Porthleven

Methleigh was the site of a fair and annual market from the year 1066. After the Norman Conquest, the Bishop of Exeter held the manor of Methleigh, but the Earl of Cornwall possessed the right to hold the fair. At the time of the Domesday Survey there were 15 acre of arable land, 40 acre of pasture and 60 acre of underbrush. The population consisted of 15 villeins, 4 smallholders and 3 serfs. Until 1844 Porthleven was within the parish of Sithney. The parish Church of St Bartholomew was built in 1842. The name Porthleven is probably connected with St Elwen or Elwyn, whose chapel existed here before 1270. It was rebuilt about 1510, but destroyed in 1549. There were also chapels at Higher…

William Cookworthy acquired leases on the Tregonning Hill quarries and shipped china clay to his porcelain factory in Plymouth. In 1826, 150 tons of china stone and 30 tons of china clay were exported, and in 1838, 500 tons of china stone. By 1876, 970 tons were exported and in 1883, 1002 tons. Granite was also exported, from the quarries at Coverack Bridges and Sithney. Fifty-two fishing boats were built between 1877 and 1883, employing at times up to twenty people. They ranged in length from 22 feet to 55 feet and were built not only for Mount's Bay ports, but for others in the UK and in South Africa. Overnight on 12–13 December 1978, Police Constables Joseph James Childs and Martin Ross…