The much-loved Grade 1 listed St Just-in-Roseland Church and its tropical gardens set around a picturesque creek was described by Sir John Betjeman as “possibly the most beautiful churchyard on earth.” Now a community-led project will upgrade and enhance the existing gardens, reopen the café and build a new “Interpretive Centre” designed to blend in with the area’s natural beauty.
The project will encompass:
- a new interpretive centre and café extension
- renovation of the pools and restocking the gardens
- upgrading paths including the Coastal path between the church and boatyard
- upgrading lighting for the paths and key features on site
- improving signage and creating interpretive trails through the gardens, church and coastal path
- new toilets with accessibility and connection to the mains
- eco-friendly improvements including high-speed Internet plus air source and solar heating
Above all, the development will be tasteful – in tune with our vision of welcoming all to experience the peace, beauty, serenity and spirituality of this special place. We want to create a unique and innovative visitor experience that will inform and educate everyone about the history, heritage, culture and natural biodiversity of this precious part of Cornwall.
The Interpretive Centre will engage people in the topics on display and encourage them to explore and discover more for themselves. Entrance will be free of charge and Cornish language will feature throughout.
This project has been funded by generous private donations and the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. Cornwall Council has been chosen by Government as a Lead Authority for the fund and is responsible for monitoring the progress of projects funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly.
Timetable
Work started on 16th March 2024 with temporary roadworks set up in St Just to enable the first part of the new main drainage system to be laid. Work in the centre of St Just was complete by Easter. The contractors will move on to laying the mains down the hill to the café and should finish by mid-May.
The café reopened in time for Easter. Phoebe Gray is running Renwick’s Café serving delicious meals and tempting cakes from breakfast to early evening.
Planting in the gardens has already started and will continue through to the autumn. The delightful ponds that have become silted up and overgrown will be cleared and re-stocked with scented flowering shrubs and water-loving plants.
Building work on the new Interpretive Centre will start in May and complete by December. The new Interpretive Centre will open at the start of February half-term in 2025.
Get Involved
This project is community-led and we are enormously grateful to the many individuals who have so generously given their time and expertise so far. But there is much more to do and we would welcome anyone who would like to get involved.
In particular we are looking for help with:
- Researching and providing information and pictures about local culture, history and heritage. If you have family records and stories which you would like to share with the design team, we would love to hear from you
- Clearing, planting and cleaning in the gardens – particularly from now until end of April
- Volunteering to tell visitors about the St Just church and gardens. We are keen to build a team of volunteers who will help occasionally to welcome our visitors and tell them about the history, heritage, culture and natural wonder of this special place, Training will be given.
If you would like to get involved, please contact any of the following:
Andrew Prince – Treasurer of St Just and St Mawes PCC – andrewp@princetraining.co.uk
Parish Office – 01326 270871 stjustandstmawes@gmail.com; or office@stjustandstmawes.org.uk
“The UK Shared Prosperity Fund is a central pillar of the UK Government’s Levelling Up agenda and provides £2.6 billion of funding for local investment by March 2025. The Fund aims to improve pride in place and increase life chances across the UK by investing in communities and place, supporting local business, and people and skills. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-shared-prosperity fund-prospectus”.
