Chapter VII: Part 7

Bishop Tanner, in the Notitia Monastica, states that this deanery was seised into the king’s hands in the time of Edward III. under the pretence that John de Mount, the third dean, was a Frenchman. In 18 Henry VI. this deanery was given to his college (King’s) in Cambridge; and afterwards, by Edward IV. probably in the true spirit of party, to the collegiate church of Windsor. It was, however, soon separated from Windsor, and continues, according to the foundation of Athelstan, exempt from all inferior jurisdiction, and consequently since Henry VIII.’s assumption of all temporal power exercised by the Pope, there is not any appeal from the local authorities but to the king himself; a constitution most inexpedient, and likely to produce the most serious inconvenience, if matters of much importance ever came for investigation and decision before a court wholly unfitted, from its very nature, from entertaining them; and yet empowered to declare a judgment final to all intents and purposes, unless it is immediately revised by the highest and most expensive ecclesiastical tribunal.

This exemption from all episcopal authority has, in times not very remote, admitted of such abuses in the administration of divine service, and of the spiritual care of the three parishes, as would not otherwise have been endured. It would be worse, however, than useless to expatiate on a system which is fortunately passed by.

I believe that no dean has resided since the final dissolution of the college; the Royner’s hand having been there so forcibly applied as to wrest off the whole glebe, not leaving even an habitation, nor the smallest portion of land on which a house could be built. The nominal deanery of St. Burian, like that of Battle and two or three more, is not esteemed a dignity in the church: yet with cure of souls, and for no better reason than its not being mentioned _eo nomine_ in the canons and acts of Parliament, this living is allowed to be tenable with all other preferments, and at all distances.

Pendrea, the birth place and property of Mr. William Noye the attorney-general, was sold by his eldest son, Edward Noye, to Mr. Davies of Burnuhall, and by his grandson to Mr. Tonkin, whose great grandson, the Rev. Uriah Tonkin, possesses it at this time. At Burnuhall there still remains a curious performance of shell-work, said to have been made by Mr. Davies’ daughters, strongly expressive of the political feelings then almost universal throughout Cornwall. King Charles II. is represented flying from his enemies, and one of them, in full pursuit, has a legend, “This is the heir! come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be our own!” whilst an angel exclaims in the same manner from a cloud “Is it not written, Thou shalt do no murder?” The material of this work is found in great variety and beauty round the coast, and particularly at Porth Kernow, near the Logging Rock.

The last Mr. Davies of Burnuhall married ―――― Kegwin of Newlyn; he wasted the remains of a property which had been gradually diminishing in the hands of his father and of his grandfather; so that about the year 1750, Burnuhall and some other farms were sold to Admiral Boscawen.

Boskenna is the property and residence of Mr. Francis Paynter, a very respectable gentleman and magistrate, the great-grandson, I believe, of the individual distinguished by Mr. Hals for his skill in husbandry. There is a tradition of his having purchased the place of one whose family had long possessed it, but who had ultimately become the huntsman of a pack of hounds kept originally as his own.

Mr. Francis Paynter, uncle of the gentleman now possessed of Boskenna, was greatly distinguished for his wit and humour. He was either the sole or joint author of a poem made in imitation of Prior’s Alma, and in ridicule of the then dean of Burian, called “The Consultation.” Mr. Paynter practised his profession of the law near St. Columb. He married Miss Pender of Penzance, and left several sons. The exercise of wit is not always, perhaps not frequently, associated with pecuniary gain. The Editor has heard Mr. Paynter declare that “The Consultation” prevented his obtaining a valuable stewardship from the family of which the dean was a member.

The Vyvyans of Trelovornow are said to have originated from Treviddror in this parish. And Lord Chief Justice Tresilian was from Burian, in whose descendants Pendor and Ristchurch, after the lapse of nearly five centuries, some of his property still remains.

From about fifty to seventy years ago Boskenna attracted much attention, and gave occasion to various conjectures over the whole neighbourhood, in consequence of a gentleman and lady residing there under the assumed name of Browne, and withdrawing themselves entirely from public observation. They were conjectured to be members of some distinguished family on the continent implicated in political disputes; or at the least, some very eminent persons of our own country, till at last the mystery was explained by a disclosure of their real name and condition.

Mr. Berty Birge, having been involved in the pecuniary affairs of an individual who subsequently became insane, found himself obliged to retire, although it is understood that nothing discreditable to his character occurred in the transactions. On that individual’s decease Mr. Birge resumed his real name, and removed to Penzance, where he passed the remainder of his life.

The church of St. Burian is among those most distinguished for size and beauty in the west of Cornwall. It is situated on high ground, with a lofty tower, conspicuous therefore from a very great distance. It possessed, till within these few years, a curious rood-loft.

A station of the great trigonometrical survey was placed in 1796 very near Burian church, and in the Philosophical Transactions for 1800, the latitude of the tower is stated to be 50° 4′ 32.8″, and the longitude is 5° 36′ 10.5″, or in time 22′ 24.7″ west of Greenwich.

Burian measures 6274 statute acres.
The annual value of Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 7288 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 350 0 0
The parish feast is kept on the nearest Sunday to old
May day.
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 1161 | 1188 | 1495 | 1707;
being an increase of 47 in a hundred in 30 years.
Present Rector, the Hon. F. Stanhope.

GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

The whole of this parish, with the exception of a small patch of slate at Rosemodris, rests on granite. Judging from what occurs in the eastern part of Cornwall, one might be led to expect that the land of St. Burian must be sterile. In some elevated spots it undoubtedly is so, but in general the parish is well cultivated and highly productive.

This difference in the granitic soils of east and of west Cornwall, may be, in part, explained by the gradual diminution of height towards the west, accompanied by a corresponding improvement of the climate; but in this part of the county more of the debris, especially of diluvial clay, is retained on the surface, that of the more elevated eastern ridges having been in great measure swept away.

This circumstance must not, however, be omitted. The granite of Burian exhibits more varieties than have been yet found in the eastern district. The slate in the cliffs at Rosemodris is a felspar rock, and its contact with the granite is distinctly seen; where it may be observed at the eastern extremity traversed by numerous granite veins; and the granite near this junction abounds in shorl.

NOTE BY THE EDITOR.

Doctor Paris has remarked on the granite of this district, that it contains full twenty-five per cent. of felspar, which he says at once explains the rapidity of this stone’s decomposition, and the fertility which is so very unusual in granitic countries; and that this granite in a state of decomposition, when it is provincially called growan, has actually been applied to some lands as a manure, and with the best effect.

I had the pleasure of attending Doctor Withering (author of the Arrangement of British Plants, &c.) to the Land’s End in 1793, when he expressed much surprise at the fertility of a granitic soil, and explained it as Doctor Paris has since done, by observing that in all the granite he had previously seen siliceous matter abounded, and that the very word was synonymous with sterile, but that here felspar and fertility appeared together.

Felspar is said to contain nearly a third part of its weight of alumine, about an eighth part of lime, and a twentieth of soda.

[22] That there exists, however, a prevalent connection of
these monuments with allusions to dancing, is shown in the
Essay on Dracontia, by the Rev. J. B. Deane, F.S.A. in
Archæologia, vol. xxv. The name of Dans Maen is generally
given to the various stone circles in the county of
Cornwall. Dr. Borlase remarks that there are four circles in
the hundred of Penrith, having nineteen stones each; viz.
Boscawen-ûn, Rosmodrevy, Tregaseal, and Boskednan, the two
most distant being not eight miles apart. Of Boscawen-ûn
there are views in the works of Borlase and Stukeley, as
well as among the more accurate etchings by William Cotton,
Esq. 4to. 1827. He has also given a view and plan of the
dans-meyne at Bolleit in this parish; and two obeliscal
stones at the same place are represented in Borlase, pl. 10.
See also in pl. 14 the hanging stone in Karn Boscawen, and a
Maen Tôl, or holed stone, both in Burian; as is the circle
called Rosmodrevy.――EDIT.

[23] Engraved in Gough’s Camden, vol. I. pl. 1.

CALLINGTON.

THE EDITOR.

Neither Mr. Hals nor Mr. Tonkin notice this parish. It is appended to the parish of Southill. The name is pronounced Kelliton in the immediate neighbourhood.

Callington is situated in the hundred of East, having Southill and Stoke Climsland on the north; Calstock on the east; St. Mellior and St. Dominick to south; and St. Ive to the West.

The town is said to have sent members to Parliament so early as the reign of Henry III., when the privileges of markets and fairs were granted; but the first authentic return was in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.

In the time of Henry III. the manor and lordship of Callington were vested in the family of Ferrers, by a grant from the earls of Cornwall; the possession has passed by heiresses to several families; and finally, through Dennis, Rolle and Walpole, to Mr. George William Trefusis of Trefusis, in Milor; together with the barony in fee of Clinton, created by a writ directed John de Clinton, 17 Edward I. A.D. 1299. His grandson sold the property to Mr. Alexander Baring, at a period when some adventitious circumstances, no longer in existence, added materially to its value. The church and town are handsome specimens of the gothic architecture which distinguishes the west of England; and there exist several ancient monuments of individuals formerly lords of the manor.

This parish contains 2387 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 4142 0 0
The Poor Rate in 1831 950 17 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 819 | 938 | 1321 | 1388;
giving an increase of 70 per cent. in 30 years.

GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

The north-eastern part of this parish extends to the east of Kitt Hill, the most elevated point of Hingston Downs, which is composed of granite. The slate adjoining thereto resembles that which occurs in similar situations in the parishes of St. Austell and St. Blazey; and this district has been the scene of considerable mining speculations. In former ages it abounded in stream tin to such an amount that the Cornishmen of those days expressed their opinion of its value by the distich

Hengsten Down, well yrought
Is worth London town, dear ybought.
_Carew, Lord Dunstanville’s Edition, p. 272._

As the town of Callington is approached, the slate becomes of a darker blue, and passes into hornblend rock, which prevails in the other parts of the parish, and in several places so much abounds in quartz as to form barren downs. This rock, however, has not any marked character, and it is not often exposed to view; near St. Ive it appears to graduate into the calcareous series.

CALSTOCK.

HALS.

Calstock is situate in the hundred of East, and hath upon the north Stoke Clemsland, west Kellaton, south St. Dominick, east the Tamar river.

The rectory of Calstock church seems to be extant before Domesday Tax, since it passed then by that name, and hath never admitted of any change of name or alteration since, and was undoubtedly founded and endowed by the Earls of Cornwall, out of their manor of Calstock, wherein it is situate; and the Duke of Cornwall, or the King, in that right, are still patrons thereof. Ecclesia de Calstock, in Decanatu de Estwellshire, was valued to the Pope’s annats, 1294, c_s._; in Wolsey’s Inquisition and Valor Beneficionum, 26_l._ 4_s._ 4_d._ The patronage as aforesaid, the Incumbent Blackburn, and the parish rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, temp. William III. 302_l._ 0_s._ 2_d._

It appears from the ancient survey of the Duchy of Cornwall in the Exchequer, and Blount’s Tenures from thence, p. 122, that the tenants of this manor had granted them, by the Earls or Dukes thereof, its lords, the liberty of free fishing on the Tamar river, in his verbis: “Nativi tenentes de Calstock, in comitatu Cornubiæ, reddunt per annum de certo redditu, vocato Berbiagium, sine barbague, ad le Hoke-day, 19_s._ 6_d._” Now barbague, barbagyu, is, in Cornish, a bearded or barbed spear, such as is commonly used for killing salmons in the Tamar and other rivers. [See Stoke-Clemsland.] The salmon wear, here built over the Tamar, is, by lease from the Duke of Cornwall, in possession of Sir John Carew, baronet, and hath formerly been set for 120_l._ per annum. [See Helston in Trigg for Barbiague. Tenants on the Alan river there.]

Cuthill, in this place, I take it was the most ancient seat of the knightly family of Edgecombes in Cornwall, and is still in their possession; and here lived Sir Richard Edgecombe, knight, that assisted Henry the Seventh against Richard the Third, who was bountifully rewarded for his services by that prince.

TONKIN

has merely transcribed from Hals.

THE EDITOR.

Calstock, or Calstoke, has of late become a mining parish on an extensive scale. The manor having been sold by the Duchy for the redemption of Land Tax, has ultimately become the property of Mr. John Williams, one of the most skilful and successful miners in Cornwall.

Cotehele is preserved by Lord Mount Edgecombe as a faithful representative of what were the residences of country gentlemen or barons in the ancient acceptation of that word.

“It came,” says Lysons, “into the possession of the Edgecombe family, by the marriage of Hilaria, daughter and heir of William de Cotehele, with William de Edgecombe, in the reign of Edward III. After this marriage, Cotehele became for a while the chief residence of the Edgecombe family.” Carew, speaking of this place, says, “the buildings are ancient, large, strong, and fayre, and appurtenanced with the necessaries of wood, water, fishing, park, and mills, with the devotion of (in times past) a rich-furnished chapel, and with the charity of almshouses, for certain poor people, whom the owners used to relieve.”

The beauty of its situation, the river and ancient ponds, united with the antiquities of the place, render Cotehele one of the most curious and worthy of attention in the West of England; and the following description, taken in 1830 by an architectural correspondent of the Gentleman’s Magazine, is therefore extracted from that miscellany for 1833.

“There is a singularity about this Mansion, which requires
to be accounted for. It cannot claim an origin in very
remote antiquity, the earliest parts being not older than
the reign of Henry the Seventh; yet the narrowness of the
windows and other openings, and the tower above the gateway,
would lead to the idea that it was built in an early
insecure period. This, I think, may be accounted for from
the fact that the builder, Sir Richard Edgecombe, had
encountered personal danger in the wars of the Roses, and
probably erected his mansion in the early part of the reign
of Henry the Seventh, so soon after the conclusion of the
conflict, that he might be impressed with the fear that the
reign of the newly enthroned monarch might not be more
peaceable than that of his predecessors, and he adopted
under these impressions the style which the mansion now
displays.

“The house is quadrangular, with a court-yard in the centre;
and, like the generality of the mansions of antiquity, has
the appendage of a hall and chapel. It is built of
moor-stone in irregular courses, though some of the blocks
are exceedingly large. The west front is not imposing, from
the want of height, which detracts from its general
appearance. The entrance is not in the centre, and is only
wide enough for foot passengers; it consists of an obtuse
pointed arch, slightly moulded with foliage on the
spandrils, which is inclosed within another of larger
dimensions with a weather cornice, and on the space between
the two is a blank shield accompanied by two bold leaves.
The windows are situated high in the wall; they are of small
dimensions, being in fact little more than enlarged
loopholes. The chimneys are square, having caps formed with
coping stones. Above the entrance is a tower of a cubical
form, with an embattled parapet. On entering the court
through the gateway, the Hall is seen in the front, and near
it, on the west side of the quadrangle, the lantern window
of the Chapel.

“The interior of the Hall is very interesting. The roof is
timber, and arched; and on the walls hang various pieces of
armour and weapons of considerable antiquity, with a
complete suit of armour, which is probably not older than
the Civil wars. In the end walls are apertures in the shape
of a quatrefoil, which admit a view of the hall from
adjacent apartments, and would allow the motions of persons
assembled in it to be watched. There are some specimens of
ancient furniture in the hall; in particular a chair having
the date 1627. In the windows are several armorial shields
in stained glass.

“The Chapel projects from the western side of the mansion.
It is small and neat, and has a small bell-tower. The square
window in the west end is unglazed; the aperture being
secured by wide bars; but allowing any person standing on
the outside to see the altar. At the distance of a few feet
from the door lies an ancient font, 19 inches square by 14
inches deep; it is formed of a block of moorstone, and
panelled at the sides. The interior of this chapel is
approached from the mansion by the hall, to which it
communicates through a small room. The roof is timber,
ribbed and panelled; and coved in the form of an obtuse
arch. In the south window St. Anne and St. Katherine are
represented in painted glass. The altar is oak, with upright
panels, having quatrefoil heads. An ancient altar cloth is
preserved in the house; it is formed of red velvet powdered
with fleur-de-lis, and the part which was shown when it was
laid on the altar, had a crucifix in the centre, accompanied
by the twelve apostles in rich embroidery, and the arms of
Edgecombe.

“The limit of a single visit would not allow me to
particularize the various articles of furniture contained in
the mansion. In the drawing-room the screen to the doorway
appears to be of the date of the building; on the door
itself are roses in lozenges. The bedroom, called King
Charles’s, has a fine ancient state bed, with a profusion of
carved work about it; and a steel mirror. The dog-inns, some
of which are probably as old as the mansion, remain in the
fire-places. Two chairs commemorate a visit from King George
the Third and Queen Charlotte in 1789.

“In the grounds is another chapel, which derives its
interest from the circumstance of its having been erected by
Sir Richard Edgecombe in commemoration of his escape from
his pursuers by concealment near the spot. It is much
injured by modern alterations made in 1769, and externally
retains little of its original features. In the interior are
several ancient paintings, which probably formed the
decorations of an ancient altar-piece; when entire, it
represented the Annunciation. In the east window are St.
George, and a female saint with a sword, in painted glass,
and several coats of arms. There is also an ancient painting
of the monument of the founder of the chapel, who was buried
in the conventual church of Morlaix in Bretagne, in
September 1489; and a carving in wood of St. Thomas a
Becket.”

It is a curious circumstance in the history of Cornwall, that several of the principal gentlemen from this remote county, took active parts on either side between King Richard the Third and his antagonist Henry the Seventh: many were present at the battle of Bosworth. Mr. Carew relates (p. 269, Lord Dunstanville’s edition) the almost miraculous escape of Sir Richard Edgecombe of Cotehele, when he was pursued (as I apprehend) by Bodrigar, who, in his turn, found himself obliged to fly after the defeat of King Richard; and his property was divided between Edgecumbe and Trevanion, with whom a large part of it still remains.

The river from Cotehele to New Bridge exhibits a magnificence of scenery very rarely to be found: the cliffs on the east and north-eastern bank affording here the steep and bold scarpment, as in all other similar situations throughout the country.

Harewood, in this parish, although in the different style of a modern seat, almost rivals Cotehele: this spacious and elegant house was built almost forty years ago by Mr. Foot; but the place was sold after his decease, and it is now the property and residence of Mr. William Salusbury Trelawney, heir of that ancient and distinguished family. Mr. Trelawney married Miss Carpenter, of Mount Toby, near Tavistock, and now (1833) represents the eastern division of Cornwall in Parliament.

Sandhill is another handsome seat in this parish, occupied by Mr. Williams, who, since his purchase of the manor, has improved the waste lands, planted such elevated or steep portions as were unfit for agriculture, and in every way contributed to the prosperity of the place and of its inhabitants.

This parish contains 5035 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 5801 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 1426 0 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 1105 | 2064 | 2388 | 2328;
being an increase of about 111 per cent. in 30 years.
Present Rector, the Rev. Edward Morshead, presented by the King in
1796.

GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

The Geological structure of this parish is precisely similar to that of Callington; but, as it is better developed, it will admit of a little more detail.

The northern part consists of the granite of Hingston Down, which is crystalline, and it is extensively quarried for economical purposes. The quarries near the summit of Kitt Hill afford excellent illustrations of the internal structure of the granitic mass. On this Down, beds of fine-grained granite project here and there above the surface, resembling that which occurs as Elvan courses in the adjacent slate. The latter rock consists of a basis of granular felspar, spotted and spangled with a shining mineral like mica. This slate, as well as the granite, have been long explored for tin and copper. Shorl and mica generally abound in the lodes; and the former mineral is often so intimately combined with the quartz, as to form a dark-coloured compact shorl rock. Southward the slate becomes more blue, and is fissile into extended slabs. Near the village of Calstock it is soft and lamellar, having evidently graduated into the calcareous series. At Cotehele, near the landing place, a beautiful oved-coloured calcareous schist is quarried, which is said to prove a good material for lining kilns and ovens: it has a shining talcose appearance, resembling that of Trenalt, near Pallephant, in Alternon.

Nearly opposite to the Rectory, built by Bishop Blackbourn, and pleasantly situated on the river, may be seen the debouch of a canal from Tavistock, with an inclined plane, descending into the Tamar. This canal, in one part of its line, passes through a hill at the depth of seventy fathoms.

CAMBORNE.

HALS.

Camborne is situate in the hundred of Penwith, and hath upon the east Redruth, north Illugan, west Gwynier, south Crowan. For its modern name, Camborne, which was not extant at the time of the Norman Conquest, signifies a crooked or arched burne, or well.

This parish is said to derive its name from a holy well situated within it, to which great numbers of persons resorte from a high opinion of its great medical virtues, in addition to its sanctity.

Ecclesia de Camborne, in Decanatu de Penwid, 1294, was rated to the Pope’s annats viii_l._ In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, and Valor Beneficiorum, £39. 16_s._ 9_d._ The patronage in Basset, the incumbent Newcombe; the parish rated to the 4_s._ per £1. Tax, 1696, £203. 16_s._

Pendarves in this parish, I am informed, transnominated a family of gentlemen from Tresona, i. e. the charm town, in St. Enoder, to Pendarves, temp. Eliz. William Pendarves, Esq. Sheriff of Cornwall 30th Cha. II. 1680, married Adiston, daughter of Edmund Prideaux, Esq. but died without issue; whereby his estate descended to his second brother’s son; and he dying without issue, it descended to his third brother’s son, viz. Sir William Pendarves, knight, now in possession thereof, who married Godolphin, the widow of Hoblyn of Nanswidon. His father, Thomas Pendarves, clerk, rector of St. Colomb Major, and St. Mawgun in Pider, married Hoblyn of Nanswiddon; his grandfather, Arundell of Menadarva; his great-grandfather Humphrys; and giveth for his arms, in a field Sable, a falcon Argent displayed, between three mullets Or.

Menadarva, in this parish, is the dwelling of William Arundell, Esq. descended from the Arundells of Trerice, to whose ancestor, temp. Charles I. it was given by the last will and testament of John Arundell, of Trerice, Esq. (commonly called John of Tilbury, for that with Queen Elizabeth, at that place, he was an officer under her in the standing army posted in that place in expectation of and to oppose the Spanish Armada 1588), in those words amongst other――“Item, I give to my naturall son, John Arundell, my mannor and barton of Menadarva in Camburne, and to his heirs lawfully begotten for ever.”

The last gentleman of this family dying without issue male, his sisters for a time, married to Tresahar and others, became possessed of this lordship; but it happened that a brother of theirs also, who was a merchant factor in Spain, who married an innkeeper’s widow there, in Malaga or Seville, of English extraction, was said to be dead without issue, but it seems before his death had issue by her an infant son, which was bred up in Spain till he came of age, without knowledge of his relations aforesaid; who, being brought into England with his mother, temp. Will. III. delivered ejectments upon the barton and manor of Menadarva, and the occupants thereof, as heir-at-law to Arundell, and brought down a trial upon the same at Lanceston, in this county; where upon the issue it appeared, upon the oaths of Mr. Delliff and other Spanish merchants of London, that the said heir was the legitimate son of Mr. Arundell aforesaid in Spain, and born under coverture or marriage; he obtained a verdict and judgment thereon for the same, and is now in possession thereof. He married Tremanheer of Penzance, and hath issue. The arms of this family are the same as those of the Arundells of Trerice, with due distinction.[24]

Roswarne, in this parish, gave to its owner the name of De Roswarne, one of which tribe sold those lands, temp. James I. to Ezekiel Grosse, gent. attorney-at-law, who made it his dwelling, and in this place got a great estate by the inferior practice of the law; but much more,[25] as tradition saith, by means of a spirit or apparition that haunted him in this place till he spake to it (for it is notable that sort of things called apparitions, are such proud gentry that they never speak first), whereupon it discovered to him where much treasure lay hid in this mansion, which, according to the (honest) ghost’s direction he found, to his great enriching; after which this phantasm or spectrum become so troublesome and direful to him day and night, that it forced him to forsake this place (as rich, it seems, as this devil could make him) and to quit his claim thereto by giving or selling it to his clerk John Call; whose son, John Call, gent. sold it again to Robert Hooker, gent. attorney-at-law, now in possession thereof. The arms of Call were, in a field three trumpets, in allusion to the name in English; but in Cornish British, call, cal, signifies any hard, flinty, or obdurate matter or thing, and hirgorne is a trumpet.

Crane, adjoining Roswarne, gave name to its possessor Cit-crane, who gave bustards or cranes for his arms; for as Crana, Krana, is as grus in Latin, so it is a crane in English; garan and cryhyr is in the Welsh. One of which gentlemen sold this tenement also to Gross, who conveyed it to Call, as Call hath to Hooker aforesaid.

Treswithan, or Trease-withan, in this parish, compounded of Tres-with-an, was of old the seat of the De Brayes, gentlemen heretofore of great antiquity, good note, and considerable revenues in those parts; though in the time of Charles I. their estate was much impaired, so that the last gentleman of this family dying much indebted, and no heir appearing, occasioned a memorable lawsuit between Sir Francis Basset, knight, lord of the manor of Tyhiddy, of which those lands of Treswithan were held, and the creditors of Mr. Braye, then in possession of the premises: when in fine, upon the issue at law at Lanceston, the jury gave it in escheat, for want of issue, to Sir Francis Basset, in right of his manor aforesaid, the verdict passing against the creditors; whereby the posterity of Sir Francis are possessed of it to this day.

TONKIN

has merely copied from Mr. Hals.

THE EDITOR.

Camborne has risen more rapidly into wealth and importance than any other parish in Cornwall. The church tower is so large and well-built, and it possesses with a market so many appendages of a regular town, that the prefix church may well be omitted.

Pendarves was given by Mrs. Percevall, surviving sister of Sir William Pendarves, to Mr. John Stackhouse, second son of Doctor William Stackhouse, Rector of St. Anne, who married Miss Williams, heiress of that branch of the Williamses of Probus, which had settled at Trehane. Mr. John Stackhouse married Miss Acton, with whom he acquired a very large property in Shropshire: his son, Mr. Edward William Wynne Pendarves is now the proprietor. Pendarves has become a very handsome seat in consequence of the successive improvements made by the late Mr. Stackhouse and himself. He has adopted the name of Pendarves in the place of Stackhouse, and added Wynne in gratitude of a large addition made to his fortunes by the late Reverend Luttrell Wynne, LL.D.

Mr. Pendarves has followed the examples of his two immediate predecessors, by marrying a considerable heiress, Miss Triste, from Devonshire. He has been twice elected member for the county, and now (1833) represents the western division of Cornwall.

Menadarva was purchased by the late Mr. Basset, and belongs to his son, Lord Dunstanville.

Rosewarne was the residence of Mr. William Harris, who greatly increased his fortune by skill and success in mining. He served the office of sheriff in 1773. His only daughter and heiress is married to Mr. Winchcombe Hartley, a gentleman of Berkshire.

Crane, with several adjoining farms, became the property of Mr. John Oliver Willyams, of Carnanton, in right of his mother, and the whole, on his demise, was purchased by Lord Dunstanville.

I cannot close my short additions to Camborne without noticing Mr. Richard Trevithick. No one, with the exception of Mr. Watt, has probably contributed in so great a degree to the improvement of steam-engines, the most important and the most philosophical of all mechanical inventions. His enterprise has also equalled the abstract powers of his mind, and for several years he laboured in South America to give the mines of that great continent the advantage of European machinery; but civil wars, and the instability of Governments, defeated his best endeavours, so as to render them, up to the present time, unavailing either to those mines or to himself.

Camborne contains 5933 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 11,783 0 0
Poor Rates in 1831 2,649 16 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 4811 | 4714 | 6219 | 7699;
giving an increase of 60 per cent. in 30 years.

GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

The eastern and south-western sides of this parish are situate on granite, the greater part consisting of high and barren hills, including Carnbrea and Carnkie. This rock is large-grained, and not very prone to disintegrate; it is occasionally traversed by beds of felspar porphyry.

On the boundaries of this granite, and in the adjacent slate, are numerous tin and copper-mines, the most interesting of which are Delcoath and Cock’s Kitchen; the latter extends into the parish of Illogan, but is a continuation of the Camborne lodes. Delcoath has been for many years the deepest mine in Cornwall. It stands at the surface, about fifty fathoms (300 feet) above the level of the sea, and the deepest shaft is about a hundred and eighty fathoms (1080 feet) below the sea level, making on the whole a depth from the surface of nearly 1400 feet.

These mines exhibit the curious geological phenomena of alternating granite and slate; that is, in sinking a perpendicular shaft, the miner passes repeatedly out of one of these rocks into the other. Various theoretical opinions have been entertained on this subject: some geologists supposing that the layers are no more than irregular protuberances from the main mass of the rock; whilst others consider them as large veins dipping towards and communicating with the granite at a great depth. But it is ascertained that these granite layers are sometimes detached or insulated masses, whilst at other times they form large veins or courses, which have regular bearings to a considerable distance, and are then called elvans; to form, however, a correct idea of the features of these phenomena, we must become acquainted, not with the appearance only, but with the nature and composition of these two rocks.

Granite and slate are usually considered, from their exterior character, as very dissimilar, whereas in this situation their real composition is nearly alike.

The granite immediately in contact with the slate, consists of compact felspar, containing particles or crystals of felspar, quartz, and mica, in variable proportions, but the whole generally increasing towards the centre of the mass. So that the granite is changed into a felspar rock or porphyry rock, scarcely ever resembling a well characterised granite; while the slate in contact has received the various names of greywacke, greenstone, clayslate, and killas; but it appears to be a rock _sui generis_, consisting almost entirely of compact felspar, coloured purple or blue by its intimate union with a dark-coloured micaceous mineral, sometimes seen distinct on the surface of the slate, and from which it appears to derive its lamellar structure. The bases of these two rocks are therefore the same, and at the point of contact it is often difficult to draw a line between them; for the slate passes into white compact felspar by the gradual disappearance of its colouring mineral; and this granite rock, by the more and more additions of felspar, quartz, and mica, reassumes its usual character.

On this view of the subject, it is easy to comprehend why the granite and the slate alternate and mutually pass into each other; and an explanation may also be given of the complicated phenomena of granite veins in slate, when it is assumed that both rocks are not only of contemporaneous origin, but likewise similar in their mineral composition.

Between this mining district and a line drawn east and west across the parish, a little north of the church town, the land is in most places very good; but north of this line, at the extremity of the parish, where it abuts on the sea, the ground is almost entirely uncultivated, affording nothing more than a slight pasturage for sheep. At Godrevy Point there is laid open an interesting section of diluvial deposits: one of the beds, composed of shelly sand and pebbles, is consolidated with sandstone and conglomerate.

[24] See Symons of Halt in Botus Fleming.

[25] Here the word “fire-side” is interlined; and at ‡ the
words “good now” in the same hand with the paragraph within
brackets.

CARDINHAM.

HALS.

Cardinham is situate in the hundred of West, and hath upon the north Blisland, Temple, and part of Altarnun; south, Bradock and Warleggan; west, Bodmin. For the name, it is compounded of those particles, car-din-ham, id est, the rock-man’s-home or habitation; also car-dyn-an, i. e. the rock man, or a man that dwells upon, or has his residence amongst rocks, or in a rocky country, with which sort of inanimate creatures the north part of this parish aboundeth. It takes its denomination from the manor and barton of old Cardinham; as from thence did its lord and owner Robert de Cardinan, temp. Richard I., the same gentleman mentioned in Mr. Carew’s “Survey of Cornwall,” that by the tenure of knight-service held in those parts seventy-one knight’s fees; which undoubtedly then was the greatest estate pertaining to any private man in this province. He was not only the founder and endower of the Alien Priory of St. Andrew at Tywardreth, (of which more in that place,) but also of this rectory church. By the Inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester into the value of benefices in Cornwall, as aforesaid, 1294, Ecclesia de Cardinan in Decanatu de Westwellshire, was rated 6_l._ 8_s._ 4_d._ In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, and Valor Beneficiorum, 24_l._ 17_s._ 6_d._, by the name of the Rectory of Cardenham, synonymous with Cardinham. The patronage in the Lord Dynham’s heir, Arundell, and others; the incumbent, Waddon; this parish was taxed to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, temp. William III., 161_l._ 8_s._

And here it must be observed, that there was no such parish or church extant at the time of the Norman conquest as Cardinham; for in the Domesday Rate, 1087, 20 William I., this division passed then under the districts of Cabulian, Dovenot, and Glin, (see the Domesday Catalogue); but after the building and endowing of this church, Glin was converted into Cardinham parish, and Cabulian into Warliggon; under which name and title they have hitherto passed, as members thereof. I find it much controverted amongst antiquaries and historians, whether the Dynhams, that afterwards became possessed of this manor and barton, were the descendants of this Robert de Cardinan, or not; some averring one thing and some another; but certain I am they were possessed thereof as his heirs and assigns; but whether denominated from thence, or the local places of Dynham in St. Menvor, or Dinham-bridge in St. Kew, I know not. Nevertheless, contrary to both those conjectures, Mr. Camden tells us that those Dinhams were a French tribe that came into England with William the Conqueror; particularly one Oliver de Dinant, one of whose sons, viz. Galfrid de Dinham, temp. Henry II. was a great augmenter of the Abbey of Hartland; and changed the secular priests founded there by Githa, wife of Earl Godwin, into Black Canons Augustine. See Monasticon Anglicanum, in Devon.

One Oliver de Dinant, or Dinham, was by writ of summons called to Parliament as a Baron, 24 Edward I. who had issue Josce, who had issue John, who had issue John, who had issue John, who had issue John; who were all knighted; which last John had issue, by Sir Richard Arche’s heir, John Dinham, of Old Cardenham, Esq., sheriff of Devon, 39 Henry VI., 1460, who then resided at his barton of Nutwell, in Woodberry parish, eight miles from Exeter, who at that time made use of his authority in promoting the safety of the Duke of York’s friends, viz. the Earls of March, Salisbury, and Warwick, and others, then attainted of treason by Act of Parliament, who, in order to the preservation of their lives, fled into Devonshire, where they were concealed by the said John Dinham at Nutwell aforesaid, till he had opportunities from Exmouth to convey them to Guernsey, from whence they were transported to Calais, which place they secured for the Duke of York. But as soon as King Henry and the Parliament understood thereof, immediately the Duke of Somerset was dispatched with a commission to be governor of that place; who no sooner approached the harbour of Calais with his ships, but those fugitive lords ordered the train of artillery at Rysbank (there) immediately to be fired upon the Duke of Somerset and his companions, as they were coming on shore, which so obstructed their design that they were forced, with some damage and loss, to return to their ships, weigh anchor, spread sails, and bear off for the English coast, and dropped anchor safely at Sandwich in Kent; from whence King Henry and Queen Margaret had some notice from the Duke of Somerset of the affront offered his Majesty and him at Calais, whereupon the King ordered his navy royal, as soon as possible, to be in readiness to attend and assist him, in order to reduce Calais to his obedience.

But, alas! maugre those contrivance, the said John Dynham, before the King’s navy could be provided and got together, out of affection to the Duke of York, the Earl of March and his confederates, like a daring, valiant, courageous, and invincible hero, as he was, with a small company of armed men, boarded the Earl of Somerset’s ships in the harbour of Sandwich, and therein took the Lord Rivers, designed for his admiral against Calais, and by a strong hand carried him and all his ships thither; and then, with the same ships, conveyed the Earl of March and his friends from Calais to the Duke of York his father, then fled into Ireland.

After the restoration of the House of York to the crown, in the person of Edward IV. we find this John Dynham was knighted. In the 6th Edward IV. he was by writ summoned to Parliament as a Baron thereof, by the name of John Dinham, Baron Dinham, of Cardinham. In the 9th Edward IV. he obtained a grant of the custody of the forest of Dartmoor, the manor and borough of Lidford, and the manor of South Teign in Devon, during his life, under the yearly rent of 100 marks, and 6_s._ 8_d._; and soon after he got a grant of the office of steward of the honours, castles, manors, and boroughs of Plympton, Oakhampton, Tiverton, Sampford Courtney, and some others, and was made Knight of the Garter; and in the first year of Henry VII., 1485, he was by letters patent created Baron Dinham, of Cardinham; afterwards he was made Lord High Treasurer of England, which office he held fifteen years, and died 17 Henry VII. aged seventy-two years. He left issue Charles Dinham, Esq. his son and heir, sheriff of Devon, 16 Edward IV., 1476, that married Elizabeth, daughter and heir of Lord Fitzwalter, who died without issue; by reason whereof his four sisters became his heirs, and were married, Jane, to Baron Zouch, of Totness; Joan, to Lord Arundell, of Lanherne, knight; Margaret, to Nicholas Baron Carew, of Molesford, in Berkshire; and Elizabeth, to Foulk Bourchier, of Tavistock, Lord Fitzwarren. The arms of Dinham were, in a field Gules, three fusils in fess Argent, within a border Ermine; but Nicholas Upton, in his manuscript of heraldry, 1440, written before the invention of printing, tells us, Monsieur Oliver de Dinham port de Goules un fess engrelle de Ermine, un bordure endentee Argent.

The Lady Elizabeth Dinham, widow of the Lord Fitzwarren aforesaid, after his death, was married to Thomas Shapcott, of Elton, in Huntingdonshire, Esq., where, at her own proper cost and charge, she erected a private chapel to the honour of Almighty God, of that curious and costly workmanship, both in walls, roof, and window, that it is worthy the admiration of all beholders, and parallel to, if not superior, to any other church or chapel of its bigness in England. See Camden in Huntingdonshire.

Nicholas Baron Carew aforesaid, together with his lady, were buried in Westminster Abbey, amongst the kings and queens of England, as appears from a grey marble tomb-stone, with a brass inscription round it, containing, as I remember, these words.

Orate pro animabus Nicolai Baronis quondam de Carew, et Dominæ Margaretæ uxoris ejus, filiae Johannis Domini Dinham, Militis; qui quidem Nicholaus obiit sexto die mensis Decembris, anno Dom. 1470; et predicta Domina Margareta obiit die mensis Decembris, anno 1471. Of this famous family Mr. Carew, in his “Survey of Cornwall,” hath only these words: “formerly at Cardinham lived the Lord Dinham.”

Glin, Glynn, in this parish, is a name taken and given from the ancient natural circumstances of the place, where lakes, pools, and rivers of water abound, and groves of trees, or copps, flourish and grow; derived from the Japhetical Greek λιμνη, [limnee] lacus; under which name, and devyock, or deynock district, part of the now parish of Cardinham, was taxed 20 William I., 1087. From which place was denominated an ancient family of gentlemen surnamed De Glynn, who for many generations flourished there in worshipful degree, till about the time of Henry VII., when the sole daughter and heir of this family was married to Carmynow of Resprin, or Polmaugan, whose heir being married to Courtney, brought this barton of Glynn into that family; by some of whose posterity it was sold to a younger branch of this family of Glynn, who thereby was restated therein, and so became possessed thereof; from whom was lineally descended Nicholas Glynn, Esq. Member of Parliament for Bodmin, temp. Charles II., who married one of the coheirs of Dennis, of Orleigh, in Devon, as did Sir Thomas Hamson, Knt., of Buckinghamshire, the other; who had issue Denny Glynn, Esq. that married two wives, Foow of Tiverton, and Hoblyn of Bodman; who had issue William Glynn, Esq., that married Prideaux of Padstow, and giveth for his arms, in a field Argent, a chevron between three salmon-spears Sable; alluding to their custom, privilege, or right of hunting or fishing for salmons in the Fowey river, passing through this barton or lordship of Glynn towards the sea. Mr. Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, tells us this place is called Glynford, by reason of a bridge or pass over the Fowey River there; for ford in British signifies a street, road, pass, or highway over waters; but the authority of Domesday Roll aforesaid, which calls it Glin, plainly shows that this latter appellation, ford, was added to this word Glynn after the bridge aforesaid was erected, and not otherwise to be applied. Nicholas Glynn, of Glyn-ford, Esq. was sheriff of Cornwall 18 James I.

Devynock, as aforesaid, was another district now in this parish, taxed in Domesday Roll, now in possession of ―――― Hann, Gent.

TONKIN.

Mr. Tonkin has not any thing of the least curiosity that differs from Hals. He ends indeed by saying, that “nothing can be more ridiculous than Mr. Hals’s derivation of the name of this parish.”

THE EDITOR.

It is much to be wished that some one learned in the Celtic language, perhaps a native of Britany, would investigate the derivations of all the names of places, of hills, and of rivers, after visiting their localities.

Car, in composition, is probably the same as cairn or kairn a rock, and din is a fortress; but these do not seem likely to take up the Saxon termination ham, an house or dwelling.

Glynn has not, in all probability, any connection with the Saxon words gline or glen. A word of very similar sound in one of the Celtic dialects denominates a spear, and this agrees with the family arms, which are Argent, the heads of three fishing-spears or tridents, with their points downwards, two and one, Sable. A new house was built at Glynn by Mr. Edmund John Glynn, son of Serjeant Glynn, distinguished in the political dissensions of Mr. Wilkes. The house was accidentally consumed by fire before the whole interior had been completed. The walls, however, were not much injured, and the building will probably be restored. It is now the property of the Right Hon. Gen. Sir Hussey Vivian.

Serjeant Glynn succeeded to his elder brother’s son, a young man said to be possessed of considerable abilities and even learning, but of such singular and eccentric habits, that he remained for years without speaking a single word, communicating his thoughts by writing. A verdict of lunacy was at last obtained against him at the Cornwall Assizes, but much to the general dissatisfaction of the country, as interested motives were readily imputable to the uncle; and his mother felt so strongly on the subject, that being heiress of an ancient family, Nicholls of Trewane in St. Kew, she devised nearly the whole of her possessions, in honour of her son’s name, to Mr. Glynn of Heliton; probably of the same stock, but very distantly related.

This parish measures 7750 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 3029 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 429 17 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 552 | 662 | 775 | 728;
an increase of 32 per cent. or nearly one-third in 30 years.

GEOLOGY, BY DOCTOR BOASE.

A continuation of the granite of Blisland and St. Breward forms the north-eastern corner of this parish. A belt then succeeds, which appears to be of the same kind as the micaceous slate of St. Breward already described; it may be traced along the side of the Leskeard road in a disintegrated state. On leaving this road and proceeding towards the church, the rock becomes more argillaceous, as round Bodmin, and the land improves in quality. The western and southern parts of the parish consist of barren downs, reposing on rocks which abound in quartz.

ST. CLEER.

HALS.

St. Cleer is situate in the hundred of West, and hath upon the north, Altarnun; south, Liskeard; east, St. Tew; west, St. Neot. The modern name of this parish was not extant at the time of the Norman Conquest, but probably then passed in the Domesday tax under the titles of Trelven, Niveton, or Trethac. At the time of the Pope’s inquisition into the value of Cornish benefices, in order to his Annats, 1294, Ecclesia de Sancto Claro, in Decanatu de Westwellshire, was charged ten marks; Vicar ejusdem 40_s._ In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, and Valor Beneficiorum, 19_l._ 16_s._ 8_d._ and the parish rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, 241_l._ 17_s._

The name of this parish is taken from the church, and the church’s name from the titular guardianess thereof, to whom the same is dedicated, viz. St. Clare or Cleer; whose name is derived from the Latin word claro, i. e. clear, bright, shining, transparent; and she herself was born of an honourable lineage at the city of Assisum in Italy.

[Mr. Hals here gives a long history of St. Clare, much more in detail than is suited to a parochial history.