Roche is a civil parish and village in mid-Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. The village gets its name from a granite outcrop east of the village. Roche is the Norman-French word for Rock.

Nearby are the towns of Bodmin

Bodmin

Bodmin is a civil parish and major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the centre of the county southwest of Bodmin Moor.The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character...

 and St Austell

St Austell

St Austell is a civil parish and a major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the south coast approximately ten miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of the border with Devon at Saltash...

, as well as the Eden Project

Eden Project

The Eden Project is a visitor attraction in Cornwall in the United Kingdom, including the world's largest greenhouse. Inside the artificial biomes are plants that are collected from all around the world....

. The civil servant Charles Knight

Charles Knight (civil servant)

Charles Knight CB was a British civil servant.Born in Roche, Cornwall, Knight served as Assistant Secretary of the Local Government Board from 1918 to 1919 and then its successor, the Ministry of Health, from 1919 to 1922...

 was born in Roche and Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrat

Liberal Democrat can refer to:* Liberal Democrats, a UK political party* Liberal Democrats , an Italian political party* Liberal Democratic Party , a Japanese political party* Liberal Democrats , a Sudanese political party...

 MP

MP

MP or mp may refer to:*Machine pistol*Malayo-Polynesian languages*Manu propria, a Latin expression for with one's own hand*Martinair IATA airline designator or reservation code*Maximum parsimony, a term used in statistical analyses...

 Matthew Taylor retired there .

Folk lore of the Rock

On top of Roche Rock, is a ruined chapel (dedicated to St Michael) perched dramatically at the top. Roche Rock has many folkloric tales associated with it, the two most famous being the legend of Jan Tregeagle

Jan Tregeagle

The historical Jan Tregeagle was a magistrate in the early 17th century, a steward under the Duchy of Cornwall, and was known for being particularly harsh; darker stories circulated as well, that he had murdered his wife or made a pact with the Devil...

, a seventeenth century magistrate, who after death found refuge in the chapel and the other being part of the Tristan and Iseult

Tristan and Iseult

The legend of Tristan and Iseult is an influential romance and tragedy, retold in numerous sources with as many variations. The tragic story is of the adulterous love between the Cornish knight Tristan and the Irish princess Iseult...

 tale.

Geology of Roche Rock

Roche Rock stands out as a rocky outcrop some 20 metres high on the northern flank of the St Austell granite with an approximate area of 600m x 300m. The rock is of interest to geologists as it is a fine example of quartz shorl; a fully tourmalinised granite, with black tourmaline crystals. The Rock itself lies 500 metres north of the northern margin of the St Austell granite, which is the smallest of the five main apophyses of the Hercynian batholith

Batholith

A batholith is a large emplacement of igneous intrusive rock that forms from cooled magma deep in the Earth's crust...

 of Southwest England. The presence of numerous pegmatites occurring as sheets and containing abundant miarolitic cavities carrying quartz, tourmaline

Tourmaline

Tourmaline is a crystal boron silicate mineral compounded with elements such as aluminium, iron, magnesium, sodium, lithium, or potassium. Tourmaline is classified as a semi-precious stone and the gem comes in a wide variety of colors...

, zinnwaldite

Zinnwaldite

Zinnwaldite, KLiFeAlO102, is a potassium lithium iron aluminium silicate hydroxide fluoride silicate mineral in the mica group. IMA status: a series, not a mineral.-Name and discovery:...

, topaz

Topaz

Topaz is a silicate mineral of aluminium and fluorine with the chemical formula Al2SiO42. Topaz crystallizes in the orthorhombic system and its crystals are mostly prismatic terminated by pyramidal and other faces.-Color and varieties:...

. and a wide range of other phases, is why it is considered to have been close to the roof of the intrusion The site is considered to be of prime importance for future research and notification by English Nature

Natural England

Natural England is the non-departmental public body of the UK government responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved...

 as a geological SSSI

Site of Special Scientific Interest

A Site of Special Scientific Interest is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom. SSSIs are the basic building block of site-based nature conservation legislation and most other legal nature/geological conservation designations in Great Britain are based upon...

 occurred in 1991.

Parish church

The church is dedicated to St Gomondas / Gonandus (Gonand or Goenandus): the tower is medieval but the rest of the church was rebuilt in 1822. There is a fine Norman font and a good churchyard cross. Gonandus may perhaps be identified with the Breton saint Conan, connected to three places in the diocese of Vannes.

Railway

Roche railway station

Roche railway station

Roche railway station serves the village of Roche in Cornwall, UK. It is situated on the Atlantic Coast Line.-History:The Cornwall Minerals Railway opened its line from Fowey to Newquay on 1 June 1874. The trains at first carried only goods traffic and a depot was provided at Holywell...

 is located approximately 1 mile north of Roche, at Victoria. Trains are operated by First Great Western

First Great Western

First Great Western is the operating name of First Greater Western Ltd, a British train operating company owned by FirstGroup that serves Greater London, the South East, South West and West Midlands regions of England, and South Wales....

. The station has a single track, with a marker board showing direction of travel either to Newquay or Par.

External links

• Notes and photos of Roche Rock from The Modern Antiquarian
• Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Roche