In the late 16th century there was little pretence of friendly relations with Spain and in 1584 the twenty-year war with that country began. During the whole of this period Cornwall, the nearest point to Spain, became this country’s most important outpost. In 1588 the Armada, usually seen as the central point of Elizabethan history, took place, but for West Penwith a more momentous event was to occur in 1595. Spain held control of many coastal areas of France and the threat of possible invasion by a Spanish force was a continuing fear shared by all Cornishmen, and in particular those of the vulnerable fishing villages of Mounts Bay.

In July of 1595 a small squadron of four Spanish galleys on a routine cruise raided a fishing village in Brittany and were then blown by adverse winds across towards the Isles of Scilly. It was not unusual for Spanish warships to be about in these waters collecting news of the disposition of English naval forces. On the morning of the 23rd July land was sighted and the galleys moved across the Bay to Mousehole and, perhaps in need of water and supplies, decided to raid the small town. It was the sight of these ships that greeted the inhabitants of Mousehole as the mist cleared over the Bay that morning.

Accounts of the number of men landed by the attacking force varies but there were certainly at least 200 men, pikes and musketeers. No match for the unarmed population who fled towards Paul and Newlyn. Squire Jenkin Keigwin was killed, reputedly making a stand to protect his granite mansion from the enemy. Part of the building survives today and was for many years in the last century a public house, the Keigwin Arms. Most of the buildings in the village would have been single storey, thatched houses; these were set alight by firing parties which then, not meeting opposition, continued towards Paul where they burned not only the houses but the church. Another raiding party later fired Newlyn, then a small cluster of houses above the medieval quay, and parts of Penzance.

Sir Francis Godolphin had sent word of the raid to Plymouth where Drake and Hawkins were assembling a fleet for the West Indies. He gathered together such men as he could, perhaps a hundred or so, but lightly armed and no match for the Spanish; they then withdrew to Marazion, to protect the Mount and the main route inland. The Spanish, learning of the nearness of reinforcements, took advantage of a favourable wind and made off for Brittany. It was the first time that Spanish soldiers had landed on English soil, and the weakness of the opposition led to increased fortification of the Cornish coast.

In two days devastation had struck the area and Mousehole, an important trading centre and market town before 1595, was never to recover that status. The raid was recorded by Richard Carew in his ‘Survey of Cornwall’ (1602) and it seems likely that he would have had a firsthand account of the event from Godolphin. In writing of the destruction of Paul Church he claimed that even ‘the great stonie pillers thereof’ were ruined. It now seems likely that the stonework of the tower and the south porch, together with some of the pillars of the nave, survived. There is a scorched arch behind the pulpit that is also believed to be a relic of the fire. All the records of the church were destroyed at the time of the fire, so the modern history of the church begins with the first entry in the register for July, 1595. It starts with a reference to the raid:

Jesu spes et salus mea

[Jesu my hope and my salvation]

1595

A register of the names of all those that were baptised, married, and buried in the Parish Church of St. Pawle, in the Countie of Cornwall, from the 23rd Daie Julie, the year of our Lord God 1595, on which Daie the Church, towre, bells, and all other things pertaining to the same, together with the houses and goods, was burn’d and spoiled by the Spaniards in the said parish, being Wensdaie, the Daie aforesaid, in the 37th yeare of the Reign of our Sovereigne Ladie Elizabeth, by the Grace of God, of England, Fraunce and Ireland, defender of the Faith.

Per me Johannem Tremearne, Vicarium Ejus.

The first four names recorded are of those who perished in defence of their town:

Jenkin Keigwin of Moussell being kild by the Spaniards was buried the 24th of July.

John Pearce Peiton was buried the 24th daie of July.

Jacobus de Newlyn occisus fuit per inimicos et sepultus est 26th die Julii.

[Jacubus of Newlyn was killed by enemies and buried on the 26th July]

Similiter T………(?) Cornall et sepultus the 26th of July.

Margaret E. Perry