St John (parish: kw, Pluwjowan, village: kw, S. Jowan) is a coastal
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 authorit ...
and a 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 ...
, England, United Kingdom, south of
Saltash
Saltash (Cornish: Essa) is a town and civil parish in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It had a population of 16,184 in 2011 census. Saltash faces the city of Plymouth over the River Tamar and is popularly known as "the Gateway to Corn ...
and south-west of
Torpoint
Torpoint ( kw, Penntorr) is a civil parish and town on the Rame Peninsula in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated opposite the city of Plymouth across the Hamoaze which is the tidal estuary of the River Tamar.
Torpoint ha ...
.
[Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 ''Plymouth & Launceston'' ]
Geography
The parish is opposite
Plymouth, separated from it by St John's Lake, an inlet of
The Hamoaze in
Plymouth Sound
Plymouth Sound, or locally just The Sound, is a deep inlet or sound in the English Channel near Plymouth in England.
Description
Its southwest and southeast corners are Penlee Point in Cornwall and Wembury Point in Devon, a distance of abou ...
.
St John parish is in the St Germans Registration District and the population in the 2001 census was 375, increasing to 391 at the census 2011. To the north, the parish is bordered by St John's Lake and to the south by the sea. To the east, the parish is bordered by
Millbrook, to the south-east by
Maker-with-Rame
Maker-with-Rame ( kw, Magor a-berth Hordh) is a civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Rame Peninsula, approximately four miles (6.5 km) south of Saltash and two miles (3 km) west of Plymouth.
The paris ...
and to the west by
Antony parish.
![The Road outside the Church in St John - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/The_Road_outside_the_Church_in_St_John_-_geograph.org.uk_-_372960.jpg)
A few hundred metres north of St John village is an area of high ground called Vanderbands, the site of an
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the final epoch of the three-age division of the prehistory and protohistory of humanity. It was preceded by the Stone Age ( Paleolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic) and the Bronze Age ( Chalcolithic). The concept has been mostl ...
castle mentioned by
John Norden
John Norden (1625) was an English cartographer, chorographer and antiquary. He planned (but did not complete) a series of county maps and accompanying county histories of England, the ''Speculum Britanniae''. He was also a prolific writer ...
(an English topographer who wrote a series of county histories) in his description of Cornwall published in 1728.
The ''St John's Lake SSSI'' (
Site of Special Scientific Interest) is designated mainly for its bird interests, with 6000
wildfowl
The Anatidae are the biological family of water birds that includes ducks, geese, and swans. The family has a cosmopolitan distribution, occurring on all the world's continents except Antarctica. These birds are adapted for swimming, floating on ...
and 10000
wader
245px, A flock of Dunlins and Red knots">Red_knot.html" ;"title="Dunlins and Red knot">Dunlins and Red knots
Waders or shorebirds are birds of the order Charadriiformes commonly found wikt:wade#Etymology 1, wading along shorelines and mudflat ...
s overwintering on the mudflats.
There is an unusual tidal ford on a minor public road.
Parish church
The historic records for much of this area were kept at Mount Edgcumbe House but were destroyed during the war, however, a church existed here in 1080.
The present church was built in about 1150. It was originally dedicated to St John the
Evangelist but was later, probably in about 1490, changed to St John the Baptist.
It stands in St John village at .
The church was a Norman foundation but only the low western tower survives from the Norman period. The chancel and nave were rebuilt in the 15th century and subsequently restored.
[Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 113]
Notable residents
Charles Adolphus Row
Charles Adolphus Row (1816–1896) was an English Church of
England clergyman and moral philosopher.
Life
Charles Adolphus Row was born in 1816.
He was the third son of William Row of St John, Cornwall. He attended Pembroke College, Oxford whe ...
(1816–1896), a Christian preacher and moral philosopher, was born here.
See also
*
Freathy
Freathy ( kw, Frydhi) is a beach and coastal settlement on the Rame Peninsula in 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 ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint John
Civil parishes in Cornwall
Villages in Cornwall