Mevagissey, an historic fishing village takes its name from two saints, St
Meva and St Issey (St Meva hag St Issey), and is picturesque with its narrow
streets, unique
double harbour and numerous
restaurants and pubs serving wonderful local produce, fish and meat at
remarkable value.
The village is 6 miles from St. Austell, and within 20 miles are the holiday
resorts of Newquay, Fowey, Polperro and Looe. It has 8 great gardens within
a 25 mile radius, Eden,
Caerhays,Heligan, Trelissick,
Pine Lodge, Lanhydrock, Glendurgan,
&
Trebah. Sheer bliss for the
avid gardener and near heaven for those who like to enjoy other people’s
gardens. There are a number of smaller scale gardens within that 20 mile
radius that are also well worth the visit. There are a number of quiet,
sheltered, sandy beaches nearby, with sailing and watersports available.
The Shipwreck and Heritage
Centre at Charlestown has a fine collection of sailing ships and
artefacts and the National Maritime Museum Cornwall at Falmouth is the
national small boat collection.
A ferry plies between
Mevagissey and Fowey, a very picturesque way to visit this natural river
harbour and home to Daphne du Maurier, Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, and Kenneth
Grahame.The
du Maurier Festival
takes place every May and is hugely popular, with music & talks by leading
figures in politics, broadcasting, law and the performing arts.
The Coastal Path goes to Fowey to the east and round, past the magnificent
Dodman Point, to St Mawes in the west. Charlestown, Gorran Haven, Portloe,
and Mevagissey have all been used as film sets for cinema or TV productions,
and the scenery is some of the most dramatic, picturesque and easily
accessible in the country.
Mevagissey celebrates
Feast Week at
the end of June and there are carnivals, dances, musical performances, and
fireworks to celebrate the pilchard harvest ( regrettably the pilchards are
no longer harvested - EC rules).
The whole village parties for a week, with the raft race on Friday evening. See the Feast
Week page.