{{Short description|Village and civil parish in Cornwall, England}} {{about|the village|the saint|Mawgan}} {{Use British English|date=February 2026}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{Infobox UK place | country = England | map_type = Cornwall | static_image_name = St. Mawgan Church - geograph.org.uk - 170465.jpg | static_image_caption = St Mawgan Church | coordinates = {{coord|50|27|16|N|4|59|52|W|type:city(500)_region:GB-CON|display=inline,title}} | official_name = St Mawgan | cornish_name = Lannhernow | civil_parish = St Mawgan | population = 1,307 | population_ref = ([[United Kingdom Census 2011|Civil Parish, 2011]]) | unitary_england= [[Cornwall Council|Cornwall]] | lieutenancy_england = [[Cornwall]] | metropolitan_borough = | metropolitan_county = | region = South West England | constituency_westminster = [[North Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)|North Cornwall]] | post_town = NEWQUAY | postcode_district = TR8 | postcode_area = TR | dial_code = 01637 | os_grid_reference = SW872659 }} [[File:The Manor House, St Mawgan (Lanherne) and its history - geograph.org.uk - 894668.jpg|thumb|[[Lanherne|Lanherne House]], the [[manor house]] of St Mawgan]] [[File:The Japanese Garden, St Mawgan - geograph.org.uk - 242063.jpg|thumb|The Japanese Garden, St Mawgan]]
'''St Mawgan''' or '''St Mawgan in Pydar''' ({{langx|kw|Lannhernow}}) is a village and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in [[Cornwall]], England, United Kingdom. The population of this parish at the 2011 census was 1,307.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/MawganinPydar/index.html|title=2011 census for Mawgan in Pydar|accessdate= 5 February 2015}}</ref> The village is situated four miles northeast of [[Newquay]], and the parish also includes the hamlet of [[Mawgan Porth]].<ref name=OS>Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' {{ISBN|978-0-319-22938-5}}</ref> The surviving [[manor house]] known as Lanherne House is an early 16th-century [[Listed building|grade I listed]] building.<ref>[http://www.britishlistedbuildings.co.uk/en-71101-lanherne-carmelite-convent-mawgan-in-pyda#.VUzQPpO-sqc Listed building text]</ref> The nearby Royal Air Force station, [[RAF St Mawgan]], takes its name from the village and is next to [[Newquay Airport]]. The [[River Menalhyl]] runs through St Mawgan village and the valley is known as ''The Vale of Lanherne''.<ref name=OS /> It was the subject of a poem by poet [[Henry Sewell Stokes]].
==History== There is evidence of [[Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age]] settlements, though the village history proper is considered to start from the arrival of the Welsh missionary [[Mawgan|St Mawgan]] (or Meugan) and his followers in the [[6th century]] when they set up a monastery and the first church.<ref name=Parish>{{cite web|url=https://www.stmawganparishcouncil.org.uk/our-history/|work=stmawganparishcouncil.org.uk|title=History of St Mawgan Parish}}</ref> The church was replaced by a Saxon church in the 11th century, which was in its turn replaced in the 11 and 12th centuries by the current parish church.<ref name=Parish/>
The [[Arundell family]] "of Lanherne" have been the chief landowners in St Mawgan since the 13th century. It was a branch of the prominent and widespread Arundell family also seated at [[Trerice]], Tolverne, Menadarva in Cornwall and at [[Wardour Castle]] in [[Wiltshire]]. In 1794 Lanherne House, mainly built in the 16th and 17th centuries, became a convent for émigré nuns from Belgium. Many memorials of the Arundells survive in the parish churches of St Mawgan, dedicated to ''St Mauganus and St Nicholas'', including [[monumental brass]]es to George Arundell (1573), Mary Arundell (1578), Cyssel and Jane Arundell (ca. 1580), Edward Arundell (c.1586).<ref>Dunkin, E. (1882) ''Monumental Brasses''. London: Spottiswoode; pp. 42-53, pl. XXXVI-XLI</ref> Further memorials of the Arundells survive in the nearby [[St Columba's Church, St Columb Major]].
==Parish church== [[File:Benchend.jpg|alt=Dark wooden carving in the shape of a medieval depiction of a horse|thumb|Benchend of a pew in the church, carved in the form of a horse]] St Mawgan has a 13th-century [[parish church]], dedicated to St [[Mawgan|Mauganus]] and St Nicholas. The church was originally a cruciform building of the 13th century but was enlarged by a south aisle and the upper part of the tower in the 15th. The unusual rood screen and bench ends are noteworthy and there are many monumental brasses to members of the Arundell family; these include George Arundell, 1573, Mary Arundell, 1578, Cyssel and Jane Arundell, c. 1580, Edward Arundell (?), 1586,<ref>Dunkin, E. (1882) ''Monumental Brasses''. London: Spottiswoode; pp. 42-53, pl. XXXVI-XLI</ref> The Arundell brasses are mostly in a fragmentary state; parts of some of those originally in the church have been removed to [[Wardour Castle]].<ref>Pevsner, N. (1970) ''Cornwall''; 2nd ed. revised by Enid Radcliffe. Harmondsworth: Penguin; p. 115</ref> (St Mauganus was a Welshman and is also honoured at [[Mawgan-in-Meneage]], and in Wales and Brittany.)<ref>[[Doble, G. H.]] (1962) ''The Saints of Cornwall: part 2''. Truro: Dean and Chapter; pp. 34-44</ref>
==Historic estates== ===Lanherne=== Lanherne House was the manor house for the Arundell family "of Lanherne", [[lord of the manor|lords of the manor]] of St Mawgan, chief landowners in the parish since the 13th century, many of whose monuments survive in the parish church. They were a branch of the prominent and widespread Arundell family also seated at [[Trerice]], Tolverne, Menadarva in Cornwall and at [[Wardour Castle]] in [[Wiltshire]]. Lanherne House has been the [[St Mawgan Monastery|Lanherne Convent]] since 1794.
===Nanskeval=== [[File:Nankivell 2.jpg|right|thumb|Nanskeval House, St Mawgan]] Nanskeval House was on the parish boundaries of St Mawgan in Pydar (it was demolished in the mid-1970s) and [[St Columb Major]]: in 1277 it was spelt Nanscuvel. Nanskeval House was once the home of Liberal MP [[Edward Brydges Willyams]] and is still part of the [[Carnanton House|Carnanton]] estate which is still owned by descendants of the same family. ''Nans'' means 'valley' in Old Cornish, and ''Kivell'' was thought to derive from the Cornish equivalent of the Welsh word ''ceffyl'', meaning a horse.<ref>''[[:cy:Ceffyl|Ceffyl]]'' {{in lang|cy}}</ref> but as the Cornish for horse is Margh this is an erroneous interpretation. Much more likely is "The valley of the Woodcock" as the Cornish for woodcock is 'Kevelek'. The surname [[Nankivell (surname)|Nankivell]] and its variants are thought to derive from this place.
==Amenities== The village has one pub, The Falcon Inn.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Hayley |title=13 of the best pub gardens in Cornwall |url=https://www.greatbritishlife.co.uk/magazines/cornwall/22611383.13-best-pub-gardens-cornwall/ |access-date=2 February 2025 |work=Great British Life |date=22 July 2019}}</ref> Also at St Mawgan is a [[bonsai]] tree nursery and a Japanese Garden attraction,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Simone |first1=Carlo |title=Why a Cornwall Japanese garden is among the UK's loveliest |url=https://www.falmouthpacket.co.uk/news/24639175.cornwall-japanese-garden-among-uks-loveliest/ |access-date=1 February 2025 |work=[[Falmouth Packet]] |date=9 October 2024}}</ref> plus a small craft shop. There are two local cricket teams which play Sunday [[friendly match|friendlies]], the Vale of Lanherne C.C. and St Mawgan C.C.
==Antiquities== Arthur Langdon (1896) recorded two Cornish crosses in the parish: one, a small cross, is at Mawgan Cross and the other at Lanherne. The Lanherne cross is a highly ornamented example and stands in the grounds of the nunnery having been brought from Roseworthy in the parish of Gwinear. "It is the most beautiful specimen of an elaborately decorated cross in Cornwall."<ref>Langdon, A. G. (1896) ''Old Cornish Crosses''. Truro: Joseph Pollard; pp. 211 & 357-59</ref> Andrew Langdon (1994) records four crosses. These are the Lanherne cross, the churchyard cross, Bodrean Cross and Mawgan Cross. The churchyard cross is the best preserved medieval lantern cross in Cornwall. Bodrean Cross (a cross head and small part of the shaft) was found in 1904 at Bodrean Farm in the parish of St Clement. In 1906 the cross head was provided with a new shaft and set up in St Mawgan churchyard.<ref>Langdon, A. G. (2002) ''Stone Crosses in Mid Cornwall''; 2nd ed. Federation of Old Cornwall Societies; pp. 55-57</ref>
== Gerald the Giraffe == [[File:GeraldtheGiraffe.jpg|alt=A fake, decorative giraffe standing by the river in St Mawgan. The giraffe is wearing yellow tinted sunglasses and a straw hat.|thumb|Gerald the Giraffe in a summer outfit]] The Village is also host to a Giraffe known locally as Gerald. Initially placed on a temporary basis the Giraffe became a popular addition with the local residents. Stories about Gerald, written by the children from the local primary school, have been featured in the local village magazine.<ref>{{cite news |title=Gerald, Our Local Celebrity! |work=Dreckly! |date=March 2025 |pages=26-28}}</ref>
==Climate== {{Weather box|width=auto |location = [[Newquay Airport]]<br>[[Location identifier#WMO station identifiers|WMO ID]]: 03817; coordinates {{coord|50.43869|N|4.99645|W|type:landmark_region:GB|name=Newquay Cornwall Airport - Climate Station|format=dms}}; elevation: {{convert|103|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}; 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1960–present |metric first = Yes |single line = Yes |Jan record high C = 15.1 |Feb record high C = 18.4 |Mar record high C = 22.2 |Apr record high C = 24.3 |May record high C = 27.9 |Jun record high C = 31.3 |Jul record high C = 31.4 |Aug record high C = 32.4 |Sep record high C = 29.9 |Oct record high C = 26.5 |Nov record high C = 19.2 |Dec record high C = 16.5 |year record high C = 32.4 |Jan high C = 9.0 |Feb high C = 9.0 |Mar high C = 10.4 |Apr high C = 12.5 |May high C = 15.1 |Jun high C = 17.5 |Jul high C = 19.1 |Aug high C = 19.1 |Sep high C = 17.7 |Oct high C = 14.6 |Nov high C = 11.7 |Dec high C = 9.7 |year high C = 13.8 | Jan mean C = 6.7 | Feb mean C = 6.6 | Mar mean C = 7.7 | Apr mean C = 9.4 | May mean C = 12.0 | Jun mean C = 14.5 | Jul mean C = 16.3 | Aug mean C = 16.4 | Sep mean C = 14.9 | Oct mean C = 12.2 | Nov mean C = 9.4 | Dec mean C = 7.4 | year mean C = 11.1 |Jan low C = 4.3 |Feb low C = 4.1 |Mar low C = 5.1 |Apr low C = 6.4 |May low C = 8.9 |Jun low C = 11.5 |Jul low C = 13.5 |Aug low C = 13.7 |Sep low C = 12.1 |Oct low C = 9.8 |Nov low C = 7.1 |Dec low C = 5.1 |year low C = 8.5 |Jan record low C = -9.0 |Feb record low C = −8.5 |Mar record low C = -8.5 |Apr record low C = −2.1 |May record low C = 1.0 |Jun record low C = 2.7 |Jul record low C = 7.4 |Aug record low C = 7.2 |Sep record low C = 4.9 |Oct record low C = -0.1 |Nov record low C = −4.2 |Dec record low C = −6.7 |year record low C = −9.0 |precipitation colour = green |Jan precipitation mm = 109.0 |Feb precipitation mm = 83.2 |Mar precipitation mm = 68.8 |Apr precipitation mm = 65.7 |May precipitation mm = 58.4 |Jun precipitation mm = 63.1 |Jul precipitation mm = 71.5 |Aug precipitation mm = 71.3 |Sep precipitation mm = 77.2 |Oct precipitation mm = 108.0 |Nov precipitation mm = 127.7 |Dec precipitation mm = 115.7 |year precipitation mm = 1019.4 |unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm |Jan precipitation days = 16.4 |Feb precipitation days = 13.3 |Mar precipitation days = 12.4 |Apr precipitation days = 11.1 |May precipitation days = 9.8 |Jun precipitation days = 10.1 |Jul precipitation days = 11.4 |Aug precipitation days = 12.1 |Sep precipitation days = 11.5 |Oct precipitation days = 15.2 |Nov precipitation days = 17.8 |Dec precipitation days = 17.1 |year precipitation days= 158.1 |Jan sun = 67.8 |Feb sun = 91.1 |Mar sun = 133.3 |Apr sun = 194.3 |May sun = 224.2 |Jun sun = 219.5 |Jul sun = 207.5 |Aug sun = 196.7 |Sep sun = 167.1 |Oct sun = 119.8 |Nov sun = 75.1 |Dec sun = 61.6 |year sun = 1758.0 |source 1 = [[Met Office]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Mawgan Climate |url=https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gbuqyjzyd |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181111133932/https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/public/weather/climate/gbuqyjzyd |archive-date=11 November 2018 |access-date=11 November 2018 |publisher=[[UKMO]]}}</ref> |source 2 = [[Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=St Mawgan extremes |url=http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/mapserver/anomaly.php?indexcat=**&indexid=TNn&year=1962&seasonid=18&create_image=true&minx=-528750.00000003&miny=-4659285.7142857&maxx=-312083.33333334&maxy=-4496785.7142857&MapSize=560%2C420&imagewidth=560&imageheight=420&mainmap.x=336&mainmap.y=207&CMD=QUERY_POINT&CMD=QUERY_POINT#bottom |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120611101146/http://eca.knmi.nl/utils/mapserver/anomaly.php?indexcat=**&indexid=TNn&year=1962&seasonid=18&create_image=true&minx=-528750.00000003&miny=-4659285.7142857&maxx=-312083.33333334&maxy=-4496785.7142857&MapSize=560,420&imagewidth=560&imageheight=420&mainmap.x=336&mainmap.y=207&CMD=QUERY_POINT&CMD=QUERY_POINT#bottom |archive-date=11 June 2012 |access-date=12 November 2011 |publisher=[[KNMI (institute)|KNMI]]}}</ref> }}
==Cornish wrestling== St Mawgan has been a major centre for [[Cornish wrestling]] over at least the last few centuries. Matches have always been held on the recreation ground in churchtown.<ref name="RCG230718638">Royal Cornwall Gazette, 23 July 1868.</ref><ref name="CG20081936">Cornish Guardian, 20 August 1936.</ref>
The St Mawgan wrestling committee was instrumental in the split of the Cornwall County Wrestling Association, helping form the East Cornwall Wrestling Federation ("ECWF") in 1934.<ref name="M Tripp Thesis">Tripp, Michael: ''PERSISTENCE OF DIFFERENCE: A HISTORY OF CORNISH WRESTLING'', University of Exeter as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy 2009, Vol I p2-217.</ref><ref name="C26071934">''Cornish Wrestling'', Cornishman, 26 July 1934, p10.</ref><ref name="CG19071934">''Cornish Wrestling Championship'', Cornish Guardian, 19 July 1934, p14.</ref><ref name="CG14061934">''Formation of East Cornwall Federation'', Cornish Guardian 14 June 1934, p14.</ref>
St Mawgan has been home to the Cawley family that have been dominant in Cornish wrestling over the last 40 years: * [[Gerry Cawley]]: Heavyweight champion 1983,<ref name="WBCA11112010">The West Briton, 11 November 2010.</ref> 1984,<ref name="WBCA11112010">The West Briton, 11 November 2010.</ref> 1996,<ref name="WBCA15081996">West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 15 August 1996.</ref> 2002 and 2007. Light heavyweight champion: 1983, 1989, 1993, 1995 through to 2001 and 2011.<ref name="WBCA15092011">The West Briton, 15 September 2011.</ref> Middleweight champion 1994,<ref name="WBCA18081994">West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 18 August 1994.</ref> 1998,<ref name="WBCA10091998">West Briton and Cornwall Advertise, 10 September 1998.</ref> 2011<ref name="WBCA08092011">The West Briton, 8 September 2011.</ref> and 2015.<ref name="WBCA17092015">The West Briton, 17 September 2015.</ref> Interceltic games: under 18s heavyweight champion 1978,<ref name="M Tripp Thesis"/> under 18s champion 1979<ref name="M Tripp Thesis"/> and middleweight champion 1980.<ref name="M Tripp Thesis"/> * Richard Cawley snr: Interceltic games under 16s lightweight champion 1976<ref name="M Tripp Thesis"/> * Mike Cawley: Interceltic games heavyweight champion 1982 and 1985. * Ashley Cawley: Heavyweight champion 2005,<ref name="WMN11072006">The Western Morning News, 11 July 2006.</ref> 2006, 2008, 2010,<ref name="CG22122010">Cornish Guardian, 22 December 2010.</ref> 2011,<ref name="WBCA21072011">The West Briton, 21 July 2011.</ref> 2012,<ref name="CG03082012">Cornish Guardian, 3 Aug 2012.</ref> 2013,<ref name="WBCA11072013">The West Briton, 11 July 2013.</ref> 2014<ref name="CG03122014">Cornish Guardian, 3 Dec 2014.</ref> and 2016.<ref name="WBCA15092016">The West Briton,. 15 September 2016.</ref> Light heavyweight champion: 2015.<ref name="WBCA15092015">The West Briton, 15 September 2015.</ref> Interceltic games: heavyweight champion 2008,<ref name="M Tripp Thesis"/><ref name="WMN29072008">The Western Morning News, 29 July 2008.</ref> * Richard Cawley: Heavyweight champion 2009,<ref name="WBCA16072009">The West Briton, 16 July 2009.</ref> 2015,<ref name="WBCA15102015">The West Briton, 15 October 2015.</ref> 2017 and 2018. Light heavyweight champion: 2016.<ref name="CG24082016">Cornish Guardian, 24 August 2016.</ref> * John Cawley: Light heavyweight champion: 2014.<ref name="CG03122014">Cornish Guardian, 3 Dec 2014.</ref>
==Education and recreation== The parish has one small [[primary school]]: St Mawgan-in-Pydar Primary School. Secondary education is provided by schools in [[Newquay]].
==Notable residents== {{See also|Category:People from St Mawgan}}
===Arundells of Lanherne=== * [[John FitzAlan, 1st Baron Arundel]] (c.1348–1379), known as ''Sir John Arundell'' of Lanherne, a naval commander and [[Lord Marshal of England]] * [[John Arundell (died 1435)|John Arundell]] (circa 1366–1435), called ''The Magnificent'', of [[Lanherne]] * [[John Arundell (died 1423)|John Arundell]] (1392–1423), MP for [[Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)|Cornwall]], 1404,1406,1411,1414,1416,1417,1422 and 1423 *[[John Arundell (1474–1545)|John Arundell]], (1474–1545) of [[Lanherne]], Receiver General of the [[Duchy of Cornwall]] *[[John Arundell (of Lanherne, died 1557)|Sir John Arundell]] (c.1500–1557), MP for [[Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)|Cornwall]], 1554 * [[John Arundell (died 1590)|John Arundell of Lanherne]], (1527–1590), MP for [[Helston (UK Parliament constituency)|Helston]], [[Shaftesbury (UK Parliament constituency)|Shaftesbury]], [[Preston (UK Parliament constituency)|Preston]] and [[Cornwall (UK Parliament constituency)|Cornwall]] in 1558
===and === * [[Richard Parkyn]] (c.1772–1855), a champion Cornish wrestler. *[[Gerry Cawley]] (born ca.1975), [[Cornish wrestling]] champion
==In Art and Literature== In Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835, a poetical illustration {{ws|[[s:Letitia Elizabeth Landon (L. E. L.) in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835/St. Mawgan Church, & Lanhern Nunnery, Cornwall|St. Mawgan Church, & Lanhern Nunnery, Cornwall]]}} is based on an engraving of a painting by [[Thomas Allom]].<ref> {{cite book|last =Landon|first=Letitia Elizabeth|title=Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book, 1835|url=https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=Bzk_AAAAYAAJ&pg=GBS.PA16|section=picture and poetical illustration|pages=16-17|year=1834|publisher=Fisher, Son & Co.}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== {{Portal|Cornwall}} * [http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/MawganinPydar/index.html GENUKI website; Mawgan in Pydar] * [http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((text)='mawgan%20in%20pydar') Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Mawgan in Pydar] <!-- REMOVED LINKS THAT FAIL [[WP:ELNO]] -->
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mawgan}} [[Category:Villages in Cornwall]] [[Category:Civil parishes in Cornwall]] [[Category:Arundell family|~]]