Chapter II: Front Matter (2)

Just above the houses (the intermediate space filled up with gardens and orchards) is a common or down, called West Looe Down, of near a hundred acres, on which are the remains of a mound of earth that runs many miles across the country, and is noticed by Borlase, who, from its extent and other circumstances, supposed it to be a Roman work. His account of it as follows: “That the Romans had ways in the eastern parts of the county about Loo and Lostwithiel, the following antient work, shewn me by the Rev. Mr. Howell, Rector of Lanreath (June 25 and 26, 1756), will abundantly confirm. It is called the Giant’s Hedge, a large mound, which reaches from the valley in which the Boroughs of East and West Looe are situated, to Leryn, on the river Fowey. It is first visible on West Looe Down, about two hundred paces above the Mills; whence it runs to Kilminarth Woods; from and through them to Trelawn Wood, about three hundred paces above Trelawn Mill; then through Little Larnick to the barton of Hall, in which there are two circular encampments, about four hundred paces to the north of it; thence quite through the said barton, making the northern boundary of fields to the glebe of Pelynt Vicarage, called Furze Park; then cross the barton of Tregarrick; and thence, through the north grounds of Tresassen and Polventon, to the glebe lands of the rectory of Lanreath, where I measured it seven feet high and twenty feet wide at a medium; thence it stretches through the tenement of Wyllacombe to Trebant Water; whence it proceeds, through the barton of Longunnet and some small tenements, to Leryn; from which there is a fair dry down, called St. Winnow Down, leading north along to Lostwithiel. This risbank, or mound, ranges up hill and down hill indifferently; has no visible ditch continued on any brow of a hill, as intrenchments always have; there is no hollow, or foss, on one side more than the other; it is about seven miles long, and tends straight from Looe to Leryn Creek, in the direct line from Looe to Lostwithiel. By all these properties, its height and breadth, in wanting the fosses of fortification, its straightness and length, the grandeur of the design, and the labour of execution, I judge that it can be nothing less than a Roman work. In this supposition I am the more confirmed, first, because several Roman coins have been found on the banks of Fowey river (as see “Antiquities of Cornwall,” p. 282), and, as I have been informed, also in the run of this notable work; secondly, by its tendency to the first ford over the navigable river of Fowey; for it must be observed that the Romans, thoroughly sensible of the delays and hazards of crossing friths and arms of the sea, and the danger of bridges getting into the possession of the natives, were equally averse both to bridges and passing large rivers; they had therefore in constant view the nearest and most commodious fords of rivers, and directed their roads accordingly. Now near Leryn Creek, where the work ends, there is a ford, and no where below is the river Fowey fordable; which plainly accounts for their conveying this road so high up the country, that it might at once convey their troops towards their station at Lostwithiel, and afford them a safe passage over the river Fowey into the western parts, through Grampont and Truro.”

Borlase also, in his Natural History, says, “There are the remains of a causey between Liskeard and Looe, near Polgover, the seat of Mr. Mayow, which, as well as the cross road from Dulo to Hessenford, vulgar tradition makes to be Roman.” This causey I have never been able to find out.

The above-mentioned mound is first visible directly above Looe bridge; so that, if a line was drawn west, as the bridge tends, it would come to it at the head of a field called Bridgend meadow, where a small orchard is planted. There is a very visible ditch all along West Looe Down to the north of the rampart. On the barton of Hall, however, the ditch is to the south of the rampart. This rampart on the barton of Hall is at least fifteen feet high and about twenty feet thick at the base. About four hundred paces north of it, as Borlase says, there are two apparently (though not perfectly, as I was informed by Captain Dawson, who assisted in taking the Trigonometrical Survey, under Colonel Mudge) circular encampments, situated in a field called Berry Park. Berry Park contains about eighteen acres, and may be termed a tongue of land. It has a valley on each side, and also at the bottom. Across the isthmus, if I may so term it, of this tongue of land, runs the mound, protecting that part of the field which the valleys do not extend to. The circles (or rings, as they are now called by the tenant) consist of one entire circle of about 122 paces diameter, surrounded with a rampart, ditch, and breast-work; the height of which rampart, from the bottom of the ditch, is, I imagine, upwards of fifteen feet, and must originally have been much higher. This circle has but one gateway into it, which is guarded by mounds without ditches, running upwards of fifty feet into the circle. The part of this circle where the gateway is, is surrounded by about three fourths of another circle, whose sweep, had it been continued, would have intersected the inner circle; but the southern part of this outermost circle, when it comes within twenty or thirty feet of the inner, falls into the segment of another circle, which runs parallel to the inner circle, leaving a platform of about fifty feet breadth between the two ditches, and surrounding about a third part of the inner circle. From the gateway of the inner to the opposite point of the outward circle, is about 144 paces, which may be about three fourths of the diameter. The outer circle has a similar rampart, ditch, and breast-work with the inner circle, and one gateway, which is not quite opposite that of the former. These circles command very fine prospects both of land and sea. Rame Head and the entrance into Plymouth are visible from Berry Park. You can see these circles from Bindown Hill with the naked eye; and from the elevation of that hill you look down on them so as to see their areas.

In a field a short distance south-west of Pelynt church-town, and about half a mile in a direct line from the said circles, are many barrows. The field in which they are, is I believe, called the The Five Barrows. At the bottom of this field is a highway, leading from Pelynt Church-town to the Fowey road. In this highway, just at the bottom of the said field, a few years since, a grave was discovered by some men mending the highway. It was formed by four stones on their edges, and a covering stone. In this kestvaen was an urn, with burnt ashes in it; and round the urn were piled, in a regular manner, the unburnt remains of human bones. I went to Pelynt purposely to see this curiosity, but found the grave had been filled up, and its contents buried. The urn was described to me by a man who saw it as having ornaments of flowers and leaves on its outside, and that it fell into sheards when touched. I could not learn that any coin or other thing was found in the urn or grave; indeed, I fancy there was a lack of curiosity in all concerned.

Part of the mound on West Looe Down has been from time to time dug down, to obtain earth for building and plastering. I have several times desired the labourers, in case of their finding any coin or other thing curious, to preserve it; but have never heard of any thing being found of late years. A celt (commonly called in this neighbourhood a thunderbolt[2]) was some years ago found on this Down; and it was given by the late Mr. Bawden, of Looe, to Mr. James, of St. Kevern. I have a celt, made of a hard black stone, which was found in pulling down an old house at East Looe a few years since; it is between six and seven inches long, and very perfect. I lately saw some like it in shape and stone, but not so large, in the British Museum.

I also remember seeing a celt that was found, about thirty years ago, at Kilminarth, near the ruin of the said mound: about which time a gold chain and several instruments of brass were found in a decayed hedge, or side of a highway, near Little Larnic, by an apprentice girl. Her mistress described them to me as being somewhat like hatchets, and said “she believed they were things which the warriors used in antient times.” I applied to the mistress, in hopes of getting a sight of them; but her apprentice had sold them to a buyer of old brass. The hedge formed one side of the high road, not far from the said mound. The apprentice told me that the gold chain was about a foot and a half in length――that when she found it, not thinking it was gold, she tied it to the end of a stick, and made a sort of whip of it to drive home the cows. She some time after discovered that it was gold, and kept it by her for several years, when she gave it to her brother, who sold it to a Mr. Patrick, a jeweller at Dock, for three pounds. The brother told me that Mr. Patrick said it was Corsican gold; and he (the brother) also told me that he well remembered the brass instruments, and that some of them were like the tops of spontoons.

POLVELLAN.

On West Looe Down the late John Lemon, esq. (M.P. for Truro, and who died April 5, 1814), about the year 1787 erected a small but extremely neat house in the cottage style, and inclosed some ground round it by virtue of a grant from the Corporation. He gave it the name of Polvellan, and laid it out with great taste. Pol, in Cornish, signifies a Pool, and Vellan a Mill; and below the house are a mill and pool, inclosed by a stone wall of about half a mile sweep, in a circular direction. I cannot describe the contrivance and use of this pool better than in the words of Mr. Carew, in his “Survey of Cornwall.”――“Amongst other commodities afforded by the sea, the inhabitants make use of divers his creekes for grist mills, by thwarting a banke from side to side, in which a flood-gate is placed, with two leaves; these the flowing tide openeth, and, after full sea, the weight of the ebb closeth fast, which no other force can doe; and so the imprisoned water payeth the ransome of driving an under shoote wheel for his enlargement.” I apprehend the mill and pool-wall were built by one of the Arundells of Tremodart, in Duloe parish. The wall is about six or eight feet high, and almost broad enough for a coach to pass over it, and must have cost a great deal of money. It appears by a deed which I have seen, that the Mayor and Burgesses of West Looe, on the 30th of May, in the twelfth year of the reign of James the First (1614), granted all that parcel, quantity of ground, oze, or water, now surrounded by the said mill-pool-wall, to Thomas Arundell, of Tremodart, in the parish of Duloe, esq. for 500 years, from thence next ensuing; that afterwards the said Thomas Arundell built a mill-house, and four grist-mills, and other houses, and also the mill-pool-wall. On November 3, 1648, the said Thomas Arundell made his will; and I believe the mills and mill-pool-wall were built by him before he made his will. Afterwards this term in these premises were assigned over by the Arundells (father and son) and one Drew (perhaps a mortgagee) to Sir Jonathan Trelawny, for the remainder of the said term. I am apprehensive, however, that there was a mill at this place previous to the aforesaid grant.

INCLOSURE OF THE DOWN DESIRABLE.

It is much to be regretted that West Looe Down is not wholly inclosed; the soil is very good, as is apparent from the fine state of the grounds of Polvellan. The Looes being bounded by the sea on one side, and by rivers and woods on the other, arable land is much wanted. The objection raised against this inclosure is, that the poor of West Looe would be deprived of gathering furze and fern for firing. But does not the labour wasted and cloaths worn out in gathering this fuel more than counteract the gain? If an inclosure were to be made, in a year or two the hedges would produce greater quantity and more substantial fuel than can now be obtained. The Down belongs to the Corporation; but various tenants of houses and fields claim a right of putting what is called Breaths (cattle), some more, some less, to depasture on it. To such as are entitled to put breaths on this, common allotments should be made in proportion to the number of breaths they are entitled to; and an allotment to the poor might be made in lieu of their claim (if it is a legal one) to take furze and ferns for firing. The many advantages which would arise to the poor in particular from an inclosure, should be considered. Exclusive of the numerous productions which would follow, labour would be demanded, hedges must be made, manure procured, land ploughed, corn tilled, cut, &c. &c. &c. Milk, potatoes, &c. &c. would be obtained at a much more moderate price than at present; and, no doubt, the poor rate would soon find the beneficial effect of an inclosure. In short, the advantages arising herefrom would be very great; and I sincerely hope the prejudices of the interested will soon be done away, and that the commoners will get an Inclosure Act passed. Formerly the Corporation used to let out certain parts of this Down for tillage. There are several memorandums of such lets in the Town Books. In 1621 that part of West Looe Down which lieth on the west part of the Homer Well, was let to rent, for two crops, at 6_s._ 8_d._ per acre.

TRADE.

Formerly a pretty considerable trade was carried on at Looe, and many ships belonging to this port used to go from thence to France, Spain, and up the Straits, &c.

Even so late as the beginning of the last century there were several ships kept here, principally employed in foreign voyages; but, for seventy or eighty years last past, few, if any, have been so employed.

* * * * *

Tallan Church is most romantic in its situation; it contains a curious monument to one of the Bevilles. Polbenro, divided between this parish and Lansallos, affords picturesque scenery superior to any on the southern coast of Cornwall; and the whole road from Fowey to Looe, by Polruan, Lansallas, Polperro, and Talland, will amply compensate the fatigue of climbing hills, and descending into deep vales, by the singular and striking prospects varied at every point.

The manor of Killigarth belonged at an early period to the family of Kilgat, evidently implying some relation between the names.

Kilmenawth, or Kilmenorth, formed a part of the large possessions belonging to Lord Chief Justice Trevilian, who was murdered under some forms of law in the year 1388, the 11th year of Richard the Second. This place was the residence of Admiral Sir Charles Wager.

The hamlet of Lemain or Lammana, which seems to have included a considerable portion of the parish with the island, must have been of importance, since a record exists, which states a division of the monastic property of Glastonbury, between the bishop and his chapter on one part, and the monks on the other, when about the year 1200, Pope Innocent the Third removed the see of Wells to that place.

The words are, “De Prioratibus quoque ad Glastoniensem Ecclesiam pertinentibus, ita ordinatum est. Ut Prioratus de Hibernia ad ordinationem Episcopi, Prioratus vero de Basselake, et de Lamana ad ordinationem conventus pertineant.”

Portlooe appears to have been the principal estate of the hamlet, but no traditions are extant about its antiquity. It belonged about the middle of the last century to Mr. John Hoskins of East Looe, probably by purchase; he left an only daughter, who married first Mr. Edward Buller, a brother of the Judge, This gentleman had been educated in Holland according to the customs of those times, with a view to trade, which however he never pursued, but settled on his wife’s barton of Portlooe, and died there, leaving several children. Mrs. Buller, nevertheless, married secondly Mr. Thomas Escott, an officer in the Cornwall Militia.

The island has probably passed through different hands since the dissolution of Glastonbury Abbey. It recently belonged to the family of Mayow, by whom it was sold for a very trifling consideration, to Sir William Trelawny, afterwards Governor of Jamaica.

Pel-Vellan, (the Mill Pool,) created and named by the late Colonel John Leman, is an exquisite specimen of that gentleman’s taste. The editor remembers it a wild uncultivated uninclosed common, adjacent to the tide Mill. About twenty years after the commencement of decorations, he placed the following inscription where a rill of water formed a small cascade under the shelter of some shrubs, and of three or four trees which had stood on the Down.

Παρα την σκιην
Καθισον· καλον το δενδρον,
Απαλας σειει δε χαιτας
Μαλακωτατῳ κλαδισκῳ·
Παρα δ᾿ αυτῳ γ᾿ ερεθιξει
Πηγη ρεουσα Πειθους.

Mr. Bond has given a detailed history of Admiral Sir Charles Wager, pages 165 to 173.

The Admiral represented West Looe in Parliament, and resided in the parish, but Mr. Bond has not been able to collect any traces of his birth, either from tradition or from records. There is a monument to his memory in Westminster Abbey, with a long and appropriate inscription.

The barton and manor of Kyllygarth, including a division of Polperro, are within this parish. The great tithes and the advowson belong to the family of Kendall.

Talland measures 2208 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815.
The parish 3,178 0 0
West Looe 563 0 0
――――――――――――――
£3,741 0 0
――――――――――――――
Poor Rate in 1831.――The parish 570 7 0
West Looe 129 13 0
――――――――――――――
£700 0 0
――――――――――――――
Population,―― in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
The parish { 709 | 801 | 839 | 841
West Looe { 376 | 433 | 539 | 593
―――― ―――― ―――― ――――
1076 1234 1378 1434
giving an increase on the parish of 10½ per cent., on West Looe 57
per cent., on both together of 26 per cent. in 30 years.
Present Vicar, the Rev. N. Kendall, instituted in 1806: he is also
the patron. The net income of the vicarage in 1831 was £110. The
impropriator of the great tithes is J. Graves, esq.

GEOLOGY, BY DOCTOR BOASE.

The rocks of this parish are similar to those of Lansallos and Lanteglos near Fowey.

[2] The common people believe these celts to be produced by
thunder, and thrown down from the clouds; and that they shew
what weather will ensue by changing their colour.

TAMARTON.

HALS.

Tamarton vicarage, alias North Tamarton, is situate in the hundred of Stratton, and hath upon the north, part of Whitson; south, part of Devon and Boyton; east, the Tamar river, from whence it hath its denomination Tamarton, that is to say, the town situate upon the Tamar river; which river on the Devonshire side gives also name to Tamarton Decenna, or hundred there, as also to Tamarton vicarage parish, and Tamarton chapel, situate on the banks of that famous river; as also Stoke Damarell vicarage and parish. For Stoke Tamar-oll parish; that is to say, Stoke chapel or college in Cornish British, in Devon; and for the etymology of the word Tamar, see my Cornish Vocabulary, and Liber I. Chap. III.

This is the ταμαρα ποταμος, the Tamara Potamos, mentioned by Ptolomy the Greek geographer 1500 years past; that is to say Tamar fluvius, flumen, amnis fluentum, the Tamar river, in the province of the Cornavy, for Cornubia, or Danmonij.

In the Domesday Book 1087, this district was then taxed under the name and jurisdiction of Hornacott, i. e. iron cot or house, so called from Hornacott free chapel then extant there, and for aught I hear yet standing. The present church of Tamarton is either of late erection or endowment, since it is not mentioned in either of the inquisitions as to its value of First Fruits, unless it passed as a daughter church to some other, or was wholly impropriated. The parish rated to the four shillings per pound Land Tax, for one year 1696, at £48. 16_s._ 4_d._ The manor of Tamarton was formerly the lands of Walesbury, by whose heir it passed to Trevillian of Somerset, now in possession thereof, as I am informed.

Upon the bastard King Athelstan’s victory over the Cornish Britons, Anno Dom. 930; and dismembering from that regniculum the district of Devon, and confining their dominion only to the west side of the river Tamar, the Saxon poets triumphed in verse, one of which hath those words of this division.

Hinc Anglos, illic cernit Tamara Britannos, i. e. on this side Tamar beholds the English, on the other the Britons.

TONKIN.

Tamarton is in the hundred of Stratton, and has to the west St. Mary Wike, to the north Whitstone, to the east part of Devonshire and the river Tamar, to the south Boyton.

As for the name, it took it from the old Roman Tamara [which however did not stand here, but at Saltash, a long way below. W.]; as that did from the river Tamar, turned into the English termination, to signify a town on the river Tamar.

It is not valued in the King’s Book, but in the Taxatio Benefic. anno 1291, 20 Edward I. this church, by the name of Capella de Tamerton, is valued at 46_s._ 8_d._ and was formerly appropriated to ――――.

It is now a rectory, being endowed by the endeavours of the present incumbent Mr. John Bennet; who, and his successors for ever, are to pay a fee-farm rent to the crown of £6. 13_s._ 4_d._ out of the sheaf; the patronage being alternately in Henry Rolle of Stephenton, and Richard Coffin of Portledge, both in Devon, esquires. [The sheaf then appears to have belonged to the Crown, and had been set by the Crown, at £6. 13_s._ 4_d._ to its lessees the patrons. The chapel was therefore inserted as a mere curacy in the last Valor, but has been now endowed by the lessees giving up their lease to it, and so improving their own patronage. W.]

THE MANOR OF TAMARTON.

This, in the extent of Cornish acres, 12 Edward I. (Carew, fol. 48), is valued in eight. In 3 Henry IV. (id. fol. 40 b.) Halvethas Malivery held half of a knight’s fee here.

THE EDITOR.

Mr. Lysons gives the descents of property in this parish. He says the manor of North Tamarton was given by Roger de Valletort to Richard Earl of Cornwall, and that Roger Earl of Cornwall gave it to Gervase de Harningate. It was afterwards in the Carminows. In 1620 it belonged to Tristram Arscott, esq. and afterwards to the Rolles, of whom it was purchased by the late Sir John Call of Whiteford.

The manor of Hornacot or Horningcote belonged at an early period to a family of that name; in 1620 it was possessed by Sir Charles Howard, in right of his wife, the daughter of Sir John Fitz of Fitzford near Tavistock, and was afterwards in the Courtenays; and finally passed from them by purchase to the late Mr. George Browne of Bodmin.

Ogbere, called by Norden Ugbere, was in his time the seat of William Lovice, and had been the residence of Leonard Lovice, probably the father or grandfather of William, and is stated, by a monumental inscription still extant in the church, to have been Receiver-general of the Duchy Revenues for Queen Elizabeth.

Vacye, in remote times the seat of a family bearing the same name, is now the residence of George Call, esq. younger son of the late Sir John Call.

This parish contains besides the church town three small villages called Alvacot, Headon, and Venton.

Tamarton measures 4788 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 2,115 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 330 13 0
Population,――{ in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 403 | 420 | 479 | 517
giving an increase of 28 per cent. in 30 years.
Present incumbent, the Rev. C. P. Coffin, instituted in 1813.

THE GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

The geological structure of this parish is the same as that of Boyton.

ST. TEATH.

HALS.

St. Teath is situate in the hundred of Trigg, and hath upon the north Dundagell, south-east Michaelstow and Lantegles, west the Irish Sea, or Trevelga, south-west St. Kewe and St. Udye.

As for the name, if St. Eata, alias St. Eatah, be the tutelar guardian of this church, note that he was a Briton of Wales by birth, and Bishop of Lindisfarne, predecessor of St. Cuthbert 678, who was translated from thence to the diocese of Hexham, by the Latins called Axelodunum; by Bede, Hagulstadiensis, and by us Hexhamshire, in Yorkshire or Northumberland. He was succeeded by ten other Bishops, who enjoyed his chair, till by reason of the Danish depredations it was annexed to York, and made the see of the Archbishopric, and had the reputation of a county palatine; but discontinued by the statute of 37th Henry VIII. chap. 16, and annexed to the county of Northumberland. In this see St. Etha sat six years after his translation to Hexhamshire, as Bede saith, but two as others; and was buried in his Cathedral Church there.

In the Domesday Book 1087, this district was taxed under the jurisdiction of Dundagell. At the time of the inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester into the value of Cornish Benefices 1294, this Church was not endowed, if extant. The parish is rated to the 4_s._ per pound Land Tax, 1696, £156. 8_s._

Bodanan, in this parish, was the lands of that old British family of gentlemen surnamed de Cheiney, so called from Cheynoy in St. Endellyan; of which place, name, and family was John de Cheyney, Sheriff of Cornwall, the 5th and 6th of Edward I. 1280. Ralph de Cheyney, his son or grandson, had £20 lands and upwards in Cornwall, held by the tenure of knight’s service 24th of Edward III. Survey of Cornwall, p. 51. Robert de Cheyney, probably his son, held also by the tenure of knight’s service in this place, the fourth part of a knight’s fee of land 3 Henry IV. idem liber, p. 42; whose son William Cheyney, Esq. married the daughter and heir of [Stretch] in Devon, lord of Pinhoe, and made it the place of his residence, and accordingly was made Sheriff of Devon 11 Henry IV. 1410; John Cheyney, his son, was Sheriff of Devon 22 Henry VI. 1444; John Cheyney, his son, was Sheriff of Devon 1 Edward IV. 1480; John Cheyney, his son, was Sheriff of Devon 12 Edward IV. 1472.

In this Church are to be seen the gravestones of some of those gentlemen interred here, and in the same, and the glass window of this Church, the arms of those gentlemen, viz. in a field Gules, on a fess of four lozenges Argent, as many escallops Sable; in memory, as tradition saith, that one of their ancestors, going into the Holy Land and War with King Richard or King Edward I. carried such shells with him for taking water to drink in the hotter clime of Asia.

Sir John Cheyney of this family was chosen Speaker of the Parliament 6 Henry IV. called indoctum Parliamentum, or Parliamentum indoctorum; so called, for that in the writ of summons there was a clause no lawyer should be chosen therein. Sir John Cheyney was also Speaker of the House of Commons 1 Henry IV. and styled not only Parlour, but Procurator, de les Commons. Hakewell’s Catalogue of the Speakers, p. 202.

TONKIN.

St. Teath is in the hundred of Trig, is bounded to the west by Endellian and St. Kew, to the north by the sea and Tintagell, to the east by Lanteglos and Michaelstow, to the south by St. Tudy.

I take St. Tathius to be the tutelar saint of this parish, of whom Mr. Camden saith, (Brit. in Monmouthshire,) that he was a British saint, who governed an academy at Caer Went, and also founded a church there in the reign of King Kradock ap Ynir, circa an. Dom ――――.

This is a vicarage, valued in the King’s Book £12.; the patronage in the Bishop of Exeter; the impropriation of the sheaf in the heirs of the late Matthew Beale, Esq.; the incumbent ――――.

In the Taxatio Benef. an. 1291, 19 or 20 Edward I. is this note, Thechd, which, if meant for St. Teath, then it is valued, “Prebend’ Mag’ri Osberti iiij_l._ x_s._; Prebend’ Mag’ri W. de Wymondesham iiij_l._ x_s._; Vicar’ ejusdem xx_s._”

THE EDITOR.

Mr. Lysons gives in this parish, as in every other, the descents and sales of lands.

The manor of Tregordock, formerly in the Mohuns, passed in the general purchase to Mr. Pitt.

Mr. Agar, the Molesworth family, and Mr. Sandys of St. Minver, have lands in this parish; and Mr. Trevanion, of Carhayes, possesses in this parish either the whole or a part of Drillavale or Dinnavale quarry, producing the finest and most durable roofing slate of all that district; and said by Bishop Watson, in his Chemistry, to be the very best in England.

Treveares was for a long time the residence of a family which began to rise about a century ago into considerable opulence. Mr. Phillipps, of this place, settled as an attorney in Camelford; and availing himself of the valuable privileges possessed by that place, acquired a fortune. He had three sons. The eldest son, Charles Phillipps, married one of the coheiresses of the Longs of Penhele, and, not having any family, transmitted her ample fortune to his brother; he represented Camelford in Parliament, and was Lieutenant-Colonel of the Cornwall Militia. The second son, Jonathan Phillipps, originally a surgeon in the navy, married the coheiress of the Amys of Botreaux Castle, and through them of the Cottons, and also of the Gilberts of Tacbear; this gentleman had several children, but survived them all. He was knighted on the celebrated occasion of Margaret Nicholson.

The third brother, William Phillipps, a clergyman, never married.

They had one sister, who married Mr. Carpenter, of Tavistock; and her descendants are possessed of nearly the whole of the Phillipps property.

This farm, however, was demised by Mr. William Phillipps to his relation Mr. William Dinham.

It would be improper not to mention, that Captain William Bligh was a native of this parish, who commanded the Bounty in the unfortunate expedition to procure plants of the Bread-fruit tree (Artocarpus) from the South Sea Islands in the years 1789 and 1790; but which object he effected in a second voyage, and afterwards received the appointment of Governor of New Holland.

There does not appear to be any remains of the College or habitation appropriated to the Canons, who from receiving certain shares of the tithe for their maintenance, were sometimes called Portionists. The Church is conjectured to have been built in the reign of Henry the Seventh, from the circumstances of his arms appearing there in a manner to denote them coeval with the fabric.

There are several monuments, and among them one to Mr. William Phillipps, probably father of the gentleman who removed to Camelford as an attorney, and grandfather to the three brothers mentioned above. He is stated to have been of Treveans, and to have died on the 12th of April 1712, in the 62d year of his age. The turnpike road leading from St. Columb by Wade Bridge and Camelford to Launceston, nearly surrounds this Church. It was for some years the great line of communication to the west of Cornwall, till in 1767 a commencement was made on a more direct line over Tregoss Moors on one side of Bodmin, and Temple Moors on the other. This road so entirely superseded the former as to cause an entire loss of capital to those who contributed towards making it; and the road itself fell back into a state of repair inferior to that of most parish roads. It has, however, recently been taken up as a new concern, and in 1835 a stage coach has been established on it.

The Editor has heard from the Rev. William Phillipps, who died in 1794, that the making of this road was taken up as a matter of patriotism; and that to assist the undertaking, he cut with his own hands the figures on the granite mile stones, which still remain.

The entry of this parish, in the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, is thus:

“Sech (and in a note, Eccƚia S[~c]e Thete) taxat’ ut sequitur.
£. _s._ _d._
Prebend’ Mag’ri Osbt^i 4 10 0
Prebend’ Mag’ri W. de Wymondeston 4 10 0
Vicar’ ejusdem 1 0 0”

St. Teath measures 4,721 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 5,041 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 800 2 0
Population,――{ in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 911 | 857 | 990 | 1280
giving an increase of 40½ per cent. in 30 years.
It is not improbable but that the 8 printed in the place of hundred,
under the return of 1811, should have been a 9.
Present Vicar, the Rev. Joseph Fayrer, collated by the Bishop of
Exeter in 1830.

GEOLOGY, BY DOCTOR BOASE.

This parish is situated on rocks belonging to the calcareous series. On the eastern boundary, however, near the church, the slate is nearly connected with the porphyritic series; here at Treburget is a lead mine in a blue pyrituous slate; the lodes run north-east and south-west, varying from two feet to five feet in thickness. The matrix of the ores consists of angular pieces of slate like fragments cemented by quartz, in which galena, blend, iron pyrites, and spathous iron occur.

Proceeding northward, this lamillar blue slate is succeeded by a shining talcose slate; and at Rediver Mills on the road to Port Isaac, a hard compact rock is quarried for the roads, which contains veins of magnesian minerals; this rock occurs on the side of a steep round-backed hill; and those circumstances, combined with the talcose slate, render it probable that magnesian rocks may exist in the neighbourhood. These rocks are succeeded by slate traversed by veins of antimony, similar to what occurs in Endellion.

TEMPLE.

HALS.

Temple is situate in the hundred of Trigg, and hath upon the north Brewar, south part of Cardenham and Warliggan, west Blisland, east part of St. Neot and Altarnun. As for the name, it is derived from the Latin Templum, and signifies amongst Christians, a church, chapel, or temple for performing Divine Service or worship to God, by contemplation or action of body or mind.

But here, in a more especial manner so called for, that this church or chapel was a cell or temple pertaining to the great master of the Knights Templars of Jerusalem, under its superior in the Middle Temple of London, now the lawyers’ Inn, where was their chief manor or commandery. This religious fraternity took an oath of confederacy, for aiding and assisting all persons, pilgrims, and strangers, that intended by way of Joppa to visit Jerusalem and the sepulchre of our Saviour; who, for that by licence of the abbot of a church there called the Temple, in which they had their seats (as is now used in our churches), they were from thence called Templars.

This district now in Cornwall, consisting only of eight tenements of land, and about thirty human souls, in the Domesday Book 1087, was taxed under the jurisdiction of Nietstone, still contiguous therewith. In the inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester into the value of Cornish Benefices 1294, Capella de Templo was rated to First Fruits at 10_s._ In Wolsey’s Inquisition it is not named. After the dissolution of the Knights Hospitallers in England (to whom the lands of the Knights Templars had been given) this manor of Temple fell to the Crown.

TONKIN.

Temple. This little parish is in the hundred of Trigg, and has to the west Blissland, to the south Cardenham and Warlegon, to the east and north Brewer, alias Symonward.

It is so called, because it belonged formerly to the Knights Templars; and lying in a wild wastrell, exempted from the Bishop’s jurisdiction, many a bad marriage-bargain is there yearly slubbered up [now precluded by the Marriage Act, which is bad in many points, but good in this]; and grass widows with their fatlings put to lie in and nurse here. [This practice still continues, and has given rise to a mode of expression, which sends off unmarried but pregnant women to lie in privately, by despatching them to the Moors, meaning that long range of wilderness which is called Temple Moors. W.]

It is not valued in the King’s Book. In Tax. Ben. anno 1291, 20 Edward I. it is by the name of Capella de Temple, 10_s._

THE EDITOR.

This church was certainly founded by the Knights Templars, in compliance with a custom very prevalent among the military monastic orders, of establishing Preceptories in desert and uncultivated places, with the view of introducing inhabitants, or of civilizing the few that might be scattered over a wilderness. The benevolent intentions of these gallant knights failed however in this particular instance: the parish, which, judging from the analogy of similar cases, must have been large, perhaps co-extensive with the Moors to which it imparted a name, has shrunk into one of the least in Cornwall. Its church has disappeared. The churchyard is not distinguishable from any other inclosure; and the few parishioners resort to neighbouring churches for divine service, for marriages, or for the administration of the sacraments.

Cultivation is, however, introducing itself by means of the potatoe, a vegetable destined to produce most gigantic effects on the condition of mankind; greater perhaps than any other cause arising from the discovery of a new world.

This little settlement was probably attached to the manor of Trebigh in St. Ive’s, where the Knights Hospitallers had a preceptory. Certain it is that the two properties have since travelled together, and are now jointly reposing with the Devonshire family of Wrey. The Rev. B. W. Wrey was instituted to the benefice in 1789.

Temple measures 936 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 156 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 7 16 0
Population,――{ in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 15 | 18 | 27 | 29
about doubled in 30 years.

THE GEOLOGY BY DOCTOR BOASE.

This little parish rests entirely on granite, which is of the same nature as that of Blisland, Cardinham, and the adjacent parishes.

ST. THOMAS.

HALS.

St. Thomas is situate in the hundred of East, and hath upon the north St. Stephen’s, east Launceston, south South Pedyrwin, west Egloskerry and Trewinn. For the name, it is derived from the tutelar guardian and patron of this church, St. Thomas the Apostle and Martyr (though as some say St. Thomas à Becket). In the Domesday Book 1087, this parish was taxed under the jurisdiction of Lansen, now Launceston. In the inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester 1294, into the value of Cornish Benefices, Capella Sancti Thomæ in decanatu de Trigmajorshire, was then rated at 30_s._ In Wolsey’s Inquisition 1521, it is not named, having long before been wholly impropriated to the abbat or prior of St. Stephen’s, who endowed it.

TONKIN.

St. Thomas is bounded to the south by Launceston and South Pederwyn, to the west by Trewinn and Egloskerry, to the north by St. Stephen, to the east by Launceston.

This little parish is something in the form of an obtuse pile, being very narrow and wedged in to the east, where the church stands, in the very extreme part, between Launceston and St. Stephen’s, but stretches itself out in length and breadth to the west.

Part of it, which is called St. Thomas’s Street, is within the borough of Launceston, and comes home to Launceston North Gate, but is divided from Newport and St. Stephen’s by the little river Kensey, which runs by the wall of the churchyard.

THE EDITOR.

Mr. Lysons treats of Launceston, St. Stephen’s, and St. Thomas together. There is very little remarkable about this parish. The church, which is very small, and provided with a tower scarcely more lofty than the roof, stands close by the water; but it occupies the spot where the stately Priory described under Launceston heretofore extended its hospitality to travellers, and bestowed well intended, although mistaken charity, to all the neighbourhood. Nothing more remains of the Priory than the foundation of walls and an arched well of excellent water. The church has some monuments.

This parish measures 1750 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815. The
parish and street 2072 0 0
――――――――――――
Poor Rate in 1831. The parish 195 19 0
The street 143 9 0
――――――――――――
339 0 0
Population,――in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
The parish, { 173 | 241 | 307 | 248
The street, { 182 | 218 | 301 | 378
―――― ―――― ―――― ――――
355 459 608 626
giving an increase on the parish of 43 per cent.; on the street of
107 per cent. on both together, of 76 per cent. in 30 years.
Present Minister, the Rev. C. Lethbridge, elected by the inhabitants
in 1791.

THE GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.

This parish is composed of rocks belonging to the calcareous series, and similar to those of Launceston, and of the adjacent part of South Petherwin.

TINTAGEL.

This parish will be found under the name of Dundagell in the first volume.

TOWEDNACK.

HALS.

Towednack is situate in the hundred of Penwith, and hath upon the north the Irish Sea, east St. Ive’s and Lelant, south Ludgvan, west Zennor.

In the Domesday Book this district was taxed under the jurisdiction of Amall, now Amall Veor or Trenwith. In the inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester 1294, into the value of Cornish Benefices, Ecclesia de Tywidnick, in decanatu de Penwith, is rated at cxiii_s._ iiii_d._ vicar’ ibidem, xxvi_s._ viii_d._ In Wolsey’s Inquisition 1521, it goes in value, consolidation, and presentation, with Lelant and St. Ive’s, £22. 11_s._ 10½_d._ The patronage in the Bishops of Exeter, who endowed it; the incumbent ―――― Hawkins; the rectory in Pitz; and the parish rated to the four shillings per pound Land Tax, for one year, 1696, £51. 3_s._ 2_d._

In this parish are two notable camps, castles, or intrenchments of our ancestors the Britons, wherein they fortified themselves against their enemies in former ages, the ruins and downfalls of which are yet to be seen, the one called Castle-an-Dunes,[3] or Denis (See St. Colomb.); the other Tre-crag-an, the ragged rock town, situate upon Tre-crag-an hill or mountain, as I take it.

TONKIN.

Towednack lies in the hundred of Penwith, and has to the west Zennor, to the north the sea, to the east St. Ive’s and Lelant, to the south Ludgvan.

I take the name of the parish to signify no other than St. Wednock or Wynnock; for Ta and Da are synonymous terms for good. [It is perhaps only Ti Widnak (C.) the Whitish House. W.] It is a daughter church or chapel of ease to Lelant, and goes in the same presentation.

THE EDITOR.

There can scarcely be a doubt of this parish, Landewednack, and some chapels, being dedicated to one of the Missionaries from Ireland.

Towednack, like most of the districts situated on granite, exhibits a strange and almost unaccountable mixture of cultivated and of unreclaimed soils. On one side of a fence may be seen land producing abundance of grass and excellent for daisies, or bearing ample crops of barley, and of clover hay and on the other side, an inclosed waste, named throughout Cornwall a croft, producing nothing better than the species or variety of furze, Ulex Nanus, and some of the most coarse grasses.

This parish has been productive of much tin near the surface; but a wide stripe of granite nearly resembling that of St. Stephen’s in Brannel, extends from the parish of Zennor through Towednack, and thence into Ludgvan, including Castle-an-Dinas, which Mr. Hals by mistake places in this parish. Its course is distinctly marked by the absence of all bolder rocks from the surface, and in some places it has been wrought for china clay, found quite equal in quality to that near St. Austell, but occurring in layers of but little breadth, and therefore expensive to pursue. This soft granite, called by the miners whetstone, permits the lodes to continue their courses through it from the hard and crystallized granite, but the tin in a great measure disappears at a trifling depth.

There is little connected with Towednack of any curiosity, that does not refer to the Editor and his family.

I am possessed of a manor still extending into five parishes, of which the vokeland, to use Mr. Hals’s term, was Amellibrea in this parish. It has descended to me from the Noyes, and particularly from my direct ancestor William Noye, the Attorney-General. I have the Court Rolls in complete succession for nearly three centuries. On these Rolls the names of Godolphin, Grylls, Mahun, Praed, St. Aubyn, Veal, occur with others as free tenants, and a great number of persons held by copy of Court Roll.

At Amellibrea are the remains of an extensive foundation said by tradition to have formerly supported a prison.

But the free tenants have been lost, and the copyholds converted into leases for life, as indeed has been the case generally over Cornwall, with the exception of ecclesiastical property; the copyholds not being renewable on the payment of a fine not exceeding two years’ value, as is the custom over most parts of England, but dependent wholly on the pleasure of the lord. The tenures were therefore in themselves much the same; and as I remember to have heard, the tenants preferred chattle property, as they termed it, to copyhold, in consequence probably of the uniform rules of succession and the facility of disposing by will.

The last copyhold that appears on the Rolls was in the very beginning of the last century.

The particulars of holding a Court in those days, with the Steward’s charge, happen to be preserved on the Roll for 1688, and seem to me sufficiently curious to warrant their insertion.

* * * * *

At a Court of William Davies, esq. Lord of the United Manors of
Amyll and Tillie, holden on Friday the 27th day of April, 1688.

_The Homage._

Sampson Veale, esq. Foreman.
Robert Michell, James Trewhelow, John Curnow,
Francis Quick, John Quick, John Williams,
Oller Vaynfleet, John Baragwanath, John Trewhella,
Anthony Quick, Christopher Trewhella, John Gilbart,
George Beriman, James Quick.

_The Oath._

You shall swear that you, as Foreman of this Homage, with the
rest, shall duly inquire, and true presentment make of all such
copyholds and things as shall be given you in charge; wherein you
shall spare no man, from love, favour, or affection; nor present
any man for malice, hatred, or envy; but according as things are
presentable, shall or may come to your knowledge, by information
or otherwise, so shall you make thereof true presentment without
concealment,

So help you God, and the contents of this book.

_The Charge._

Sirs――You that be sworn!

You know the customs of this court, and what you ought to
present, which is grounded all on these three things, that is to
say, upon truth, judgment, and justice, for this comprehends all
you have to do.

It standeth upon truth, for that you ought to present nothing but
the truth, and likewise not to omit any thing that is true and
presentable being here unpresented.

It standeth upon judgment, that you do not present any thing
rashly, or unadvisedly; but certainly to know the truth thereof
before you do present it.

And it standeth upon justice that you do not for favour,
affection, corruption of money, or other reward, for fear of any
man’s displeasure, or for any private gain or profit, leave any
thing unpresented that is here presentable; neither for malice
present any thing contrary to truth.

These three principal things you ought duly to consider of; and
so hoping that you will have a special care thereof according to
your oaths and duties, and the trust that is reposed in you, I
will cease to trouble you any further about them.

First, you shall inquire whether all such persons as owe suit and
service to this court be here to do the same; and all that make
default you must present.

Also you shall inquire if any tenants be dead since the last
court, or before, and his death not yet presented; and you shall
inquire what lands he held of these manors, and what is due to
the Lord on his death;[4] and also if any copyholder has leased
his copyhold for any longer term than a year and a day, without
the Lord’s license, it is a forfeiture of his copyhold. And also
if any copyholder deny to pay his rent, or deny to come to his
Lord’s Court, or deny to be sworn of the homage, it is a
forfeiture of his copyhold.

And also you are to present all alienations that you may know
among the tenants, who they are, and for what.

You are also to present all such as remove any bounds bounding
the lands of these manors and the lands of any other Lord, or
between tenant and tenant, or elsewhere in those manors.

You are likewise to present any one that has taken any goods out
of the pound wilfully by force, or any pound-breaker by the way,
as they are driven to pound.

You are likewise to present any man that hath fished or fowled in
these manors, or hawked or hunted.

And also you are to present any that doth refuse or neglect to
grind at the mill of those manors; and if you are not well
served, you that are ill dealt with by the miller, he is lyable
to be prosecuted, and make satisfaction.

You are to present all tin broken in these manors that hath not
paid farme nor toll.

You shall swear by the contents of that Book; that you will be
true and faithful to the Lord of those manors, and shall from
henceforth bear, do, and pay to your said Lord, and to his heirs,
at times assigned, all such rents, customs, and services as you
ought to pay, and for all such lands and tenements as you claim
to hold of him; So help you God.

* * * * *

As the Steward’s name in not appended, I am unable to say who was the author of this perspicuous, eloquent, and argumentative address. It is probably in a great measure conformable to the approved model of that day.

* * * * *

Having omitted to insert in its proper place a Petition from my great-grandmother to King Charles the Second, I shall give it here, as being in some degree connected with the property.

_To the King’s Most Excellent Majesty._

The humble petition of Hester Noye, widow of Humphrey Noye,
esquire, son and heir of the Attorney-General Noye, and eldest
sister and coheir of Edwyn Lord Sandys, deceased,

Humbly sheweth,

That King Henry the VIII. in the 14th year of his reign, created
your Petitioner’s great-grandfather William Sandys a Peer of this
Realm, by the style of William Lord Sandys, Baron of the Vine,
who granted a Patent of the said honor to him and his heirs,
which hath been ever since enjoyed by his descendants both male
and female accordingly; and last of all by the said Edwyn Lord
Sandys, who is lately deceased, leaving your said Petitioner and
five other sisters his coheirs.

That your Petitioner’s father served your late Royal Father of
glorious memory in the late unhappy wars, and raised a Regiment
of Foot, and another of Horse for that service, and was himself
slain therein.[5]