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Monday, 23 May 2011

Cornish Memorial

In the churchyard of the Church of St Mawgan-in-Pydar there is a memorial to ten men who drifted ashore in a boat, frozen to death, on 15 December  1846.

Memorial - St Mawgan Churchyard

Tregurrian beach is now called Watergate in the Bay beloved by Newquay surfers. The guide book to the Church says the men drifted ashore at Beacon Cove.

Beacon Cove near Trevarrian, Cornwall - Geoff Tydeman (CC A-S A 2.0 Generic license) 
In 1808 the introduction of the "Dead Bodies Interment Bill" meant that a Christian burial was required for the shipwrecked, with expenses met by the county and rewards to those who discovered the bodies. The ten men, including Jemmy, were the first to be buried in the churchyard at St Mawgan in accordance with the new law.

The original memorial was replaced in 1992 by the carved replica of the stern of a boat shown in the picture.

1 comment:

21 Wits said...

Wow Bob such interesting info on some poor old sailors so long ago...it is refreshing to know that they were cared for after such a demise and that anyone can visit their grave and their lives discovered..what a horrible way to have gone...although I know they say that in cases like that they fall asleep far before actually being frozen....the picture of the water in the cove, lovely!