TALLAND.

HALS.

Talland is situate in the hundred of West, and hath upon the north Pelynt, east the haven or harbour of Looe, south the British Channel, west Lansallas.

In the Domesday Book 1087, this district was taxed under the Jurisdiction and in the Inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester, into the value of Cornish Benefices, Ecclesia de Talland 1294, was rated at £8. vicar ejusdem 40s. In Wolsey’s Inquisition 1521, it was not valued or named. The patronage is in ——; the incumbent ——; and the rectory in possession of ——; and the parish rated to the four shillings per pound Land Tax 1696, for one year, £156. 15s. But if the word Talland be compounded only of Ta-land, it signifies the good acceptable land.

West Looe, alias Porth-Vyan, Porth-Byan, alias Porth-Bichan or Porth-Bigan, or Pigan, all synonymous words in British, only varied by the dialect, which signifies the little gate, cove, creek, or entrance, according to the natural circumstances of the place, where daily the sea makes its flux and reflux some miles up into the land or country, through a narrow passage betwixt the parishes of St. Martin’s and Talland aforesaid, over which is a curious and strong stone bridge of about twelve arches, which as an artificial ligament fastens those parishes and the towns of East and West Looe together; which latter, by the name of Porth Byhan, was taxed as the voke lands of a privileged borough or manor in the Domesday Book as aforesaid, 1087, and still known by the name of Porth Byan or West Looe; and by this name all its privileges were confirmed, and the town incorporated 16th of Queen Elizabeth, by the name of the mayor and burgesses thereof, consisting of a mayor and twelve burgesses.

The members of Parliament are elected by the majority of freemen; and the precept from the Sheriff, or the writ for electing those members, as also for removal of an action at law depending in this court to a superior, must be thus directed:

Majori et Liberis Burgensibus Burgi sui de Porth Byan, alias West Looe, in comitatu Cornubiæ, salutem.

And as a further testimony of its present grandeur, though I take it much inferior in riches and building to the late erected town of East Looe, it hath ever, and still stands as a noun substantive in the Exchequer, and was rated to the four shillings per pound Land Tax for one year, by the name of the borough of West Looe, £15. 13s. 1696. Whereas, the borough of Michell falls under the tax of Newlan and St. Enedor parishes; Bosinney or Trevena under Dundagell; and Camelford under Lantegles, in the Exchequer, without name or value.

This town is also privileged with a fair yearly, on 25th April, and markets weekly.

Seal of “Portuan otherwys called West Lo.”

The arms of this borough are, a soldier or man of war Proper, with a bow in one hand, and an arrow in the other. For the etymology of Looe, see East Looe.

This manor of borough of Porthbyan, as I am informed, was heretofore villanage tenure, and pertained to the Bodrigans.

In this town of West Looe, was born Charles Wager, as I am informed, son of —— Wager; who, being placed an apprentice at sea, grew so expert in navigation and the mathematics, that he became a great master in that art; and being after in the sea fight between Queen Anne and the French and Spaniards, he behaved himself so well in his valour and conduct, though to the loss of one of his arms, that by Queen Anne or King George he was afterwards knighted, and preferred, not only to the command of a third-rate frigate, but made Admiral of the Red Squadron of Men of War, for him and his son King George the Second, in the Baltic Sea and British Channel 1729.

In this parish stands the barton and manor of Killygarth. This lordship, tempore Edward III. was the lands of the Sergeaulxes, and particularly of Richard de Sergeaulx, who is mentioned in Mr. Carew’s Survey of Cornwall, page 52, 25 Edward III. then to have held in

Cornwall, by the tenure of knight service, £20 per annum in lands and tenements. His son Sir Richard Sergeaulx, knight, was Sheriff of Cornwall, 12 Richard II. whose son Richard Sergeaulx held in Killygarth, Lanreth, and Lansulhas, three little knight’s fees of land of Morton, as also two fees and a half in Colquite, (idem librum, p. 42,) 3 Henry IV. (five knight’s fees was four thousand acres of land); who dying without issue male, his three daughters or sisters became his heirs, and were married to Seyntaubyn and Beare of Cornwall, and Marney of Essex, as I am informed; after whose decease, Beare became seised of this lordship, was married and had issue Thomas Beare, esq. Sheriff of Cornwall, 4th of Edward IV.; and William Beare, Sheriff of Cornwall, 6th of Edward IV. who gave the bear for his arms, the colours I know not.

This William Beare had issue only one daughter, married to Peter Bevill, a younger brother of John Bevill of Gwarnack, esq. who had issue by her, John Bevill, esq. that married Mileton of Pengersick; who by her had issue Sir William Bevill, knight, Sheriff of Cornwall, 31st of Elizabeth 1591, that married ——, but had no legitimate issue: so that his brother Philip’s daughter Elizabeth became his heir, and was married to Sir Bernard Grenvill of Stowe, knight, father of Sir Bevill Grenvill, knight, that sold this lordship of Killygarth to Killygrew, from whom it passed to Hallet, and from him to Kendall of Middlesex, now in possession thereof.

The arms of Bevill are Ermine, a bull passant Sable.

Hen-darsike in this parish is a contraction of Hen-dowers-ike, i. e. old, ancient cove, creek, lake, or bosom of waters, lands probably under such circumstances. It is the dwelling of John Morth, esq. that married —— Buller of Morvall; his father William Morth was Sheriff of Cornwall 2 William III.

This family in genteel degree hath flourished in this place for many generations, though I am not informed as to the particulars.

In this parish at Trenake is the dwelling of Thomas Achym, gent. which family hath flourished in those parts for many generations in genteel degree, and give for their Arms, in a field Argent a maunch mantail Sable, within a bordure of the First charged with cinquefoiles of the Second. If the name of Achym be a monosyllable, it signifies in British a descendant, issue, offspring, or progeny.

TONKIN AND WHITAKER.

Talland is in the hundred of West, and is bounded to the west by Launcells, to the north by Pelynt, to the east by Looe river, and to the south by the British Channel.

This is a vicarage, not valued in the King’s Book; but in anno 1291, 20 Edward I. it was valued, the rectory (Tax. Benef.) at £8, it having been appropriated to Launceston Priory; and the vicarage at 40s. The patronage is in Archdeacon Kendall, and the incumbent Mr. Doidge.

Mr. Thomas Kendall had a younger brother, Colonel James Kendall, who was Governor of Barbadoes in ——, one of the lords of the Admiralty under Queen Anne, and a member of Parliament in several Parliaments: he died suddenly, unmarried, July the 10th, 1708, at his house in London, very rich, and left a natural son by Mrs. Colliton, who now goes by the name of Kendall.

Under Killygarth is Porth-Para, vulgo Polpera, id est, the sandy port. “A little to the eastwards,” saith Carew, (fol. 131 b.) “from Killygarth, the poor harbour and village of Polpera coucheth between two steep hills:” [from which circumstance, as I know of no word similar to para in the Cornish, and signifying sand in English, I might more aptly take the name to be (as Carew writes, and as usage sounds it) pol-pera, pol-poran, the close or strait pool. But the fact is, that the name is purely English, with a Cornish pronunciation. “By est, the haven of Fowey upon a iiii miles of,” says Leland, Itin. vii. 121), “ys a smawle creke cawled Paul Pier, and a symple and poore village upon the est side of the same, of

fisharmen, and the bootes ther fishing by [be] saved by a Peere or key. In the est side of this Paul Pirre,” &c. And since the cove is still written as Leland first writes it, “Paul Pier” (See Borlase’s map) so is it obviously allusive to the “Pier or Key,” which he mentions at it. W.] where plenty of fish is vented to the fish-drivers, whom we call “jowters” [men who jolt about with horses and panniers to sell fish]. And between this and the church is Porth Talland.

The manor by the name of Tallan, in the extent of Cornish acres, 12 Edward I. is valued in six. (Carew, fol. 49.) [Here let me just note what Mr. Tonkin has omitted, the etymology of the name of the parish, and of the manor. Written originally Tallan, and gaining only the final T. by vicious pronunciation, the manor and the parish derive their name apparently from the church; and this takes its appellation from its site, I apprehend, being seated upon the high bold shore of the channel, and so being called Tal-Lan, the high church or the church upon a high position; just as Tal-ar (C.) signifies a high land or headland, and as a high rock in St. Allen is called Tal-Carne. W.] Of the ancient lords of which manor I shall give a full account on the other side [see towards the end]; and only take notice here, that within it, and

Next is the church. Near this the family of Murth hath long dwelt. “In the same parish where Killingworth is seated,” saith Carew, (fol. 131), “Master Murth inheriteth a house and demaynes: hee maried Treffry: his father Tregose. One of their ancestors, within the memory of a next neighbour to the house called Prake (burdened with a hundred and ten yeeres of age), entertained a British

master and his guests at a Christmas supper, carrieth them speedily unto Lantreghey,” [or the church town in Bretagne] “and forceth the gentleman to redeeme his inlargement with a sale of a great part of his revenues.”

The present owner is Jeffry Murth, esq. who is a Justice of the Peace, and a very honest good-natured gentleman: he is married to the daughter of John Oxenham, of Oxenham in Devon, esq. His father, John Murth, esq. married Elizabeth, the daughter of John Buller, of Morval, esq. Arms of Murth, Sable, a chevron between three falcon’s legs erased, with bells, Or.

THE EDITOR.

Mr. Bond has given so good and ample an account of this parish in his Topographical and Historical Sketches of East and West Looe, 1 vol. 8vo. printed by Nichols, 25, Parliament Street, Westminster, 1823, that the whole which is addative to Hals and Tonkin, is here inserted.

West Looe is situated in the parish of Talland, within which parish is a hamlet called Lemain, and part of West Looe lies in this hamlet. On the barton of Portlooe in the parish of Talland, just opposite Looe Island, was a cell of Benedictine Monks, called Lammana, subject to the Abbey of Glastonbury, to which the site appears to have been given by the ancestors of Hastulus de Solenny; there are some remains of the chapel still in existence.

I measured this chapel on the 13th of April 1815, and found it, within the walls, about forty-seven feet long by twenty-four wide. About three or four hundred yards to the eastward of the chapel are the remains of some antient building, perhaps that in which the monks dwelt. The remains of the eastern end wall thereof, at present eight or ten feet high, have two very narrow windows or openings, still in being. The situation of this chapel and house is very pleasant; they lie in a sort of natural amphitheatre, sheltered from the north winds by high land.

In Hearne’s Appendix to Adam de Domerham, is a grant of Hastulus de Solenny, confirming the Island of St. Michael de Lammana (most probably that of St. George opposite Looe) to the Monks of Glastonbury; a grant of Roger Fitzwilliam quitting claim to the lands of Lammana, which he held for life under the Church of Glastonbury (reserving the house which Mabil his sister occupied), and one of Richard Earl of Cornwall, granting the Monks a licence to farm out the church, and the Island of Lammana. It appears that Abbat Michael, about the middle of the thirteenth century, leased it to the Sacristary of the Convent. The Free Chapel of La Mayne in Cornwall, was granted to Edward Bostock, 5th Jac.—Lysons’s Mag. Brit.

Two of the grants noticed by Mr. Lysons, are printed in the New Edition of Dugdale’s Monasticon.

Carta Hastuli filii Johannis de Soleneio.

Universis Christi fidelibus, ad quos præsens scriptum pervenerit, Hastulus filius Johannis de Solenneio, salutem in Domino. Universitati vestræ notificetur, quod Ego Hastulus filius Johannis de Solenneio concessi, et præsenti carta confirmavi, Deo et ecclesiæ beatæ Virginis Mariæ Glaston. et ejusdem loci conventui, totam Insulam Sancti Michaelis de Lammana, cum omnibus pertinentiis suis, et terris, et decimis, quam ab antiquo, dono prædecessorum meorum, tenent; ut in omnibus, tam libere, et quiete, et honorifice, ab omni servitio sæculari et exactione servili, ipsam possideant, integre, plenarie, et pacifice, in planis et pascuis, et in omnibus consuetudinibus liberis, sicut Ego melius et liberius terram meam in dominiis meis possideo, et ut omnia pecora sua cum meis ubique pascantur. Concedo etiam eis plenarie decimas dominii mei omnes de Portlo, et ut jura, libertates et consuetudines, sicut ego in mea curia, ita ipsi in sua curia habeant. Prohibeo siquidem, ne aliquis ex ballivis vel servientibus meis, illis quacumque occasione aliquam molestiam inferant; vel

sæculare servitium ab eisdem exigere præsumant, unde fratres mei, Monachi Glastonienses, in prefato loco Lammana Deo servientes, ab eisdem famulatu, ullatenus præpediantur. Si quis autem huic concessioni meæ fidem et effectum adhibuerit, a pio Judice mercedem condignam inveniat. Qui vero eam in irritum ducere præsumpsit, deleat eum Deus de libro vitæ, et cum Juda proditore sine fine pœnas exolvat. Ne igitur facti mei tenor vacillet in dubio, præsentis scripti paginam sigilli mei appositione roboravi. His testibus,

Helya, tunc ejusdem Priore, et ejus socio Monacho Johanne —Henrico filio Milonis —Willelmo Milite —Grimbaldo —Roberto Clerico —Jordano Decano —Angero de Surtecote —Jocelino Milite fratre ejus —Gervasio Capelleno de Sancto —Marco —Rogero Ruffo —Rogero Cileintenat —Willelmo filio Roberti —et multis aliis.

Carta Ricardi Comitis Cornubiæ.

Omnibus Christi fidelibus ad quos præsens scriptum pervenerit, nobilis vir Ricardus Comes Cornubiæ salutem in Domino. Noveritis nos, pro salute nostra, et hæredum et successorum nostrorum, remisisse et quieta clamasse in perpetuum pro nobis, heredibus et successoribus nostris, viris religiosis, Abbati et conventui Glaston. ac Ecclesiæ ejusdem loci, Hospitia cum arreragiis, sectas comitatum, schire hundredorum, et curias de factum, et omnes alias sectas et consuetudines quæ ad nos et hæredes et successores nostros alicujus jure pertinebant seu pertinere poterant, de terris et possessionibus suis de Lammena, cum pertinentiis, videlicet —pro x solidis sterlingorum annuatim solvendis senescallo nostro vel ballivo Cornubiæ apud castrum de Lanstavetone ad festum sancti Michaelis. Concessimus etiam, in puram et perpetuam elemosinam, dictis Abbati et conventui ecclesiæ Glaston, pro nobis et hæredibus et successoribus nostris imperpetuum, plenam licentiam et liberam potestatem ponendi Ecclesiam et insulam

de Lammana, præfatas ecclesias, terras et possessiones ejusdem loci cum pertinentiis, ad firmam alienandi. Insuper eas, si voluerint, vel aliter de eisdem, pro ipsorum bene placitodis ponendi, sine aliqua contradictione, exactione vel impedimento nostri vel hæredum aut successorum nostrorum.

Et ut hæc nostra remissio, quieta clamantia, et concessio rata sit et in posterum perseveret, huic scripto sigillum apposuimus. His testibus, Dominis Ricardo de Latur, Willelmo Talebot, Petro Gandi, Olivero de Aspervile, Petro de la Mare, militibus, Johanne de Latur, Ricardo Basset, et aliis.

MIDMAIN ROCK.—PORTNADLER BAY.

Between the main land and Looe Island stands a rock, higher than the surrounding ones, which is called Midmain or Magmain. Small vessels frequently pass between the island and the main land, when the tide is in. An imaginary line drawn from Looe Island westward, to a high rock called horestone or orestone, about a mile distant, would form the outer boundary of a piece of water called Portnadler Bay; from whence the name is derived I know not.

CORPORATION.

Queen Elizabeth incorporated West Looe 14th February 1574, in the sixteenth year of her reign, by the name of Mayor and Burgesses of the Borough of Portbyhan, otherwise West Looe, in the county of Cornwall. Twelve chief burgesses were appointed by this charter. The mayor is elected from the Chief Burgesses, by their votes and the votes of the Free Burgesses, on Michaelmas-day annually, between nine and twelve of the clock in the forenoon, and then sworn into office. The mayor is also a Justice of the Peace, as is likewise the steward. The mayor has no power

to appoint a deputy. The steward, however, has such an authority; but his deputy is not a Justice of the Peace.

WEST LOOE DOWN.—GIANT’S HEDGE OR MOUND.

Just above the houses (the intermediate space filled up with gardens and orchards) is a common or down, called West Looe Down, of near a hundred acres, on which are the remains of a mound of earth that runs many miles across the country, and is noticed by Borlase, who, from its extent and other circumstances, supposed it to be a Roman work. His account of it as follows: “That the Romans had ways in the eastern parts of the county about Loo and Lostwithiel, the following antient work, shewn me by the Rev. Mr. Howell, Rector of Lanreath (June 25 and 26, 1756), will abundantly confirm. It is called the Giant’s Hedge, a large mound, which reaches from the valley in which the Boroughs of East and West Looe are situated, to Leryn, on the river Fowey. It is first visible on West Looe Down, about two hundred paces above the Mills; whence it runs to Kilminarth Woods; from and through them to Trelawn Wood, about three hundred paces above Trelawn Mill; then through Little Larnick to the barton of Hall, in which there are two circular encampments, about four hundred paces to the north of it; thence quite through the said barton, making the northern boundary of fields to the glebe of Pelynt Vicarage, called Furze Park; then cross the barton of Tregarrick; and thence, through the north grounds of Tresassen and Polventon, to the glebe lands of the rectory of Lanreath, where I measured it seven feet high and twenty feet wide at a medium; thence it stretches through the tenement of Wyllacombe to Trebant Water; whence it proceeds, through the barton of Longunnet and some small tenements, to Leryn; from which there is a fair dry down, called St. Winnow Down, leading north along to Lostwithiel. This risbank, or mound, ranges up hill and down

hill indifferently; has no visible ditch continued on any brow of a hill, as intrenchments always have; there is no hollow, or foss, on one side more than the other; it is about seven miles long, and tends straight from Looe to Leryn Creek, in the direct line from Looe to Lostwithiel. By all these properties, its height and breadth, in wanting the fosses of fortification, its straightness and length, the grandeur of the design, and the labour of execution, I judge that it can be nothing less than a Roman work. In this supposition I am the more confirmed, first, because several Roman coins have been found on the banks of Fowey river (as see “Antiquities of Cornwall,” p. 282), and, as I have been informed, also in the run of this notable work; secondly, by its tendency to the first ford over the navigable river of Fowey; for it must be observed that the Romans, thoroughly sensible of the delays and hazards of crossing friths and arms of the sea, and the danger of bridges getting into the possession of the natives, were equally averse both to bridges and passing large rivers; they had therefore in constant view the nearest and most commodious fords of rivers, and directed their roads accordingly. Now near Leryn Creek, where the work ends, there is a ford, and no where below is the river Fowey fordable; which plainly accounts for their conveying this road so high up the country, that it might at once convey their troops towards their station at Lostwithiel, and afford them a safe passage over the river Fowey into the western parts, through Grampont and Truro.”

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

The above-mentioned mound is first visible directly above Looe bridge; so that, if a line was drawn west, as

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

which is not quite opposite that of the former. These circles command very fine prospects both of land and sea. Rame Head and the entrance into Plymouth are visible from Berry Park. You can see these circles from Bindown Hill with the naked eye; and from the elevation of that hill you look down on them so as to see their areas.

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

Part of the mound on West Looe Down has been from time to time dug down, to obtain earth for building and plastering. I have several times desired the labourers, in case of their finding any coin or other thing curious, to preserve it; but have never heard of any thing being found of late years. A celt (commonly called in this neighbourhood a thunderbolt[2]) was some years ago found on this Down; and it was given by the late Mr. Bawden, of Looe,

to Mr. James, of St. Kevern. I have a celt, made of a hard black stone, which was found in pulling down an old house at East Looe a few years since; it is between six and seven inches long, and very perfect. I lately saw some like it in shape and stone, but not so large, in the British Museum.

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

POLVELLAN.

On West Looe Down the late John Lemon, esq. (M.P. for Truro, and who died April 5, 1814), about the year 1787 erected a small but extremely neat house in the cottage style, and inclosed some ground round it by virtue of a grant from the Corporation. He gave it the name of Polvellan, and laid it out with great taste. Pol, in Cornish,

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

INCLOSURE OF THE DOWN DESIRABLE.

It is much to be regretted that West Looe Down is not wholly inclosed; the soil is very good, as is apparent from

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

TRADE.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The words are, “De Prioratibus quoque ad Glastoniensem Ecclesiam pertinentibus, ita ordinatum est. Ut

Prioratus de Hibernia ad ordinationem Episcopi, Prioratus vero de Basselake, et de Lamana ad ordinationem conventus pertineant.”

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

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

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

Παρα την σκιην

Καθισον· καλον το δενδρον,

Απαλας σειει δε χαιτας

Μαλακωτατῳ κλαδισκῳ·

Παρα δ᾿ αυτῳ γ᾿ ερεθιξει

Πηγη ρεουσα Πειθους·

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

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

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

Talland measures 2208 statute acres.

Annual value of the Real Property as returned to Parliament in 1815.£.s.d.
 The parish3,17800
 West Looe56300
£374100
Poor Rate in 1831.
 The parish57070
 West Looe129130
£70000
Population,—
in 1801,in 1811,in 1821,in 1831,
The parish709801839341
West Looe376433539593
1076123413781434

giving an increase on the parish of 10½ per cent., on West Looe 57 per cent., on both together of 26 per cent. in 30 years.

Present Vicar, the Rev. N. Kendall, instituted in 1806: he is also the patron. The net income of the vicarage in 1831 was £110. The impropriator of the great tithes is J. Graves, esq.

GEOLOGY, BY DOCTOR BOASE.

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

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