Very little is known about the hospital of St. John in this parish. The following short notice is all that occurs in Dugdale’s Monasticon:
“Helston.—Leland, in his Itinerary, mentions an hospital of St. John yet standing at the west-south-west end of the town of Helston, of the foundation of one Killigion or Killegrew. It is mentioned in the Register of Edmund Stafford, Bishop of Exeter (from 1395 to 1419) fol. 135. In the 26th of Henry VIII. the total revenue of this hospital amounted to £14. 7s. 4d. The net receipts to £12. 16s. 4d. per annum.” At the foot of the hill, and on the south side of the road leading from Mirazion, just as it turns almost at a right angle, is a large stone placed upright, bearing in relief the sword of St. John, having its guard in such a position as to represent the potence of a cross; and this stone is believed to point out very nearly the site of the ancient hospital.
The great tithes of this parish were appropriated to the monastery of Glaseney, near Penryn; they have since the reformation passed through different hands, and belong to Sir Samuel-Thomas Spry, M.P. for Bodmin, son of the late Admiral Spry.
The present incumbent is the Rev. Samuel Cole, D.D. Chaplain General to the Navy. About a century ago this living was held, together with Phillack and Gwithian, by the Rev. Edward Collins, the Editor’s great-grandfather.
The parish feast is kept on the first Sunday in August.
Sithney measures 4896 statute acres.
| £. | s. | d. | |
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 | 5,839 | 0 | 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 902 | 14 | 0 |
| Population,— | |||
| in 1801, 1420 | in 1811, 1552 | in 1821, 2238 | in 1831, 2772 |
giving an increase of 95 per cent. in 30 years.
THE GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.