Gwennap
Gwennap
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 Gwennap Parish Church |
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 Gwennap
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| Gwennap shown within Cornwall | |
| Population | 1,574 (United Kingdom Census 2011 including Burncoose , Comford , Crofthandy , Cusgarne , Goon Gumpas and Hick's Mill) |
| OS grid reference | SW741400 |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | REDRUTH |
| Postcode district | TR16 |
| Dialling code | 01872 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Cornwall |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| EU Parliament | South West England |
| UK Parliament | |
Gwennap (Cornish: Pluwwenep, meaning "the Parish of [Saint] Wenappa") is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about five miles (8 km) southeast of Redruth.
In the 18th and early 19th centuries Gwennap parish was the richest copper mining district in Cornwall, and was called the "richest square mile in the Old World". It is the location of the Great County Adit, and once-famous mines such as Consolidated Mines, Poldice mine and Wheal Busy. Today it forms part of area A6i (the Gwennap Mining District) of the Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site.
It lends its name to Gwennap Pit where John Wesley preached 18 times between 1762 and 1789, although Gwennap Pit is about 1.7 miles (2.7 km) to the north west at the hamlet of Busveal near St. Day. The pit was caused by mining subsidence in the mid-18th century. After Wesley's death the local people turned the pit into a regular circular shape with turf seats.
Gwennap church is dedicated to St Wenappa; in 1225 it was given to the chapter of Exeter by Lord William Briwere. The parish church is an old foundation but was rebuilt in the 15th century because of population growth caused by mining and then thoroughly restored in the 19th century. The tower is detached. According to Charles Henderson "few Cornish churches are less interesting than Gwennap".
There is a Cornish cross in the churchyard which was moved to the vicarage garden in the 1840s from Chapel Moor. It has a crude crucifixus figure and a small Latin cross on the front and a large Latin cross on the back and is probably a fragment of a larger cross. There is also an ornamented cross shaft which was found in the church wall about 1860 and by mistake used again in the vestry foundations.
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Wikipedia