Kelly’s Post Office Directory of Cornwall 1856

ST. LEVAN is a parish, 8 miles south-west from Penzance, in the western division, Penwith Hundred, Penzance Union, Penwith deanery, Cornwall archdeaconry, and Exeter bishopric; it is situated on the south coast. The church of St. Levan is a plain stone edifice; has a nave, one aisle, chancel, transept, several mural monuments, font, register and chest, porch, and a square embattled tower containing 3 bells; it is situated in a secluded dell opening to the sea. The living is a rectory, worth £250 yearly; the Hon, and Rev. Fitzroy Stanhope, M.A., is the incumbent, and the Rev. William Houghton, M.A., is the curate. There are chapels for Wesleyans and Primitive Methodists. There is a National school for the parishes of Sennen and St. Levan. Eastward, on the coast is the celebrated Logan rock, an immense block of granite on the summit of three piles of rock rising from the sea. The weight of this stone is supposed to be 90 tons, yet it is so nicely balanced that it may be easily logged, or rocked to and fro in a certain direction. In 1820 it was displaced by some sailors in a frolic, but was replaced by the inhabitants [not true, see later editions]. The population, in 1851, was 502, and the acreage is 2,328. The soil is killas; the subsoil is granite. The chief crops are wheat and potatoes.