Morvah

OS Grid ref:- SW402353

The small fishing village of Morvah (Cornish: Morvedh) lies on the north coast road of the extreme south-western peninsula of Cornwall.

The village, which was a busy mining area in the 19th century, consists of several granite houses, an art gallery, a dairy farm, a Wesleyan Chapel and a church which dates to the fifteenth century. The church was dedicated in 1409 to St Morwetha, and was constructed by the Knights of St John. It was later dedicated to St Bridget of Sweden, who had formed the order of Bridgentines in 1373. Some of the ornamentation within the church is of Swedish manufacture.

In the course of quarrying for building materials at Morvah in 1884 a hoard of gold ornaments dating from the late Bronze Age were discovered at Carne Farm . The hoard consisted of six large Irish gold bracelets, three of which displayed distinctive trumpet-like ends. The bracelets are now on display at the British Museum.

Up on the cliffs at Tregaminion Farm is a Holy Well which dates to the Bronze Age and stands near the site of an early Christian chapel dating to the Dark Ages. Water from the well was used by the villagers until the 1960's when mains water was installed in the village.

The name Morvah is said to have derived from the Cornish Morveth meaning 'a place by the sea'.

Towns and Villages of Cornwall