Manaccan

Village in south Cornwall, England

Manaccan (/m//ə//'//n//æ//k//ən/; ) is a civil parish and village on the Lizard peninsula in south Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is about five miles (8 km) south southwest of Falmouth. The origin of the name Manaccan is probably derived not from a saint but from the Cornish for (church) of the monks. It was also at times called Minster in English because it must once have had a Celtic monastery. "St Manacca" is recorded as the patron saint as early as 1308. The population of Manaccan was 321 in the 2011 census, an increase from 299 in the 2001 census. Manaccan 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.

Manaccan is in the parliamentary constituency of St Ives. Derek Thomas is the Member of Parliament. For local government purposes it is in the St Keverne and Meneage ward of Cornwall Council, a unitary authority. Manaccan has its own Parish Council: Manaccan Parish Council. Manaccan parish is in a district known as Meneage which means 'land of the monks', a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The parish is bordered to the north by the Helford River (a drowned river valley or ria), to the west by St Martin in Meneage parish, to the south by St Keverne parish, and to the east by St Anthony in Meneage parish.

The parish church is dedicated to St Mannacus and St Dunstan, it is a Grade I Listed building. There was a Norman church here and fragments of it remain; the doorway is one of the best specimens of Norman entrances in Cornwall. The rest of the structure is of the 13th and 15th centuries. The west tower is built of slate. The church is well known for a large and flourishing fig tree which is growing out of the western part of the south wall of the church. It has been there for at least 250 years. Boden Vean Fogou was rediscovered by a local farmer in the 1990s and was excavated by archaeologists in 2003 and in September and October 2008.

In 1790 William Gregor discovered ilmenite, an iron titanium oxide, which he named menachanite (and is sometimes still called manaccanite), in Gillan Creek that runs through the valley just south of the village. After he analyzed it he found a new element, titanium, that he called menachine. The location is commemorated by a plaque placed next to the bridge. He presented his findings in 1791.

Cornish wrestling tournaments were held in a field near the New Inn in Manaccan.