Welcome to Roche in Cornwall England

Introduction

Roche is situated fairly central in Cornwall, approximately 1,032 ft above sea level. The village is 6 miles from St Austell and about 8 miles from Bodmin. There are three rivers that start in the Roche parish. The River Fal which rises in Colvreath, the Par River which rises in Penstrase and a small stream that rises at Holy Well, flows into the River Camel.
One of the first things seen as you approach the village from the St Austell side is the outcrop of rocks with its chapel perched precariously on the top. On the approach down the A30 you are met with the beautiful Goss Moor. To the right a high hill with an ancient hillfort on top, with a disused wolfram mine on the side, is Castle-an-Dinas. The Goss Moor was also streamed for tin in early years and later dredged. Approaching from the St Dennis side of the village you pass Retallick Moor. Roche itself is surrounded by several hamlets, Carbis, Tregross, Trezaise, Tremodrett and Belowda, or Belovely as called by some local people. The village itself has had a steady development over the years. The population for 1939 was 2,000 and in 1991 it was recorded as 2,353.
The main industry is now clay, but in the past there was a brickworks at nearby Carbis, a Glass Mine at Polpuff, tin on the Goss Moor, Wolfram at Castle-an-Dinas and a stone quarry at Trezaise (Glebe Quarry). Farming also layed a major role in village life. The village is also served with a railway and had a station wish is now reduced to a halt. This is the Par to Newquay branch line.
About one mile from Roche on the road to Demelza, turn right down a lane to Holy Well. This is a lovely little well which is said to be 14th century and had special healing properties in its water. It was restored in 1937 by St Austell Old Cornwall Society. There are three inns in Roche, the Victoria on the A30, the Poachers and the Rock Inn, both in Fore Street. Rock Inn is dated 1587.

I live near the village of Roche in Cornwall.
Let me tell you more about Roche and its legends..............

The picture above is of Roche Rock which is a solitary outcrop on the edge of the high downs that lie between Bodmin and St Austell town. The gaunt and tumbled mass of black granite rises abruptly out of the surrounding moorland, and the sight of its high jagged outline in dark silhouette against the western horizon can arouse a feeling of awe in those that pass on the roads nearby. Local people living here used to think that the earth that once clothed its exposed granite sides had all been swept away by Noah's Flood, leaving the fractured rockface forever stark and denuded, a windswept perch for passing witches and malevolent demons.

Perhaps this place was once the setting for pagan rites. When Christianity was first brought to Cornwall by Celtic saints from Wales and Ireland, between the two highest pinnacles of Roche Rock, a small oratory was built in a space hollowed out of the rock face, with rough walls constructed from random stones gathered up from where they lay in the bracken below. Water came froma small never failing spring among the boulders, and in this draughty shelter there lived a long succession of dedicated holy men whose solitary prayers helped to sanctify this place. Ogrin the hermit may well have been one of their number.

(This photograph shows the size of the chapel window as shown by the boys. This photograph was taken by Ellis of Bodmin in 1941)

At the end of the middle ages, a more elaborate hermitage was built here with walls of quarried ashlar stone strong enough to withstand the winds of centuries. The chapel with an east-facing window was constructed on top of the original rock-hewn hermit's cell that had always been reached by a precarious wooden ladder. It was dedicated to the Archangel Michael, long known as the saint of high places and the vanquisher of evil forces.

Holy Well Roche

The 15th Century holy well lies about 1 1/2 miles from Roche north of the A30. It was once used by miners for their water and also as a wishing well. Young unmarried girls from Roche used to throw pins and needles into the well and from the brightness of the bubbles tried to discover their good or bad fortune.

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