Sancreed

Sancreed (Cornish: Eglossankres) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village is situated approximately three miles (5 km) from Penzance.

Sancreed civil parish encompasses the settlements of Bejouans, Bosvennen, Botreah, Drift, Sancreed, Trenuggo, and Tregonnebris. It is bounded by St Just parish to the west, Madron parish to the northeast, and St Buryan and Paul parishes to the south. The parish comprises 4608 acre of land.

History
Like many Cornish communities Sancreed can trace its origins to its legendary foundation by St Credan or Sancredus, a follower of St Petroc. The church itself is pre-dated by the holy well and baptistery of Sancreed, located a few hundred metres west of the church: the site was rediscovered by the vicar of Sancreed in the late nineteenth century. The wells and baptistery are of a similar age in both respects to those at Madron; like Madron there is a tradition of hanging cloughties (small strips of cloth) on the trees surrounding the well. The well is also known as St Uny's well. Next to the grade II listed baptistery ruin there is a modern Celtic cross (erected in 1910) which is a copy of a medieval cross in Illogan churchyard. Langdon (1896) recorded the existence of eight stone crosses in the parish, including four in the churchyard. At Carn Euny is a noteworthy prehistoric settlement.

Local government
For the purposes of local government Sancreed is a civil parish and elects its own parish council every four years. The principal local authority is Cornwall Council.

Notable people
George Grenfell, the missionary and explorer, was born here.