LUDGVEN, or LUDGEAN.
HALS.
The manuscript relating to this parish is lost.
TONKIN.
Ludgian is situated in the hundred of Penwith, and hath to the west Maddern, to the north Lelant and Towedneck, to the east St. Erth and St. Hilary, to the south Gulval and the Mount’s Bay.
Mr. Gwavas derives the name from Lug Var, the high or hilly placed tower. To which the situation of this church does very well agree.
This is a rectory valued in the King’s book at £30. 11s. 6d. The patronage in the Duke of Bolton.
At the Taxation of Pope Nicholas, in 1291, this church is valued at £7 a year, having never been appropriated; and it is there called Ecclesia de Ludewon.
The chief place in this parish, on which stands the church, is the manor of Ludgian Lease, that is, Ludgian place, or inclosed land. In Domesday Book it is called Ludaham, being one of the manors given by William the Conqueror to his half-brother, Robert Earl of Morton.
THE EDITOR.
The manor of Ludgean Lease has been of great consequence and extent. It still spreads over lands in several parishes; and holds as appendages the advowson to the rectory of this parish, and the high lordship of St. Ives, where certain honorary perquisites are paid to the lord of this manor for ships entering the port; and moreover, on the day of holding the annual court, the corporation maces are borne before the steward. Mr. Lysons states that the
manor was given by Richard Earl of Cornwall to the family of Ferrers; from whom it passed, by successive female heirs, to those of Champernown and Willoughby (Lord Broke), and from a coheiress of the latter to the family of Paulet; and it now belongs to the two daughters, or their descendants, of Henry Paulet, last Duke of Bolton, who died in 1794.
Treassow has been for a considerable time the seat of the family of Rogers, since removed to Penrose, in the neighbourhood of Helston, in consequence of a large fortune acquired there by Mr. John Rogers, as steward to the Godolphins.
Annexed to Treassow is Castle-an-Dinas, the most lofty hill in that whole district, and the one standing furthest towards the south. It differs, however, from all the other hills thereabout in the quality of its material; for, although the whole is granite, not a rock is to be seen, and at its north-western base works are carried on, similar to those near St. Austell for preparing china-clay. On the top of the hill a considerable part remains of the extensive dinas, entrenchment, or castle, that has given the name, reduplicated in modern times, from an entire forgetfulness of the Celtic language.
Borlase gives the following description of these remains:
“Castle-an-Dinas consisted of two stone walls, one within the other, in a circular form, surrounding the area of the hill. The ruins are now fallen on each side of the walls, and show the work to have been of great height and thickness. There was also a third, or outer wall, built more than halfway round. Within the walls are many little inclosures of a circular form, about seven yards diameter, with little walls round them of two or three feet high; they appear to have been so many huts for the shelter of the garrison. The diameter of the whole fort from east to west is four hundred feet, and the principal ditch sixty feet. Towards the south, the sides of the hill are marked by two large
green paths, about ten feet wide. Near the middle of the area is a well, almost choked up with its own ruins, and at a little distance a narrow pit, its sides walled round, probably for water also, now filled up.”
On this account the following remarks have been made by a recent intelligent writer:[2]
“It is to be regretted that Borlase did not publish a plan to illustrate his description of this Castle, as it has been much dilapidated since his time. A tower was built on the site of the outer wall about forty years ago, by Mr. Rogers, of Penrose; and subsequent reparations have not contributed towards a restoration of the old walls. Nor are there any perceptible remains of the inclosures, two or three feet high, which formed the huts for the shelter of the garrison; but in this respect, Borlase’s description exactly corresponds with the remains I observed within the area of Chûn-Castle, as already mentioned. I could discover no traces of the ancient entrance, nor does Borlase notice it; if it was towards the west, as at Chûn-Castle, it has been blocked up, for the walls on that side seem to have been rebuilt or repaired; if on the southern side, where, Borlase says, there were two broad paths leading up the side of the hill, towards the Castle, it has been totally destroyed.
“I now proceed to a description of this ancient and curious fortress. The first inclosure is a mound of earth alone, seven or eight feet high, surrounded by a ditch. Within this, a second fosse, or ditch, encircled the outer wall, which was built as before described, and is about five feet in thickness, and four or five high, excepting towards the south-east, where it has been destroyed, and
the materials used in building the tower before mentioned.
“A vallum, or terrace, separates this wall from another of considerable strength and thickness, being thirteen feet across at the top. The circular area inclosed by this wall is two hundred and fifty-four feet in diameter. A third wall, of no great substance or height, like the others, appears to have made a circuit within this space, and reduced the diameter to one hundred and ninety feet. But what is most curious in this Castle, is the appearance of a certain wavy outline, slightly raised above the natural soil, but overgrown with turf. The singular form of these foundations, if they are supposed to be the inclosures noticed by Borlase, and their exact regularity, which I took some pains to ascertain, is perhaps deserving the attention of some more experienced antiquary.
“The area within is very uneven, and has, nearly in the centre, a small round inclosure, twenty-two feet in diameter, without an entrance. It is exactly similar in its construction to the remains in Caër-Brane and Bartìnè Castles. There is a well also within the circuit of the walls, and we were told it was never known to be without water. The diameter of the whole work, from ditch to ditch, north and south, is four hundred and thirty-six feet.”
Rosevithney was for ages a gentleman’s residence. The family of Larmer possessed it during a considerable time, till it passed by an heiress to a branch of the Davieses. The freehold has recently been sold three or four times.
Trowell, an adjoining farm, which belonged to the Godolphins, is remarkable for the extremely productive copper-mine, called Whele Fortune, which first launched Mr. Lemon on his splendid voyage through life.
The name of another farm in Ludgean, which cannot be accidental, requires notice. On this farm was a well, now destroyed by mines, having, in all probability, some slight quality of a chalybeate. The water acquired an established reputation for the relief of weak sight, and hundreds repaired
there every year to bathe their eyes. The farm is named Collurian, and has been so time out of mind.
Varfull has been held as a leasehold for lives, or under copy of court roll, for more than a century, by the family of Davy, and actually belonged to Sir Humphry Davy, whose name has reflected so much honour, not on Cornwall alone, but on the whole nation to which he belonged.
The church, with the church town and the rectory, are placed in a commanding situation, and being surrounded by trees, make one of the most pleasing objects in the Mount’s Bay. The house has been entirely rebuilt by the late rector Mr. John Stephens. The tower is one of the most correct in its proportions and in its ornaments of any in the west of Cornwall. About the year 1761, a pinnacle was thrown down by lightning, and the effect was then universally imputed to the vengeance of a perturbed spirit exorcised from Treassow, and passing eastward towards the usual place of banishment in the Red Sea.
A more ancient legend is also connected with this church. After St. Ludgvan, an Irish missionary, if such a one ever existed, had constructed the fabric, he brought a stream of water under the church stile, with the intention of bestowing on the water various miraculous powers; among others, that of enabling every infant sprinkled with it at the baptismal font, instantly to acquire the power of making all the responses in distinct words, and probably in the Latin tongue; but, being interrupted by some unhallowed interference, his general purposes were defeated, so that one alone of the many intended qualities could by possibility be conferred; a qaality very different from the former, but so much esteemed by some descriptions of persons, that, within times of memory, children are reported to have been brought there for baptism, to acquire the protection afforded by this consecrated stream, which, after washing away the stain of original sin, does not indeed effectually guard the infant against committing crimes of his own, but against ever expiating them through the medium of an
hempen cord; and experience is said to have proved that the charm does not extend to one of silk.
But the church of Ludgvan is not driven to seek renown from ancient missionaries or from legendary saints: during fifty years of the eighteenth century, it had for its rector Dr. William Borlase, a man of whom Cornwall will ever have reason to be proud.
At a time when the very names of natural science were scarcely heard among us, and when our mining and metallurgic processes were matters merely empiric, Dr. Borlase kindled the first spark of light, and fanned it by long-continued and able exertions, guided by a correspondence with persons the most distinguished on the continent of Europe, as well as at home, with the great Linnæus, and with Boerhaave, in some departments superior even to Linnæus himself. When no communications were maintained by the rapid circulation of periodical journals, antiquities, as connected with classical acquirements, had proceeded much further than the sciences dependent on mathematics and on natural philosophy. Dr. Borlase, in a most learned work, essayed to trace the learning, the mythology, and the civil institutions of the Celtic people, the earliest inhabitants of Britain, and especially of their priests the Druids; and with such success, that it established his high reputation for learning, for extensive research, and for discriminating judgment, throughout the literary world, where the subject, from its general nature, excited universal attention. For this work the degree of Doctor in Civil Law by diploma was conferred on him by the University of Oxford; an honour bestowed with so much discrimination and regard to its high value, that the next instance occurs in the case of Dr. Johnson, about ten years afterwards.
The following document has been copied by the Editor from the official Register at Oxford, and it is inserted as a
record at once honourable to Dr. Borlase and to the University:
“Mr. Vice-Chancellor and Gentlemen,
“Whereas I have been informed that it is proposed among you to confer the degree of Doctor in Civil Law by diploma upon the Reverend William Borlase, Master of Arts, formerly of Exeter College, and now Rector of Ludgvan in Cornwall, whose abilities as a scholar are sufficiently known to the public by his learned and valuable work, entitled ‘The Natural History and Antiquities of Cornwall;’ and also having heard that he has been a considerable benefactor to the University by presenting to the Ashmolean Museum a curious collection of ores, crystals, and other specimens of natural subjects, I give my full consent that he should receive the proposed testimony of your approbation, and am, Mr. Vice-Chancellor and Gentlemen,
Your affectionate friend and servant,
Litchfield.
“Hill Street, March 8, 1766.”
“Lectis hisce literis et approbatis, diploma tenoris sequentis per registrarium lectum erat, et ex decreto venerabilis domus in proxima congregatione communi Universitatis sigillo muniendum.
“Cancellarius, Magistri, et Scholares Universitatis Oxoniensis omnibus ad quos præsens scriptum pervenerit, salutem in Domino sempiternam.
“Cum a majoribus nostris eo consilio gradus academici instituti fuerint, ut eximia virorum eruditorum studia digno præconio honestarent, aliisque imitanda proponerent;
“Nos Cancellarius, Magistri, et Scholares Universitatis Oxoniensis, summa cum voluptate, viri Reverendi Gulielmi Borlase, ecclesiæ de Ludgvan in comitatu Cornubiæ rectoris, et olim e collegio Exoniensi Artium Magistri, scripta pervolventes, queis natalis sui soli res cum naturales tum
antiquas descripsit, magnoque sumptu et labore diutino in lucem edidit; nec inter ea immemores benevolentiæ suæ et pietatis in Matrem Academicam singularis, quâ varia quæ sibi occurrebat, mineralium, metallorum, et vetustissimi ævi reliquiarum supellectili, Museum nostrum Ashmoleanum locupletavit, quo viro tantum de nobis et republica literarum merito debitus constet honos, (quique etiam non minus ecclesiam sacerdos, quam patriam ornat philosophus,) in frequenti academicorum senatu decrevimus eundem Gulielmum Borlase, gradu Doctoris in Jure Civili, omnibusque quæ ad talem dignitatem pertinent privilegiis, insignire. In cujus rei testimonium sigillum Universitatis commune, quo in hoc casu utimur, præsentibus apponi fecimus.
“Datum in domo nostra convocationis die decimo-tertio mensis Martii, anno Domini millessimo septingentessimo sexagessimo sexto.”
Not having been born sufficiently early even to see this highly distinguished person, I am induced to copy the following short notices from a well-known Biographical Dictionary, with a few trifling alterations:
The Rev. William Borlase, LL.D. a very ingenious and learned writer, was of an ancient family in Cornwall, and born at Pendeen in the parish of St. Just, February 2d, 1695-6. His father had represented St. Ives in Parliament.
Mr. Borlase received the early part of his education at Penzance, but in 1709 removed to Plymouth. In March 1712-13 he became a member of Exeter College; and in June 1719, took his degree of Master of Arts. In 1720 he was ordained priest, and in 1722 he received institution to the rectory of Ludgvan in Cornwall. In 1732 the Lord Chancellor King presented him to the vicarage of St. Just, his native parish, the only preferments he ever obtained.
In the parishes of Ludgvan and St. Just were at that time rich mines of copper and of tin, abounding with a great variety of curious minerals. These he collected, and
from that pursuit was led to study at large the natural history of this most interesting county.
The numerous monuments of remote antiquity scattered over the hills and promontories of Cornwall, made also deep impressions on his mind, and he availed himself of every resource placed within his reach, by previous learning and erudition, to acquire a knowledge of the Druidical learning, and of the manners and customs of the ancient Britons previously to their becoming Christians. In 1750 he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, and in 1753 published in a folio volume, at Oxford, “The Antiquities of Cornwall.” A second edition in the same form came out at London in the year 1769, with considerable additions, under the following title: “Antiquities, Historical and Monumental, of the County of Cornwall, consisting of several Essays on the ancient Inhabitants, Druid Superstition, Customs, and Remains of the most remote Antiquity in Britain and the British Isles; exemplified and proved by Monuments now extant in Cornwall and the Scilly Islands: with a Vocabulary of the Cornu-British language. Revised, with several additions, by the Author.”
His next publication had for its title, “Observations on the ancient and present state of the Islands of Scilly, and their importance to the Trade of Great Britain,” Oxford, 1756, 4to. This work was an extension of a paper, read before the Royal Society in 1753.
In 1758 came out his “Natural History of Cornwall, with Engravings of all the specimens, both animate and mineral, deemed to be of curiosity or of importance,” printed also at Oxford, in one volume folio, the original specimens and many antiquities being deposited in the Ashmolean Museum.
All these works, executed with great ability, patient diligence, and skill, raised the reputation of the author so high throughout the learned world, that in March 1766, the University of Oxford conferred on him their highest honour, the degree of Doctor by diploma, which he lived to
enjoy somewhat more than six years, having departed this life on the 31st of August, 1772.
Besides his literary correspondence with various learned men, he carried on one of peculiar frequency with the great poet of his age, Mr. Alexander Pope, and a large collection of Mr. Pope’s letters to him is still extant, with a variety of other papers, obviously intended for publication.
Dr. Borlase furnished Mr. Pope with many Cornish fossils to decorate his celebrated grotto at Twickenham, where the donor’s name was scored in capitals of the most splendid materials; and in a letter written on the occasion, Mr. Pope says, “I am much obliged to you for your valuable collection of Cornish diamonds. I have placed them where they may best represent yourself, in a shade, but shining.”
The Royal Society is indebted to Dr. Borlase for about twenty different communications, and in addition to all these labours, he for several years undertook the care of some private pupils, and had together under his roof the heirs of the principal families in the neighbourhood, Hawkins, St. Aubyn, and Vyvyan.
A plain stone has been laid over his remains in Ludgven Church, with an inscription rendered almost illegible in the short period of sixty years.
The monument of some distinguished person bears an inscription ending with these words:
Commemorat hæc tabula
brevi et ipsa interitura.
But we may console ourselves with a better reflection,—
Ανδρων γαρ επιφανων πασα Γη Ταφος, και ου Στηλων μονον εν τῃ οικειᾳ σημαινει επιγραφη, αλλα και εν τῃ μη προσηκουσῃ αγραφος μνημη παρ’ εκαστῳ της γνωμης μαλλον η του εργου ενδιαιταται.
Dr. William Borlase left two sons, one a Fellow of All Souls College, and subsequently presented to the University
living of South Tetherwin near Launceston. He married Miss Alice Dewen of Marazion, but died without a family.
The other son was rector of St. Mewan, and his grandson is now in possession of the family estates, not one of the numerous sons of Dr. Walter Borlase having left a male heir.
Since the decease of Dr. William Borlase, two permanent rectors have alone held the church up to the last year 1834, Mr. Herbert Praed, second son of Mr. Humphry Mackworth Praed of Trevethow, and Mr. John Stephens of Tregenna; but their relative situations, in regard to the individuals possessing the right of presentation, have induced many to conjecture that this power may have been exercised from considerations not strictly conformable to those in contemplation when advowsons were entrusted to private hands. Mr. Stephens is succeeded by the Rev. Henry Elliot Graham; a relation or connection of the gentleman now representing the Powlet family.
The chief proprietor of land in this parish is the Rev. John Rogers of Penrose, canon residentiary of Exeter. Mr. Gregar of Trewarthenick has also some farms; and as leasehold proprietors, the family of Curnow have been ancient residents.
The parish feast is kept on the nearest Sunday to St. Paul’s Day, January 25.
This parish measures 3941 statute acres.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 | 5755 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 561 | 3 | 0 |
| Population,— | |||
| in 1801, 1324 | in 1811, 1491 | in 1821, 1839 | in 1831, 2322 |
giving an increase of 75 per cent. in 30 years.
GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.
The northern corner of this parish is situated on granite, resembling that of Gulval in every respect, except as
to one variety abounding in mica. Much of this stone may be seen in the more ancient houses at Penzance. The spot, however, from whence this stone was procured, is no longer known. A difference of opinion is indeed entertained as to whether it was gotten from blocks near the surface, or from a bed that has been exhausted; but all are agreed as to the district from whence it came; and it is universally known by the name of Ludgvan stone. The property of cleaving evenly into regular blocks, eminently possessed by this species of granite, makes it valuable for building purposes; and this property is clearly derived from the even arrangement of the scale of mica in which it abounds.
Between the granite and the sea-shore a considerable portion of the schistose rocks is covered by a marsh, and by banks of sand. These rocks are made up of compact felspar, sometimes nearly pure, at others intimately united with hornblend or actynolite; they are traversed by courses or dykes of felspar porphyry, as may be seen on the sea-shore.
[2] Extracted from an “Account of certain Hill Castles, near the Land’s End in Cornwall,” by William Cotton, Esq. F.S.A. printed in the Archæologia, vol. XXII. where a plan and section of Castle-an-Dinas will be found, taken with greater care than that in Lysons’s Cornwall. In the Gentleman’s Magazine, LXXII. p. 393, are engravings of two stone weights found within the inner circle of this fortress. The weight of one was seventeen pounds and a half; and that of the other three pounds one ounce.