Porkellis ( kw, Porthkellys) is a village in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

, England, United Kingdom. It is approximately three and a half miles north-east of

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 ...

, and is in the heart of the old Wendron

mining Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...

district. The village has a pub (The Star Inn), Methodist chapel, village hall and primary school. The name ''Porkellis'' comes from the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, ...

words ''porth'', meaning 'cove' or 'gate', and ''kellys'', meaning 'lost'.

Chapels

Porkellis has two chapels, both of which are

Grade II listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

. The original chapel was built in 1814, whereas the later

Wesleyan Wesleyan theology, otherwise known as Wesleyan– Arminian theology, or Methodist theology, is a theological tradition in Protestant Christianity based upon the ministry of the 18th-century evangelical reformer brothers John Wesley and Charle ...

chapel was bigger and built in 1866 alongside the older one. When the latter chapel was built the original was converted into a schoolroom. Services now take place in the earlier 1814 Chapel, sympathetically refurbished as the 1866 building has been sold and is currently under renovation. The building of a church (dedicated to

St Christopher Saint Christopher ( el, Ἅγιος Χριστόφορος, ''Ágios Christóphoros'') is venerated by several Christian denominations as a martyr killed in the reign of the 3rd-century Roman emperor Decius (reigned 249–251) or alternatively u ...

) and intended to seat 120 people started in January 1882, at an estimated cost of £700 and was completed by the end of the year. It was a chapel of ease in the parish of

Carnmenellis Carnmenellis Hill (or just Carnmenellis) gives its name to the area of west Cornwall in England, between Redruth, Helston and Penryn. The hill itself is situated approximately three miles (5 km) south of Redruth.Ordnance Survey: Landran ...

, closing in the 1970s and is now used as the village hall.

Porkellis Moor

Porkellis Moor is an extensive area of marsh near the village, which was once used for mining, mainly for tin, and engine houses and other industrial buildings remain. The Porkellis China Clay Works attempted to extract china clay, over a period of three years, spending approximately £3,000. The

High Sheriff of Cornwall Sheriffs and high sheriffs of Cornwall: a chronological list: The right to choose high sheriffs each year is vested in the Duchy of Cornwall. The Privy Council, chaired by the sovereign, chooses the sheriffs of all other English counties, oth ...

issued a Fi fa and the goods of the company was sold, by auction for a small amount on 28 April 1879. The moor forms part of

West Cornwall Bryophytes The West Cornwall Bryophytes Site of Special Scientific Interest is a group of seven locations of former mining in Cornwall and Devon, mining activity, that form a single Site of Special Scientific Interest, SSSI and Important Plant Area in wes ...

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle ...

References

{{authority control Villages in Cornwall