São Roque do Faial (parish)

São Roque do Faial was an integral part of the parish of Faial until it was separated from it and became an independent parish (freguesia) in 1848. Among its earliest known settlers were Brás Pereira da Silva, founder of the Pereira da Silva family of Faial, Jácome Nunes and several individuals with the surname Pires.

The parish takes its name from the chapel of St Roch, which has stood there since the middle of the 16th century.

The original chapel was founded by Cristóvão Pires, who had it built around 1551. He lived in the parish of Faial. On 6 August of that year, in the absence of the prelate, he declared before the cathedral chapter of Funchal Cathedral (the Sé) (Sé do Funchal) that he had built that chapel at his own expense and suitably endowed it, and he asked for permission to celebrate divine services in it. It has undergone various repairs, and in 1889 it was considerably enlarged, when Father Casimiro Augusto de Freitas e Abreu was vice-vicar.

This chapel was cramped and its parts were out of proportion, which gave the whole a most unattractive appearance. It also stood in a dangerous position and was in an advanced state of ruin, so that a new church became absolutely necessary. The parish priest Daniel Nicolau de Sousa boldly took on this risky undertaking in a parish of limited population and scant resources. Through persistent and diligent efforts, he succeeded in building a new, larger church on a safer and more accessible site, thus endowing his parish with a remarkable and much-appreciated improvement. The site chosen lies in the locality (sítio) of Chão do Cedro Gordo (‘ground of the stout cedar’), and the new church was solemnly blessed by the diocesan prelate in December 1927.

A royal letter (carta régia) of 11 February 1746 created a curacy (curato) in the parish of Faial, obliging its curate to perform certain religious services in the chapel of St Roch. We have read somewhere that this curacy was created with its seat in that chapel, which seems to us to have no serious foundation, although the annotator of ‘Longing for the Homeland’ (Saudades da Terra) shares this opinion.

It was the law (carta de lei) of 24 July 1848 that truly established the independent parish, which was then given a parish priest, as it has always had ever since. Its first parish priests were Francisco José Nunes (1848–1865), who died there, Estevão Correia Bizarro (1865–1869), Caetano Velosa Castelo Branco (1869–1870), António Pereira (1870–1880), etc.

Principal localities: Terreiros, Cancela, Lombo dos Palheiros, Serradinho, Chão do Cedro Gordo, Pico do Cedro Gordo, Achada do Folhadal, Lombo Grande, Achada do Pau Bastião, Fajã do Cedro Gordo and Ribeiro Frio. The last of these localities is well worth a visit for the charm and picturesqueness of the spot and for the astonishing panoramas that open out from it.

The parish has a state school, founded in 1903, which at present operates in the locality of Chão do Cedro Gordo (1921). Its population is 956 inhabitants (1921).