to the COVID-19 pandemic) and it is their job to open new businesses throughout the year and also be present at any other activities or festivities happening within the village during their reign. As a result, a Lord Mayors Ball is held in their honour, usually around April time, which is a night held for festivities and merriment. The current Lord Mayor can choose what band is to be played and in recent years will choose a theme for patrons to dress up. All money raised on this night is then donated back in the Polperro Festival Fund ready for the next years festival and the next Lord Mayor. Notable buildings Couch's House in Lansallos Street was home to naturalist and physician, Jonathan Couch and before him of many generations of the Quiller family who became prosperous through the proceeds of smuggling and buccaneering. Polperro's War Memorial is some distance outside the village on the coast path towards Talland. Also, tucked away in the village's winding streets (on "The Warren"), is a house clad entirely in shells, known colloquially as "The Shell House". Churches Situated in the Anglican diocese of Truro Polperro, although a small village, is served by two Church of England parishes divided by the River Pol: Lansallos to the west and Talland to the east. The 19th-century Anglican Chapel of St John, a chapel of ease to Talland Parish Church, stands in the village but no longer conducts services. John Wesley preached in the village in 1762 and 1768: by 1792 it was possible to build a large chapel accommodating 250 people and Methodism flourished in Polperro during the 1800s. Sclerder Abbey, a Roman Catholic monastery, is located off the road to Looe, just outside the village. Science In the late 19th century, Sir Francis Galton conducted a study of fingerprints at Polperro. He chose the village because of the prevalence of intermarriage amongst its inhabitants, being only accessible from the sea or by coastal path at that time. His findings helped to advance criminology and sociology and include extensive genealogies of local families which are held at the College of Arms in London. Notable residents Donald Adamson, author and historian Angela Brazil, novelist Anyon Cook, illustrator for Enid Blyton. (Harbour Studio) Jonathan Couch, naturalist, physician and antiquary Walter Greenwood, novelist, lived in Polperro briefly during the 1930s and founded the production company, Greenpark Productions, there in