Knill's Steeple is a striking triangular granite obelisk rising above the hilltop of Worvas Hill on the outskirts of St. Ives, Cornwall, built in 1782 as a mausoleum and monument by John Knill — a customs officer, one-time mayor of St. Ives, and self-described lover of local history. Knill never actually rested inside his own monument; he is believed to be buried elsewhere, and the steeple stands today as a peculiar testament to his eccentric ambitions. The structure commands sweeping views over St. Ives Bay and the surrounding Cornish coastline, making it a popular landmark for walkers exploring the area. Gates visited the steeple during his investigation into the lost treasure of the 17th-century pirate Henry Every, drawn here precisely because Knill himself had reportedly spent years searching for Every's fortune without success. It was at this dramatic hilltop perch that Gates met a pair of salvage divers who claimed they may have picked up where Knill left off.
John Knill constructs the triangular granite steeple on Worvas Hill as his intended mausoleum, though he is never interred inside it.
John Knill, former customs officer and mayor of St. Ives, reportedly spends years searching for Henry Every's pirate treasure along the Cornish coast, without success.
Gates films at Knill's Steeple for Expedition Unknown S12E04 "Riches of Spain's Pirate King," meeting salvage divers Rob Stacey and Don Russell.
Knill's Steeple occupies an intriguing footnote in the long history of pirate treasure hunting along the Cornish coast. John Knill, the steeple's builder, was apparently captivated by the legend of Henry Every — the late 17th-century English pirate who plundered the Mughal treasure ship Ganj-i-Sawai in 1695 and disappeared with what was said to be a staggering haul of gold, silver, and jewels. That a sitting mayor and customs official would devote years to hunting pirate gold says something about how deeply the Every legend embedded itself in the British coastal imagination. The steeple itself, whatever Knill's treasure-hunting motivations, endures as a recognized local heritage landmark.
Salvage divers Rob Stacey and Don Russell brought Gates two pieces of physical evidence that, taken together, they argued pointed to a shipwreck offshore: an Arabic coin and what they described as a ship's cannon. Gates noted on camera that Arabic coinage would plausibly have been among Every's plunder, given the Mughal empire's extensive trade connections. Whether the coin and cannon can be positively linked to Every's ship, or to any 17th-century wreck, is a question the episode does not resolve — no marine archaeologist or numismatist is shown on camera validating the artifacts' provenance, and the divers themselves hedge, saying they are 'pretty sure' rather than certain.
The broader historical debate around Henry Every's treasure is genuinely unsettled. Every's ultimate fate remains unknown — he vanished from the historical record after 1696 — and no confirmed cache of his plunder has ever been formally authenticated. Cornish waters have long attracted treasure hunters drawn by legends of wrecked ships and lost cargoes, but the maritime archaeology community generally stresses that finding an isolated artifact offshore establishes at most a tantalizing data point, not a confirmed wreck site.
Gates' visit to Knill's Steeple is best understood as a moment of scene-setting rather than a definitive investigative breakthrough. The episode uses the monument and the story of Knill's own failed search to frame the broader question: after 300 years, could anyone actually find Every's treasure? The Arabic coin and cannon make for compelling television, but as Gates himself implies on camera, intriguing clues are not the same as proof.
John Knill built Knill's Steeple as his own mausoleum in 1782, but he is believed never to have been interred inside it — leaving the monument as an elaborate monument to intentions rather than a functioning tomb.
Knill was a customs officer as well as mayor of St. Ives, which gives his obsession with pirate treasure an ironic edge — his professional life was spent trying to stop smuggling, while his personal passion reportedly led him to hunt for pirated gold.
The steeple's triangular granite form makes it a distinctive local landmark visible from St. Ives Bay, serving today as a navigational and scenic reference point for visitors to the Cornish coast.
The Arabic coin recovered by salvage divers Rob Stacey and Don Russell was found offshore near St. Ives — according to Gates on camera, approximately 4,000 miles and 300 years removed from where it would have been minted.
Knill's Steeple is generally accessible to visitors on foot via a hillside walk from St. Ives town center, with the steeple sitting atop Worvas Hill and offering panoramic coastal views. No formal admission fee is believed to be required, though visitors should check current local advisories and path conditions before setting out, particularly in wet weather when the trails can be slippery.
St. Ives, Cornwall, is the immediate town; Penzance lies approximately 10 miles to the southwest and is the nearest town with a mainline rail connection.
Late spring through early autumn typically offers the most reliable weather for the hillside walk, with longer daylight hours making the coastal views particularly rewarding. Midsummer can see increased tourist traffic in St. Ives itself, so early morning visits to the steeple may offer a quieter experience.
Whydah Pirate Museum, Yarmouth
The Whydah Pirate Museum focuses on authenticated pirate-era shipwreck artifacts, making it a natural companion to the offshore treasure hunt Gates explores in the Henry Every investigation centered on Knill's Steeple.
Neahkahnie Mountain
Neahkahnie Mountain is another coastal site where Gates investigates legends of shipwrecked treasure, echoing the same themes of lost cargo, persistent local legend, and elusive physical evidence.
Beeswax Wreck Beach (Santo Cristo de Burgos wreck site)
The Beeswax Wreck site similarly involves a long-sought offshore shipwreck mystery where fragments of physical evidence — like the Arabic coin found near St. Ives — tantalize researchers without yet yielding a definitive answer.