St John

St John is a coastal civil parish and village in southeast Cornwall, located about 1.5 miles southwest of Torpoint. The parish is opposite Plymouth, separated from it by St John's Lake, an inlet of The Hamoaze. The area has a quiet, rural character, with stone cottages, farms, and views across the water to Devon. The village itself is small, and the parish has an ancient quality, shaped by its position on the coast and its long ecclesiastical history. It is distinct from Torpoint, which developed later as a naval base.

History: St John is an ancient parish with a church dating back to at least 1150. The church was originally dedicated to St John the Evangelist but was later, probably around 1490, changed to St John the Baptist. The church was a Norman foundation, but only the low western tower survives from the Norman period. The chancel and nave were rebuilt in the 15th century and subsequently restored. A few hundred yards north of the village is Vanderbands, the site of an Iron Age castle. The historic records for much of this area were kept at Mount Edgcumbe House but were destroyed during the war. The parish was historically agricultural, with the economy based on farming and some maritime activity. The population has remained small, with 375 recorded in the 2001 census and 391 in the 2011 census. St John is bordered by St John's Lake to the north, the sea to the south, Millbrook to the east, Maker-with-Rame to the south-east, and Antony to the west. Today, the parish remains a quiet rural area with a strong sense of its long history and its position on the Cornwall-Devon border.