Godolphin Cross ( kw, Krows Hirlan) is a village in the former Kerrier District of west

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. It is in the civil parish of

Breage Breage or Breaca (with many variant spellings) is a saint venerated in Cornwall and South West England. According to her late hagiography, she was an Irish nun of the 5th or 6th century who founded a church in Cornwall. The village and civil pari ...

, midway between the towns of

Hayle Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...

and

Helston Helston ( kw, Hellys) is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map she ...

.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Godolphin Cross is in an upland area, part of a geological formation known as the Tregonning-Godolphin

Granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

. The term refers to the

plateau In geology and physical geography, a plateau (; ; ), also called a high plain or a tableland, is an area of a highland consisting of flat terrain that is raised sharply above the surrounding area on at least one side. Often one or more sides ...

of high ground in this area, one of five granite batholiths in Cornwall (see

Geology of Cornwall The geology of Cornwall, England, is dominated by its granite backbone, part of the Cornubian batholith, formed during the Variscan orogeny. Around this is an extensive metamorphic aureole (known locally as killas) formed in the mainly Devon ...

). One mile west of the village, Godolphin Hill rises to . The

Godolphin Estate The Godolphin Estate is a National Trust property situated in Godolphin Cross, north-west of Helston in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The house is a Grade I listed building. History The Estate is the former seat of the Dukes of Leeds and the Ea ...

is near the village. It is now completely owned by the

National Trust The National Trust, formally the National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, is a charity and membership organisation for heritage conservation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. In Scotland, there is a separate and ...

, and is undergoing extensive renovation. The whole estate and surrounding woodlands are once again open to the public, who were excluded from most of the estate by the former owners. Godolphin Primary School serves children from 4 to 11 years and had a roll of 82 children in November 2021. It received a good Ofsted report in June 2015. The Church of St John the Baptist is now redundant. It was designed by

James Piers St Aubyn James Piers St Aubyn (6 April 1815 – 8 May 1895), often referred to as J P St Aubyn, was an English architect of the Victorian era, known for his church architecture and confident restorations. Early life St Aubyn was born at Powick Vicara ...

and built in 1849–50. In 2006, an application was received by Kerrier District Council to convert the church into a private dwelling. There is a

Cornish cross A broiler is any chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') that is bred and raised specifically for meat production. Most commercial broilers reach slaughter weight between four and six weeks of age, although slower growing breeds reach slaughte ...

in the churchyard. In 1886 it was moved to the churchyard, having been found in use as a gatepost on the Chytodden estate. In June 2017 the

village hall A village hall is a public building in a village used for various things such as: United Kingdom In the United Kingdom, a village hall is usually a building which contains at least one large room (plus kitchen and toilets), is owned by a local ...

was saved by a gift from His Highness

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum ( ar, محمد بن راشد آل مكتوم, links=no; ; born 15 July 1949) is the vice president, prime minister, and minister of defence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as well as the ruler of Dubai. ...

, the Emir of Dubai, after villagers pointed out to him the historic link between their village and

Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin Francis Godolphin, 2nd Earl of Godolphin, (3 September 1678 – 17 January 1766), styled Viscount Rialton from 1706 to 1712, was an English courtier and politician who sat in the English and British House of Commons between 1695 and 1712, whe ...

, who bred from the legendary Godolphin Arabian, one of three stallions from which all

thoroughbred The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are ...

s are descended. The Sheikh is head of the global Godolphin horse racing empire. The building was formerly the

Methodist Chapel Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

and school room. The chapel organ came from another Methodist chapel in 1936. Built by H P Dicker of Exeter in the 1890s, it has been preserved. It was taken down and moved to storage at The Cornish Heritage Collection at Poldark Mine Museum six miles away. It is due to be erected later in 2018 so that it can be played along with several other Methodist Chapel organs already at the museum.

References

{{authority control Villages in Cornwall