With thanks to Natural England for permission to place this cache
in a Site of Special Scientific Interest and for their stewardship
of this area. Sit on the seat and you have a good view of the
Manacle rocks. Their name comes from the Cornish maen eglos meaning
church rocks, St Keverne church being a landmark for ships in this
area.
The SS Mohegan sank on the Manacle rocks on 14 October 1898 with
the loss of 106 lives.
The Mohegan was bound for New York. As she made her way down the
Channel, she was dangerously close to the coast of Cornwall. She
was spotted by the coastguard in Coverack, who tried to warn the
ship, firing rockets. Either these were not seen or were ignored.
Further along the coast, the coxswain of the Porthoustock lifeboat
also noticed that the ship was too close to the shore and, fearing
for the ship, quickly called his crew together.
The crew of the Mohegan finally realised that the ship was in
danger and stopped the engines at 6.50 p.m. but it was too late.
The hull of the ship was torn open by the Manacle rocks and rapidly
shipped water. Twelve minutes after hitting the rocks, the ship
sank, with the loss of 106 lives, including the captain and all of
the officers. The Porthoustock lifeboat rescued most of those who
survived from the wreck and the water – 44 people were saved.
Most of the bodies were buried in a mass grave in St Keverne
churchyard, where a large granite cross marks the spot.