5. Down to Porth Chapel

St Levan’s Well
The holy well of St Selevan stands by the path on the clifftop above Porth Chapel beach. Three walls of large granite blocks stand to a height of 4ft while the floor, a vast slab of granite covers the spring which flows out at the southern end.

St Levan’s Steps and Chapel

From the well, a flight of about 50 stone steps descends to the remains of a tiny chapel which was built against the cliff on a ledge. The steps were rediscovered following excavation in the 1930s by Rev. H T Valentine and Dr Vernon Favell.

The chapel originally had two rooms. The eastern room was the chapel itself measuring about 12ft by 6ft. The other room was a cell of around 9.5 x 6ft, presumably where St Selevan lived. The chapel is believed to date from at least the 8th century and is one of the oldest of its kind in Cornwall.


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