MINSTER.
HALS.
The manuscript relating to this parish is lost.
TONKIN.
Minster, a rectory in the hundred of Lesnewith, is bounded to the west by Trevelga, to the north by Farrabury, to the east by St. Juliot, and to the south by the parish of Lesnewith.
In the taxation of Pope Nicholas this parish is named Talkarn, and is valued at £5. In Wolsey’s valuation it is taken at £22. 17s. 10d. The patronage in Edward Amy, Esq.; the incumbent Mr. James Amy his brother.
THE EDITOR.
Near the church are some ruins still to be seen of a monastic establishment, said by Mr. Lysons, on the authority of Doctor William Borlase’s manuscript collections, to have been a priory of Black Monks called Minster, or Tolcarne, founded by William de Botreaux, as a cell to Tywardreth, itself subject to the abbey of St. Sergius and Bacchus, in Angiers. Tywardreth, however, after having been seized into the King’s hands, as an alien priory, was made independent and denizen, and continued till the general dissolution by Henry the Eighth. Probably therefore Minster remained as a parcel of Tywardreth up to the same eventful period.
Tanner, however, calls it merely an alien priory to the abbey of St. Sergius and Bacchus at Angiers, without any notice of Tywardreth.
In Dugdale’s Monasticon is the following addition to
Tanner: Minster Prior, alienigena habet in proprios usus Ecclesias de Minster et Bodecastell; and in a note there is a reference to muniments in Exeter Cathedral, and to MS. collections in the British Museum, vol. XL. p. 39, for a resignation of this priory by the abbot and convent de Valle, or Vale Royal, in Cheshire; from which it would seem that this house was not restored to Tywardreth after the sequestration of both.
The manor of Pollifont, in Lewannick, (see that parish) which formerly belonged to this priory, is now an appendage to the living, so that the rector of Minster is lord of the manor of Pollifont; and the customs of the manor are said to be, that on the accession of a new rector, after the decease of the former, but not otherwise, the tenants pay him thirty pounds and one penny, raised according to some ancient schedule among themselves.
Several small fees are due on surrenders and on admissions at the manor courts, and on the death of each tenant a heriot becomes due to the lord, which is either his best beast or six guineas, and in addition to these, there is an annual payment of four pounds.
Minster church lies in a deep valley, surrounded by trees, giving the strongest impression of its forming the quire of a sequestered monastery. It contains several monuments to the Henders, Cottons, &c. One has a Latin inscription, with the curious pedantic device of certain letters standing prominent among others in the different words, and indicating, as Roman numerals, the various dates. Four lines on William Cotton, son of William Cotton who held the see of Exeter from 1598 to 1621, and on Elizabeth his wife, daughter and coheir of John Hender, have been frequently transcribed, on account of their extreme simplicity:
Forty-nine years they lived man and wife,
And what’s more rare, thus many without strife,
She first departing, he a few weeks tried
To live without her, could not—and so died.
This church is one of the very few in Cornwall that want the decoration of a tower, and strange legends are circulated to account for this defect, probably of a more ancient date than the Reformation. The bells are said to have arrived in a vessel almost to the spot where they would have been landed, when an expression of the captain, implying confidence in the powers which God had given him, construed into blasphemy by Anthopomophites of all religions, is supposed to have caused the immediate destruction of the ship, with every one on board; but when the ground seas roll with their accustomed violence on this iron-bound coast, the bells are still fancied not only to ring a peal, but to indicate by particular sounds the cause of this reputed miracle, intended to convince mankind that they are bound to neglect and to render vain whatever gifts the Almighty may have bestowed on them, and thanklessly to employ their time in imploring more.
This place was in feudal times the residence of a baronial family, bearing the name of Botreaux, which they imparted to a manor, or, as the Court Rolls would testify, to an honor, having manors dependent, and enclosing the town of Botreaux Castle, dignified by the appellation of a borough; a term, it may be observed, that had not in ancient times any reference to the privilege of sending members to parliament.
Mr. Lysons says, that William Lord Botreaux, the last of this family, fell in the second battle of St. Alban’s, leaving an only daughter, married to Sir Robert Hungerford.
The honour of Botreaux, and the manor of Worthyvale, went with the heiress of Hungerford to the family of Hastings, by whom this property was sold to John Hender, esq. in the reign of Queen Elizabeth.
John Hender appears to have had four daughters and coheiresses: Katharine, married to John Molesworth; Frances, to Richard Robarts, of Truro; Mary, to Ellis Heale, of Devonshire; and Elizabeth, to William Cotton, son of the Bishop; Boscastle and Worthyvale came as a portion to the last.
Sir John Cotton, probably the grandson of William Cotton, resided here, and died in 1703, without a family; he gave the property to his sister’s son, Mr. Amy, Sheriff of Cornwall in the year 1714, whose father had the living of Minster. His son, Cotton Amy, esq. married one of the two daughters and coheiresses of Samuel Gilbert, of Tackbear, in Bridgerule, and had two daughters: Grace, married to Mr. Jonathan Phillipps, of Camelford, a Captain in the Cornwall Militia. This lady had several children, who all died at early ages; and her sister never married, having continued in a state of derangement at Botreaux Castle for many years.
Sir Jonathan Phillipps (for he had been knighted on the occasion of presenting an address from Camelford, when a female offering a petition to King George the Third, was observed to have a knife in her hand,) left his share of this property, with the remainder of his own estate, to Mr. Thomas Winslow, the son of his sister, on his taking the name of Phillipps, which he did, and was succeeded by his son, who now resides at Landue, in Lezant, but having purchased that place and lands about it, Mr. Phillipps has parted with much of the estate at Botreaux Castle to Mr. Avery, a gentleman who carries on a very considerable trade there, and seems likely to raise the place into greater opulence and importance than it can have experienced since the fall of its feudal grandeur.
An elevated piece of ground, rendered steep by artificial scarping, is pointed out as the site of the castle, which gave a termination to the honour of Botreaux. This castle had, however, disappeared before the time of Carew; and the dwelling of Sir John Cotton, probably constructed after the castle had become a ruin, which used to be called The Great House, was scarcely habitable fifty years ago, and has now disappeared.
The port of Botreaux Castle admits coasting vessels in fine weather, and considerable trade is carried on there by exporting the excellent slatestone with which that neighbourhood abounds, and by importing coal and lime, in addition
to such articles of commerce as the adjacent country may require.
It is generally believed that the harbour might be rendered safe and commodious for a sum much within the limits of private expenditure. Ponderous articles might be raised to any required level by the power of water wheels, and from the summit of the acclivity, a flat plain extends to the distance of many miles inland; so that a possibility at the least seems to exist, of Botreaux Castle becoming the site of an extensive commerce.
The advowson of the living belongs jointly to Mr. Thomas John Phillipps, representative through his great uncle of Miss Grace Amy, and the representatives of her sister. The late incumbent was the Rev. R. Winsloe, uncle to Mr. Phillipps.
The manor of Worthyvale was sold to Mr. Hugh Boscawen in the early part of the last century, and was used as a hunting seat; it has again been sold by one of his descendants, and it belonged some years since to a gentleman of the name of Farnham.
The single stone laid over a stream, having some letters cut on its lower surface, and which is believed to have marked the exact spot where Arthur received his death wound, is nearly in front of the house at Worthyvale.
This parish measures 2838 statute acres.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 | 2089 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 253 | 19 | 0 |
| Population,— | |||
| in 1801, 311 | in 1811, 396 | in 1821, 425 | in 1831, 497 |
giving an increase of 25½ per cent. in 30 years.
Present Rector, the Rev. Charles Woolcombe, presented in 1825 by the Rev. R. Winsloe.
GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.
The geological structure of this parish is similar to that of Lesnewith, except that at its northern extremity it contains pyritous and carbonaceous rocks like those of Farrabury.
ST. MINVER, or ST. MYNFER.
HALS.
Minver, or St. Mynfer, vicarage, is situate in the hundred of Trigg, and hath upon the north and west the Irish sea cliff and Padstow harbour, south Egleshayle, east St. Endellyan.
In the Domesday Book this parish was taxed by the name of Ros-minver. In the Inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, into the value of Cornish benifices, 1294, Ecclesia de Mynfred, or Mynfer, in decanatu de Minor Trigshire, was rated £7, vicar ejusdem 20s. In Wolsey’s Inquisition, 1521, £13. 10s. 1d. The patronage, formerly in the Prior of Bodmin, who endowed it, now Prideaux, of Netherton; the incumbent Lewellen; and the parish rated to the 4s. per pound Land Tax, 1696, temp. William III. £385. 13s.
At Trevill-va, alias Trevellva, there is yet extant an ancient free chapel for divine service, kept in good repair by the lord of this place, furnished with an old English Bible, heretofore made use of in this chapel.
This barton is the dwelling of William Silly, Esq. commissioner for the peace temp. James II. and one of his corporation regulators. He married Kekewich, of Trehawke; and had issue Hender Silly, his son and heir, that died without issue; after her death he married Honour, one of the coheirs of Carter, and hath issue by her also; his father married Cotton (sister to Sir John Cotton, of Botreaux Castle). His grandfather, John Silly, gent. attorney-at-law, of St. Wenn, married Marks, of that place, where he got a great estate by the inferior practice of the law, and altered his name and arms from Ceely to Silly, for what reason I know not; in testimony whereof he and his posterity ever since gave the arms of Ceely, viz. in a field Azure, a chevron between three mullets Or.
King James the Second’s regulators of corporations in Cornwall, were Humphrey Borlase, esq. of Treludrow, Sheriff, William Silly, esq. aforesaid, William Cood, of Pensiple, esq. Mr. Edward Vincent, of Truro, and Edward Noseworthy, esq.
Here Mr. Hals’ manuscript is deficient, and several subsequent parishes are lost.
TONKIN.
Mr. Tonkin has merely copied a few of the introductory sentences from Mr. Hals.
THE EDITOR.
The great tithes of this parish, and the presentation to the vicarage, were parts of the possessions belonging to the priory of Bodmin at the dissolution.
In the taxation of Pope Nicholas the rectory and vicarage are assessed:
| Ecclesia Sancte Minfrede | Rec. | £7 | 0 | 0 |
| Vicar ejusdem | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
In the returns made to First Fruits officers for King Henry the Eighth, of the Ecclesiastical and temporal property belonging to this house, is this entry:
| Mynfrey | Decimæ Garbæ | £14 | 13 | 6 |
The manor of Bodmin was bestowed by the King on the well-known poet Mr. Thomas Sternhold, for his translation of The Psalms, which may fairly be considered as a very adequate reward; but almost all the ecclesiastical possessions were given to the Prideauxes, and were finally sold about fifty years ago, soon after the decease of the last representative of the Devonshire branch of that family. Both the appropriated rectory and the vicarage were purchased by the Rev. William Sandys.
Mr. Sandys distinguished himself at Oxford, and was in consequence elected a Fellow of All Souls. He travelled through the south of Europe with Mr. Francis Basset, afterwards Lord de Dunstanville, and held the living of Illogan till Mr. John Basset, a younger brother, received priest’s orders. He married Miss Mary Praed, of Trevethow; and dying in 1816, he left the larger part of a handsome fortune to Mr. William Warren, a sister’s son, who married Miss Marshall, another sister’s daughter, and their son having taken the name of Sandys, is now the possessor, and resides at St. Minver.
A presentation to the vicarage was given by Mr. Sandys to the Rev. George Treweeke, the son of a third sister, who has also the rectory of Illogan.
Mr. Sandys, in consequence of some incident or of some allusion now forgotten, but not in diminution of the respect most justly due to his talents and his learning, acquired the appellation of Cardinal, perhaps from his having worn a scarlet dress at Rome, on some public occasion.
A monument is placed in the church to Mrs. Sandys, with the following inscription:
M. S.
Mariæ fil: sec: H. M. Praed de Trevethow in hoc Agro,
et Gul. Sandys, A.M. olim Col: Om: Anim: Oxon: Soc.
Deinde hujus Parochiæ Vicarii
Uxoris dilectissimæ.
Quæ ob. 4to die mens: Aprilis A.D. MDCCCIX ætatis LX.
Amoris ergo et desiderii
Maritus superstes heu! et mœrens
H. M. P. C.
Mr. Lysons says that the manor of Penmear was given by the Black Prince to Sir William Woodland, usher of his chamber, but that it reverted again to the Duchy.
Trevernon, or Trewornan, belonged in the reign of king James the First, to Thomas Clifford, D.D. It afterwards became the seat of the Howes; from whom it passed, with
an heiress, to the Darells. It is now the residence of the Rev. Darell Stephens, their representative.
There is a monument to Thomas Darell, esq. who died in 1691.
Pentire Point in this parish is the boldest promontory on the southern side of the Bristol Channel. The barton of which this headland forms a part, belonged to a family of the same name, till it passed with an heiress to Roscarrock, and from them by an heiress to Tremayne; and it belongs at present to John Hearle Tremayne, esq. of Heligon.
Trevelver, once a seat of the Arundells, belongs now to the family of Yeo.
This parish is divided on the eastern side from St. Kew, by an estuary dangerous to passengers, and where lives were not unfrequently lost, till Mr. Sandys took the lead in constructing a bridge across the ford, which he effected after much exertion, and at a considerable expense to himself.
Although St. Minver is strictly one entire parish, yet there are two ancient chapels still remaining with districts assigned to them, out of which some of the parish officers are annually chosen.
The parish church, with its more appropriate division, is called Highlands, and the remaining part annexed in some degree to the chapels, is called Lowlands, subdivided into north and south. One of the chapels, according to Mr. Lysons, is dedicated to St. Michael; which, if the fact is so, must be a very unusual circumstance, as the wings of the archangel appear to have associated his habits, in popular opinion, with those of birds, which led him to delight in elevated situations; the other chapel has for its patron St. Enodoc or St. Gwinnodock.
One of these chapels happening to require repair about the middle of the last century, the vestry or the parish officers sold the bells to reimburse the expense, notwithstanding their being tenfold consecrated by the inscription:
ALFREDUS REX.
It is perhaps too much to assume that they were given by the Great Alfred, although his visits to St. Neot must have brought that most illustrious of our kings into this neighbourhood.
The baptising of bells, and their dedication, have so much prevailed, that these were in all probability cast long since the time of Alfred; but his name should have been their protection, if other protection were wanted than their consecrated use.
The following monkish lines not unfrequently appear on bells made prior to the reformation:
Laudo Deum verum—Populum voco—Congrego clerum
Defunctos ploro—Fugo fulmina:—Festa decoro.
Great Tom of Oxford, (called Thomas Clusius) while it remained at Oseney Abbey, and before it was re-cast for its present station in 1670, had this curious legend:
In Thomæ laude resono BIM BOM sine fraude.
It weighs 17,000 lbs.
St. Minver measures 6604 statute acres.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 | 8,354 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 834 | 17 | 0 |
| Population,— | |||
| in 1801, 788 | in 1811, 851 | in 1821, 1028 | in 1831, 1110 |
giving an increase of 41 per cent. in 30 years.
Present Vicar, the Rev. George Treweeke, also Rector of Illogan, presented by William Sandys, esq. in 1817.
GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.
The part of this parish which lies parallel with Endellion, resembles it in geological composition; but one part of it extends further north, and contains a compact rock of the same nature as that of Trevose Head in St. Merryn.