The Doherty family found Church Cove by happy accident in the post-Covid months of 2021 and captivated by this bucolic corner of Cornwall, like so many before them, subsequently bought Church Cottage. The Cove is home to the southernmost church in the United Kingdom, the southernmost thatched cottage, twelve Grade II listed buildings, a historic fishermen’s rest and smugglers’ delight. It was once known as Perranvose, Parnvose or Lizard Cove. Parnvose roughly translates from Cornish as ‘cove with the bank’ and probably refers to the Balk, a nearby rugged cliff.

At the furthest point of Church Cove, where the turquoise sea lashes the black Serpentine rock, are the buildings that once operated as pilchard cellars for incoming fishermen and the first Lifeboat House serving this part of the Lizard coast.

The Lifeboat House was built in 1887 at a cost of £400 (and was later replaced as a working station in 1899 by the larger building in adjacent Polpeor Cove). In the summer of 2026, the Dohertys realised a serendipitous and entirely unknown family connection with this original lifeboat station, when it became known that Emily (née Quinney)’s Great Grandfather Sir Thomas Chavasse, together with his cousin Margaret, erected the building in memory of their parents -Emily’s Great Great Grandparents - Thomas and Miriam Chavasse and the Rev. Horace Chavasse and Margaret Colquhoun. A gesture of Victorian philanthropy, inspired by inspirational time spent at this stunning location.

The weather worn stone inscription above the boathouse door reads:

"THIS BOAT HOUSE WAS ERECTED AND PRESENTED TO THE ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION BY TWO COUSINS PARTLY AT THEIR OWN COST AND WITH SOME HELP FROM FRIENDS IN LOVING MEMORY OF THEIR PARENTS THOMAS CHAVASSE ESQ FRCS AND MIRIAM SARAH HIS WIFE AND THE REV HORACE CHAVASSE M.A. AND MARGARET COLQUHOUN 1887".

The beauty of the Lizard Peninsula has long inspired artists and poets - Lord Alfred Tennyson accompanied Pre-Raphaelite artist William Holman Hunt on a visit in 1860 that inspired Holman Hunt to paint Kynance Cove in ‘The Lizard, Cornwall” and for Tennyson to exclaim the bright blue sea as "glorious grass-green monsters of waves". The coastal landscape has an element of the sublime, of majesty even, about it so it isn’t altogether surprising that the Chavasse family - known for their philanthropy around the United Kingdom and particularly in the Midlands - would be moved to make such a gesture.

The Chavasse name is very much alive to Emily and her family, as it later evolved to become the family name for many subsequent Grandchildren, Great and Great Great Grandchildren of Tom Chavasse. Emily’s Father was Jeremy Chavasse Alden Quinney, her brother is Gavin Charles Chavasse Quinney, her nephews are Hubert Chavasse Wilson, Thomas Richard Chavasse and Kit Chavasse John Matthews, Godchild Aubrey Chavasse Quinney and her son is John Chavasse Ambrose Doherty. To coincidentally fall upon, renovate and love a cottage in the same location loved by her family, 140 years apart, was something of a delightful surprise.