Part 10

The _Church_ of ST. CLEER, a village three miles north-west of the town, is an interesting fabric, with a lofty tower, surmounted with pinnacles at the angles, and the buttresses which support it are embellished with purfled fineals. The antient _Well_ of St. Cleer, about a mile from the church, is a pleasing subject for the pencil, the top being richly overgrown with ivy. Near it is a _Stone Cross_, ornamented at the top with some rude sculpture.

In this neighbourhood are several other objects highly interesting to the antiquary. The _Hurlers_, when perfect, consisted of three circles of upright stones from three to five feet high, but several of them have been removed. According to historians, these monuments of antiquity are said to have been of Druidical origin; but the name of hurlers is most probably derived from an opinion among the common people, that the stones were once men, who were transformed for _Hurling_ (a favorite game among the antient Cornish people) on the sabbath day.

The _Cheese-Wring_ is a natural pile of rocks 32 feet high, of eight stones, or layers, apparently placed one above another, the largest at the top: considering its perilous form and exposed situation, how this pile has withstood the rage of storms for so many ages, is a matter of just astonishment.

The _Cromlech_, or _Trewethy Stone_, as it is generally called, standing on an eminence some distance from the Cheese-Wring, may be ranked as one of the greatest antiquities in the county. It consists of six upright stones, and one large slab, covering them in an inclined position. This impext measures 16 feet in length, and 10 broad, and is, at a medium, about 14 inches thick. It rests on five of the uprights only, and at its upper end it is perforated by a small circular hole. No tradition exists as to the time of its erection; but, its name at once designates its being a work of the Britons, and sepulchral.[41]

The village of St. NEOT’S, four miles from Liskeard, has long been celebrated for possessing a church, embellished with some of the finest painted glass windows in the kingdom. They amount to 17, and display various subjects connected with the legend of _St. Neot_, Portraits of Saints, the History of the Creation, &c., but some of them have unfortunately been defaced by ignorant or malicious depredators.

The _Church_ is a handsome fabric, built of granite, and from the style of architecture is supposed not to be older than the reign of Henry VI. It stands on a rising ground at the head of the village, and has a dignified appearance, especially when contrasted with the humble dwellings near it.

A correspondent has favoured us with the following additional particulars relative to St. Neot’s:—

This village is about four miles west of Liskeard. Until the close of the ninth century, it was called HAM-STOKE; from that period till the Conquest, or later, it had the name of NEOT-STOKE; it received its present name soon after. About the middle of the ninth century, St. Neot (a pious hermit, who had been Sacristan at Glastonbury Abbey) retired here. His pool is still shown; respecting which there are some curious traditions.[42] The Saint erected a College of Priests, and a church here, (on the site of the more antient Chapel of St. Guerir,) in which he was buried in 877: the edifice was rebuilt in 884. The present Church was erected in 1480.[43] It is an elegant building, consisting of a nave and two side aisles. Its greatest ornament is its beautifully stained glass; of which a considerable portion remains in a mutilated state. Many of the legends of these richly “storied windows,” have perished: Mr. Gorham[44] has preserved 85: in 1786, Mr. Forster published a coarse outlined engraving of the windows, containing the legends of St. Neot, and of St. George.

On the north side of the Chancel (where was doubtless the Saxon Chapel) is a small recess, from which projected one end of a stone casket, 18 inches by 14. Here were preserved some remains of Neot; the founders of St. Neot’s Priory in Huntingdonshire, having left “one arm”[45] of the Saint for the Cornish Church, when they stole the greater part of the treasure about 974! In October, 1795, this little cemetery was broken open by some intoxicated workmen, whose curiosity had been excited by a visit of Mr. Whitaker. The casket above-mentioned, was found to be a shallow cenotaph: behind it was a stone, closing the mouth of an aperture rudely formed in the solid wall; in this inner recess was discovered “about a quart of mould-earth, very fine in itself, yet adhering in clots, and dark in colour.”[46] By the side of this cavity is a wooden tablet; on which are inscribed some quaint and puerile verses, supposed to have been written just before the Reformation: the narrative which they detail, is extremely inaccurate.

Returning from St. Neots to the high road, within four miles of Bodmin is _Glynn House_, the residence of E. J. Glynn, Esq., which has lately been rebuilt on the site of an elegant mansion, unfortunately destroyed by fire, about three years ago. This misfortune not only was a great loss to its worthy owner, but the literary world has suffered an irreparable one; for it contained one of the finest libraries in the county. The family also narrowly escaped, being all in their beds at the time, but were luckily apprized of their dangerous situation by a female domestic.—The present mansion is built at the bottom of a gentle declivity, in a very pleasing valley, and is therefore sheltered from the violence of the north-east winds. It is certainly a low structure, but contains a number of commodious apartments. The grounds round the house have been greatly improved, and now have a very pleasing aspect from the road.

After crossing an antient bridge over one part of the river Fowey, at Resprin, the antient mansion of _Lanhydrock_, situated at the head of a noble avenue of trees, nearly a mile in length, has a very striking effect. It is an embattled structure of granite, occupying three sides of a quadrangle, and the windows are divided by stone mullions. On the north side is a gallery 116 feet long, covered with a profusion of uncouth and ill-executed plastered figures. There are, however, a few family portraits, but none remarkable. In front of the house, is a large irregular building, with a fine circular arch, once a porter’s lodge; but as the owner of it, the Hon. Mr. Bagnal Agar, has not resided here for some years, the whole building is getting much out of repair, though as interesting a spot, perhaps, as any in the county.

The _Church_ of Lanhydrock, almost adjoining the house, is a beautiful small edifice, with an embattled tower, finely mantled with ivy. The whole fabric has recently undergone a complete repair, and at the same time the antient character of the building has been judiciously preserved as much as possible.

The plantations in the grounds near the grand entrance lodge, are daily improving; and in a few years time will tend materially to the beauty of the domain.

About three miles from hence, is BODMIN, a large town, situated on the high western road, 243 miles from London, 30 from Plymouth, 21 from Launceston, and about 12 from the two channels on the north and south sides of the county. The late learned Mr. Whitaker, in his History of the Cathedral of Cornwall, has with much ability, proved the fallacy of the grounds upon which it was supposed to have been a bishop’s see; an error into which Dr. Borlase, Browne Willis, and other eminent antiquaries, had fallen; and has shewn very satisfactorily, that it was not the monastery at Bodmin, but another religious house dedicated to St. Petroc, near the sea-side, at Padstow, that was burnt by the Danes.

In early times, however, Bodmin possessed a Priory, a Convent of Grey Friars, and several other religious structures, of which there are now but few remains.

The _Priory_, which stood near the church, has gone entirely to decay, but a handsome modern house, called the Priory, erected on its site, is now the residence of Walter Raleigh Gilbert, Esq. This spot was first selected for religious retirement as early as the sixth century, by St. Guron and St. Petroc. It owed its origin to the circumstance of St. Petroc, its founder, having taken up his abode in a valley, now occupied by the town of Bodmin, but then the residence of St. Guron, a solitary recluse, who having resigned his hermitage to St. Petroc, it was by him enlarged for the residence of himself and three other devout men, who accompanied him with the intention of leading a monastic life according to the rules of St. Benedict. Here St. Petroc died before the middle of the sixth century. His shrine was preserved in a small chapel, attached to the east end of Bodmin church, as we learn from Leland and William of Worcester. The hermitage which he had founded, continued to be inhabited by monks of the Benedictine Order, till the reign of King Athelstan, who, in 926, founded, on or near the same spot, a priory of Benedictines: but this convent having been dissolved at an early period, and its possessions fallen into the hands of secular canons, Robert, Earl of Moreton and Cornwall seized them for his own use, and, after the death of his son William, Earl of Moreton and Cornwall, they became vested in the crown. Algar, to whom it is probable they had been granted, with the King’s license, and that of William Warlewast, Bishop of Exeter, re-founded the monastery, and replenished it with Austin Canons, who continued till the general dissolution of religious houses, when its revenues were valued at 270£. 0s. 11d. clear annual income. The Prior had, among other privileges, a market and fair, gallows, pillory, &c. as proved in a _quo warranto_, in the reign of King Edward I. The site, with the demesnes, was granted to Thomas Sternhold, one of the first English translators of the Psalms.—Various relics of antiquity have been found at different times on this consecrated spot; among which were some columns with ornamented mouldings and a mutilated effigy of a skeleton, finely executed, which has been placed against a gateway in the garden belonging to the Priory House.

The _Convent of Grey Friars_ is said to have been founded in the year 1239, under the patronage of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, and principally supported by the benefactions of Sir Hugh and Thomas Peverell, of Egloshale, who were buried in the friary church. In the year 1565, it was conveyed to the Corporation of Bodmin, to whom it still belongs. Since the early part of last century, it has been fitted up as an Assize Hall, 150 feet long and 60 in height; but the removal of its two beautiful Gothic windows is to be lamented. The two ends are appropriated for the Courts of Assize, and the intermediate space for the business of the Corn Market, &c. Above is the Grand Jury Room, and a large Ball Room, often used during the races in August.

The only remains of the _Chapel_ of _Bery_, is a ruinous tower, standing on a hill north of the town.

Some ruins of _St. Leonard’s_ and _St. Nicholas’ Chapels_ were standing when Dr. Borlase published his work on the Antiquities of the County; but they have long since been entirely removed.

The _Church_, which is the largest in the county, and stands at the north-east end of the town, on rising ground, was rebuilt in 1472, as appears by the inscription on the cornice of the south chancel, viz.

Ano dni Mo CCCCo LXXo II doma fem fecit.

It is a handsome edifice, consisting of a lofty nave and side aisles, separated by clustered columns and pointed arches. The capitals of the pillars, which are of very fine moorstone, are ornamented with roses.

The _Tower_ stands on the north side, and has a venerable appearance. Over the porch on the south side, there are three handsome niches. The whole building (particularly the interior) has, within the last seven years, undergone a thorough repair. It contains a fine altar-tomb, erected in memory of Prior Vivian, Suffragan Bishop of Megara, in Greece, who died in the year 1533, and on which is the effigy of the deceased in his pontifical robes, with a mitre and crozier, his hands clasped on his breast, and two angels supporting shields charged with the Vivian and Priory arms.

The _Font_ is the most interesting piece of antiquity in the church, and of large dimensions. It is supported by a pedestal in the middle, and four pillars on the outside, with angel’s heads for capitals; and the basin in the centre is highly ornamented in the Saxon style, with grotesque animals, foliage, &c. A handsome painted window, by Lowe, of London, representing the Resurrection of our Saviour, will be put up in the course of a short time. It is the gift of Lord de Dunstanville, who is the patron of the vicarage.

A very particular account of the expense of rebuilding the church, is preserved among the town records. The whole cost, exclusive of _presents_ of timber, amounted only to 194£. 3s. 6½d. The timber for St. John’s aisle cost 20£. 13s. 4d. Sir John Arundell gave several timber-trees for the building. The lead for roofing, came to 16£. 2s. 3½d. The rate of wages at this time appears to have been, for a labourer, four-pence by the day; for a mason, hewing stones, five-pence; for making the pillars, &c. sixpence; for a plasterer, five-pence half-penny. The following is a specimen of some of the charges:—“Forty-nine journeys (days work) for the windows above the Vyse, 24s. 6d.; fourteen journeys on the gabell window, 7s.” There was formerly a spire on the tower, said to have been built by Prior Vivian, and esteemed, as Tonkin tell us, the loftiest and finest in the West of England. It was destroyed by lightning in 1699.—Jasper Wood, 37 years vicar of Bodmin, who died in 1716, a man, it may be supposed, of deranged intellects, fancied himself bewitched, and that he was delivered from the witches’ power by his guardian-angel. Tonkin says there was a printed account of this man, and various traditions relating to him are still current in the town.

The Corporation consists of a Mayor, 11 Aldermen, 24 Common Councilmen, and a Town Clerk. This town was regularly incorporated by charter of Elizabeth, which was lost, by lapse, previously to the year 1798, when a similar charter was granted by his late Majesty.

The right of electing two representatives in Parliament is vested solely in the 37 members of the Corporation.

Among the antient corporation accounts, are the following curious items, relating to the election of members of Parliament, and the payment of their wages, in the reign of Henry VII.

“19, 20 Hen. VII, paide to Richard Watts and John Smyth, burgesses of the Parliament for the towne, 13s. 4d.

“Paide for the endentes for the burgesses of the parliament, 20d.

“Paide and yeven in malmesey to the under-sheryff, 4d.

“Paide for the makyng a payr of endentes and an obligation, 12d.

“It. Paide and yeven onto Thomas Trote in rewarde, 20d.

“It. Paide to Sir Richard Downa, the wich was promysed by the maier and the worshipfull in a reward towardes his wagys, 13s. 4d.

The town principally consists of one long street, running nearly a mile from east to west; the houses in general, are low, decayed, and irregular; but much improvement has been made within the last 20 years. Some centuries ago, Bodmin appears to have been of much greater extent, and more populous, than at present: it was probably largest, and contained the greatest number of inhabitants, about the fourteenth century. It is now smaller than either Helston, Liskeard, Megavissey, and Penryn; and considerably smaller than St. Austell, Truro, Redruth, Penzance, or Falmouth; yet in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, it appears to have still taken precedence of all the other Cornish towns.

The _Grammar School_, said to have been founded by Queen Elizabeth, and endowed with 5£. per annum, (which the Corporation have increased to 100£. per annum) was held in an old chapel, in the church-yard, until the last year, when a new school-room was opened in a more commodious situation.

The population, according to the late returns, amounts to 2902, but the whole parish contains 3278, being 802 more than the number returned in 1811.[47]

The market on Saturday is much frequented, and well supplied with provisions; but some judicious regulations are necessary, (particularly to remedy the want of a market house,) which would render it more generally useful and commodious. There are also three fairs held here annually, chiefly for cattle.

There was a market at Bodmin when the survey of Domesday was taken, the profits of which, belonging to the Prior, were then valued at 35s. per annum: the tolls were afterwards let at a fee-farm rent to the burgesses, in whom the market and fairs are now vested. Leland speaks of the market at Bodmin as being like a fair for the confluence of people; and Hals compares it, in point of supply of all kinds of provisions &c., to those of Exeter and Tavistock. The fairs, which are great marts for cattle and horses, are on the feast of the Conversion of St. Paul, Saturday after Midlent Sunday, Saturday before Palm Sunday, Wednesday before Whitsuntide, and on the feast of St. Nicholas the Bishop (December 6.) Leather-shoes are made in great quantities at this town, and exposed to sale in standings at the markets and fairs.

Bodmin is said to have been one of the coinage towns which had the privilege of stamping tin; but it appears that it had been lost before the year 1347, when the burgesses petitioned parliament, complaining, that although by royal charter they were authorised to deal in all kinds of merchandise, tin as well as other, in the county of Cornwall, they had of late been hindered by the Prince and his men from buying or coining tin: they were unsuccessful in their application, the answer of Parliament being, that the Prince might order the tin to be sold where he pleased.

The Summer Assizes for the county have been held in this town, with few exceptions, since the year 1716, and the Michaelmas Quarter Sessions are also held here.

The races usually commence the week following the assizes, and are held about a mile and a half from the town, on the left of the road leading to Launceston. The course is considered one of the finest in England.

_The County Gaol_ was erected in the year 1780, from the designs of Sir John Cull, on the principles recommended by the great philanthropist, the late John Howard, Esq. It stands in a healthy situation, on the side of a hill, to the north of the town.

Within the last three years a very handsome and commodious _Lunatic Asylum_ has been erected at the western end of the town, and is fitted up in a very comfortable manner, for persons afflicted with that dreadful malady.

The earliest historical event, of any importance, connected with this place, is, that it became the head-quarters of Thomas Flanmauck and Michael Joseph, the ringleaders of the rebellion of 1496, both of whom indeed appear to have been inhabitants of this parish.—Perkin Warbeck, after his landing in Cornwall, in the year 1498, assembled at Bodmin a force of 3000 men, with which he advanced to attack Exeter.—In 1550, the Cornish rebels, under the command of Humphry Arundell, encamped at Castle-Hynock, near this town, and marched thence to the siege of Exeter. After the suppression of this rebellion, which soon followed, Sir Anthony Kingston, the Provost-marshal, came, with the King’s commission, to punish some of the chief offenders; and, it is said, he hanged the mayor at his own door, after partaking of the hospitalities of his table.—Bodmin does not appear to have had any garrison during the Civil War, though it was occasionally occupied by both parties. General Fairfax finally took possession of it for the Parliament in 1646, a few days before the capitulation with Sir Ralph Hopton, near Truro.

At St. Lawrence, about a mile north-west of Bodmin, are some remains of the _Hospital for Lepers_, founded by Queen Elizabeth, in the year 1582, but which was abolished a few years since owing to certain abuses, and the lands belonging to it, worth about £140. per annum, appropriated to the Infirmary at Truro. The remains chiefly consist of three fine arches, springing from clustered columns, with ornamented capitals, and some ruinous walls, now fast mouldering into decay. On one part of the old buildings, is the following inscription:

Richarde Carter of Saynt Columbe Marchant by his laste wylle & Testament in ano Dom 1582 did geve ten pounde for the allurance of twentie shillinges. yerelye to be payed unto us the poer Lepers of the Hospytall & to oure successors for ever which ten pounde by the consent of his Executor we have imployed towardes the makyng of thys howse in ano. 1586. whose charitable & rare example in oure tyme God grantete main to follow hereaftre

The seal of this hospital is a curious relic of antiquity, containing the figure of St. Lawrence, under a Gothic canopy, and another figure below it, in the attitude of prayer, with this inscription:—“_S. Sci Lawrencie Bodmons de peupo_.”

ST. LAWRENCE is merely a hamlet to Bodmin, but is remarkable as having two very large fairs for cattle annually.

At LANHWIT, the adjoining village, about three miles from Bodmin, are some remains of an antient _Monastery_, called St. Bennet’s, which, although greatly defaced some years ago, by the removal of the cloisters, still displays a fine tower, richly mantled with ivy. The other parts have been fitted up at the expense of the proprietor, the Rev. F. V. I. Arundell, as a family residence. The remains are seated in a narrow valley, almost surrounded by wood, with a rapid stream in the front, which adds greatly to the beauty of this romantic spot.

_Tremere_, an ancient seat of the Courtenays, in this parish, is now a farm-house.

A ride from hence to the _Roach Rocks_, will be highly gratifying to the curious traveller, or an admirer of natural curiosities. They consist of three immense piles of craggy ponderous stones, rising to a considerable height, and at a distance resembling an antient castle. On the summit of the pile, in the centre, stand the remains of a small building, which formerly contained two apartments, and is supposed to have been erected for religious purposes.

These rocks, says Dr. Maton, “consist of a white sparry quartz, mixed with schoerl, which appears in innumerable needle-like crystals. Two or three varieties of this substance are observable; in one the schoerl being more sparingly interspersed, and in another more abundantly.” A pile of rocks starting abruptly out of a wide green surface, and covering some space with enormous fragments, on which there are only a few vestiges of incipient vegetation, form a singular scene, exhibiting a kind of wild sublimity, peculiar to itself. The accompanying view was taken from the south side, and the chapel on the summit is a very beautiful and picturesque feature in the picture.

DESCRIPTION

OF THE

MINES IN CORNWALL,

WITH AN

=_Excursion to the Scilly Islands._=

DESCRIPTION

OF

THE MINES, &c.