The great tithes and the manor denominated Sanctuary, or Sentery, as was usual with such professions, belonged to the Priory of Launceston. After the dissolution of monasteries, this manor carrying with it the advowson of the vicarage, was annexed to the Duchy of Cornwall, with various other lands, in exchange for the honour and castle of Wallingford.
The great tithes were granted to the family of Wadder, but they have since been sold in parcels.
The place of most importance in this parish after the town, is Bude. This place has always given some shelter for boats, and afforded sand for manure. It has within about twenty years received most essential improvement. A pier or jetty has been built out into the sea, and a canal with inclined planes has been made for the conveyance of coal and merchandise into the country, and for bringing down slate and the produce of land; but above all, for supplying sand as a manure. The sand at this place consists entirely of powdered shells, as it does along the whole north coast of Cornwall, and it is found to be so efficacious for imparting fertility to clay lands, that it is frequently conveyed in wheel carriages to so great a distance from the coast, as to require the draft cattle remaining out a night.
The boats used on this coast are formed like boxes, having within each side a closed trough containing two wheels, which project a very little beyond the lower surface. These wheels are consequently no impediment to the boats floating on the water, but they enable them to ascend or to descend the inclined planes with the facility of other carriages. See a Treatise on the Improvement of Canal Navigation, by R. Fulton, 1 vol. 4to, London, 1796, p. 32, where this plan is suggested perhaps for the first time.
Bude is also become a place of resort for sea bathing; and several houses for the accommodation of strangers have been built by Sir Thomas Acland, so that it has acquired the well-known appellation of a watering place.
The Editor having omitted through inadvertence to notice in the adjoining parish of Launcels a gentleman one of the most respectable in the north-eastern part of Cornwall, hopes that he may be excused for inserting his name here.
Launcells House, a modern building on the spot where formerly stood the residence of the Chamonds, is the seat of George Boughton Kingdon, esq. respected by every one who has the honour of his acquaintance, for scientific and literary acquirements, and esteemed as a benefactor to his neighbourhood in the characters of a magistrate and of a worthy country gentleman.
An instance of longevity has been given in the parish of Stratton, and an occurrence has been stated to the Editor, which proves that Launcells participates in the general healthiness of that district.
It seems the identical six men who rang the bells in Launcells tower on the Coronation of King George the Third, rang them also on the day of his jubilee, having continued the parish ringers during all that time.
Their names are recorded in the parish, and may therefore be inserted here.