KENWYN.
HALS.
Is situate in the hundred of Powdre, and hath upon the north Peran Sabulo, and St. Allen, east St. Clement’s, south Truro, west Kea.
In the Domesday tax 20 William I. 1087, this district was rated under the jurisdiction of Edles. In the Inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, into the value of Cornish benefices, 1294, there is no such church as Kenwen named then in the hundred of Powdre; if it were then extant, at that time it had no endowment; however, I find in the 15th granted by the Clergy, the 24th Henry VI. 1447, the parish of Kenwen in Powdre was rated 2l. 19s.; in Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, Landegge or Keyewis consolidated into Kenwen (the elder church into the younger) and rated as aforesaid 16l. The patronage in the Bishop of Exon, who endowed them; the incumbent Mitchell, and the parish of Kenwen rated to the 4s. per pound Land Tax 1696, 196l. 14s. 6d.
Near Edles, or Ideless, i. e. narrow breadth (formerly the voke lands of a considerable manor, taxed in Domesday Book as aforesaid, privileged then with the jurisdiction of a Court Leet) is yet to be seen the ruins and downfalls of St. Clare’s consecrated and walled well; chapelwise built, by the Nuns of the nunnery-house of Poor Clares in Trurow, called An-hell, i. e. the hall; but yet, alas! as tradition
saith, they were not so poor as their rule obligeth them to be, for in the walls of this well they had deposited or hid away considerable sums of money, which, by tradition or some dream, was discovered tempore James II. to some of the inhabitants of this parish, who one night pulled down the walls and totally defaced this chapel-well in quest thereof, and probably succeeded in their design and undertaking, for soon after some poor labourers in agriculture became rich farmers and landed men, and others. From this place was denominated a family of gentlemen, surnamed de Idless, whose heir was married to Hamley, tempore Edward III.
Trega-veth-an, in this parish, the grave town or dwelling, so called from the cemetery and free chapel yet extant here, of public use before the church of Kenwen was erected; which barton and manor for several descents was the lands of a Welch family of gentlemen surnamed de Langhairons; i. e. holy or sacred laws; till the latter end of the reign of King Charles II. when Mr. Langhairne sold this barton to Walter Vincent, Esq., barrister at law, and the manor to Mr. Bawden and others. The arms of Langhairne were Azure, a chevron between three escallops Or.
Chyn-coos in this parish, i. e. the wood-house, formerly surrounded with woods, is the dwelling of Thomas Hawes, Gent., that married Hawes of Kea, and Paynter; and giveth the same arms as the Hawses of Kea.
TONKIN.
The manor of Tregavethan.
This signifies the dwelling in the meadows, vethen being the same with bither, a meadow; and whoever sees the place will be soon convinced of the truth of this etymology.
Tregedick was lord of the manor and sometimes dwelt here, but having only one daughter and heir, the barton passed with her to —— Langhairne, Esq., but the father having
reserved the manor, he in consequence of some difference sold it. The Langhairnes, however, continued to reside on the barton in much esteem till the great Civil Wars, in which this family suffered so much as to be compelled to sell it; and it came at last into the possession of Henry Vincent, Gent., of Tresinsple, who let out the barton in leases to several tenants, so that it is now become a village, and little of the mansion or house left standing.
To the west of Tregavethan, or the high town, on the confines between this parish and those of St. Agnes and Perran in the Sands, are three great barrows, called the Three Barrows; and about a mile to the westward of these on very high ground are four barrows, one belonging to this manor and the other three to Lambourn in Perran. These barrows give name to the downs, and the great road from London to the Land’s End passes between them. They were doubtless the burying places of some principal commanders, and probably Danes. To the left of Tregavethan and within the manor, is Roseworth, the Green Valley. This was once a seat of the family of Cosens; and here lived Nicholas Cosens, Esq. who was Sheriff of Cornwall in the year 1660. He dying without issue left it to his widow, and after his death it became the property of Samuel Enys, Esq. by purchase.
THE EDITOR.
Kenwyn may be said to include the old part of Truro, which occupies the mere extremity of a point or tongue of land stretching from this parish and enclosed between two rivers. The land immediately round the town is fertile, in a high state of cultivation, and decorated by trees and villas; but towards the Four Barrow Down and Chasewater, nothing can be more desolate than the barren commons studded with heaps of rubbish from deserted mines.
In this parish are situate two of the earliest establishments for smelting tin by means of coal, and on the largest scale of any in the county, Calenick and Cavedras; but
of late years this business has taken an entirely new character; tin ores are sold, like those of copper, by public tender or ticketings, and smelting houses are constructed in some cases for the use of particular mines.
The manor of Newham formed part of the Bodregan property, and after the despoiling of Sir Henry Bodregan by King Henry VII. it was given to Trevanion, of whom it was purchased by the late Mr. Ralph Allen Daniell, sometime member for West Looe, by whom a handsome house has been built on the side of the river, half a mile below Truro; Bosvigo is also a gentleman’s seat.
And at Comprigney, near Bosvigo, the Editor apprehends that several ancestors in succession of General Sir Hussey Vivian resided. Kenwyn church and tower, with an excellent glebe house adjacent, built about the year 1780, are very conspicuous objects, and command themselves a fine view of the town and river. The church is provided with a set of bells said to surpass all others in the country; and to have been placed there when ringing was a favourite amusement with the neighbouring gentlemen.
This parish measures 8,094 statute acres.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 | 13,296 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 2133 | 1 | 0 |
| Population,— | |||
| in 1801, 4017 | in 1811, 5000 | in 1821, 6221 | in 1831, 8492 |
giving an increase of 111 per cent. in 30 years.
GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.
This large parish does not appear to offer anything peculiar in its geology, as Doctor Boase merely remarks that Kenwyn lies entirely on slate, which is of the same nature as that of St. Allen and St. Clement’s.
ST. KEVERNE.
HALS.
Is situate in the hundred of Kerryer, and hath upon the north St. Martin’s, east St. Anthony, west Ruan Minor, south the British Channel. As for the modern name, whether it be derived from the Saxon Geferon, Geforan, Geuoran, i. e. Geferon, Geforan, Geuoran, synonymous words, signifying a fraternity, seers, equals, fellows, inspectors, with reference to the six, eight, or twelve men of this parish, who as a body politic, corporation, or fraternity, govern the same in joint or equal manner; or from the British Keveren, as schism, separation or division in church matters or religion (see Lhuyd upon Schisma); or from Kieran, a famous Bishop amongst the Britons about the fifth century, who perhaps was born in this place, and is the tutelar guardian and patron of this Church; and to him also is dedicated St. Kieran rectory, in decanatu Christianitatis in Exeter: of which every man may think as he please.
In the Inquisition made into the value of Cornish Benefices by the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, 1294, ecclesia Sancti Kierani, in decanatu de Kerryer, xxiil. viiis. iiiid. Vicar ejusdem iiiil. vis. viiid. In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, 18l. 11s. 4d. The patronage in Bulteel; the Incumbent Gerry; the Rectory in possession of Heale; and the parish rated to the 4s. per pound Land Tax, 1696, by the name of St. Keverne, 310l. 16s. 4d.
Part of this new parish of St. Keverne, at the time of the Norman Conquest, was rated in the Domesday Book, 1087, under the jurisdiction of Treleage (i. e. Physician or Surgeon’s Town, or the Law Town); it is now the possession of Robert Buggin, Esq. (id est, Bacon) who married Prudence,
daughter of John Arundell of Trethall, Esq.; his father, Jane, the daughter of Sir Francis Vyvyan, Knight, a younger branch of Gatcomb House in Devon, originally descended from Zacharias Boggan, Gent., Mayor of Totness, A.D. 1550, whose ancestors were merchants of that town, and gave for their arms, Sable, a cocatrice displayed Argent, membered and taloned Gules.
Note further, that as ker, kerr, kyr, kir, signifies dear, beloved, choicely affectioned, in British, Cornish, and the Armorick languages, answerable to dilectus in Latin; so from thence proceeds Kerryer, a lover, or one dearly affectioned. See Floyd upon dilectus.
Tre-land in this parish (either the temple town, or a town notable for land) was another district or manor, taxed in Domesday Roll; and I take it, there are yet extant two tenements here called Tre-land Vear, and Tre-land Vean; i. e. the greater and less Tre-lands. One of those places, as I am informed, is the dwelling of John Hayme, Gent. (Saxon, i. e. a house, home, or covering; see also Verstegan upon this word) that married Tregose; his father Boggans.
In this parish is situate Condura and Tregarne, manors formerly pertaining to Condura, Earl of Cornwall.
Lanareh, also Lan-arth, in this parish is the dwelling of Sampson Sanns, Gent., that married Cood, which tenement or barton was formerly the lands of Kensham, who sold it to the present possessors.
This Mr. Sanns died without legal issue about the year 1696, and left his estate to his brother’s son, John Sanns, that married Hamley of St. Neot, now in possession thereof, who in the month of January, in the afternoon, in the year 1702, with seven other persons, men and women of this parish, coming by sea from Falmouth town and harbour towards their own homes in a fishing boat of about five tons burden, without deck or covering, on a fair day; and having got off at sea about a league beyond the said harbour, and within two leagues of their dwelling to the west; suddenly
there happened to arise a high and mighty storm of wind against them, which rose the rapid waves of the sea to that degree, that the boatmen or oarmen, with all their skill or strength, were not able to put the boat further forward without its being filled with water or swallowed up with the raging sea.
Whereupon, despairing of getting home to St. Keverne, they all resolved if possible to return back to Falmouth harbour before this tempestuous storm of wind that blew that way, or to run on shore on any other part of the country as they could. But, alas! they no sooner attempted those expedients, and turned their boat, but instantly the wind turned and thwarted their design. In this extremity they knew not what to do; both wind and water being thus outrageous against them: and that which added more to their calamity was, that, through their long toiling at sea, the light of the sun was past and night approached.
Then every person present being at their wit’s end, called upon his God for pardon of their sins, and mercy upon their souls, as despairing of the preservation of their bodies from the merciless element of the seas; when at length, after much fervent prayers, tears, and cries, the watermen proposed, all other their endeavours failing, that the boat must be left to drive before the wind and sea, to such port or place as God in his infinite mercy and providence should guide it.
This course was taken, and the boat forthwith, by letting loose its helm, in a dark long night and most tremendous storm or hurricane, followed the current of the wind and waves all night; the passengers every minute casting out of the boat such water as the outrageous seas cast in upon her, least she might thereby be overwhelmed or filled therewith. At length the glimpse of daylight appeared, when they beheld themselves environed with the billows of the great ocean, without sight of either sun, moon, stars, or land. The storm still continuing all that day and the night after,
also the third day and the night after, the boat and mariners in the same condition as aforesaid, when afterwards the fourth day in the morning, the wind and seas being somewhat abated of their fury and violence, about ten of the clock they discovered land, and forthwith rowed and steered the boat to the sea-shore thereof, where they arrived with the boat safely; which happened to be, as I was informed, on the coast of Normandy in France, about a hundred leagues distance from the place the boat first was driven off at sea. Which happened to be at such time as Queen Anne had wars with the French King. As soon as Mr. Sanns and his companions stept on land, they were met by three or four men with fusees, demanding what they were (as they judged, for they understood not French), to which they replied they were English; which one of them that understood the English tongue hearing, demanded the occasion of their coming there, and by what expedient they came over; the particulars of which hearing, as aforesaid, they were all astonished to hear of their hazardous passage, miraculous preservation, and to behold the boat, the instrument thereof next Providence.
Upon which discourse, a gentleman of the company asked Mr. Sanns what part of England he was born in, to which he replied Cornwall; and further interrogated him whether his name were not Sanns, to which he replied that it was; ‘Why then,’ said the gentleman, ‘I know your person, and well remember the kindness you shewed me in my distress many years since at your house, when the ship in which I was, was cast away and lost on the coast of St. Kevern;’ understanding which, after they embraced each other. Then, he demanded their arms and money, if any; whereupon Mr. Sanns having with him forty guineas that he had received at Falmouth for pilchards, the day before his boat was driven off at sea, he forthwith delivered it to his friend, who told him he and his companions must yield themselves prisoners of war; which accordingly they did, and Mr. Sanns was taken home to the gentleman’s house. After
which they were all examined concerning the premises before a justice of the peace, who finding matters as aforesaid, ordered that they should not be kept in custody as prisoners of war, but be all permitted to go at liberty and beg the alms of the people; whereupon they found extraordinary charity and favour amongst them, since they were not enemies, but persons by fate or Providence, brought there after an especial manner, and preserved from the violence of the seas by the great Maker and Protector of all things.
The news whereof forthwith not only flew over the country, but was transmitted to the cognizance of King Lewis XIV., who thereupon ordered that by the first transport ship for prisoners of war, they should all be sent home freely into England; which happening soon after, Mr. Sanns took his leave of his kind landlord, in whose house he had been dieted and entertained, and was content to leave the forty guineas aforesaid with him, as his recompence; but contrary to his expectation the gentleman gave the same to him again, saying he would take nothing of that kind at his hands, since God in such a wonderful manner had preserved him and his companions from the great danger of the seas. Whereupon, he presented five or six guineas to his wife, who after some reluctancy accepted thereof, and so they parted and went on board a transport ship, and safely landed at Portsmouth; and in about eight weeks after their departure from England, returned safe to St. Keverne, to the great joy and astonishment of their friends and relations, who concluded them all drowned long before.
And that the reader may not think those people’s subsistence three nights and four days in their dangerous sea voyage, was as supernatural as their preservation, it must be remembered, that one of Mr. Sanns’ companions being a woman that was an inn-keeper, had bought at Falmouth town before they departed thence, for to sell to her customers, twelve pennyworth of white bread and three
or four gallons of brandy, which proved the material support of their lives. Matthew of Westminster, our Chronologer, tells us that about the year 900, Dusblan, Machreu and one Maxlium, in a boat made of one ox skin and a half, with seven days provisions, in two days and a night arrived miraculously into Cornwall from Ireland, at the Mount’s Bay.
TONKIN.
Mr. Tonkin does not add any thing to Mr. Hals’s narrative, except the single observation,
It takes its name from the famous St. Keven.
THE EDITOR.
St. Keverne’s fame does not extend out of Cornwall. He must have been one of the Irish missionaries who crossed the seas in granite troughs, or in skiffs made of bullocks’ hides. Tales were in circulation about mutual visits from St. Perran and St. Kevern, but they contain only vulgar incidents of modern fabrication.
The extraordinary escape of the passengers from Falmouth, is retained at the full length in which Mr. Hals relates it, as the narrative bears evident marks of authenticity, and the incidents are creditable to all the parties introduced.
This parish is amply provided with small harbours or coves affording shelter to boats, and the shore admits of using seine nets for taking pilchards. The principal of these harbours, Coverack, has been long noted for an extensive trade, still more lucrative than fishing; the other two are Porthoustock (Proustock) and Porthalla (Prala).
About seventy years since a large shoal of pilchards came into the cove at Porthoustock, while the seine boats were on the outside. One of these extended its net across the entrance and shut in the whole; but salt in sufficient quantity
could not be procured for saving them, when the fishermen resolved on the hazardous expedient of sailing to France for a supply; the weather continued fine till their return, and they are reported to have prepared for exportation above a thousand hogsheads. The Church is situated on the highest ground in this whole district, having the addition of a spire instead of the lofty tower usual in Cornwall. The existing spire is of recent date, although probably on the model of that which was destroyed by lightning on the 28th of February 1770.
For a very accurate and able account of this thunder storm, which occurred during divine service, and seems to have been one of the most violent on record, see a paper in the 61st vol. of the Philosophical Transactions, p. 71, art. 8, 1771; (and vol. 13, p. 98, of the Abridgment,) by the Rev. Anthony Williams, then Vicar.
The spire was rent in pieces. The roof of the church almost entirely destroyed; large stones scattered over the floor, and small stones on the outside carried to a distance little short of a quarter of a mile. Mr. Williams himself was rendered insensible, the whole congregation, with very few exceptions, fell on the ground deprived of all recollection; but no life was lost, nor did any sustain a serious injury; about ten were slightly hurt.
In the church are several monuments; and in the churchyard stands a large sarcophagus, having sculptured on it the representation of a shipwreck, and military emblems, with the following inscription.
To the memory of Major-General H. G. C. Cavendish,
Capt. S. C. Duckenfield, Lieut. the Hon.E. Waldegrave,
Sixty-one non-commissioned officers and privates
of the regiment,
who in returning from Spain in the Despatch transport
unhappily perished in Coverack Cove,
the 22nd of December 1809.
The ship was known to be very old and in bad repair; but, although the wind blew with some violence, it would have been a matter of no difficulty whatever to clear the Mein Egles, or Manacles Rocks. Seamen have therefore conjectured that the Captain kept near the shore for the purpose of stranding his vessel, to obtain the exaggerated value contracted for with the Government; and that in attempting this fraud, he fell on the rocks which caused the loss of every one on board.
Mr. Cavendish was a son of Lord George Cavendish, of East Bourn, Sussex, afterwards created Earl of Burlington.
The great tithes of this parish have been sold to the various proprietors of the land.
The tithes of fish belonged, however, to Mr. Matthew Wills of Helston, in right of his marriage with the only daughter of Mr. Tonkin of Trenance near Porthoustock. For some years they were of considerable value, but as all tithe of fish is allowed to be in this country the mere creature of custom, the custom then acted on was attacked at law, and after a trial, on which the celebrated Mr. Dunning attended by a special retainer, it was overturned. Trenance and the other property in St. Kevern are now possessed by his son, the Rev. Thomas Wills, Vicar of Wendron, for about fifty years.
Kilter, in this parish, was the birthplace and probably belonged to the individual of that name, who with Humphry Arundell and others, excited the common people to take arms against the government of King Edward VI. in 1549, by holding out those unattainable objects which have misled the ignorant to their own destruction in all ages and nations, in union with others certainly of a different description; one of which was the re-establishment of the Bloody Statute, or the Six Articles, by which every person refusing to acknowledge the King’s supremacy over the church was adjudged to be hanged; and every one conscientiously disbelieving the real presence of Christ’s body in consecrated bread and wine, was condemned to be burnt alive.
Lanarth has been for a considerable time the residence of the Sandys family. The Rev. Sampson Sandys lived there to a very advanced age. He was probably grandson to the gentleman whose wonderful escape to the coast of France is detailed by Mr. Hals under the name of Sanns, which the editor remembers to have heard was the original appellation of their family, till they adopted the name and cross-crosslets of the Sandys of Ombersley.
Mr. Sampson Sandys was succeeded at Lanarth by his nephew, Mr. William Sandys, a colonel in the army of the East India Company, who rebuilt the house, and greatly improved the place.
The rectory was, before the Reformation, appropriated to the Abbey of Beaulieu in Hampshire, founded by King John.
In the schedule of the property returned to King Henry the VIII. on its surrender, are the following entries, which may be found in the Augmentation Office.
Com. Cornub.
| St. Kivion—Redd. Assis. lib. ten. | 2 | 15 | 10 |
| Redd, et Firm. ten. ad volunt’ | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| Terr. dominic. | 1 | 16 | 8 |
| Tregonon, firma molend. | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| Opera autumpnal’ | 0 | 1 | 6 |
| Perquis’ cur’ | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| Firma rector’ | 57 | 4 | 0 |
| Helston red. annual’ | 6 | 3 | 4 |
The reasons assigned for King John founding this magnificent Cistercian Abbey of Beaulieu, or De Bello Loco, are so curious, and so illustrative of the profligacy and weak superstition united in forming his character, that the Editor thinks it right to insert the following original, with a translation.
Anno sexto Regis Johannis idem Rex construxit quoddam Cœnobium ordinis Cisterciensis in Anglia, et Bellum Locum nominavit; quod quidem Cœnobium tali occasione narratur ab eo factum. Quia enim idem Rex versus Abbates,
et alias personas ordinis Cisterciensis prænominatas, supra modum, sine causa, est iratus, et eosdem non mediocriter per ministros suos gravaret, ad quoddam Parliamentum, quod ipse apud Lincolniam tenuit, Abbates dicti ordinis venerunt, si quo modo Regis ejusdem gratiam et favorem potuissent aliquatenus invenire. Quibus visis, sicut crudelis animi erat, præcepit suis ut dictos Abbates sub pedibus equorum viliter conculcarent; Regis vero injustum tam facinorosum et inauditum hactenus mandatum ab aliquo principe Christiano, perficere nolentibus, hii Domini Abbates, jam fere desperantes de Regia benignitate, ad sua hospitia festinanter accesserunt. Nocte vero sequenti, cùm idem Rex Johannes in lecto suo dormiret, ei quod coram quodam Judice, prædictis Abbatibus illuc assistentibus, ductus fuerit: qui eisdem Abbatibus jusserat dictum regem supra dorsum suum cum flagellis et virgis verberare: quam quidem verberationem, mane vigilans, se sensisse dixit. Sompnium vero suum cuidam personæ ecclesiasticæ de curia sua narravit, qui dixit ei, quod Deus erga eum supra modum esset misericors, qui eum tam clementer et paternè in præsenti seculo dignatus est corripere, et eidem sua misteria revelare; et consuluit Regem ut pro Abbatibus dicti ordinis velociter mitteret, et ab eisdem de reatu suo veniam humiliter imploraret.
Rege siquidem acquiescente, pro eis, ut ad Regem venirent, missum est. Quod audientes per nuncium Regis, putaverunt se ab Anglia fore exterminandos; Deo tamen, qui suos non deserit, aliter disponente, cùm nunc ad conspectum Regis venissent, indignationem suam quam ergo eos habuit Rex remisit.
“In the sixth year of his reign King John founded a certain monastery of the Cistercian order in England, and gave it the name of Beaulieu; and the following account is given of the cause which induced the King to found this abbey.
“The King, without any just cause of offence, having taken the most violent and unbounded anger against the Abbats and others of the Cistercians, and having immoderately oppressed
them through the medium of his officers, the Abbats of the said order came to a Parliament which the King held at Lincoln, to try if they might be able by some means to obtain a small share of the King’s grace and favour. But when the King saw them, he became so cruelly disposed towards them, as to order that the said Abbats should, in the most disgustful manner, be trodden under the horses’ feet; but his people being unwilling to execute a command so unjust, so atrocious, and hitherto unheard-of from any Christian prince, those Lord Abbats, now despairing of any kindness on the part of the King, hastily retired to their hostels. But in the following night, as the said King John lay sleeping on his bed, it seemed to him that he was brought before some judge, these Abbats standing by, whom the judge ordered to scourge him on the back with whips and rods; and when the King awoke in the morning, he declared that he actually felt the scourging. Having related his dream to a certain ecclesiastic of his court, this person assured him that God had been merciful to him beyond measure, by deigning thus kindly and paternally to correct him in this present life, and by revealing to him his mysteries; and he advised the King to send immediately for the Abbats of this order, and humbly to implore from them the pardon of his offence.
“The King consenting, a message was sent to them that they should come to the King; which they hearing from the messenger, thought that they should be banished from England: but God, who never deserts his servants, disposed things otherwise; so that when they came into the King’s presence, he put away the anger which he had entertained against them.”
There is not any trace of the advowson of the vicarage having belonged to this splendid abbey, which afforded sanctuary to Queen Margaret and Perkin Warbeck. It is now possessed either by Mr. Pascoe, the present incumbent, or by his family.
Mr. Lysons has given the descents and alienation of various manors or farms of little general interest.
St. Keven measures 8792 statute acres.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 | 10,433 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 1,310 | 17 | 0 |
| Population,— | |||
| in 1801, 2104 | in 1811, 2242 | in 1821, 2505 | in 1831, 2437 |
giving an increase of about 16 per cent. in 30 years.
The Rev. James Pascoe was instituted to the vicarage in 1817.
GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.
There are few spots that have excited greater geological interest than the serpentine tract of the Lizard, and no part of it will be found more instructive than this parish.
By far the greater part of St. Kevern rests on magnesian rocks; but north of a line drawn from Porthalla, nearly due west to Goonhilly Downs, the rocks belong to the calcareous series. The latter rocks may be seen on the coast from Porthalla to the Nare Point, and will be found to resemble the series between Gorran and the Dodman Point. On the left side of Porthalla Cove the blue slate abounds in veins and in irregular nodules of calcspar; and at low-water-mark a more compact variety is exposed, which evidently forms the passage into the black limestone, loose fragments of which are sometimes found on the shore. In a small creek within the Nare near Bostowda, is a large patch of conglomerate, the pebbles and fragments of which have been derived from the rocks which line the banks of the river Hellas as high up as Gweek; but which bear no resemblance to the rock of the immediate vicinity. This is the most decided instance of a fragmentary rock in Cornwall.
The hollow occupied by the little stream which discharges itself at Porthalla divides the calcareous shale from a rock of totally different nature, videlicet serpentine,
several varieties of which form the neck of land stretching thence to Dranna Point.
At Porthoustock a glossy lamellar rock, already noticed as joining the serpentine at Cadgwith, forms each side of the cove; but here, on proceeding to the Manacles Point it may be seen passing into diallage rock: the latter extends so far as Coverack, and also inland to the foot of Goonhilly Downs. At Coverack the diallage rock appears to pass into serpentine; but here again, as at Porthalla, the junction is a concrete. The varieties of serpentine near Coverack Pier are numerous, and several of them may be seen passing into each other, which in other parts of the Lizard district form large and apparently independent masses. From Coverack to Kennick Cove the cliffs are very bold, and display different kinds of serpentine and diallage rocks, and at Blockhead a large stratum of indurated steatite, beautifully marked with brown arborescent figures on a yellow ground. At Kennick Cove, red and olive green serpentine, abounding in scales of diallage, and traversed by numerous veins of asbestos, talc, and calcareous spar, are exposed to view on a grand scale; and at Gwinter, a little north of the cove, diallage rock is accompanied by layers of beautiful violet-coloured jade, or compact felspar, containing large plates of diallage as metalloide as at Coverack.
It may be noticed here, that all the uncultivated land extending over serpentine formation, is clothed with the most beautiful of European heaths; the Erica Vagans of Linnæus, so named on account of its being found in various parts of the world on particular spots. Hudson named it “Multiflora” from its splendid inflorescense; and Dr. Withering, with some others, didyma, with reference to double antheræ on each flower. This heath bounds itself almost within a yard to the limits of the magnesian earths.
ST. KEW.
HALS.
Is situate in the hundred of Trigg, and hath upon the north Endellyan, east St. Eath, south St. Mabyn, west Egleshayle and Minver. In the Domesday Tax, 20 William I. 1087, this parish was rated by the name of Lan-guit, or Lan-cuit; that is to say, the Church or Temple Wood, or a church or temple in a wood; not unsuitable to the former circumstances thereof, surrounded with copse trees and oak woods; from whence it appears here was an endowed church or temple of that name before the Norman Conquest, implied in the word Lan. In the Inquisitions of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester into the value of Cornish benefices 1294, it was rated by the name of Lan-owe, i. e. my Church or Temple, or the Egge Church or Temple, for owe is an egg, in decanatu de Minor Trigshire viiil. xiiis. iiiid. Vicar ejusdem xls. In Wolsey’s Inquisition 1501, by the name of St. Kuet, i. e. holy, sacred, or consecrated wood, 19l. 10s. The patronage, formerly in the priory of Bodman, who endowed it, now Tregagle. The incumbent Nation; the rectory or sheafe in possession of Tregagle; and the parish rated to the 4s. per pound Land Tax 1696, by the name of St. Kewe 356l. 15s. 10d.
The manor and barton of Lanew in this parish, was formerly the lands of the Beavills of Gwarnack or Killygarth; by one of whose heirs, as I am informed, it came in marriage to the Grenvills of Stowe; and was entailed, together with the barton of Bryn, and other lands, upon the issue of the said Beavill, by Grenvill to be begotten.
Now it happened, tempore Charles I., that Sir Bevill Grenvill, being much encumbered with the debts of his ancestors, in order to free the same, sold for a valuable consideration this manor of Lanow and barton of Bryn to William
Noye, Esq. Attorney-general to King Charles I. the which William Noye and his heirs quietly enjoyed the same for about thirty years’ space, till King Charles II. returned from his exile beyond the seas, and was restored to his dominions 1660; at which time Sir John Grenvill, Knt. afterwards created Earl of Bath, (son of the said Sir Bevill Grenvill) then also in exile with the said King beyond the seas, came back to his native country with the said King; and some time after delivered leases of ejectment, on writs of ejection, firme formedon, or right, to the tenants of Humphrey Noye, Esq. then in possession thereof, son of the said Attorney-general Noye, and brought down a venire facias and trial for the same, at Lanceston assizes, where, on the issue, the verdict passed for the said Earl of Bath; and after judgment was entered up and recorded thereupon, writs for possession were sued forth, and his lordship became seised of those lands, and forced the tenants thereof to double their accustomed rent, on condition of holding their leases. Afterwards Noye’s son aforesaid, files his bill in chancery, suggesting the wrong he had received by this verdict at law, whereby he lost his lands and purchase money, which matter coming to a hearing on bill and answer, an issue was directed out of Chancery to try once more this title at common law, on which Noye proved Sir Beavill Grenvill to be tenant in tail for those lands, and that he levying a fine thereon, come ceo qui il eit de son done, according to due form of law, with deeds declaring the same to be for the use of the said William Noye, his heirs and assigns for ever, that was a sufficient dock of the entail, and bar to the son and heir of the said Sir Beavill Grenvill, whereupon the sense and judgment of the Court then was, that according to law the verdict must be for Noye: as accordingly it then passed. Notwithstanding which, a cross bill was filed by the Earl of Bath against Noye, about the premises, praying a writ of injunction for stopping further proceedings at common law; whereupon his lordship still kept possession, and Noye grew weary of
this controversy, who, otherwise, was a man much depressed with debt, and therefore an unequal contester with the then great Earl of Bath; wherefore he sold his title to those lands in dispute to Mr. Christopher Davies, of Burnewall in Buryan, who revived Noye’s drooping case and title to the premises, and delivered ejectments to the Earl of Bath’s tenants, then in possession thereof, and accordingly brought down a trial at Lanceston upon that plea and demise, tempore James II., when it was manifest his lordship relied more on his privilege as a Peer or Baron of this Realm than the right or justice of the merits of his case, for he served all the council, officers, and attornies of the court at that assizes with writs of privilege; so that no person was permitted to speak or act publicly on the part or title of Noye or Davies; but the case or trial was immerged or was swallowed up without due course or form of law, so that Mr. Davies was only permitted to plead his case himself, which he did with so much judgment, sense, law, and equity, as the Court admired at it, being no lawyer. But, alas! he wanted instruction in the grand point in such cases, to have cried out a merger or emerger, and the verdict must have been for him or Noye the second time.
After which bad success, and for that Mr. Davies was threatened to be sued on the statute of scandalum magnatum, for words said to be spoken by him reflective on his lordship’s honour and reputation, he was terrified into a composition or agreement with the said Earl, by the end of Hilary term then next ensuing, for the consideration of 500l. to levy a fine sur cognizance de droit, with proclamation on those lands, with deeds declaring the uses thereof to be only to the proper use and behoof of the said Earl of Bath, his heirs and assigns for ever, as accordingly was performed, and so this controversy ended. But, alas! when too late it appeared further, that when Mr. Davies had sold his title to this manor of Lanow as aforesaid, that there were two tenements of Mr. Noye’s paternal estate whilst he was in possession thereof, after his purchase from
Grenvill, that he had annexed to the said manor, situate in this parish, and worth 900l., which Mr. Davies ignorantly debarred himself of, to his greater loss. See Withell parish for Bryn, the lands of Bevill and Grenvill.
Bo-Kelly in this parish was the dwelling of the genteel family surnamed Carn-sew, i. e. dry, sterile, or barren spar-stone, or rock; perhaps so called from the local place of Carnsew in Mabe, altogether under such circumstances; otherwise Mr. Carew tells us the name of those gentlemen was Carn-deaw, i. e. black spar-stone or rock. William Carnsew of this house was sheriff of Cornwall 18 Edward IV.; William Carnsew was Sheriff of Cornwall 3 Henry VIII.
Richard Carnsew, Esq. afterwards knighted, was Sheriff of Cornwall 17 Charles I. 1642, whose heir George Carnsew, as I am told, sold it to Tregagle, and is now by lease in possession of John Nicholls, of Trewane, Esq. The two only daughters and heirs of Sir Richard Carnsew, of Tregarne, were married to Prideaux, of Fewborough, and Godolphin of the younger house, whose arms were, Sable, a goat passant Argent, attired Or.
Tre-havar-ike, alias Tre-ar-ike, gave name and original to an old family of gentlemen, from thence surnamed de Trehauarike, whose sole inheritrix was married to Cavall, tempore Henry VII. who, out of a supposed allusion to this name, as appears from the glass windows of this house, gave a calf for their arms, viz. Argent, a calf passant Gules; whereas Leugh is a calf in British-Cornish, and Cavall is a bee-hive, cradle, or flasket. They gave also, Azure, three sails of a ship Argent; for that, as tradition saith, one of this family was admiral of a squadron of ships at sea, under King Henry VI. against the French; finally, about the year 1612, the two sole daughters and heirs of those Cavalls were married to Vivian, of Trenowth in St. Colomb, and Hore of Trenowth in St. Ewan. Upon the division of Cavall’s lands, this barton and manor fell to Vivian’s share, whose grandson Thomas Vivian, Esq.
sold this barton to John Peter, of Treater, gentleman, for 2,100l.; and the manor to other persons, now in possession thereof, about the year 1700.
At the top of those lands is a field called the Dower Park, i. e. the water field, where a spring or pool of water commonly stands, which gives the spring, or original of the aforesaid riveret of water, from whence Trehavarike is denominated.
At Tregeare in this parish, and Resurra in St. Minver, was the seat of the Penkivells, gentlemen of ancient descent, and heretofore of great revenues, now comparatively extinct.
Pen-pons in this parish, now Pen-pont, synonymous words, signifies the head bridge, or the bridge at the head or top of the sea in this place, according to the natural and artificial circumstances thereof, which was the voke lands of an ancient and extensive manor, privileged with the jurisdiction of a court leet before the Norman Conquest; for by the name of Penpont it was rated in the Domesday Tax 20 William I. 1087; from whence was denominated an ancient family of gentlemen now extinct, surnamed Penpons, whose sole inheritrix was married to Arundell of Tolverne, tempore Queen Mary, from whose heirs and assigns it came to Cole and Arscott of Devon, and others, now in possession thereof. By the inquisition 12 Edward III. it was rated for twenty-one Cornish acres, before the judges Solomon de Ross and others, at Lanceston, that is to say, 1260 statute acres. I take the tenure of this manor to be either customary or copyhold lands; near which is still extant Chappell Amble, or Ambhull, i. e. the dull, blockish, or ignorant chapel or chaplain, a free chapel, where the Bishop never visited.
In this parish at Middle Amble is the dwelling of Jonathan Webber, Gent. (id est, in Saxon, a weaver, so called from his first ancestor, who was of that trade or occupation,) who married Williams, and giveth for his arms, Gules, on a chevron engrailed Or, charged with three annulets
or round plates Azure, pierced in the middle, Or, between three round plates or platters, two in chief and one in the base, Argent. This family, as it branched downwards to the year 1640, had married with Mathew of the said parish of St. Kew, who gave for his arms, Sable, a crane Argent, legged and beaked Gules; also with Prewbody and Polwhele. This arms of Webber, consisting of four colours in its field and in its charge, is a ridiculous or contemptible bearing, as heralds tell us all such bearings are.
Note further that Mr. Carew, in his Survey of Cornwall, A. D. 1602, tells us, p. 55, that John, the son of Thomas, living at Pendarves, took up the name of John Thomas Pendarves, and that Richard his younger brother took up the name of Richard Thomas Pendarves; and that Trengone, living at Nance, took up the name of Nance; and Bonython, living at Carclew in Milor, took up the name of Carclew; and for the same reason two brothers of the Thomases, living at Carnsew in Mabe, another at Roscrow in Milor or Gluvias, took up the names of Carnsew and Roscrow; as did also one of them living at Caweth in Mabe, take up the name of Caweth; and in further testimony thereof, give one and the same coat armour as Thomas did, viz. in a field Argent, a chevron between three talbots Sable, though Pendarves gives a different arms from that of Thomas. See Cambourne. Query, whether Carnsew of Bokelly does not derive his name from Carnsew? i. e. dry rock, in Mabe parish.
TONKIN.
This parish takes its present name from the patron saint Kew, which, says the author of the English Dictionary, 8vo. London, 1691, is certainly the same with Kebius the Briton. The impropriator of the sheaf and patron of the vicarage, is at present Robert Croker, Esq. by purchase
from Mr. John Tregeagle. The incumbent, Mr. Edward Stephens, Mr. Croker’s nephew.
The ancient name of this parish was Lanow.
THE EDITOR.
If Saint Kebius is really the patron of this parish, and has given it his name somewhat disguised in the sound of St. Kew, he has the unusual felicity of being honoured in his own country. Doctor Borlase states, on the authority of Archbishop Usher, (Antiquities of Cornwall, 2d. ed. p. 369.) “About the middle of the fourth century, Solomon Duke of Cornwall seems to have been a Christian; for his son Kebius was ordained a Bishop by Hilarius, Bishop of Poictiers, in France; and afterwards returned into his own country to exercise that high function.”
Saint Kebius, however, stands in the Roman Calendar on the 26th of April; but the parish feast is kept (I believe) on the nearest Sunday to the 25th of July, the day of Saint James the Apostle.
This parish is one of the most fertile in Cornwall, as well for corn as for grass. The church is situated in a pleasant valley; and near it is Skinden, for many years the residence of Mr. Joseph Bennet, a clergyman, but without preferment; and after his decease, of Mr. Clode, a native of Camelford, who having risen to the situation of a major in the East India Company’s army, returned with a fortune, and purchased this place; it now belongs to his sister Mrs. Braddon.
The principal seat in St. Kew was in former times Trewane, the residence of an ancient and opulent family the Nichollses. The house, partly converted into a farmhouse and partly in ruins, appears in a style of grandeur quite unusual in the houses of this county. It is believed to have been built before the Civil Wars. These four descents are recorded in the Heraldic Visitation of 1620.
John Nicholls—His son and heir, John Nicholls, married Catharine, daughter of John Trowbrigge, of Trowbridge in Devon.—Their son John Nicholls married to Elizabeth Fortescue, of Fallowpit in Devon;—and their son, the fourth John Nicholls, aged seven years, with other children. The granddaughter, or great-granddaughter, from these last recorded, became an heiress possessed of the whole property, and married Mr. Glynn, of Glynn; but being left a widow, and childless by the death of her only son, she devised her estate in certain portions, to Mr. Glynn, of Helston, with the whole of Trewane; and to Mr. Bennet her steward, father of the Rev. Joseph Bennet, who built or improved Skisden. The arms of Nicholls, of Trewane, were, Sable, three pheons Argent.
The rectorial tithes of this parish belonged to the priory of Plympton in Devonshire, and now belong to Molesworth of Pencarrow. The advowson has passed by purchase with their other property, from Mahon to Pitt and Glanville.
The church contains some monuments and painted glass. Mr. Hals has given the details of a law suit, which may tend to reconcile the admirers of olden times to those in which they live; nor can the Editor, who is the descendant and heir-at-law of Attorney-general Noye, and of his son Colonel Humphrey Noye, be supposed to entertain much respect for the memory of the Earl of Bath.
St. Kew measures 6343 statute acres.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 | 8598 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 1029 | 6 | 0 |
| Population,— | |||
| in 1801, 1095 | in 1811, 1113 | in 1821, 1218 | in 1831, 1316 |
giving an increase of 20 per cent. in 30 years.
The Rev. John Pomeroy was presented to the vicarage in 1777 by W. Pitt, Esq.
GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.
Doctor Boase says of the geology of this parish, that the northern part resembles Endellion, and that the southern part is similar to Egloshale and Helland.