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Windows dedicated to those who lost their lives when the
SS Mohegan sank off the Manacles rocks in 1898
(As usual, click on the images for a larger photograph)
Cornwall’s churchyards bear many moving monuments dedicated to those who have died on board ship, often in wrecks.
The photos above are of the windows at the church in St Keverne dedicated to those who lost their lives in the SS Mohegan, which went down on the Manacles, a legendarily dangerous group of rocks on the Eastern side of the Lizard Peninsula that seems to have caught many ships just as they were about to reach the safety of the Fal Estuary.
A mass grave was dug for the dead from the SS Moheghan in the churchyard – in the church itself a folder includes a photograph of some of the survivors being rescued from the ship’s rigging.
Another tragedy that is remembered locally is that of the Primrose, which sank with the loss of 126 lives, including many soldiers returning from fighting Napoleon’s army in the Peninsular War.
If you happen to take a holiday in this area as we did in September this year, the churches and their churchyards are certainly worth exploring – I’m quite sure we didn’t find the best of them by far, so I’d love to know what there is to find.
Monument to the dead of the wreck of the Primrose
John and Bay of Panama memorials
Carronade from HMS Primrose
The cause of half of the trouble, the Manacles, looking
very small and innocent on a calm summer day
Here’s one more from St Keverne – and you may find it a little
more uplifting – someone here clearly thought he had rather
too many enemies, persecutors and slanderers!
