The 23rd March is the 40th anniversary of the fire in 1985 at St Mary’s which severely damaged the interior. It destroyed the beautiful pipe organ dating from 1769 in the former St. Mary’s Chapel, being rebuilt in the new church in 1835.

Photo used by kind permission of the Morrab Library

St. Mary’s organist Russell Jory arranged recitals and concerts in 1973 which were recorded. After the fire, a fund-raising cassette tape was produced which is available to hear on the Cluster’s YouTube channel.

St Mary’s 1906

Restructuring after the fire resulted in the new Narthex, East Window and current pipe organ. For more information, a useful source is the book Pen Sans – The Holy Headland – 1000 years of Faith and Fortune – St Mary’s Penzance by Peter Mound.