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Gunwalloe (Cornish: Gwynnwalow) is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Lizard Peninsula three miles (4.8 km) south of Helston and partly contains The Loe, the largest natural freshwater lake in Cornwall. The parish population including Berepper at the 2011 census was 219.
Contents
Map of Gunwalloe, UK
Gunwalloe lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). Almost a third of Cornwall has AONB designation, with the same status and protection as a National Park.
History
Gunwalloe is considered to be the first entry for Cornwall in the Domesday Book, given that the King's manor of Winnianton is the first listing, which at the time of writing was the head manor in the hundred of Kerrier. The parish church was originally a manorial church of this manor but in the 13th century it became a chapelry of Breage. The Church of Saint Winwaloe was rebuilt in the 14th to 15th century but the tower (a separate older building which belonged to the earlier church) is perhaps 13th century.
National and archaeological significance
Gunwalloe is home to a number of listed buildings, such as the Church of Saint Winwaloe and Rose Cottage. The wreck of what is thought to be a seventeenth-century armored cargo vessel identified as an English East Indiaman lies off Fishing Cove, one of Gunwalloe's three major beaches. The ship was supposedly on her return journey laden with an extremely valuable cargo of spices, indigo, drugs, Indian piece goods and 100 long tons (100 t) of pepper, when she was stranded near Loe Bar. Historical evidence indicates that salvage took place soon after the wrecking. Another wreck in 1525, that of the St Antony, carrying the King of Portugal's bullion, plate and silver. 45 sailors survived the wreck and for two days were helped by local people to salvage the treasure. Whereupon, three local magistrates attacked them and carried off more than £10,000 worth of goods. A legal battle ensued in the Court of Star Chamber.
In late 2010, an early medieval site was excavated at Gunwalloe by a team of archaeologists from Exeter University and the National Trust.
Recreation
Gunwalloe beach is used by naturists.