St. Goran Church; St. Michael’ at Caerhays; St. Just Church
A group of three churches serving the parishes of Gorran and Caerhays situated on the stunning coast of South Cornwall close to the towns of St.Austell and Mevagissey. St Goran, St Just and St Michael, Caerhays are distinct in all sorts of ways but united in a benefice committed to the spiritual and pastoral needs of our small but active communities.
At St.Goran Church, they have recently completed a £275,000 project transforming the West End of the Church into a church/community hub including new toilets, kitchen, meeting rooms and gallery and also become a 10 bell tower which they hope will attract ringers from far and wide.
St Michael’s at Caerhays is a beautiful church situated on the Caerhays Castle estate. It is a church committed to maintaining the Book of Common Prayer as the principal source of worship.
St Just Church is a delightful and tiny Chapel of Ease situated right on the sea front at Gorran Haven popular with visitors as well as local people seeking reflection and quiet.
For further details please contact the Churches.
Haven Church (Mount Zion Church)
History
In the 1860’s a group of eleven men from Gorran Haven and Mevagissey scoured the area in the hunt for a suitable building to erect a place of worship. Most of them had witnessed the great revival in Mevagissey just over 30 years before when God moved in the fishing village in a mighty way. People inside their homes, crying to God in mercy, could be heard by passers-by in the streets outside.
St Just Church, Gorran Haven had been used as a fish cellar for over a century. However, it seems that in 1812 the Congregationalists of Mevagissey moved into the Haven using St Just as their Meeting House and referring to it as the old Chapel Cellar. Their numbers grew to around 70 in the 1850’s. By now the church wanted their own building and eventually bought a plot of land on the 24th January 1863.
The eleven men included a carpenter, a mason, tailor, draper, cordwainer and some fishermen. They set about building a chapel from local stone, much of which was hauled back by horse and cart from Vault Beach.
Once completed, Haven Church became a member of the Congregation Union whose history dates back to the Puritans of 1581. In the early 1970’s, Haven Church freed itself from any denominational bias. A small pastoral oversight committee now administers the church and all maintenance and development costs are largely financed internally.
Services
For further details please contact the Church.