LESKEARD.
HALS.
The manuscript relating to this parish is lost.
TONKIN.
Leskeard is situate in the hundred of West, and hath to the west St. Pinnock, to the north St. Clair, to the east Menhinnet, to the south St. Kaine, and St. Matin’s juxta Looe.
As for the name of this town and parish, I derive it from les, a court or palace, and kaer, a fortified town, as having been for many ages a seat and castle of the ancient Princes
and Dukes of Cornwall. Mr. Carew’s derivation from les-broad and ker-gone, is so much out of the way that it is not worth confuting; neither doth he himself put any stress on it.
This parish is a vicarge, valued in the King’s Books at £18. 13s. 10d. The patronage in Mr. Blatchford.
This church, in A. D. 1291, 29 Edward I., was valued at £8. and the vicarage at £2. 13s. 4d. it being appropriated to the Priory of Launceston.
The great duchy manor of the same name, including the whole parish and borough, I shall first begin with it, and then go on with the town, the church, castle, and the other most noted places in it.
THE MANOR OF LESKEARD.
In the extent of Cornish acres 12 Edward I. this is valued in 18. The 3d Henry IV. this manor is said to be half of a small fee of Morton, and was then in the hand of the King; who had not then, it seems, as may be made out in other places of the same book, given livery to Prince Henry of all the lands belonging to the Duchy of Cornwall; but since that time it having gone with the rest of the Duchy of Cornwall, and accounted for accordingly, I need not say any more of it here; and so come to treat of the
TOWN OF LESKEARD.
Mr. Willis, in his Rot. Parliamentaria, vol. ii. p. 27, gives this account of it: “This borough was, in like manner as spoken of in Launceston, held in the time of the Conqueror by Robert Earl of Morton and Cornwall; and afterwards, as that did, belonged to Richard, brother to King Henry the Third, created Earl of Cornwall in the 15th year of his reign, who made this place a free borough, and granted to the burgesses all those liberties and free customs which he, by his charter, had before granted to his
burgesses of Launceston and Helston. This charter is dated the 5th of June, anno 1240, in the 24th year of the reign of his brother King Henry the Third, about ten years after the date of Launceston charter, as I guess. To this Richard succeeded Edmund Earl of Cornwall, his son, who in the 3d year of the reign of Edward I. granted this whole burgh, with the rent of the same, &c. and toll of the market and fairs, and all fines, mulcts, and perquisites thereof belonging to him and his heirs, in fee farm, at the rent of £18 sterling; upon which conditions the said borough being leased to the townsmen, has remained in their hands ever since, and the corporation at present enjoy the profits of the fairs and markets, &c. which yield them about £200 per annum. The royalty of this borough has been in like manner as that at Launceston, vested in the Duchy ever since Edward the Third’s time; and the Dukes of Cornwall, as tenants of the Crown, have received the said fee-farm rent till the reign of the late King William, who alienated the same, and gave it to the present Lord Somers, to whom the corporation pay the abovesaid chief rent of £18.”
Leland, Itinerary, vol. iii. lob. 19, saith, “The towne knowlegith freedom and privileges by the gift of Richard, King of Romanes and Earl of Cornewaul.” Perhaps by him this place was antiently incorporated; but the present charter doth not say when or by whom, for thus runs the last Visitation: “The towne and burrough of Liskeret, alias Liskerd, was antiently incorporated by the name of Mayor and Burgesses of Liskeret, alias Liskerd, and re-incorporated the 6th day of July, in the 29th year of Queen Elizabeth, by the same name of Mayor and Burgesses, and by that name to have perpetual succession; and enabled in law to purchase lands, tenements, and liberties, and likewise to assign the same, and by the same name to plead and be impleaded; and that the borough and corporation should consist of 9 Burgesses, which shall be called the Common Councell of the said burrough, whereof one for
the time being shall be yearly chosen for Mayor, to have power to chuse a Steward and Recorder. That the Mayor and Burgesses shall have a common seal for their affairs; and that the Mayor and Recorder shall be Justices of the Peace within the said burrough (of which new corporation, granted by Queen Elizabeth, John Hunkin was the first Mayor), with diverse other privileges and immunities, as by their charter doth appear. And at this present visitation, the 12th day of October, 1620, was Edward Chapman, Mayor, Sᵗ William Wrey, Knight, Recorder, John Hunkin, Gent. High Steward, Thomas Jane, John Vosper, Martin Sampson, John Pott, Jeffrie Clarke, John Taperell, and William Grege, Chief Burgesses, and Walter Nicholls, Town Clark, of the said town and burrough.”
Mr. Willis goes on: “As for the right of election of Members of Parliament, ’tis vested in these nine capital burgesses and fifteen assistants, with others who are free of the borough, as many of the neighbouring gentlemen are; so that the whole number of electors is near about 100, who are all sworn freemen. The town of Leskeard is very large and populous, and contains (as I am informed) about 500 houses. It has a very considerable market, and perhaps the greatest in this county. It was in Leland’s time the best except Bodmin, which it much exceeds now, [this is a great mistake,] as the town does in buildings. This being in all respects one of, if not the biggest and best built in Cornwall [I take Falmouth to exceed by much every way, and so doth Truro too in building, if not bigness]; ’tis situate partly on rocky hills, and partly in a bottom. On the eastern ascent of the hill stands the church (of which more by and by). On the north side of the town stood the castle, of which Leland speaks thus: ‘There was a castle on an hill in the town side, by north from St. Martin. It is now all in ruin; fragments and pieces of waulles yet stand. The site of it is magnificent, and looketh over all the town. This castle was the Earles of Cornwall.’”
Mr. Willis continues: “In this town is an admirable conduit of water (this Leland too mentions), which plentifully supplies the streets about the market-place, which lies in a bottom about the middle of the borough; and from thence branch several other streets, divers of which lie on steep ascents. The town is near four furlongs over every way, and in some parts the houses stand scattered, though the streets are generally broad. This is one of the towns for coinage of tin (but there are hardly —— blocks of tin coined here in a whole year, the works in its neighbourhood being rather neglected than worn out); and was remarkable, anno 1642, for the defeat of the Parliament army by Sir Ralph Hopton, a memorial of which was put up in the church. The market, in Leland’s time mentioned to be observed on the Monday, is now kept on Saturday. The town hall stands on stone pillars, and is a good building. At the top is a clock-turret, having four dials. It was erected about the year 1707, by Mr. Dolben, one of the Members for this town, at near £200 expense. There has been given also to this corporation very handsome presents of plate, with two large silver maces well gilt, as are several of their silver cups, round one of which, in most constant use, is this engraved:
‘Qui fallit poculum, fallit in omnibus.’”
THE EDITOR.
Leskeard still continues a place of considerable trade, and distinguished by its excellent market, although in relative importance it does not maintain the station among towns in the county assigned to it a hundred years since by Mr. Tonkin. Of late years, several persons possessed of large properties have decorated the environs with excellent houses; and one gentleman of the town, Mr. Lyne, has brought home from successful trade and speculation, conducted at Lisbon by himself and his uncles during two-thirds of a century, a fortune that may be denominated
princely. Leskeard has benefited beyond most other towns by the recent improvements of roads, and by a canal from the port of Looe, which affords a cheap and easy conveyance for lime, the most important of all manures in that district.
This town has been the residence, if not the origin, of several distinguished persons.
Dr. William Jane, Regius Professor of Divinity at Oxford in the time of Charles the Second, was from hence. And I believe that Mr. Jane, for many years master of the grammar-school at Truro, was his nephew; and this gentleman’s son, first a student at Christchurch, and afterwards Rector of Iron Acton, in Gloucestershire, bore a conspicuous part among the learned divines of his day.
From hence also originated the family of Taunton; of whom Mr. William Elias Taunton, knighted on some occasion of the King visiting Oxford, attained the highest eminence in that city as a legal practitioner; and he had the satisfaction of seeing his eldest son attain the proud situation of a judge. Of this family is also Richard Taunton, M.D. distinguished by his eager pursuit of all scientific acquirements, as well as by his medical skill; now resident at Truro. To this gentleman’s liberality the Editor is indebted for the original manuscript of Mr. Hals’ Parochial History, the foundation of this work.
Among eminent persons residing at Leskeard, it is impossible to omit Mr. Haydon, for many years master of the grammar-school. Of his classical acquirements it may be sufficient to say that Dr. Cornelius Cardew, who has been mentioned under St. Ewan, and must be again under Truro, was his favourite scholar; but, in addition to literature, Mr. Haydon acquired a profound knowledge of mathematics and of astronomy; and in these, the most exact and the most noble of sciences, he was not content with theory, and with the practical result of labours carried on by others. Mr. Haydon provided himself with various instruments, of a size and accuracy rarely possessed by individuals at that
period; and with those he made important observations on the transit of Venus in June 1769; and for a long time all the longitudes of places in the West of England were deduced from Mr. Haydon’s determination of Leskeard. He ultimately retired to the family living of Okeford, in Devonshire, and was succeeded in the school by Mr. Lyne, whose grandson has been noticed for his acquisition of an immense fortune.
A gentleman of very singular habits flourished at Leskeard through a large portion of the eighteenth century, the last of an ancient and respectable family, Trehawke. No one stood more prominent for ability, knowledge of business, or for integrity; all disputes were referred to his arbitration, and every one pressed eagerly to obtain his advice; but habits of parsimony grew on him to such an extent, that the most ridiculous tales were circulated of his private savings, without, however, detracting from the estimation in which he was otherwise held. Having decupled his fortune, he left the whole to a distant relation, Mr. Kekewich, since Member for Exeter, a gentleman altogether worthy of so splendid a gift.
Mr. Lysons says, “In the town of Liskeard was a nunnery of poor Clares, founded and endowed by Richard King of the Romans,” but of which he had not been able to obtain any further account. But this seems to be a mistake; as Richard King of the Romans died in 1271, and the Nuns of St. Clare were first brought into England by Blanch Queen of Navarre, and wife of Edmund Earl of Lancaster, about twenty years afterwards. The monastic remains appear, moreover, too magnificent for an establishment of Nuns Minories, or Poor Clares, the female branch of the begging monks or friars instituted by St. Francis.
The castle walls have entirely disappeared, but the elevated site is still conspicuous; it is surrounded with trees, and the centre is occupied by the school-house.
The church is among the largest in Cornwall, and its
south wall, like that of St. Neot, is embattled, and also ornamented by a handsome porch. There is a tradition which describes this church as being decorated with two towers, one on each side of the building, but taken down in the year 1627. The existing western tower is very inferior to the church.
The great tithes of this parish were appropriated to the Priory of Launceston. They were granted by Queen Elizabeth to a Mr. Harris, and they have recently been sold in parcels to the various proprietors of land. Mr. Honey, who holds the vicarage, is also patron.
In the church are various monuments to the family of Trehawke, &c. and one to Joseph Wadham, who died in 1707; being the last of that family, founders of Wadham college, Oxford.
The house and the room are still shewn which were occupied by King Charles the First in August 1644, before the surrender at Fowey of the army commanded by Lord Essex.
Mr. Lysons gives an account of the various persons and estates in this parish. The chief proprietors are Mr. Kekewich and Mrs. Connock. The extensive property of the Moreheads has been entirely sold in various lots, and their manor of Lamellian, or Lamellin, now belongs to the Editor of this work.
The borough, made co-extensive with the parish by the Reform Act of 1832, sends one Member to Parliament.
There cannot be a question as to the first syllable in the name of this town being les, a court, or inclosure; and the second may probably be derived, as Mr. Tonkin conjectures, from kaer, a fortress; but in times when every thing was referred to the French language, les became changed into lis, and a flower-de-luce was adopted on the town seal.
The parish measures 7126 statute acres.
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815: | £. | s. | d. |
| Borough | 7077 | 0 | 0 |
| Parish | 6153 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831: | |||
| Borough | 1009 | 7 | 0 |
| Parish | 801 | 4 | 0 |
| Population,— | ||||
| in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831, | |
| Borough | 1860 | 1975 | 2423 | 2853 |
| Parish | 848 | 909 | 1096 | 1189 |
| Together | 4042, | |||
giving an increase on the borough of 53½ per cent.; on the parish of 42 per cent.; on both of 49 per cent. in 30 years.
Present Vicar, the Rev. T. Foote, instituted in 1821.
GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.
The rocks of this parish are principally on the boundary of the porphyritic and calcareous series; partaking of the former in the northern part, and of the latter in the southern. The former sometimes nearly resemble hornblende schist; and, gradually leaving the hornblende, they pass into a coarse, lamellar, argillaceous rock, of a dirty yellowish brown colour, irregularly and indistinctly marked with blue spots. There are several large quarries in this rock round the town of Leskeard, where the stone is extensively used for building. It very nearly approaches in character to that of Bodmin, but is not quite similar.
The Editor. At a short distance from the town, on the road side leading towards Plymouth, occurs a soft micaceous schist, of a deep yellow tinge, which was most unfortunately mistaken for an ore of gold, about fifty years since, by a Mr. Hoskin, of Leskeard, and by his son, a clergyman, who, in utter ignorance of modern science, expended considerable sums of money in erecting machinery, for the prosecution of pursuits so vain as the raising of gold ore and extracting the metal.