A castle is said to have belonged to this manor, but no traces of it remain; the appellation seems indeed to have been very loosely applied in the latter part of our feudal times, so as frequently to indicate no more than the residence of a chief.
The village round the church, or, according to the expression used in Cornwall, “the church town,” is always called Golant. The houses are situated in a romantic cross valley, nearly where it terminates in Fowey River.
The inhabitants boast that in this village was established the first boarding-school for young ladies that appeared in Cornwall, and they call the attention of visitors to these peculiarities connected with this church:—“That it has a fire-place within it; that a well of water flows over in the porch; and that a tree in the churchyard o’ertops the tower.”
This parish measures 1340 statute acres.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 | 1874 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 185 | 5 | 0 |
giving an increase of 86 per cent. in 30 years.
The Rev. Thomas Pearse was presented to St. Sampson’s chapel in 1815, by W. Rashleigh, Esq.
THE GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.
The rocks of this parish are intermediate between those of the porphyritic and calcareous series: on the northern part passing into the former, which are better developed as they pass on towards the granite in Tywardrath; on the southern part the rocks begin to assume the character of the calcareous series, which is complete in Fowey.