St. Just in Roseland
OS Grid ref:- SW8435
The idyllic village of St. Just in Roseland is located a short distance from the small town of St Mawes, on the west side of the beautiful Roseland Peninsula.
The Roseland Peninsula is renowned for its superb scenery and is arguably one of the most picturesque and unspoilt parts of the Britain . To the north west it consists of woodlands and creeks, while the south east has rocky cliffs.
The village of St. Just in Roseland, a beautiful & tranquil place, is known in the Cornish language as Lannsiek. The village offers a good range of facilities. There are tidal beaches and anchorage for boats along the shoreline.
Nearby lie the D-Day embarkation points at Turnaware Bar and nearby recently renovated Smugglers Cottage, which forms part of the Tregothnan Estate. Smugglers Cottage retains various hut bases, platforms and water tanks. Interpretation panels are positioned for visitors to the site. The Cottage itself was requisitioned during the war as the Embarkation Staff Office. A memorial tree planted to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of D-Day stands a short distance away.
The famous village church of St. Just the Martyr with its stunning churchyard is situated on the edge of a tidal creek of the Percuil River. The church occupies the site of a former fifth century chapel. There are numerous paths leading from the churchyard onto the coastal footpath which continues around the headland through land owned by the National Trust, to the nearby town of St. Mawes. The walk is around 2 miles in length.
The church of St. Just the Martyr
The ancient church of St. Just the Martyr, which occupies the site of a fifth century chapel, is said to be the most beautiful church in the county, and stands above St. Just Pool, a wooded inlet, just outside the main village.
The church is set in riverside gardens luxuriantly planted with semitropical shrubs and trees. The building dates from the thirteenth century and was dedicated to St Just on 14th August 1261, by Walter, Bishop of Exeter. It was built by John le Sor, Lord of Tolverne to replace a Norman church attached to Plympton Priory.
The magnificent churchyard, a colourful sight in the spring, with its rhododendrons and camellias, contains a collection of sub tropical plants which were established by a nineteenth century vicar. Legend claims that the biblical Joseph of Arimathea may have visited St. Just-in-Roseland and brought Jesus ashore here.
A small car park with limited parking is located along the side of the road by the church gate. The path down to the Church from the road is lined with granite blocks which are carved with quotations and verses taken from the Bible.