Hessenford ( kw, Rys an Gwraghes) is a small village in south-east

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 ...

, United Kingdom, four miles west of St Germans on the A387 Polbathic to

Polperro Polperro ( kw, Porthpyra, meaning ''Pyra's cove'') is a large village, civil parish, and fishing harbour within the Polperro Heritage Coastline in south Cornwall, England. Its population is around 1,554. Polperro, through which runs the River P ...

road.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 ''Plymouth & Launceston'' The village had a population of 170 at the 2001

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

. It is in the

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

Deviock Deviock is a coastal civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately three miles (5 km) west of St Germans and straddles the valley of the River Seaton. The parish includes the settlements of Hesse ...

. The river Seaton runs through the village and a mill was recorded here in 1286; the last mill closing in the mid-20th century. The Parish Church of Saint Anne, Hessenford

The Parish Church of Saint Anne, Hessenford

Hessenford is part of the united parishes of St Germans, Hessenford,

Downderry Downderry ( kw, Downderri) is a coastal village in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated west of Plymouth and one mile east of Seaton. Downderry has a long beach of light shingle. There is road access down to the beac ...

and

Tideford Tideford (; kw, Resteudhi) is a small village in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is twinned with Plouguerneau in Brittany, France. Its name derives from its location on the River Tiddy, literally meaning "Ford on the River Tiddy". Ti ...

. St Anne's Church was built in 1832 as a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently. Often a chapel of ea ...

in the parish of St Germans to serve the growing population of the village. It was built by local subscription, local labour and materials, and was dedicated on 26 September 1833, the perpetual

curate A curate () is a person who is invested with the ''care'' or ''cure'' (''cura'') ''of souls'' of a parish. In this sense, "curate" means a parish priest; but in English-speaking countries the term ''curate'' is commonly used to describe clergy w ...

being appointed by the vicar of Saint Germans. Hessenford became a parish in its own right by "Order in Council" in 1852 and in 1855 and 1871 the church was rebuilt in

early English style English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...

. The

lychgate A lychgate, also spelled lichgate, lycugate, lyke-gate or as two separate words lych gate, (from Old English ''lic'', corpse), also ''wych gate'', is a gateway covered with a roof found at the entrance to a traditional English or English-style ch ...

s, a gift, were built in 1905, the original gates being used for the entrance to the church yard. A station was to be built at

Hessenford Hessenford ( kw, Rys an Gwraghes) is a small village in south-east Cornwall, United Kingdom, four miles west of St Germans on the A387 Polbathic to Polperro road.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 ''Plymouth & Launceston'' The village ...

as part of the proposed St Germans & Looe Railway in the late 1930s, but the railway was abandoned without the station having been built. The

Seaton Valley Countryside Park Seaton Valley Countryside Park is the newest of Cornwall's four Country Parks. It is situated in the Seaton valley between the villages of Seaton and Hessenford. It includes two Local Nature Reserves, Seaton Valley North and Seaton Valley ...

is to the south of the village following the river valley to the coast at Seaton.

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Cornwall