In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described St Levan like this:
LEVAN, or ST. LEVAN, a parish in Penzance district, Cornwall; on the coast, 3¾ miles SE by E of Lands End, and 8 SW of Penzance r. station. Post town, St. Buryan, under Penzance. Acres, 2,328. Real property, £3,037. Pop., 447. Houses, 89. The property is much subdivided. The coast is bold and granitic; and p resents fissured, shattered, columnar-looking cliffs, which have a rude resemblance to pinnacles or spires. ...
Tol-Pedu-Penwith, or ' ' the holed headland of Penwith, ''is a promontory at the SW extremity of Mount's bay; and takes its name from a deep well-like chasm, called the Funnel Rock, through which the sea, during a storm, dashes with terrific noise. A famous logan or rocking.stone crowns one of three rocks, called Castle Treryn, or Trereen Dynas Camp, overhanging the sea; is so delicately poised, as to be easily rocked to and fro by a single person; has a computed weight of not less than 90 tons; was long believed to be irremoveable by any number of men, with any ordinary mechanical appliances; was, never theless, dislodged, in a frolic, in 1824, by a party of seamen, and caught in its descent by a narrow chasm; and was afterwards, by the same party, hoisted up and replaced with the aid of capstans and chains. An entrenchment of earth and stones, forming a triple line of defence, isolates the headland, and occasions the name castle or camp; and the outer vallum of it is about 15 feet high. A copper mine was worked to the depth of 260 yards, and employed 460 hands. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, not reported. Patron, the Crown. The church stands on a lonely spot, beside two cottages; is a stone edifice, with a tower; and contains a monument of Miss Dennis, the author of ' ' Sophia de St. Clare, ''and a native. The churchyard has lich-stones at the entrances, and contains a fine old cross. The ruin of an ancient baptistry is on the bank of a rivulet, at what is called the well of St. Levan; and this, together with the parish, takes name from an ancient anchorite, who was canonized after his death. There are chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists; and there is a national school for the parishes of St. Levan and Sennen.
St Levan through time
St Levan is now part of Penwith district. Click here for graphs and data of how Penwith has changed over two centuries. For statistics about St Levan itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of St Levan, in Penwith and Cornwall | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/5882
Date accessed: 25th April 2024
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