Chapter IV: Part 4

Cornwall being a land of mines has developed machinery and furthered invention in this direction. The most notable of the inventors she has produced is Richard Trevithick, who first made the high-pressure engine, and is still more remarkable as the early pioneer of motor traffic, putting his road locomotive on the Camborne highway on Christmas Day, 1801, and obtaining a speed with it of 12 miles per hour. In 1812 he laid before the Navy Board his invention for a screw propeller for ships, only to meet with a refusal. Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, born in 1793, also ran steam-motors on the roads until they were forbidden by Act of Parliament, and the work of a lifetime and his fortune of L30,000 vanished into thin air. The oxy-hydrogen blowpipe and the steam-jet were invented by him. The wreck of H.M.S. _Anson_ on Looe bar with the loss of over 100 lives in 1807 had a great effect on one of the spectators, Henry Trengrouse, a Helston cabinet-maker, who thereupon invented the rocket life-saving apparatus and spent L3000--all his means--in experiments and in vain endeavours to induce Government to adopt the system. Another great benefactor to mankind was Sir Humphry Davy, the son of a poor gilder near Penzance. His safety-lamp he nobly refused to patent lest the sphere of its usefulness should be restricted, and he is fittingly honoured with a statue in his native town.

More than one distinguished traveller finds place among Cornish worthies. Richard Lander, the son of a Truro innkeeper (1805-34), stands at the head of them. He went with Clapperton to Sokoto and on his death took up his work, tracing the mouth of the Niger on a second expedition, and dying on a third at Fernando Po. Peter Mundy, born about 1596 at "Penrin, a pretty towne in Corne Wall," as he describes it, was one of the most remarkable travellers that the West of England has produced, whether in virtue of his long trading voyages to the Far East, or of his continental wanderings, of which he kept a not less careful record. James Silk Buckingham, who died in 1855, wrote eighteen books of travel, but was mainly noteworthy for his endeavours to do away with the monopoly of the East India Company.

Among statesmen must be noticed Sir John Eliot, born at Port Eliot in 1592, and at one time friend of George Villiers, Duke of Buckingham, with whom he later broke, and taking up a strong line in the Parliament of 1628 against arbitrary taxation helped to force the Petition of Right from Charles. He was ultimately committed to the Tower, where he died three years later in 1632. To give an adequate sketch of the life of Sidney Godolphin would be to give the history of the times of Charles II, James II, William of Orange and Anne, with each and all of whom he was closely implicated. An extraordinarily able financier, his character was such as to permit him to serve either party indifferently. "Sidney Godolphin," said Charles, "is never in the way and never out of the way." Lord High Treasurer under Queen Anne, he was made Earl of Godolphin, only to be disgraced in 1710 and die shortly after.

Samuel Drew, the "Cornish Metaphysician," who was born at St Austell, had been a smuggler and a shoemaker in his earlier days, but developed into a Wesleyan preacher and became the author of an essay on the Immortality of the Soul. Of more normal mould was Humphrey Prideaux, born at Padstow in 1648, who wrote a _Life of Mahomet_, and _The Old and New Testament Connected_, which reached its 27th edition only a few years ago. He became Dean of Norwich and died in 1724.

Cornwall has produced several local antiquaries, as the Rev. Richard Polwhele, who died in 1838; the Rev. William Borlase, d. 1772; William Hals, the historian of the Duchy; and William Sandys, who died in 1874. She has had but few true poets, but the Rev. Robert Stephen Hawker, though not actually born in Cornwall, spent all his life there and may certainly come under this heading. He became Vicar of Morwenstow in 1834, and remained there till his death in 1875, having during this time transformed his parishioners from a set of lawless wreckers to a decent community. His poems were almost all connected with Cornish subjects, and one of the best known of them is that on Bishop Trelawney's imprisonment--"A good sword and a trusty sword," with the refrain--"And shall Trelawney die? There's twenty thousand Cornishmen; Shall know the reason why."

"A wondrous Cornishman, who is carrying all before him" is Sir Joshua Reynolds' description of John Opie the painter, who was born the son of a poor carpenter near Truro in 1761, became an R.A. and portrait-painter of great note, and died in 1807. His second wife was Amelia Opie the novelist, daughter of the Norwich physician, Dr Alderson. Henry Bone, the enamellist, is also of sufficient distinction to deserve mention here.

Of the astronomers of modern times few have attained the eminence of John Couch Adams, the discoverer of the planet Neptune, who was born at Laneast in 1819. As a shepherd boy he loved to lie on his back and watch the stars, and he at once devoted himself to the study of astronomy when he was sent to school at Saltash. He became Senior Wrangler at Cambridge in 1843, and soon after taking his degree, being struck with irregularities in the motion of Uranus, he made a series of calculations and observations which resulted in the discovery of the new planet, the French astronomer Leverrier having simultaneously recorded its existence. A distinguished geologist and one of the pioneers of scientific cave exploration was William Pengelly, whose great work was the thorough examination of Kent's Cavern near Torquay, a labour which lasted from 1865 to 1880. Last, but by no means least worthy of mention in our list, must come Davies Gilbert, a great discerner of rising genius, to which he was ever ready to lend help and encouragement. The patron of Davy, Trevithick, Hornblower, and Goldsworthy Gurney, he was himself a man of remarkable and varied abilities, scientist, mathematician, and antiquary, and President of the Royal Society. He died in 1839.

=27. THE CHIEF TOWNS AND VILLAGES OF CORNWALL.=

(The figures in brackets after each name give the population in
1901 and those at the end of each section are references to the
pages in the text.)

=Bodmin= (5353), now held to be the county town. Formerly there was a priory here, founded in 938. The church, the largest in Cornwall, is Perpendicular, except the tower and a part of the chancel, which are earlier. In it is the fine monument of Prior Vyvyan (1533). Bodmin is a municipal borough, market, and union town, and head of a county court district. The Assizes are held here. The town is pleasantly situated nearly in the centre of the county. A branch of the G.W.R. leads from Bodmin Road station on the main line. The L. & S.W.R. has also a branch to Bodmin from Wadebridge. The prison stands about half a mile north-west of the town; and the County Lunatic Asylum a little to the west. Bodmin has also a Hospital and Dispensary, and Barracks for military. (pp. 9, 14, 18, 24, 67, 96, 102, 104, 111, 131, 132, 135, 137, 139.)

=Bude= (see Stratton).

=Callington= (1714), a small market town, formerly a parliamentary borough returning two members. Callington is in the ecclesiastical parish of North Hill, and the church is merely a chapel of ease. It is in the Perpendicular style, and has the unusual feature in Devon and Cornwall of having a clerestory. The L. & S.W.R. has constructed a light railway from Beer Alston to Callington and Calstock. (pp. 105, 124.)

=Calstock= (5874) is a large village and township. The church is at a distance from the village or town. Gunnislake, two miles north of Calstock, is in the parish. Both places have declined in numbers and prosperity through the abandonment of the mines in the neighbourhood. (pp. 15, 69, 72, 87, 101.)

=Camborne= (14,726), a market town with a station on the main line of the G.W.R. It is a great seat of mining operations. (pp. 38, 81, 101, 135, 137.)

=Camelford= (1384), a small market and union town, in a bleak and wind-swept situation, consisting of one street. It is the head of a county court district and magisterial division. It is in the parish of Lanteglos, nearly two miles distant, and has not in it even a chapel of ease. Camelford was an ancient borough with mayor and corporation. (pp. 14, 105, 133, 135, 137.)

=Falmouth= (3207), a seaport, market, and union town and a municipal borough. It is the head of a county court district. Falmouth was incorporated by charter 1661. It has the advantage of possessing one of the finest and most capacious harbours in the country. As many as 350 to 400 sail have taken refuge here in winter at various times. There are docks, factories, and building yards. Of late an attempt has been made to turn Falmouth into a winter resort for invalids, and the coast is advertised as "The Cornish Riviera," but it is a Riviera without the sun of the Mediterranean. (pp. 30, 31, 48, 66, 88, 92, 94, 95, 96, 132, 135, 137, 139.)

=Fowey= (2258), once a borough, is a market town and a shipping port with a station on a branch of the G.W.R. The church of St Finbar is a noble edifice in the Perpendicular style but with portions on the north dating from 1336. Place House, the seat of the Treffry family, is a beautiful, richly-sculptured mansion of the reign of Henry VII. Fowey consists of one very narrow street. The town was created a borough by Elizabeth, returning two members, but was disfranchised in 1832. (pp. 49, 88, 105, 119, 128, 130, 131, 135.)

=Grampound= (491) deserves mention only as having returned two members to Parliament before the Reform Bill, and as formerly a borough. (pp. 18, 105.)

=Helston= (3088) is a municipal borough, market, and union town, and the resort of all who want to buy or sell in the Lizard district. It was not formed into an ecclesiastical parish till 1845. A branch of the G.W.R. reaches it. Below the town is the beautiful Loe Pool. The principal streets form a cross, and have a constant flow of water through them. (pp. 8, 104, 135, 137, 139, 143.)

=Launceston= (14,310), the ancient capital, is a municipal borough, market, and union town, and head of a county court district. The town occupies a height, and above it towers the ancient castle, but a portion of the town, Newport, lies in the valley at the foot. Both the G.W.R. and the L. & S.W.R. have stations at Launceston. The church of granite is richly sculptured throughout; but in a debased Perpendicular style. It replaced an older church of which the tower alone remains. (pp. 7, 15, 25, 67, 96, 104, 111, 117, 121, 126, 129, 131, 132, 135, 137, 139.)

=Liskeard= (4945), a municipal borough, market, and union town, head also of a county court district, with a station on the G.W.R. Liskeard returned two members to Parliament till disfranchised by the Redistribution Act of 1885. The church of St Martin is the largest in the county next to that of Bodmin; it is in the Perpendicular style but retains portions of earlier work. Liskeard mainly flourishes on the granite quarries of the Cheesewring; it did at one time flourish still more on the mines of tin and copper in Caradon. (pp. 12, 18, 31, 104, 119, 122, 125, 137, 139.)

=Looe= (2588) is composed of two towns, East Looe and West Looe, separated by a creek and united by a long bridge. East Looe was formerly a borough returning two members. It is the terminus of a branch line of the G.W.R. There is a good tidal harbour, to which vessels of large tonnage can be brought up for the shipment of ore and granite, conveyed thither from Caradon and the Cheesewring, and thence coal is conveyed to Liskeard and its neighbourhood. The old town hall is a picturesque building. West Looe was also originally a borough returning two members. (pp. 31, 49, 50, 92, 105, 131, 135, 138, 143.)

=Marazion= (1252) or Market Jew derives its name from a Thursday market there held. In ancient times the place was supported by the pilgrims resorting to St Michael's Mount. The town was pillaged by the French in the reign of Henry VIII. From Marazion St Michael's Mount is reached. At the base of the Mount lies a fishing village of 38 houses, and a little harbour. From the sea the hill rises to a height of 230 ft., the body of the island is granite but its north base is of slate. The castle is the property of Lord St Levan. Marazion is a station on the G.W.R. (pp. 9, 44, 96.)

=Mevagissey= (2088), a seaport town situated on a fine bay six miles south of St Austell, the nearest railway station. The natural harbour is safe and sheltered. A new harbour has been constructed. The inhabitants depend almost wholly for subsistence on the fishery of pilchards. (pp. 48, 89, 92, 94.)

=Newlyn= (1302) is not a town, it is an ecclesiastical parish formed in 1848 out of the parishes of Paul and Madron. It has a harbour, and is a seat of fishery. Many artists have been attracted hither by the mildness of the climate and the picturesqueness of the quaint old streets, and of the fisherfolk. (pp. 44, 92, 94.)

=Newquay= (2935) is a new and rising sea-bathing and holiday resort, to which run two branches of the G.W.R. It possesses a beautiful stretch of sands, and is near some of the finest coast scenery in Cornwall. (pp. 37, 91, 135.)

=Padstow= (1566) is a quaint old seaport on the estuary of the Camel. It has a fine church with a beautiful carved font. Above the town is Prideaux Place, an Elizabethan mansion. The town lies in a valley and consists mainly of one street. It is a market town, and is connected with the L. & S.W.R. by a branch line. (pp. 35, 55, 56, 57, 67, 92, 94, 119, 129, 133, 135, 145.)

=Penryn= (3256), a market town and municipal borough, situated on an arm of Falmouth harbour that is being gradually silted up. The parish church is dedicated to St Gluvias. It formerly returned two members to Parliament. Here was formerly a monastic establishment, at Glasney, but of this only a few fragments of wall remain. There is a station on the branch to Falmouth of the G.W.R. (pp. 96, 105, 131, 137, 139, 144.)

=Penzance= (12,155), the most westerly town in England. The name signifies the Holy Head; it is a seaport, municipal borough, and union town. The climate is here most warm and relaxing. Penzance was incorporated in 1614 and has a corporation consisting of a mayor, six aldermen, and eighteen councillors. There are some fine public buildings, and a good museum for the birds, minerals, and antiquities of Western Cornwall. Hence starts the steamer that communicates with the Scilly Isles. From Penzance excursions are made to the Land's End district, which abounds in magnificent coast scenery, and in prehistoric megalithic monuments. (pp. 44, 57, 66, 88, 96, 108, 111, 133, 135, 137, 139, 143.)

=Probus= (1207) is a large village rather than a town, and is situated two and a half miles from Grampound station on the G.W.R. It is chiefly remarkable for its church tower, sculptured throughout, and erected in the reign of Elizabeth. (p. 120.)

=St Agnes= (4291), a market town, reached by a branch of the G.W.R. The church is Decorated, and has a spire, an unusual feature in Cornwall. (pp. 55, 110.)

=St Austell= (3340), a market and union town with a station on the G.W.R. A place that flourishes on the china-clay works in the neighbourhood. The church has a noble tower and is in the Perpendicular style. It possesses an exceedingly curious and early font. Near St Austell is Menacudle, perhaps the most picturesquely situated and best preserved of the Holy Wells in Cornwall. (pp. 9, 24, 26, 48, 85, 120, 122, 137, 139, 145.)

=St Blazey= (2931), a market town with a station on the Newquay branch of the G.W.R.

=St Columb Major= (2640), an ancient market town two and a half miles from the St Columb Road Station on the Newquay branch of the G.W.R. and also in connexion with the L. & S.W.R. at Wadebridge by coach. The church is fine, Perpendicular in style, and has an interesting cross in the churchyard. The chancel, formerly ten feet longer, was wrecked by an explosion of gunpowder stored in the church, in 1676. There is a picturesque old building with state hangings, originally a residence of the Arundells of Trerice, near the churchyard gate. The old Cornish hurling is still practised at St Columb. (pp. 9, 18, 99, 108, 119, 137.)

=St Germans= (2126), a large village rather than a town, with a station on the G.W.R. It returned representatives to Parliament from 1562 till the passing of the Reform Act in 1832. The church is especially interesting from its noble Norman west front. It lies in the park of the Earl of St Germans. The almshouses in the town are especially to be noted for their picturesqueness. (pp. 105, 118, 131, 137, 139.)

=St Ives= (6699), a municipal borough on the shore of St Ives Bay, and the terminus of a branch of the G.W.R. from St Erth. The corporation now consists of a mayor, four aldermen, and twelve councillors. The borough formerly returned two members to Parliament. The town is irregularly built with narrow streets and has "a very ancient fishlike smell." The church is interesting, it possesses curious carved bench-ends, and an old cross outside, of an unusually elaborate description. The population is almost entirely dependent on the fishing industry; but of late a St Ives school of painting has grown up, and artists have settled here to study sea effects, and seafaring people. (pp. 38, 39, 67, 87, 88, 92, 93, 94, 102, 105, 135, 137, 139.)

=St Just in Penwith= (5646), a market town seven miles west of Penzance, the nearest railway station. The town consists of several streets diverging from a triangular space in the centre. The church, well cared for, is Perpendicular in style. (pp. 110, 111.)

=St Mary's, Scilly= is a town and the focus of life in the Isles of Scilly. The total population of these isles is 2092. The Isles belong to the Duchy of Cornwall but have been leased to Mr Dorrien-Smith. A large business is done in the sending of flowers and early potatoes thence to London. There is a good pier and harbour. (pp. 57, 59, 96.)

=Saltash= (3357), built on a steep slope falling to the Hamoaze, returned two members to Parliament till disfranchised in 1832. The Royal Albert Bridge here crosses the Tamar, erected in 1857-9, carrying the trains of the G.W.R. into Cornwall. Saltash has a station. It was formerly the great place of crossing from Devon to Cornwall and _vice versa_ by ferry boats. (pp. 16, 132, 133, 139, 147.)

=Stratton= and =Bude= (2308). Stratton is a small market and union town, and Bude its modern prosperous daughter is two miles off, the terminus of a branch of the L. & S.W.R. whereas Stratton has no station. It is a sleepy, decaying place; it possesses a fine church in which is the altar tomb of a Crusader, and another to Sir John Arundell of Trerice. On the other hand Bude is a growing and thriving watering-place, and possesses a small harbour. (pp. 32, 33, 57, 103, 120, 133, 135, 136, 137, 139.)

=Truro= (2215, but with Kenwyn 5836, and with St Clement 3283 more). Truro is a city, the seat of a bishop, a municipal borough, head of an union and county court district, and a port. The city is situated in a valley and comprises the parishes of St Mary, Kenwyn and St Clement. At high water the tide forms a fine lake two miles in length reaching from Truro quay to Malpas, and the channel is of sufficient depth to be navigable for vessels of upwards of 70 tons. Truro was formerly one of the towns having the privilege of stamping tin, and is the seat of the Stannary Court. In 1876 Cornwall was cut off from Devon for ecclesiastical purposes and Truro constituted the seat of the bishop, and in 1880 the present cathedral was begun. Truro possesses a Passmore Edwards Free Library, and it is the seat of the Royal Institution of Cornwall which has here a museum and a library. (pp. 38, 66, 96, 104, 123, 124, 132, 135, 137, 139, 144, 146.)

=Tywardreath= (2215) is a little town where once was a Benedictine priory. It has a coastguard station and a police station. (p. 48.)

=Wadebridge= (2186), a market town on the river Camel, partly in the parish of St Breock and partly in that of Egloshayle. It has a station on the L. & S.W.R. whence also runs a branch to Bodmin and another to Padstow. A stone bridge originally of 17 but now of 15 arches, erected in 1485, connects Wadebridge with Egloshayle. The chief trade of the town consists in the exportation of granite, china-clay, and agricultural produce, and the principal imports are coal and timber. (pp. 14, 15, 135.)

=28. DIAGRAMS.=

[Area of Cornwall as compared with that of Rutland]
[Population of England and Wales]
[Population of Cornwall]
[Proportionate Land Cultivation in Cornwall]
[Proportionate Area of Corn Crops]
[Proportionate numbers of Livestock]
[Comparative Proportion of Cereals]
[Proportionate Area of Permanent Pasture]
[Proportionate Weight and Value of Fish landed]

CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY JOHN CLAY, M.A. AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.