation.