enzance its name, is from a
manuscript written by William Borlase in 1750: ″The ancient chapel belonging to
the town of Penzance may be seen in a fish cellar, near the key; it is small
and as I remember had the image of the Virgin Mary in it.″ The chapel was built
of green stone and approximately 30 ft in length and 15 ft in breadth
of which only a fragment remained
in
situ. In around 1800 the chapel was converted to a fish cellar. A
carving in "Ludgvan granite" thought to be of St Anthony was removed
in about 1830 and was used in the wall of a pig sty which was further
vandalised in 1850 when "a stranger ... taking fancy to the stony
countenance and rough hands, they were broken off and carried away as relics
...". The remains of the vandalised relic were taken to St Mary’s
Churchyard by a mason who told Mr Millett that he "popped St Raffidy into
a wheelbarrow and trundle him off to the chapel yard." The carving remains
in St Mary’s Churchyard and has been dated by Prof Charles Thomas as early 12th
century. There are no early documents mentioning the actual dedication to St
Anthony which seems to depend entirely on tradition and may be groundless. A
licence for Divine Service in the Chapel of St Gabriel and St Raphael was
granted in 1429 and nothing more is known of this chapel except, possibly, for
the mason who mentioned ″St Raffidy″ in 1850. Adjoining the chapel is St
Anthony’s Gardens named in 1933 and containing an archway said to have been
taken from the chapel site.
Dominating the skyline above the harbour is the present church of St Mary's.
A St Mary's Chapel is mentioned in a 1548 document which states that it was
founded by Sir Henry Tyes, Knight Lord of the Manor of Alverton who gave a £4
stipend for a priest. There is an earlier document from 1379, when Bishop
Brantyngham licensed for services "the chapel of Blessed Mary of
Pensande". At this
