Cuddenbeck the antient seat of the Bishops, has long been occupied as a farm, and now exhibits but little of its ancient episcopal grandeur.
Quitting St. Germains, at the distance of about a mile, is the direct coach road from Tor Point, and within four miles of Liskeard is Catchfrench, the seat of Francis Glanville, Esq., which being built on an eminence, has a commanding effect; although it is a very comfortable and spacious building, yet it does not possess much architectural beauty. The west front is embattled and faced with slate, and at a distance, with the surrounding scenery, has a pleasing effect.
The road from Tor Point to Liskeard is extremely hilly, and in many places even dangerous.
Coledrimick, another spacious mansion like Catchfrench, is also in the parish of St. Germains. It stands about a mile from the road, and within three miles of Liskeard.
Near this also on the right, is the village of Menheniot, the Church of which is a very large edifice with a lofty spire, visible at a considerable distance. This building contains memorials for the families of Carminow and Burell; J. Trelawney, of Coldrinnick, Dean of Exeter; and Lady Charlotte, daughter of James, Earl of Errol, Lord High Constable of Scotland, and wife of William Holwell Carr, B. D., incumbent of the parish, who died in 1801. The vicarage is one of the most valuable benefices in Cornwall, being endowed with the great tithes, subject only to an annual payment of £20 to Exeter College, Oxford. The Dean and Chapter of Exeter are patrons, but pursuant to the directions of Bishop Courtenay, must nominate a fellow of Exeter College. William of Wykham was vicar of this parish: and Dr. Moreman, a learned divine, who was instituted to the vicarage in the reign of Henry VIII., is said to have been the first in these parts who taught and catechised his parishioners in the English language.
The parish of Menheniot abounds with beautiful scenery; its numerous vallies being pleasingly diversified with rock and wood.
Here is a very antient and curious building called Pool, now occupied by the poor of the parish; but remarkable as having been the seat of the ancestors of the present Sir Harry Trelawny; though Carew speaks of it as being far beneath the worth and calling of its then possessor, Sir Jonathan Trelawny. It is now fast mouldering to decay, but displays some very interesting specimens of antient architecture. On the south front, which was the principal entrance, (and exhibited in the accompanying view) is a massive chimney, which age and other circumstances have inclined three feet from its perpendicular; and at this time perhaps, it is chiefly, if not wholly, supported by the ivy which grows about it.
Liskeard is a large and populous market town, situated on rocky hills, and partly in a bottom, about 16 miles from Plymouth, and 223 from London. This place ranks as one of the oldest towns in the county; and it had once a Castle, supposed to have been erected by one of the Earls of Cornwall. It stood on the north side of the town, and its site is still called the Castle Hill; but, even in Leland’s time, it was little more than a heap of ruinous walls. The manor of Liskeard formed a part of their ancient possessions; Liskeard having been made a free borough in 1240, by Richard Earl of Cornwall and King of the Romans, who bestowed on the burgesses the same privileges which he had already granted to those of Launceston and Helston. His son Edmund, in 1275, granted them the fee of the borough, with the profits arising from the markets, fairs, &c., subject to a rent of £18 per annum, which rent King William III. granted to Lord Somers: it is now paid to Lord Eliot, who purchased it of the late Lord Somers.
The Church is a spacious edifice, standing on an eminence at the eastern entrance to the town. It is composed of three aisles, with a low embattled tower at the west end, on which are some curious grotesque heads. The southern part of the building is the most handsome, and over the porch are three Gothic niches. It contains but few monuments worthy of notice.—In the south aisle, is a neat cenotaph to the memory of Lieut. Joseph Hawkey, who was killed in action with some gun boats in the Gulph of Finland, in July 1809, in the 23rd year of his age. There is another for Joseph Wadham, who died in 1707, “being the last of that family, whose ancestors were the founders of Wadham College in Oxford.”
Liskeard has returned members to Parliament, since the reign of Edward the I.; the right of election being vested in the corporation and freemen. The former, according to the charter of Elizabeth, consists of a Mayor, Recorder, eight capital Burgesses, and 15 Assistants.[[40]] In the list of representatives for this borough, we find the name of Lord Chief Justice Coke.