Part 4

The weekly market is well supplied with all kinds of provision, and there are three fairs annually in this place.

About a mile and a half of Lostwithiel, on the summit of an artificial mound, stand the venerable remains of _Restormel Castle_,[7] which in former times was a place of considerable importance. History, however, is silent as to the origin of this highly interesting fortification; and as it is not even mentioned in the Doomsday Survey, it is generally supposed to have been erected by Robert, Earl of Mortaign, and was the principal residence of himself, and the subsequent Earls of Cornwall. Prior to the reign of Henry the VIII., this place is said to have been in a dilapidated state. The present remains chiefly consist of a circular area of 110 feet diameter; the walls of which are nine feet thick, secured by a deep moat, now choaked up with brambles and wild plants. The entrance, on the south side, (which had formerly a draw-bridge,) has an outer and inner arch supporting a square tower in ruins. Round the area, the foundations of three regular suites of apartments are easily traced, connected by two dark narrow stone staircases leading to the top of the ramparts. The ruins are richly overgrown with ivy, and being almost embosomed in wood, are very pleasing objects to the lovers of the picturesque. It is now the abode of owls, bats, and jackdaws; and unless disturbed by the occasional visits of the curious traveller, they have seldom reason to complain of

Such as wandering near their sacred bower, Molest their ancient solitary reign.—

_Restormel House_, the residence of John Hext, Esq. is a low embattled structure, said to have been erected on the site of an antient chapel. The demesne attached thereto, is now the property of the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe. The valley in which Restormel House is built, with the castle on the eminence, form for the artist a very pleasing picture, and have often been admired.

_Boconnoc House_, formerly the seat of the late Lord Camelford, is now the property of the Right Hon. Lord Grenville. It is a large plain building, situated about three miles east of Lostwithiel, in a richly wooded park well stocked with deer. The interior contains many handsome suites of apartments, a good library, and among other works of art, a fine bust of the late Earl of Chatham, on which the following panegyric lines have been written:

“Here trophies faded, and revers’d her spear, See England’s genius bend o’er CHATHAM’S bier, Her sails no more in every clime unfurl’d Proclaim her dictates to th’ admiring world. No more shall accents nervous, bold and strong Flow in full periods from his patriot tongue. Yet shall th’ historic and poetic page, Thy name, great Shade, devolve from Age to Age; Thine and thy Country’s fate, congenial tell, By thee she triumph’d, and by thee she fell.”—

On a commanding eminence, a short distance from the house, stands an elegant-proportioned obelisk, 123 feet in height, with the following inscription carved on the pedestal.

In gratitude and Affection To the Memory of Sir Richard Lyttleton, And to perpetuate the Remembrance which rendered him The delight of his own age, And worthy the Veneration of Posterity. 1771.

The country between Lostwithiel and St. Austell is pleasing, and most delightful views of the ocean occasionally present themselves.

On approaching the village of ST. BLAZEY, about half a mile to the right, is _Prideaux Place_, at present the residence of David Howell, Esq.; but what perhaps engrosses the particular attention of the traveller, is a very fine bold promontory, nearly opposite the house, and the lands about it are ornamented with young plantations. The _Church_ is a small antient fabric, standing on an eminence close to the mail road. From hence to St. Austell the distance is four miles.

Within one mile of that town, on the left, is PORTHMEAR or CHARLESTOWN, now become of some considerable consequence, owing to the spirited and laudable exertions of Mr. Charles Rashleigh. Since the year 1791, a _Pier_ has been built, and the pilchard fishery carried on. Some pilchard seans have been put on, and several buildings erected for that purpose. Here from this place also, most of the _China clay_ brought from St. Stephen’s is exported.

ST. AUSTELL is situated in a highly cultivated part of the county, on the side of a hill. It is now become a very considerable and populous market town, and with the parish, which is one of the largest extent, contains no less than 6175 inhabitants. Although it has no claim to antiquity, it is noticed only as a poor village in Leland’s times; but the numerous _Mines_ in its vicinity,[8] have caused its present rapid rise. The _Church_, which stands nearly in the centre of the town, is a handsome fabric, ornamented with fanciful and grotesque sculpture.[9] Over the principal entrance on the south side, are some curious cyphers, the meaning of which has not been satisfactorily explained, by the most intelligent antiquarians. The interior is commodious, and contains a few good monuments. The _Font_ resembles that in Bodmin church.

The benefices of St. Austell and St. Blazey, are coupled together, and are in the gift of the crown: it is now enjoyed by the Rev. Richard Hennah. St. Blazey is famous for being the landing place of Bishop Blaze, the patron of the woolcombing trade; whose effigy is in the parish church, to whom it was dedicated, and from whom its name was derived. In this parish also is held an annual festival, on the very period which is observed for the commemoration of the great blaze by all the woolcombers in the kingdom. In a field near the church is a stone above seven feet high, and not above 18 inches square, whose inscription is totally obliterated; but tradition says it was a sepulchral monument of a West Saxon Chief. On it are several crosses engraven.

The market of St. Austell is held on Friday, the charter for which was first bestowed by Oliver Cromwell, as a grateful reward for the heroic exertions of one May, who had a seat near the town; and for his particular gallantry displayed in a battle fought near Boconnoc, in Cornwall. It is plentifully supplied with all sorts of provisions. A large market, equal to a fair, is held annually on the day preceding Good Friday. It has two fairs for bullocks, sheep, coarse woollen goods, &c. The first is held on Whit Thursday, and the other on the 30th of November. Since the year 1792, there have been two additional fairs, or shows of cattle, held annually at this place; the one to be constantly on the third Tuesday in July, and the other on the third Tuesday in October. Both these last mentioned fairs are for horses, bullocks, sheep, &c.

Although the manufactured commodities in St. Austell are not deserving of mention, except it be in coarse woollens; yet its commerce in various branches is very considerable, and its inhabitants numerous. They are in general remarked for an industrious thriving people, deriving their subsistence from trade.

Not far from the western parts of the town, are three very spacious _Blowing Houses_. In two of them, cylinders are adopted instead of the common-formed bellows, and this mode of operation is considered preferable to the other.

There are _Quarries_ in this neighbourhood, which produce what is commonly called china clay. Sometimes not less than 1000 tons per year is shipped at Porthmear, and conveyed to Bristol, Liverpool, and Wales, and from those places to Staffordshire; where it is manufactured into porcelain.

Near this town, at a place called _Menacuddle_, is a waterfall, over which is a small dilapidated arched _Chapel_, supposed formerly to have been used as a place of retirement, for the sake of holy purification. Although it is near the road, yet, being in a wood, is not easily seen. It is a very pleasing subject for the pencil as a vignette, and has been engraved on more than one occasion.

_Penrice_, which is only two miles south of St. Austell, is an antient mansion, but has lately undergone a complete modernization by the proprietor, Joseph Sawle Sawle, Esq.: it contains a few good family portraits.

The ride from St. Austell to Mevagissey, a distance of six miles, is very pleasing. The opening bay of the sea is a striking feature, and bursts suddenly upon the traveller at a place called Portuan, within two miles of Mevagissey.

As a fishing town, MEVAGISSEY ranks before any other in the county. It has a spacious _Harbour_; and the town, having very narrow streets, is chiefly built in a bottom; but has an imposing appearance when viewed from the neighbouring heights, with the beautiful mansion and plantations of Helegan forming the back ground.

The _Church_ is a small edifice, standing at the north-east entrance of the town; but the tower has not been rebuilt, since it fell down a few years back. The interior contains a handsome monument, with effigies of the deceased, erected to the memory of Otwell Hill, Esq., and his wife, who died in 1614, with the following curious inscription:

Stock Lancashire, birth London, Cornwall gave To Otwell Hill inheritance and grave, Frank, frugal, pleasant, sober, stout, and kind, Of worde true, just in deede, men did him finde.

Two Raigns he served a justice of the Peace, Belov’d he liv’d and godly did decease, Mary his Wife, to overlive him lothe, This Monument hath raised to them both.

Mevagissey contains near 400 houses, and according to the late census, 2450 inhabitants. About two miles from the town, is _Helegan_, the seat of the Rev. Henry Hawkins Tremayne, a very elegant and substantial residence, most beautifully situated and embellished with fine gardens and shrubberies, and when perfectly finished, will be as handsome a residence as any in the county. The present liberal proprietor possesses great taste, and is daily improving the grounds, &c. The walk to the _Battery_ close to the sea is really delightful, and the woody plantations add greatly to the beauty of this residence.

_Caerhays_, the seat of John Bettesworth Trevanion, Esq. Lieutenant Colonel in the Cornish Militia, is another beautiful mansion of a castellated form, lately rebuilt at a very considerable expense from designs of that eminent architect Nash.

About four miles from hence is TREGONY, a very antient Borough-town, and in former times a place of some consequence. It formerly had two _Churches_, a _Castle_, and _Priory_; but one of the former has long since gone entirely to decay, and the one now remaining at the head of the town, though very small, has a respectable and venerable appearance. Scarcely a vestige remains of the Castle, which stood at the lower end of the town. This is said to have been built by Henry de Pomeroy, on behalf of John, Earl of Cornwall, at the time that King Richard I. was in the Holy Land: it was standing, and was the seat of the Pomeroys, in the reign of Edward VI.

In the year 1696,[10] Hugh Boscawen, Esq., founded an _Hospital_ for decayed housekeepers, and endowed it with lands, now let at 30£. per annum, but capable of being soon raised (at the expiration of the present lease) to about three times that sum.

Tregony returned members to Parliament in the reign of Edward I., and the right of election is vested in the principal housekeepers paying scot and lot. According to the late census, the inhabitants amount to 1035, being an increase of only 112 since the year 1811. Tregony has a market weekly, and five fairs annually.

On the north side of the town stood what is called Old Tregony, where was a church dedicated to St. James, the walls of which were standing when Tomkin made his collections about the year 1736: part of the tower remained many years later. This church was a rectory, the advowson of which belonged to the Abbey de Valle, in Normandy, and was given by that convent, in the year 1267, to the prior and convent of Merton, in Surrey, in exchange, together with the Priory of Tregony, a small cell to that alien monastery. Mr. Whitaker says, that the site of the Priory of Tregony was opposite the old mount of the castle, and speaks of a doorway belonging to a stable, as having been the gateway of the Priory. The rectory of St. James is held with the vicarage of St. Cuby.

There was also in the Borough of Tregony, a chapel of St. Anne, which was a chapel-of-ease to the church of St. James.

_Trewarthenick_, about two miles from this place, the seat of the late Francis Gregor, Esq., formerly M.P. for the county, is a pleasant and comfortable residence, with a good library and a few portraits; one, of Oliver Cromwell, is very fine.

RUAN LANYHORNE, a small village two miles south-west of Tregony, is remarkable as having been for upwards of 30 years, the residence of the Rev. John Whitaker, the learned author of the Ecclesiastical History of the Cathredral of Cornwall, who died in the year 1808, aged 73 years.—A few days after his decease, the following lines appeared in the Cornwall Gazette, and are supposed to have been written by the late Fortescue Hitchins, Esq. author of the poem called “_Tears of Cornubia_,” founded on the melancholy loss of the St. George, in which Admiral Reynolds and many Officers perished.

“Ah Whitaker, Cornubia’s proudest boast, Thou brightest gem that ever genius lost From her Tiara—must we then deplore Thy last farewell, to time’s immortal shore, Must we oppressed with unavailing grief, Seek, (where thou sought’st) but vainly seek relief, From fair philosophy; alas! too true, Oh wisdom’s pride, oh virtue’s child! adieu! Not even age that checks fond fancy’s flight, And whelms the genius in Lethean night, Could to thy powers one envious barrier raise, Or blast the laurel of thy well-earned praise; But like a cloudless morn, thy period passed, Bright with superior virtues to the last. When way-worn travellers, at day’s decline, See yon grand orb with matchless lustre shine, Urged by a sudden impulse of delight, Heedless they wander of approaching night: Till deeper shades o’erspread their devious way, And every pleasure vanishes with day. Then, Whitaker, true votaries of woe! Robb’d of thy lustre, whither shall we go, Go where we list—prophetic is the strain, We ne’er shall look upon thy like again.”

From Tregony to Grampound the distance is about two miles, within half a mile of which, on the left, is the parish church called _Creed_, a neat embattled structure, pleasantly surrounded by foliage. Here, till very lately, as rector, lived the Rev. William Gregor, one whom fame will ever eulogize as a being of a superior order; he is well known as a very scientific gentleman, and was the intimate friend of Mr. Whitaker. In this parish is a capital modern-built house, with beautiful gardens and fish ponds, the residence of the Rev. George Moore.

GRAMPOUND is remarkable as having been, till lately, one of the Borough-towns of the county.[11] It principally consists of one street, the houses having a decayed and mean appearance. Nearly in the centre stand a very antient _Chapel_, and _Market-house_: the former, now fast mouldering to decay, has a small septangular cross in front of it. Grampound contains, according to the late returns, 668 inhabitants, being an increase of only 67 during the last 20 years.

Crossing an antient bridge over the Fal at the bottom of the town, from which its name is derived, the distance to Probus is two miles and a half, and within one mile of that village, on the left, is _Trewitham_, the seat of Sir Christopher Hawkins, Bart., M.P. It is a spacious mansion, commanding a number of diversified prospects; the interior is embellished with a few good paintings and portraits, and also contains a very valuable selection of books. Much praise is due to its owner, for his unwearied endeavours to promote the mining interests of the county. He is a scientific gentleman, and has written a small interesting Treatise on Tin, &c.

The _Church_ of Probus has often been noticed for the simplicity of its architecture, the tower of which rises majestically to the height of 108 feet, which, contrasted with the low humble thatched cottages surrounding it, has a very picturesque appearance. Each angle of the tower is supported by a double buttress, diminishing in size as they approach the top, which is embellished with embrasures, and 40 pinnacles in eight clustres. The plinth, cornices, and upper story, are decorated with a variety of sculpture, consisting of small figures, foliage, fleurdelis, animals, and other objects. On the north and south sides are three Gothic niches.[12] The interior contains a large marble monument to the memory of Thomas Hawkins Esq., of Trewitham, on which is a female figure reclining on an urn. The accompanying view of the church was engraved from a drawing by the Rev. George A. Moore, of Garlennich, near Grampound.

At a distance of two miles north from Probus, in the parish of Ladock, in one of the most picturesque vales in the county, stands PESSICK, which, though a very small village, possesses great beauties.

_Tregothnan_, the seat of the Earl of Falmouth, is indeed a beautiful mansion lately erected at a very considerable expense, from the designs of W. Wilkins, Esq., and, in point of beauty, is surpassed by none in the county. The situation of the house is really delightful, and may be considered as one of the most enchanting spots in the kingdom. It is built on a gentle eminence commanding a great variety of extensive prospects, which are enlivened by the winding courses of the river Fal.

In the construction of this mansion, the architect has made a very choice selection of the most perfect examples extant. Its irregularity of form, and variety of ornament, closely resemble the style of the buildings erected during the reign of Henry VII. The great staircase is 42 feet in height, and occupies the large central tower, around which are placed the drawingroom, (54 feet long by 28 feet wide,) book room, dining room, billiard room, &c. A wide terrace with a parapet extends round the south-western part of the building; the _Park_ is embellished with some very fine timber, and a very pleasant ride has been formed along the banks of the river, extending some miles.

The _Church_ of St. Michael Penkervil, which almost adjoins the park, is an antient fabric, and contains a handsome monument by Rysbrach, to the memory of the late Admiral Boscawen.

From Tregothnan, after passing Nopus Passage, the distance to Truro is two miles.

The town of TRURO, which is generally and not improperly denominated the metropolis of the county, is pleasingly seated in a valley, at the conflux of the rivers St. Allen and Kenwyn, which (united with a branch of the river Fal) become navigable for vessels of 100 tons. This town appears to have been a place of some consequence even prior to the Conquest, and, according to _Leland_, once possessed a _Castle_, and enjoyed many privileges. Truro has returned members to Parliament since the reign of Edward I.: the right of election, however, like most other Boroughs in this county, is confided to the privileged few: the Mayor and others of the Corporation, to the number of 18 or 20, are the only voters.

The alterations and improvements made of late years at Truro, have certainly given the town a very respectable and handsome appearance; the streets being also well paved and lighted, this town is rendered more comfortable than any other in the county. The Rev. Mr. Warner, in his Tour through this county, published in the year 1809, says, “here all the modes of polished life are visible in genteel houses, elegant hospitality, fashionable apparel, and cautious manners;” which observation, although not incorrect, may be attributed to the success of the inhabitants in mining transactions.[13]

The _Church_ is a very beautiful Gothic fabric. It consists of three aisles, with a modern tower at the west end, surmounted by a lofty spire. On the north side the chancel is a monument, with a long inscription to the memory of the courageous _Owen Phippen_, who died in March, 1636:

Melcombe in Dorset was his place of birth, Aged 54: and here lies earth on Earth.

There are several other memorials in this church, but none particularly deserving of notice. Besides the church, there are no less than seven other places of worship, for the different denominations of Christians.

Near the town, on a commanding healthy spot, stands the _County Infirmary_, opened in the year 1799, under the patronage of his present Majesty, but maintained entirely by voluntary subscriptions and contributions. Truro has also a neat _Assembly Room_, convertible into a Theatre; besides a _County Library_, established in the year 1792. A Literary Society has lately been set on foot, and their _Museum_ is already worth seeing. The Easter Quarter Sessions are also held in this town; and the markets, on Wednesdays and Saturdays, are well supplied with all kinds of provisions. The parish of St. Mary’s, with the adjoining streets, contained, according to the late returns, 2712 inhabitants, or an increase of 230 since the year 1811.

The celebrated Samuel Foote, of dramatic celebrity, was a native of this town.

The scenery in the immediate vicinity of Truro, is particularly beautiful, and such as must delight every traveller; the town itself has a very picturesque appearance, particularly so, when viewed from the spot exhibited in the accompanying engraving.

The _Smelting house_ for _tin_, about a mile from Truro, on the Falmouth road, is well deserving of notice, as it contains no less than 10 furnaces. Culm coal is used as the flax in the proportion of about one-eighth to the ore, of which nearly 600 cwt. is smelted within six hours, and yields about 350 cwt. of tin.[14]

About seven miles from Truro, is _Carclew_, the seat of Sir William Lemon, Bart., M.P. and one of the most beautiful mansions in the county. It is situated on an eminence in an extensive and rich wooded park, rising from the valley through which the celebrated Carnon Stream Works are conducted, and commands a number of delightful prospects. The house is an elegant building of the Ionic order, composed of granite. The portico in the centre, is connected with the wings, by colonnades. The interior is not so spacious as many other residences in this county, but contains some very handsome apartments, and the following paintings:

_Portrait of Pontius Pilate_, by Rembrant.

_Two Boys at Dinner, and a View in India_, by Murillo.

_Angels singing_, by Amioni.

_Landscape, with Water falling over a Rocky Precipice_, by Wheatly.

_A View in Italy_, by Stalbent.

_Landscape and Castle_, by Pynaker.

_Portrait of William Lemon, Esq. grand-father to the present Baronet._

_Portrait of Sir William and his Lady_, by Romney.