Chapter X: Part 10

[34] Extracted from an “Account of certain Hill Castles,
near the Land’s End in Cornwall,” by William Cotton, Esq.
F.S.A. printed in the Archæologia, vol. XXII. where a plan
and section of Castle-An-Dinas will be found, taken with
greater care than that in Lysons’s Cornwall. In the
Gentleman’s Magazine, LXXII. p. 393, are engravings of two
stone weights found within the inner circle of this
fortress. The weight of one was seventeen pounds and a half;
and that of the other three pounds one ounce.

ST. COLUMB MINOR

HALS.

Is situate in the hundred of Pedyr, and hath upon the north the Irish sea and St. Mawgan; east, Little Colan; west, Crantock; south, Newland. For the name see St. Columb Major. This church’s revenues being wholly impropriated, or appropriated to the prior of Bodmin before the Inquisitions of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, 1294, or Wolsey’s afterwards, is not named therein; the prior by ancient composition paying the vicar or curate here only six pounds per annum; by which bargain he was a great gainer, at least 250_l._ per annum, and I take it the present patron and impropriator, Mr. Buller, paya the curate not above 25_l._ per annum. This parish was rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, 207_l._ 9_s._

This church, according to its bigness, is the finest, best-kept, pewed, or seated, that I know of in Cornwall; the rood-loft, (yet standing, though without a rood on it,) a most curious and costly piece of workmanship, carved and painted with gold, silver, vermillion and bice, is the masterpiece of art in those parts of that kind. The pews or seats are uniform, all made of blackt oak; and to prove their antiquity, there is yet extant an inscription on one of them, containing these words: “These seats were built by the poor’s stock in the year 1525.”

At Tre-loye in this parish (the flowing or abounding town) is still extant a famous chapel, dedicated to St. Pedyr, perhaps of public use before this church of St. Colomb was erected.

This district in Domesday Roll passed under the name and jurisdiction of the great lordship and manor of Ryalton, heretofore pertaining to the prior of Bodmin, which lands are held of the Bishop of Exeter’s manor of Penryn, and pay yearly 10_l._ high rent to the same; from whence I gather that formerly both pertained to the bishopric of Cornwall, afterwards converted into Kirton and Exeter; and that afterwards, by compact between the said bishop and prior of Bodmin, it was dismembered from that bishopric, and restored to that priory, as parcel of the ancient bishop of Bodmin’s revenues, of which that priory consisted, and was endowed with at its first foundation by the bequests of the ancient earls of Cornwall.

For the name of Rial-ton or Ryal-ton (if it consists of those particles), it signifies the royal, kingly, or princely town, as pertaining heretofore to the king of England or earls of Cornwall; and suitable to this etymology it claimeth the jurisdiction and royalty over the whole hundred of Pider. So that whosoever is now farmer thereof, is by custom its head bailiff, as the prior of St. Pedyr at Bodmin was; from whose font-name the same is still denominated Pider (id est, Peter, as formerly said), the which farmer or bailiff is steward of the Court Baron of the said hundred or decima, and also of the Court Leet held within the jurisdiction or precincts of the manor aforesaid, and his substitutes constantly attend the service of both. To remove an action-at-law depending in the Court Leet of this manor, the writ must thus be directed: Senescallo et Ballivo manerii nostri de Rialton in comitatu de Cornubiæ salutem. To remove an action out of hundred court, whereof as I said the farmer of this manor is lord, the writ must be thus directed: “Senescallo et Ballivo hundredi et libertatis de Peder, in comitatu Cornubiæ, salutem.”

When the priory of St. Peder at Bodmin was dissolved, 26 Henry VIII. and those lands vested in the crown, one John Mundy, barrister-at-law, (son of John Mundy, sheriff of London 6 Henry VIII. afterwards Sir John Mundy, Knight, Lord Mayor of London 14 Henry VIII.) was sent down from London to be seneschal or steward of this manor of Ryalton and hundred of Pider. In which capacity he demeaned himself so well, temp. Elizabeth, that when the set-off of the last prior for ninety-nine years expired, and Mr. Mundy’s son succeeded in the same office as his father, was in this place, at such time as James I. by statute prohibited the granting of church lands at lease for longer than twenty-one years under the old rent, Mr. Mundy took a lease thereof from the Crown for that term, viz. of 60_l._ per annum, and his posterity renewing or retaking the same as those leases expired, thereby this estate, worth about 1000_l._ per annum, continued in this family till some time after the restoration of Charles the Second, when Sir Francis Godolphin, Knight, by favour of that King, took a reversion or new set thereof, before Mr. Mundy’s expired, on condition of doubling the rent from 60_l._ to 120_l._ per annum, so that Sir William Godolphin, Bart. is now in possession thereof; and the Right Hon. Sidney Lord Godolphin was created Baron Godolphin of Ryalton, 33 Charles II. whereby this family of Mundy are comparatively undone, notwithstanding they were stout Cavaliers and opposers of Cromwell and the Parliament army to their utmost power and strength. Well therefore doth the royal Psalmist advise all men not to put their trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom is no help.

The arms of Mundy are, in a field, three lozenges, on a chief three eagle’s legs erased.

The mansion-house at Ryalton wherein Mr. Mundy dwelt, was much beautified and augmented by prior Thomas Vivian, to which belongs a strong prison and dungeon for putting debtors in durance. Query, whether this barton of Ryalton payeth tithes to the impropriator? All priories, monasteries, religious houses, &c. above the yearly value of 200_l._ per annum, being exempted from it by the statute 31 Henry VIII. chiefly because the same were given for and applied to charitable uses and the maintenance of the poor; and verily, if the name Ryalton be compounded of those syllables ry-all-ton, it signifies give or bestow all town, or a town that gave or bestowed all its revenues to the poor, and pious uses. And that the reader may know in what manner poor men were sent to such religious houses to be fed and maintained during life, as penitentiaries or otherwise, by their superiors, or such as had power to visit the same, I will set down an instance or example, out of Fox’s Acts and Monuments, page 53, temp. Henry VIII. contained in a letter from John Langland, Bishop of Lincoln, 1524, to the Abbot of Ensham, viz. “My loving brother, I recommend me hearty unto you, and whereas I have according to law sent this bearer T. R. to perpetual penance within your monastery of Ensham, there to live as a penitent and not otherwise; I pray you nevertheless, and according to the law command you, to receive him, and see you order him there according to his injunctions, which he will show you if you require the same. As for his lodging, he will bring it with him, and his meat and drink he must have as you give of your alms; and if he can so order himself by his labour within your house in your business, whereby he may deserve meat and drink, so may you order him as you see convenient to his deserts, so that he pass not the precinct of your monastery. And thus, fare you heartily well. From my place, &c.” This injunction of penance was, 1. To fast every Friday during life, taking no other sustenance than bread and ale after it; and every even of Corpus Christi’s day to fast during life, and after fasting to take no other sustenance than bread and water that day, unless prevented by sickness; also in part to say our lady’s Psalter every Sunday during life; he is marked in the cheek, as other penetentiaries, with the letter P. (See Egleshayle and Penuans in Creed.)

At Towan in this parish, is that well-known place called Newquay, a pretty safe road and anchorage place for such ships as trade in St. George’s Channel, and also a convenient place for a fishing trade, were the inhabitants disposed to adventure therein.

At Hendra, also Hendre, in this parish, synonymous words, old, ancient town, is the dwelling of John Tonkyn, Gent. that married Keen of Roach; his father the heir of Cock, by whom he had this place; his grandfather Tregian, originally descended from the Tonkyns of St. Agnes.

Trevedick, also Trevithick, words of one signification, id est, rustic or farmers’ town, is the dwelling of Nicholas Polamonter, Gent. (so called from Polla-monter in Newland.)

TONKIN

has not, again, any thing of the least importance different from Mr. Hals.

THE EDITOR.

Rialton is the object of highest importance in this parish. Its antiquities are not much known; but when Mr. Sidney Godolphin was created Earl of Godolphin, his son, who had married Henrietta Churchill, eldest daughter of the Duke of Marlborough, assumed the appellation of Lord Rialton, and Lady Rialton was one of the ladies of the bedchamber to Queen Anne.

A small print is given of the south entrance gate still remaining, in C. S. Gilbert’s History of Cornwall, vol. ii. p. 673.

The property belonged to the late Mr. Thomas Rawlings of Padstow, having probably been acquired when lands were sold by the duchy to redeem the land-tax, but it was alienated on his decease.

New Quay, mentioned by Mr. Hals as a pretty safe road and anchorage for vessels, and also as a convenient place for establishing a fishery, is become a successful station for sea nets. In Lord Dunstanville’s edition of Carew, p. 357, it is stated, “The place was called New Quay, because in former times the neighbours attempted to supply the defects of nature by art, in making there a quay for the road of shipping, which conceit they still retain, although want of means in themselves or in the plan have left the effect in nubibus. The quay has now been many years constructed, but I apprehend it is not capable of receiving any other than small vessels.”

This parish measures 4759 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 6238 0 0
The Poor Rate in 1831 783 3 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 999 | 1126 | 1297 | 1406;
giving an increase of about 40¾ per cent. in 30 years.
The parish feast, like that of St. Columb Major, is on the Sunday
nearest to the 17th of November.

GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

On the eastern side adjoining to the Downs, the rocks are quartzose, but the greater part of this parish is composed of slates belonging to the calcareous series, which extend to the sea shore. At Tremper Bridge, and in the islands lying at the entrances of St. Columb Porth, beds of black limestone occur, associated with talc, schist, and blue slates.

The most interesting feature, however, of this parish is the testaceous sandstone at New Quay, and on the shores of Fistral Bay. The land adjacent to the sea at those places is covered with sand, which above high-water mark is lapidified, as is also a bed of pebbles on which the sand sometimes rests. For the particulars of this phenomenon the first and the fourth volumes of the Cornwall Geological Transactions may be consulted.

CONSTANTINE.

HALS.

Is situate in the hundred of Kerrier, and hath upon the north, part of Stithians; west, Gwendron; south, Hayleford channel and Mawnan; east, Mabe and Budock. It is also commonly Cus-ten-ton, i. e. wood-stone town, a place heretofore notable for woods and stones, and I take it an unpleasant strag of moor-stones and rocks are still visible upon a great part of the lands here. Perhaps it is the Crostedeton mentioned in the Domesday Roll. Otherwise it was taxed under Trewardevi or Penwarne. The name Constantine is derived from the Latin Constantia.

In the Inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, 1294, Ecclesia de Sancto Constantino, was valued to first fruits 10_l._ Vicar ejusdem 40_l._ in Decanatu de Kerryer. In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, Constantine Vic. was taxed to first fruits 19_l._ 8_s._ 10½_d._ The patronage in the Dean and Chapter of Exeter; the incumbent Perry; the rectory in Robert Quarme of Creed; and the parish rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, 168_l._ 16_s._ 8_d._ by the old name of Constenton. The titular guardian of this church, St. Constantine, Emperor of Rome, was the first emperor in the world that professed Christianity. He was the son of Constantius Chlorus Emperor of Rome; first an officer of war under the Emperor Aurelian, against Coill or Coillus, King or Duke of Colchester in Britain, (called by some writers Caer-Collyn, Caer-Col-lyn, i. e. the city or castle on the neck of the lake, or bosom of waters, it being situate on the confluence of the Medway river), which Coil, having refused to pay the tribute due to the Senate of Rome, caused that province to revolt; but Constantius forced him into a submission, when soon after he died; and Constantius is said to have married his only daughter and heir Helen, by whom he had all her father’s lands and territories, Anno Dom. 289. By her he had issue Constantine, who followed the wars in his father’s time against Maxentius; and lying on his bed, before a battle, a dream or vision appeared to him in shape of an angel, holding in his hand a shining red cross, and calling to him with a loud voice “Constantine! Εν τουτῳ νικα, _in hoc signo vinces_, i. e. under this sign or banner thou shalt have victory.” Whereupon he commanded a red cross to be pourtrayed in all his banners, called the labanum, and soon after gave battle to Maxentius at Pont Milvium, in Italy, where his [the latter’s] army was routed, and himself drowned in that river. The success of which battle so wrought upon Constantine that he forthwith turned Christian, and was baptized by Pope Silvester, Bishop of Rome.

In this parish, at Tre-warde-vi, as taxed in Domesday Roll, (i. e. the shining or flying guard town, or the indignation, or wrath guard town,) is the dwelling of John Trewren, Esq. i. e. the wren’s town, who married Vyvyan of Trelowarren; his father Rice; and giveth for his arms, Azure, three Besants. The present possessor ―――― Trewren, Esq. that married Prisk of Helston.

In this parish is the dwelling of Edward Chapman, Gent. that married Bligh of Botadon.

This gentleman received from God’s holy angels a wonderful preservation in the beginning of the reign of William III. when returning from Redruth towards his own house about seven miles distant, with his servant, late at night, and both much intoxicated with liquor, (as himself told me,) nevertheless having so much sense left as to consider that they were to pass through several tin mines or shafts near the highway, on the south-east side of Redruth town, alighted both from their horses, and led them in their hands after them. The servant went somewhat before his master, the better to keep the right road in those places, which occasioned Mr. Chapman’s turning aside somewhat out of the way, whereby in the dark he suddenly fell into a tin mine above twenty fathom deep, at whose fall into this precipice his horse started back and escaped; in this pit or hole Mr. Chapman fell directly down fifteen fathoms without let or intermission, where meeting a cross drift (above six fathom of water under it), he in his campaign coat, sword, and boots, was miraculously stopped, where coming to himself, he was not much sensible of any hurt or bruises he had received, through the terror and horror of his fall; when, considering in what condition he was, he resolved to make the best expedient he could to prevent his falling further down, (where, by the dropping or reesing of stones and earth moved by his fall, he understood there was much water under,) so he rested his back against one side of the mine, and his feet against the other, athwart the hole, and in order to fix his hands on some solid thing, drew his sword out of its sheath and thrust the blade thereof as far as he could into the opposite part of the shaft, and so in great pain and terror rested himself.

The suddenness of this accident, and the horse’s escaping in the dark as aforesaid, was the reason why Mr. Chapman’s servant, who went before him, did not so soon find him wanting as otherwise he might, which as soon as he did, he went back the road way in quest of him, calling him aloud by his name; but receiving no answer, nor being able to find the horse, he concluded his master had rode home to his house some other way, whereupon, giving up all further search after him, he hastened home to Constantine, expecting to have met him there; but, contrary to his expectations, found he was not returned. Whereupon his servants, early next morning, went forth to inquire after him, and suspecting (as it happened) he might be fallen into some tin-shafts about Redruth, hastened thither, where, before they arrived, some tinners had taken into custody his horse (with bridle and saddle on) which they found grazing on the Wastrell Downs. Whereupon, consulting together about this tragical mishap, it was resolved forthwith that some of those tinners, for reward, should search the most dangerous shafts in order to find his body either living or dead; accordingly they employed themselves that day till about four o’clock in the afternoon without any discovery of him. Finally, one person returned to his company, and told them that at a considerable distance he heard a kind of human voice under ground; to which place they repaired, and making loud cries to the hole of the shaft, he forthwith answered them that he was there alive, and prayed their assistance in order to deliver him from that tremendous place; whereupon, immediately they set on tackle-ropes and windlass on the old shaft, so that a tinner descended to the place where he rested, and having candle-light with him bound him fast in a rope, and so drew him safely to land, where, to their great admiration and joy, it appeared he had neither broke any bone, or was much bruised by the fall; verifying together the attribute of Divine Omnipotence that nothing is impossible with God,――and that old English proverb, that drunkards seldom take hurt; for, as the tinners said, if he had fallen but two or three feet lower, he must inevitably have been drowned in the water. But maugre all those adverse accidents, after about seventeen hours stay in the pit aforesaid, he miraculously escaped death and lived many years after, and would recount this history with as much pleasure as men do the ballads of Chevy Chase or Rosamond Clifford.

In this parish is the dwelling of James Trefusis, Gent. that married Worth; his father Penarth, originally descended from Trefusis of Trefusis in Mylor, as I am informed.

Moreover, it must be remembered in this place, of St. Constantine, that he was the first prince that ever endowed Christian churches beyond the seas with standing rents, lands, and revenues, and also gave to the church the tenth part of all lands and goods he possessed himself, whereupon the clergy claimed tithes therein by a law. And such officers or publicans as gathered it were called Decumani, (as Appian saith); for before that time tithes were only taken by the Senate of Rome and Emperor for the supply of the legions and armies in time of war, and not otherwise. Afterwards, Constantine made a law that all princes under his dominion should give the tenth part of their revenues towards the maintenance of churches and temples, as himself had done.

From this law and example Ethelwulf, the second sole Saxon monarch in England, Anno Dom. 838, in the year 855 (as Ingulphus, Abbat of Croyland, in his history of Britain, 1066, informs us), by royal charter confirmed the tithes of all his lands on the church in those words: “Decimam partem terræ meæ,” &c.; and this was done (gratuito consensu) by consent of his princes and prelates. This donation afterwards was confirmed by King Ethelred. “Nemo auferat à Deo quod ad Deum pertinet, et præcessores nostri concesserunt,” &c. Afterward King Athelstan made a law, Anno Dom. 926, that every man should pay tithes out of all the goods he possessed, as Jacob did; which Edmund Ironside confirmed under penalty of being accursed, 1016. Afterwards King Edward the Confessor, 1046, ordained more expressly that all tithes should be justly paid to the elder or mother churches, viz. de garba, grege equarum, pullis, vaccis, vitulis, caseo, lacte, vellis, porcellis, apibus, bosco, prato, aquis, molendinis, parcis, vivariis, piscariis, virgultis, hortis, negotionibus, et omnibus rebus, quas dederit Dominus, &c.; which decree or statute was afterwards ratified by William the Conqueror and his successors. (See more of Tithes under Keye.)

TONKIN.

Tonkin adds nothing to Mr. Hals in respect to this parish except the following short account of the manor of Merthyr or Merther. Mr. Tonkin cites from Carew, (p. 128 of Lord Dunstanville’s edition,) “Rogerus de Carminou ten. 20 part. feo. milit. extra 10 part. illius 20 in Wynnenton, Merthyr, et Tameron.” This Sir Roger de Carminow, for he was a knight, left this manor inter alia to his eldest son and heir Sir Thomas Carminow, of Carminow, Knight, who, leaving only three daughters his heirs, this manor fell to the share of Philippa, the wife of John Treworthen.

THE EDITOR.

Merther is now the property of Sir Richard Vyvyan, and has been for a considerable time in his family.

The family of Trewren of Trewardreva, is now I believe extinct; the name is usually pronounced Trew-ren, and certainly has not the etymology which Mr. Hals imputes to it.

Carwithenick in this parish was the seat of Mr. Chapman, preserved almost by a miracle according to Mr. Hals’s account, received from himself, when he fell into a shaft, see page 238. It now belongs to Mr. Hill.

Chapels are said to have been erected formerly at Benalleck and Buderkvam.

This parish measures 6883 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 6503 0 0
Poor Rates in 1831 712 1 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 1229 | 1327 | 1671 | 2004;
giving an increase of 63 per cent. in 30 years.
Parish feast, the nearest Sunday to the 9th of March.
Present Vicar, the Rev. Edward Rogers, presented by the Dean and
Chapter of Exeter in 1817.

GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

The church is situated on the borders of the granite, which extends to the extreme northern part of the parish, and is for the most part of that common kind which is shipped at Penryn for the London market. Proceeding southward from the church town this granite is bounded by a belt of rocks belonging to the porphyritic series, such as the felspar and hornblend rocks; but in the vicinity of the Helford river these are succeeded by the calcareous series.

CORNELLY.

HALS.

Is situate in the hundred of Powdre, and hath upon the north, Probus; east, Tregony; south, the Vale River; west, Lamorran and Merther. For the modern name of this place, Cornell-y or Kornell-y, it signifies the angle, nook, canton, quarter, or corner; and, suitable to its name, it is a dismembered district from Probus parish; a remote canton or corner of land in respect thereof, but as to spirituals consolidated, and goes in presentation with it as a daughter church. The patronage is in the Bishop of Exeter; the incumbent Baudree (Duddowe).

This parish rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, 72_l._ 4_s._ The rectory or sheaf in possession of Hawkins and Huddy. In the Domesday tax, 20 William I., 1087, this parish was taxed under the name and jurisdiction of Pen-pell, that is the far off or remote top or head. In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, and Valor Beneficiorum, this church is called Gro-goth.

Tre-den-ike in this parish, (i. e. the man town, creek, or cove of waters,) also Tre-warth-en-ike, (i. e. the farther town of, in, or upon the cove, creek, lake, or bosom of waters,) is the dwelling of my very kind friend John Gregor, Esq. who married Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Walter Moyle, Knight; his father, Francis Gregor, Esq. married one of the coheirs of Prideaux of Gunlyn, sheriff of Cornwall 19 Charles II.; his grandfather, Jane, daughter of Nosworthy, of Truro. And he giveth for his arms, Or, a chevron Gules, between three partridges Proper, out of a supposed allusion to their name in Cornish, wherein Grugyer and Gyrgirk is a partridge.

TONKIN.

I take the word Cornelly to be a corruption of the Cornish Caren Gli, that is love of God.

In this parish is Trewithenike, compounded of Tre-with en-ike. The dwelling-tree, or a rivulet, (query, tree?――ED.) which was in Queen Mary’s days the lands of William Weyte, Gent. as appears from an old deed in my custody, who was also lord of divers other tenements in those parts, as also of Fentongimps in St. Pyran Sabolo. He had a brother that lived at Lestwithiel, and was mayor of the town in the time of Henry VIII. whose daughter and heir was married to Kendall of Treworgye or Pelris, whose inheritance was no small augmentation to the paternal estate of that family. The arms of Wayte, Argent, a chevron between three salmons erect Azure. This barton is now the property of John Gregor, Esq. who has lately built a fine new house here. He married Elizabeth, the daughter of Sir Walter Moyle of Boke. His father, Francis Gregor, was sheriff of Cornwall 19 Charles II. (21 Charles II. A.D. 1669.―― ED.) He married one of the heiresses of Prideaux, of Gurlyn in St. Erth.

It is said by some that St. Cornelius the Centurian is patron of this parish; if so, the name Cornelly is probably from him. Nearly the whole of this parish is included within the manor of Grogith or Crogith.

THE EDITOR.

Francis Gregor, son and heir of John Gregor and Elizabeth Moyle, married a daughter of William Harris of Pickwell in Devonshire; and their son Francis Gregor, born in 1728, left two sons, Francis Gregor, sheriff of Cornwall in 1788, and member for the county from 1790 to 1806, and the Rev. William Gregor. Mr. Francis Gregor first married the eldest daughter of Mr. William Masterman, of Restormal, who had married a Cornish lady, and made a large fortune by the practice of the law, as a solicitor in London, and afterwards represented Bodmin in Parliament. Mr. Gregor married secondly Miss Urchuarth from Scotland, but died in 1815 without any family; and his brother, the Rev. William Gregor, survived but a few years, leaving an only daughter, who died at the age of three or four-and-twenty, and with her the name of Gregor became extinct.

But Mr. Masterman had a second daughter, married to Mr. Francis Glanville Catchfrench, who also left an only daughter. To this lady Miss Gregor gave the whole of her property, with an injunction to take her name. Miss Granville is married and has several children, having made Trewarthenick her residence, and improved the fine new house mentioned by Mr. Tonkin into one of the largest and most decorated mansions to be seen in Cornwall.

This parish contains 1047 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 1704 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 88 3 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 137 | 151 | 168 | 170;
giving an increase of 24 per cent. in 30 years.

GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

Near Tregony Bridge, a fine-grained, glossy, and very fissile blue slate is exposed in a quarry, which appears to be the prevailing rock of this small parish. This slate probably contains beds of massive lamellar rocks, as the same kind of slate does in the adjoining parishes, but they are not in this particular district visible on the surface. All these rocks belong to the calcareous series.

CRANTOCK.

HALS.

Is situate in the hundred of Pedyr, and hath upon the north the Irish sea; on the west, St. Cuthbert; south, Newland; east, St. Columb Minor. As for this compound name, it is plain British; Cran-tock, Cran-dock, id est, a place that heretofore bore or carried beech trees. But others will have the name to be derived from its pretended titular guardian, one St. Carantochus, a British disciple of St. Colomb’s, of whom I must plead _non sum informatus_; otherwise than that Carantodhius in old British, Scots, and Irish, is love, affection, tenderness. Cran-teck is fair beech trees.

More sure I am that this district, at the time of the Domesday Roll, was taxed under the name of Ryalton or Cargoll; and in the Inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, 1294, into the value of church livings in Cornwall, Ecclesia Sancti Carentini in Decanatu de Pidre is thus rated, the vicar 40_s._ and the nine prebends, then extant in this collegiate church, were thus taxed, viz. John de Woolrington, 53_s._ 4_d._; John de Cattelyn, 30_s._; Nicholas Strange, 30_s._; John de Ingham, 40_s._; Ralph de Trethinick, 53_s._ 4_d._; David de Monton, 40_s._; William de Patefond, 40_s._; John Lovell, 30_s._; John de Glasney, 6_s._ 8_d._; in all 19_l._ 3_s._ 4_d._ From whence I gather this collegiate church had great revenues then belonging to it, since it is higher rated to the Pope’s annats than any other church then in Cornwall. However, before Richard II.’s time it was wholly impropriated or appropriated to its founder and endower, the Prior of St. Pedyr at Bodmin; the vicar subsisting only by a small salary of 6_l._ and oblations and obventions; for which reason it is not mentioned in Wolsey’s inquisition, or Valor Beneficiorum.

Which collegiate church being dissolved by the statute 26 Henry VIII. and the revenues vested in the crown, the impropriator Mr. Buller is patron and rector of the vicarage church now extant; the incumbent Warne, who comparatively subsists upon his bounty; and the parish rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, 73_l._ 16_s._

By reason of the great quantities of sea-sand blown up from the Gannell creek by the wind (tempore Edward VI. as Holinshed saith), the place where the college stood is now scarce discernible; only a consecrated arched well of water bears the name of St. Ambrose’s Well, contiguous therewith.

Speed and Dugdale, in their Monasticon Anglicanum, tell us that at its dissolution, 26 Henry VIII. it consisted only of four prebends, whose revenues were valued only at 89_l._ 15_s._ from whence it appears five prebendary’s rents were dismembered from it before that time; and since its suppression the lands of those four prebends have passed from the crown to Louis, from Louis to Goldingham, from Goldingham to Lutterell, now in possession thereof.

The vicarage church of Crantock is commonly called lan-guna, or lan-gona, that is to say the hay temple or church; and is, suitable to its name, situate in a large hay meadow of very rich land, containing about three acres, where, by ancient custom the vicar’s cattle depasture over the dead bodies interred therein.

Tre-ganell, or Tre-gonell, in this parish, that is to say, the canal or channel town, situate upon a creek of the north sea, gave name and original to an old family of gentlemen surnamed Tregonell or Treganell, whose three daughters and heirs, tempore James I. were married to Bauden, Pallamonter, and Penpoll, who gave for their arms, in a field Argent, three Ogresses between two cottices in fess Sable, as many Cornish daws Proper.

John Tregonell, or Treganell,――of his posterity (now transnominated to Tregonwell), was a younger brother of this house, tempore Henry VII. who had his first education in this college of Crantock at a cheap rate, (as any may be had at Aberdeen or Glasgow in Scotland,) from whence he went to Oxford, and proceeded so far in book-erudition as to take his degree of Doctor of the Civil and Canon Law, and acquired such perfection and fame therein, that he was chosen proctor for Henry VIII. in that costly divorce betwixt him and Queen Catherine of Spain; by whom he was also knighted, and for his labour and pains therein had a pension of 40_l._ per annum settled upon him during his life; and afterwards, upon the resignation of that annuity, and the payment of a thousand pounds, he had by that king settled upon him and his heirs the site and demesne of Midleton, a mitred abbey in Dorset, of great value, which his posterity enjoy to this day, himself being buried in Midleton church 1540. He had issue John, afterwards knighted, sheriff of Dorset, 1 Philip and Mary; who married ――――, and had issue John Tregonell, Esq. sheriff of Dorset 2 James I., who also married ――――, and had issue John Tregonell, Esq. sheriff of that county 15 James I., when Francis Vyvyan, Esq. was sheriff of Cornwall.

Tre-ago, also Tre-agho, synonymous words, in this parish, that is to say, the fishing spear or barbed iron for stabbing fish, used it seems heretofore in the gannell or channell haven contiguous therewith, by the owners of this little barton and manor, and from thence denominated; tri-ago is in Latin-Cornish a threefold action, or acting or making; tre-ago, the town of action. From this place was also denominated its lord, of an ancient family of gentlemen surnamed De Tre-ago, who at his own proper cost and charge built the south aile in the now vicarage church of Crantock, and appropriated the same to his family or heirs and assigns for ever, by charging those lands with the repair and maintenance thereof (for ever) as at this day they do, without being chargeable to the parish of Crantock. The sole daughter and heir of those Treagos, as I am informed, was married to Mynors, tempore Edward IV. who made it the seat of his family; as afterwards, tempore Elizabeth, the issue male of Mynors failing, his only daughter and heir was married to Tregian, and Tregian’s posterity, by ill conduct, wasted this barton and manor of Treago, and sold the same for the payment of bills of cost to John Cooke, Gent. attorney-at-law, tempore James I.; and in like manner Thomas Cooke, Esq. within fifty years after the death of his father or grandfather, sold this place and most of his other lands to Hugh Boscawen of Tregothnan, Esq. now in possession thereof, viz. temp. Charles II.

This place was heretofore privileged with the jurisdiction of a court leet, and a strong prison for keeping prisoners for debt in durance, though now I take it to be destitute of both. The arms of Mynors were, Sable, an eagle displayed Or, on a chief Azure, bordered Argent, a chevron between two crescents above and a rose beneath Or. This last bearing on the chief, and marshalled within the escutcheon was, as tradition saith, the coat armour of Treago; and such sort of marshalling divers coats Nicholas Upton doth approve of, especially where a man hath large possessions by his mother, and but a small patrimony from his father; as perhaps the case was thus with Mynors.

In this parish is the port, haven, or creek, called the gonell or ganell, that is to say the canal or channel of the Tremporth river, leading into the sea, wherein much fish and fowl is caught; and many times ships frequent this place for trade and safety, the sea here winding up itself between the lands about a mile in the country. It also, at full sea, affordeth entrance and anchorage for ships of the greatest burthen, if conducted by a pilot that understands the course of the ganell or channel; at the head of which, as a ligament fastening the parishes of Lower St. Colomb and Crantock together, is a county bridge, called Trem-porth; that is to say, the tying, fastening, terrifying, or making afraid gate, cove, or entrance, so aptly named perhaps from the rapid confluence of this channel or river in winter season, before the bridge was built, where it meets the salt waters, and the softness of the clay and sea-moore marsh there on which the bridge is situate.

I find William Smith, Esq. of Crantock in Cornwall, (which I take to be of this place,) was created a baronet by Charles I., 27 December 1642, patent 418. I suppose the son of that Smith of Exon, that married one of the coheirs of Vyell of Trevorder. He had issue Sir James Smith, Baronet, (but where they lived in this parish I know not,) whose arms were, Sable, a fess and two barrulets, between three martlets, Or.

The manors of Cargoll and Ryalton being given by our earls of Cornwall before the Norman Conquest to the Bishop of Bodmin or Cornwall, or the prior thereof; some of them were founders and endowers of this college of Crantock out of the lands and revenues thereof.

TONKIN.

I take the tutelar saint of this parish to be St. Kerantakers, a disciple of St. Columb in the Hebrides; and the parish no doubt had its name from him.

This parish is wholly impropriated to John Butler, Esq. of Morval, who allows out of it a small stipend to the incumbent (at present Mr. Warn), by which, together with the parishioners’ benevolence, he makes a hard shift to live.

The collegiate church here was, as tradition saith, endowed by the prior of Bodmin; but by which prior is unknown to me.

THE EDITOR.

Bishop Tanner, in his Notitia Monastica, says,

Karentoc or Crantoc, near Padstow, in the deanery of Pider. Here were secular canons in the time of St. Edward the Confessor, who continued till the general dissolution, when its yearly revenues were valued at 89_l._ 15_s._ 8_d._ which were divided amongst the dean, nine prebendaries, and four vicars choral. The collegiate church was dedicated to St. Carantocus, said to be a disciple of St. Patrick, and was in the patronage of the Bishop of Exeter.

Doctor Tanner quotes the following extract from Prynne, vol. II. p. 736, (probably from his Records:) Many grants of the deanery and prebends here by the king appear upon the rolls, but seem to be made during the vacancy of the see of Exeter.

Anno Dom. 1315, Feb. 22, Walterus episcopus Exon. contulit Joanni de Sandale, cancellario regis, Præbendam in ecclesia St. Karentoci. See Wharton’s Historia de Episcopis et Decanis Londinensibus, necnon de Episcopis et Decanis Assavensibus a prima sedis utriusque fundatione, ad annum MDXL.

This parish measures 2490 statute acres.
The annual value of Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 3244 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 265 3 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 299 | 358 | 389 | 458;
giving an increase of 53 per cent in 30 years.
Parish Feast, the nearest Sunday to the 16th of May.
Vicar, the Rev. C. H. Paynter, instituted 1809.

GEOLOGY, BY DOCTOR BOASE.

This parish is composed of the same kind of rock, and is in every respect similar to St. Columb Minor, which occupies the opposite or northern side of the gannel.

CREED.

HALS.

Is situate in the hundred of Powdre, and hath upon the north, St. Stephen’s; east, St. Mewan; west, Probus; south, St. Tue. For the present name, it is derived from Credo, i. e. belief, trust, confidence; and refers to the holy Christian faith, read or rehearsed in this church by the rector, viz. the Apostles’ creed, Nicene creed, or St. Athanasius creed, in opposition to Arianism.

Now, for that beyond the records of time, as Mr. Carew in his Survey of Cornwall tells us, the Creed, Lord’s Prayer, and Ten Commandments, were translated into and used in the Cornish tongue for the benefit of the inhabitants, who formerly little understood the Saxon or English tongue; and for that the Cornish tongue is now comparatively lost in those parts, I will here, for the reader’s satisfaction, set down the Apostles’ creed as it was then used.

_Me agris en Du, an Tas ologologack, wresses a neu_
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of
_hag doar; hag en Jesu Chrest, ys nuell mab agan_
heaven and earth; and in Jesus Christ, his only Son our
_Arluth, neb ve conceveijs ryb an hairon Sperres, genijs_
Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Ghost, born
_ay an voz Mareea, cothaff orthaff Pontius Pilat; ve_
of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate; was
_crowsye, maraws hag bethens, Eff deskynas en the Iffran,_
crucified, dead and buried, He descended into Hell,
_hag an trysa journa, Eff sevye arte thort an maraws, ef_
and the third day he arose again from the dead, and
_askynnus en the neuf; hag setvah wor an dighow dorne_
ascended into Heaven; and sitteth on the right hand
_ay Du an Tas allogallogack, rag ena ef fyth dos the_
of God the Father Almighty, from whence he shall come
_judgye an beaw hag an maraws. Me agris benegas_
to judge the living and the dead. I believe in the Holy
_Spirres, an Hairon Catholic Egles, an communion ay_
Ghost, the Holy Catholic Church, the communion of
_sans, an givyans ay peags, an sevyans ay an corfe,_
saints, the remission of sins, the resurrection of the body,
_hag an bew regnaveffere. Amen._
and the life everlasting. Amen.

At the time of the Norman Conquest this parish was taxed under the name of Tybesta, of which more under. At the Inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, in order to the Pope’s Annats, 1294, Ecclesia de Sancto Credo, in Decanatu de Powdre, was valued 4_l._ 13_s._ 4_d._ In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, it was rated 13_l._ 6_s._ 8_d._ The patronage in the king or duke of Cornwall, who endowed it; the incumbent Crews; and the parish rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, 132_l._

The great duchy manor of Ty-besta encloses almost the whole of this parish; and there are yet extant in this manor the ruins of an old chapel, called by the name of Tybesta. This manor is privileged with the jurisdiction of a court leet within its precincts, and of the court baron held for the hundred of Powdre, and hath stewards and bailiffs to attend the service of both, and the royalties over the river Vale.

Within this lordship is situate the borough of Grampont, Gram-pond, or Gran-pont, that is, great bridge; on which Mr. Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, saith that in his time, (about a hundred years past,) if that were its true name, it had nothing then extant but nomine sine re, though now it hath a fair stone bridge over it, built and repaired by the county stock. But, alas! notwithstanding those names, it appeared from the charter lately extant, wherein the ancient rights and privileges thereof are confirmed by Edmund Plantagenet Earl of Cornwall, son of Richard, King of the Romans, Anno Dom. 1290, that it was incorporated by the name of Coyt-fala, or Coit-fala; id est, the wood, (river) in the midst of which wood heretofore the same was situate; also Pons-mur, id est, great bridge, so named from some eminent timber bridge over the river, before that of stone was erected.

It is privileged with the jurisdiction of a court leet and quarterly sessions of the peace, within the same, before the mayor, recorder, and eight aldermen, or magistrates, and a town-clerk. The mayor to be chosen out of the eight Magistrates that are free-men; and also with sending two Members, to sit as their Representatives in Parliament, who are to be chosen by the Mayor, Magistrates, and Freemen, or the major part of them; by election of which, if common fame be true, the townsmen have in the last ages reaped great gain and advantage. It is also appurtenanced with public fairs, upon January 18 and June 11, and a weekly market on Thursdays. The chief inhabitants of this town are Mr. Teague, Mr. Harvey, Mr. Moor.

The arms of this Borough are, a castle, two ports open, over the same a lion rampant crowned, within a bordure bezanty, which latter charge was the proper arms of King Richard Cœur de Lion, uncle of the said Edmund Earl of Cornwall, and his predecessors Caddock and Condur, Earles thereof.

Tre-veleck, alias Tre-belech, in this parish, id est, the Priest’s Town, in old British and the Armorican tongue, was of old the seat of the De Boscawens, of Boscawen Rose in Buryan, of which family was Lawrence Boscawen, gent. attorney-at-law, that married Tregothnan’s heir, temp. Henry 8th, who left this place to his younger son; where his posterity flourished in genteel degree down to the latter end of the reign of King Charles I.; when the last gentleman of this house, that married Tanner, had issue only two daughters, married to Brewar and Tousen, which latter’s daughter and heir was married to Collins, now in possession of those duchy lands.

At Ten-Creek, or Tene-Cruck, i. e. the fire-bank, or tumulus, viz. the sepulchre of one interred there before the sixth century, whose body was burnt to ashes by fire, according to the then accustomed manner of intering the dead, and his bones and ashes laid up in an urn or earthen pot, in a bank, or barrow, or tumulus, upon some part of the lands of this barton; from which facts it was called Ten-creek, in which place for many ages flourished a family of gentlemen, from thence denominated de Tencreek (which compound word Mr. Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, by conjecture interprets as the town of the burrow, bank, or tumulus); the last gentleman of which house died in the middle of Queen Elizabeth’s reign, leaving issue only three daughters, married to Mohun, Penwarne, and Polwhele. Those lands came to Mohun, a younger brother to Reginald Mohun, Bart. father of John Lord Baron Mohun, of Oakhampton. The present possessioner, William Mohun, Esq. (my very kind friend), one of his Majesty’s Commissioners for the Peace and Taxes, that married Jane, daughter of Sir John Trelawney, of the Lawne, Bart. and hath issue Warwick Mohun, Esq. whose arms are, Or, a cross engrailed Sable. [See BOCONNOC]. The arms of Tencreek were, Argent, a cross pattée surmounted of a chevron Sable.

Pennans, part of the Duchy manor of Tybesta, is compounded of Pen-nans, the head of the valley, a name taken from the natural circumstances of the place. It is the dwelling of Philip Hawkins, Gent. attorney-at-law, who by his great pains, care, and skill in that profession, hath got himself a very great estate in those parts. He married Scobell, and giveth for his arms, Argent, on a saltire Sable, five fleur-de-lis Or. The same coat armour is given by the Hawkins’ of Kent. He had issue John, his eldest son, who married Rashleigh, and was a doctor of divinity; Philip, that married Ludlow, of London, Member of Parliament for Grampound; and daughters.

Nan-tell-an, in this parish Duchy, was the dwelling of John Vincent, Gent. attorney-at-law, who got a considerable estate by the law; but since his death I take it this place, and all other his lands, are wasted by his son, &c. Nantellan sold to Henry Vincent, of Treleven, Esq. Mr. Vincent married Evans, and giveth for his arms as mentioned under St. Allen, the original tribe thereof.

Car-lyn-ike, in this parish, parcel of the Duchy manor of Tybesta aforesaid, probably the rock and lake of water, is the dwelling of John Woolrige, Gent. that married Maunder, and giveth for his arms, Gules, a chevron Argent, between three wild ducks volant Proper. The descendant of Woolridge, rector of St. Michael Penkivell, temp. James I.

Nan-car (Duchy) i. e. the Valley Rock, or the Rock in the Valley, is the dwelling of Walter Quarme, Clerk, that married Grace Gayer, daughter of Samuel Gayer, of Araler, Gent.; his father Ceely, his grandfather a Trefusis, and giveth for his arms, Barry lozengy Argent and Gules.

TONKIN.

Trencreek is interpreted by Mr. Carew the town of the Burrow, by which I apprehend he means a dwelling near some creeig, byrig or tumulus; for that is the import of the word Trencreeig, from whence an old family of gentlemen, now extinct, were denominated, who gave for their arms, Argent, a cross patee, surmounted with a chevron Sable. But the tumulus importing their name must have been erected since the doctrine of Christianity was brought into this land; for before that time graves were called beths,[35] veths, or byrigs, from whence our modern words burrow or bury. The Brigantes mentioned by Tacitus were so denominated from their lofty tumuli, byrigs, or graves.

All the lands in this parish are either held from or in parts of the Great Duchy.

The Borough of Grandpont. This is the name given to it by the Normans, for the ancient Cornish name was Ponsmur, signifying the same thing. In all likelihood this is the ancient Voluba of the Romans mentioned by Ptolemy; so called from its situation on the river Val or Fal. Browne Willis, in his additions to Camden, cites a charter still extant from John of Eltham, Earl of Cornwall, by which all former privileges are confirmed to the vill of Grampont, with all the lands of Coytpale, which signifies Tolewood, and a part of the town is at this time called Caitfala. This charter is dated at Chippenham Oct. 26, 1332.

North of Grampond lies Trevellick, the town on the mill stream or water, where is a ruined chapel and a well, dedicated to St. Naunton or Nonnio, as at Alternum. The estate now belongs to Degary Polkinhorne, Gent. To the North of this lies Nantellan, which was the seat of John Vincent, Gent. an eminent attorney.

Trewinnow, that is the dwelling on the marshes, has been long held under the Duchy by the family of Seccomb.

Pennance, the head of the valley, is held under the tenure of customary Duchy, and was formerly the seat of Henry Hoddy, Gent. descended from the Huddys or Hodys, of Nethoway, in Devonshire. He had a considerable estate in these parts, which he foolishly lavished and at last sold to Mr. Thomas Lower, younger brother to the famous Doctor Lower,[36] who did not keep it long, but conveyed his right in it to Philip Hawkins, Gent. since become the most wealthy attorney which this county ever produced. He married Mary, the daughter of Richard Scobell, of Menagwins, Esq. and left the bulk of his estate, computed at one hundred thousand pounds, to his eldest son John Hawkins, D. D. Master of Pembroke College, Cambridge, who married Rachel Rashleigh, of Menabilly, but died sine prole. Doctor Hawkins laid out very large sums of money on the improvement of Pennance. He died in London July 30, 1736.

Trigantan belongs to the family of Sperrack.

The Church is situated at one end of the parish near the river Val or Fal, in a fruitful spot of land, but low. It is but a mean structure, consisting of a nave, a south aile of the same length, and a cross north aile. Here was formerly but a poor small tower covered with wood, in which were three bells; but the parishioners took that down in 1732, and have in this year (1733) finished a handsome square tower. The Rectory House has also been new built in a neat manner by the present incumbent Mr. Hughes.

THE EDITOR.

The manor of Tybesta, carrying with it the advowson of the rectory, was purchased from the Duchy by the late Sir Christopher Hawkins.

Grampound is the only place ever wholly deprived of its privilege to return Members to the House of Commons, previously to the general dissolution of Boroughs in 1832. Cricklade, Shoreham, and Aylesbury, had been thrown into adjacent hundreds, that is, the freeholders of these districts were admitted to a concurrent right of voting with those previously possessing it; but from Grampound the Members were transferred at once to the County of York.

The passage referred to in Mr. Carew (p. 328 of Lord Dunstanville’s edition) is this:

“Grampond, if it took that name from any great bridge, hath
now nomen sine re; for the bridge there is supported with
only a few arches, and the Corporation but half replenished
with inhabitants, who may better vaunt of their town’s
antiquity than the town of their ability.”

The town is said to have very greatly improved, in all respects, moral, physical, and intellectual, since the minds of its inhabitants have been directed to other objects than low intrigue and servile dependence on the exertions of others.