Cornwall

Nearby places

St Levan

The parish of St Levan, (Cornish: Sen Selevan), was originally part of the parish of St Buryan and has been closely connected with it. It is situated in the Deanery and Hundred of Penwith. It is bounded on the north by St Buryan, on the east and south by sea, and on the west by Sennen. St Leven takes its name from the patron saint of the church, St Selevan. The parish is ten miles west of Penzance. Porthcurno, on the south coast, was the site of the first cable laid across the Atlantic. Not far from Porthcurno is the Minack Open Air Theatre, built into the cliffs by Rowena Cade in 1932, which has the sea as a backdrop to the stage.

The chief village is Teryn (or Treen). St Levan is also a pleasant village, which in the past relied heavily on shell fishing as source of income. At Porthgwarra (the higher port), a little fishing cove, tunnels are cut through the rock to give access to the sand and ore-weed beach. Penberth Cove is also a fishing place.

Cemeteries

• In the St Levan Methodist Chapel burial ground are a number of headstones. Mark Hattam has posted photographs of some of these gravestones.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published Monumental Inscriptions for the Parish Church - 410 entries.
• War Memorial inscriptions for St Levan parish are separately available.

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 Levan (HO107/144), Enumeration Districts 6 and 7, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
  • The 1841 Census of St Levan, (Enumeration Districts 6 and 7) is also on-line from West Penwith Resources.
• 1851.
  • The 1851 Census of St Levan (HO107/1919), Enumeration Districts 2a and 2b, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
  • The New Zealand Society of Genealogists have compiled separate surname indexes of the 1851 Census for each Cornish registration district; St Levan is listed in Volume 30. 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.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of St Levan (RG9/1599), Enumeration Districts 6D and 7A, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of St Levan (RG10/2346), Enumeration Districts 6B and 7A, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of St Levan (RG11/2351), Enumeration Districts 6 [including Schools], and 7 plus Merchant Shipping, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of St Levan (RG12/1861), Enumeration Districts 6 and 7, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1901. The 1901 Census of St Levan (RG13/2258), Enumeration District 6 [including Wolf Rock and Longships Lighthouses, and Merchant Shipping], is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.

Church History

• Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SW3822 and is dedicated to St Selevan. The church consists of a chancel, nave, south aisle and north transept. The arcade has six low pointed arches, supported on octagonal monolith pillars of granite. The roofs hare well arved and the bosses appear to have been painted and gilded. There is a south porch, and a blocked doorway in the angle between the nave and transept. The tower is of two stages, and is finished with battlements and pinnacles; it contained two bells.
  This parish, together with St Buryan and Sennen, constitued the deanery of St Buryan, but this was broken up in 1864.
  Details about the plans of the modern church are available on-line.
• Non-Conformist. The Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel at Treen and another at Sawah, which was replaced around 1870 by one built at Poggiga Cross. Mark Hattam has posted photographs of the present chapel.

Church Records

Generally speaking the St.Levan Registers do not start until 1700. The very, very early records for St Levan were covered by St Buryan. However some early records have been lost due to lack of care; nevertheless, a few early entries have been salvaged.

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for St Levan are: P021041, M021041. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1694 - 1875.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1700 - 1870, Burials 1700 - 1973, Marriages 1700 - 1981, Boyd's Marriage Index 1694 - 1812, Pallot's Marriage Index 1790 - 1812.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • Pre 1813 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials
• Baptisms.
  • Baptisms 1694 to 1901 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • St Levan Wesleyan Chapel baptisms 1875 to 1901 are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • Pat Banks has transcribed baptisms at St Levan 1694 to 1900, which are on-line courtesy of West Penwith Resources.
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published on CD, baptisms 1730 to 1856 for this parish.
• Banns. Banns 1825 to 1911 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
• Marriages.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1694 to 1837, which is available in Book format.
  • Phillimore marriages 1694 to 1812, and parish transcriptions 1813 to 1901, for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • Diane Donahue has transcribed marriages at St Levan 1694 to 1905, which are on-line courtesy of West Penwith Resources.
• Burials.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Burials 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book, CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • Burials 1700 to 1911 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • Burials at St Levan are available on-line, courtesy of the OPC, as follows:
    • 1694 to 1812.
    • 1813 to 1920.
• Mixed Records. 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.

Civil Registration

The parish of St Levan 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.

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).
• Pictures of St Levan are available on-line.

Directories

• Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1873 covering St Levan.
• Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1883 covering St Levan.
• Kelly's Directory of Cornwall 1893 covering St Levan (including Treen).

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.

Maps

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

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

• St Levan parish was part of the Penzance Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.
• Overseers' Accounts (1729 to 1769) are available in the Cornwall Record Office.

Population

(* includes Wolfe Rock Lighthouse).

Societies

• To encourage and sustain public interest in the history of Penwith to provide mutual support and encouragement to members in their individual research projects, whether related to Penwith or of wider historical interest.
• To work as a group on specific research projects, with the aim of publication to an academic standard.
• To encourage the strong link with the Morrab Library, supporting the Library in its aims and activities.

Statistics

The parish comprises 2402 acres of land, 3 acres of water and 31 acres of foreshore.

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