Part 5
PENRYN is a large antient Borough and market town, pleasantly situated about nine miles from Truro, at the head of a branch of Falmouth Harbour. It was formerly embellished with a College, founded in the thirteenth century, by Walter Stapeldon, Bishop of Exeter, for 12 prebends, which continued until the dissolution of religious edifices in the reign of Henry VIII., when its annual revenues were valued at £205 10_s._ 6_d._ This building is said by _Leland_, to have covered a space of _three acres_, and to have been surrounded by embattled walls; but every vestige of it has long since been entirely obliterated. Penryn was incorporated in the 18th year of the reign of James I. and is governed by a Mayor, eight Aldermen, 12 Common Councilmen, a Recorder, and inferior officers. The right of returning two members by the same charter, is vested in the Mayor, Aldermen, and all the inhabitants paying scot and lot.—There is a silver cup and cover belonging to the corporation, given by Jane, Lady Killigrew, with this inscription, “From maior to maior to the town of Permarin, when they received me that was in great misery, J. K. (Jane Killigrew) 1633.” Hals says, that this lady had gone on board two Dutch ships with a party of ruffians, and having slain two Spanish merchants, their owners, robbed them of two barrels of Spanish pieces of eight. The lady, he adds, was by means of great interest pardoned; but her accomplices all executed. Hals’s stories are not much to be depended upon; it is more certain that she was divorced from her husband, and that in consequence she was protected by the inhabitants of Penryn, who bore no good will to Sir John Killigrew, and his rising town of Smithick. Jane, Lady Killigrew, was daughter of Sir George Fermor, Knt. of Easton Neston, ancestor of the Earl of Pomfret: she died in 1648.[15]
In the centre of the principal street, which is composed of many antient and irregular built houses, stand the _Market House_ and _Town Hall_, the appearance of which is not very pleasing.
_St. Gluvias_, or the _Parish Church_, is over a branch of the river, the tower of which, with the surrounding scenery, appears highly picturesque, and attracts the attention of every one passing. The interior contains a variety of handsome memorials to the Pendarves family, once of Roscow, in this parish, and the following lines are inscribed on a monument to the memory of the Rev. John Penrose, who died in 1776, aged 63, after being 35 years vicar of this parish.
_If social manners, if the gent’lest mind, If zeal for God, and love for human kind, If all the charities which life endear May claim affection, or demand a tear, Then Penrose o’er thy venerable urn, Domestic love may weep and friendship mourn._
_The path of duty still, the path he trod, He walked with safety, for he walked with God; When lost the powers of precept and of prayer, Yet still the Flock remained the Shepherd’s care, Their wants still nobly watchful to supply, He taught his last best lesson, how to die!_
_Eny’s House_, the seat of Francis Ens, Esq., near Penryn, which was erected before the reign of Edward I., has been in his family from that time, and is noticed by Camden for its fine gardens and shrubberies: it is still a residence of great respectability.
FALMOUTH, which is now become a very important and populous sea-port town, is distant from Plymouth 55 miles, and 269 west of London. The _Harbour_, which is considered one of the very best in England, is so commodious and sheltered, that the most numerous fleet may ride here in safety; and when it was surveyed a few years ago by Commissioner Bowen, buoys for 16 sail of battle ships were laid down.[16]
Much disquisition and doubts have arisen regarding the origin of this town; but it seems to be generally admitted, that it was a place of but little consequence until the reign of James I., when the greater part of the town was then built; neither was it incorporated until the 13th of Charles II.
The town is chiefly built along the western shore of the harbour, the houses forming a street nearly half a mile in length. Owing to the improvements which have been made of late years, Falmouth has a very prepossessing appearance, and is now inhabited by many respectable families; but although the population of the parish amounts, by the late census, to 6374, it is not represented in Parliament, whilst St. Mawes, a mean fishing cove, on the opposite side of the harbour, possesses that advantage.
The entrance to the harbour of Falmouth is fortified on each side, by the _Castles_ of _St. Mawes_ and _Pendennis_. The latter has a very magnificent appearance, being built on a rock, rising upwards of 300 feet above the level of the sea, and is almost insulated. This castle was first erected in the reign of Henry VIII., but the works were materially altered and strengthened in the reign of Elizabeth. It is now strongly fortified, and contains commodious barracks for troops, good storehouses, and magazines, besides a comfortable residence for the Lieutenant Governor. In the time of the civil wars this fortress was bravely defended against the Parliament forces, by John Arundell, of Trenie, and was only surrendered on the same conditions as were granted to other places.
_St. Mawes Castle_, although erected in the same reign as Pendennis, is very inferior both in size and situation. The hamlet adjoining, is remarkable only as being one of the Boroughs of Cornwall, and has returned members to Parliament since the year 1562. The manor is now vested in the Marquis of Buckingham, but the right of election is confined to the freeholders only.
The _Church_ of Falmouth is a modern building, with a handsome altar, &c. It contains several memorials, but none very remarkable. There are several meeting houses in the town, for different sects, a small Roman Catholic Chapel, and a Jew’s Synagogue; also a Public Dispensary and Hospital for the relief and support of disabled seamen, their widows, and children, which is liberally patronized.
The trade of this town, and its prosperity, have much increased by the establishment of the packets that sail from hence every week to Lisbon, Portugal, the West Indies, and other places; also by the detention of fleets of ships, (particularly those outward-bound) which seek refuge in its capacious harbour, and frequently remain many weeks till the gales are more favourable.—Falmouth has a good weekly market, and two fairs annually.
_Arwenack House_, remarkable as having been the residence of the _Killigrews_, (one of whom, Sir William Killigrew, of notoriety in the civil wars, lies buried in the church,) has been much altered from its original plan, yet still possesses an antient appearance. A manuscript history of the Killigrews, written by one of the family, says, that there was only a single house at Falmouth, besides Arwenack (the seat of the Killigrews,) when Sir Walter Rayleigh, being homeward-bound from the coast of Guinea, put in there; that he was entertained at Arwenack, and his men poorly accommodated at the solitary house, which, it is probable, had been originally built for the entertainment of sea-faring persons; that this celebrated navigator, being struck with the utility of providing more extensive accommodations at the mouth of Falmouth Harbour, for the officers and crews of homeward-bound ships, laid before the council a project for erecting four houses for that purpose. It is probable, that the single house here spoken of, was single as a house of entertainment, and that there were also a few fishers’ cottages, though too inconsiderable to have been described by Norden, even as a village.
The _Church_ of the village of Maylor, near Falmouth, is a very picturesque building, containing a number of memorials, among which there is a monument for Capt. Yescombe, of the King George Lisbon Packet, who was killed in defending his ship against the enemy, in 1803.
_Trefusis House_, the property of Lord Clinton, in this neighbourhood, is a very antient building, most delightfully situated; but not having been inhabited for many years, is going rapidly to decay. Part of it is now occupied as a farm-house.
On the right of the road from Penryn to Helston, in the parish of Constantine, is a very curious massy rock, called a _Tolinen_; it is 33 feet long by 14½ feet wide, 18 feet high, and 97 feet in circumference. In form it resembles an egg, and is poised on two natural rocks. Much has been said as to the origin of this curious pile, but it is generally supposed to have been erected by the Druids.
HELSTON, situated about 10 miles from Penryn, is a large respectable town, built on the side of a hill, gradually sloping to the River Cober, and is noticed by historians as a place of considerable antiquity, and as having once possessed a Castle.[17]
It now principally consists of four streets built in the form of a cross, with a handsome _Market-house_ and _Town Hall_. The _Church_, a handsome fabric standing on an eminence, on the north side of the town, was rebuilt in the year 1762, at an expense of £6,000, defrayed by the then Earl of Godolphin. It contains a number of monuments, and a neat altar-piece painted by Lane.
Helston has returned members to Parliament since the reign of Edward I., and the government of the town is vested in the Mayor, four Aldermen, and 24 Assistants: they have exclusively the right of election and other privileges.
The number of inhabitants, according to the late census, amounts to 2671, or an increase of 374 since the year 1811.
This town has long been noted for its remarkable Jubilee on the 8th of May, on which day it has been customary with the inhabitants for ages past, to cease from their labours, and participate in the rural pleasures of the peasantry. Yet many of the foolish customs on this occasion, have vanished before modern refinement, and even the genteelest classes engage in the pleasures of the day, when the greatest harmony usually prevails, and dancing with its consequent hilarity, is kept up until a very late hour.
The scenery about the _Loo Pool_ is peculiarly fine and picturesque; it combines every characteristic excellence for forming a good picture, and affords many an interesting study for the landscape painter. The rocks start abruptly from the margin of the lake, and a fine hanging wood clothes the sides of the neighbouring hills. On the south, the prospect is only terminated by a narrow bank of sand, which appears almost to unite the sea with the lake: and indeed upon certain occasions, when the pool is so full of water as to endanger the submersion of property on the valley above, it has been found necessary to cut through this sandy partition, and allow the overplus water of the lake, to flow away into the main ocean. This indulgence, with the privilege of fishing for a peculiar and valuable species of trout, is readily granted, on application to the Lord of the Manor, John Rogers, Esq., of Penrose.[18]
On the western side of the Loo Pool, about two miles from Helston, is _Penrose_, the seat of John Rogers, Esq., which has been considerably improved, since it came into the possession of that gentleman.
A ride to the _Lizard Point_ from Helston, a distance of 14 miles, will be highly gratifying to the lovers of romantic scenery, and which, to use the expression of a celebrated tourist, “is rarely to be surpassed in England.” The immense rocks which here rise in awful dignity to a very considerable height, resisting the mighty violence of the ocean, cannot fail to make a lasting impression on the minds of those who visit this interesting spot.
The first place of any note, at about the distance of six miles from Helston, is the little fishing village of MULLION. The tower of the _Church_ forms a conspicuous feature in this part of the county.
Three miles from hence, is the celebrated Steatite or _Soap Rocks_,[19] which have been of great use to the china manufacturers.
_Kynan’s Cove_, situated within a mile of the Lizard Point, is highly deserving of notice, and is considered one of the most extraordinary spots on the coast. It is composed of huge rocks of immense height, partly projecting into the sea, and in one place so singularly formed, as to resemble an arched grotto.[20]
In _Lanerwednack Church_, almost adjoining the Lizard, is a curious antient _Font_.
The _Lizard Point_, is remarkable as being the spot from which all ships leaving the Channel, date their departure; and notwithstanding two _Light-Houses_ have been built, as beacons to warn the mariner of the danger of steering too close to the shore, shipwrecks are not unfrequent, particularly among foreign vessels, whose commanders may be supposed to be unacquainted with the dangers of this part of the coast.[21]
Returning to Helston over Goonholly Downs, in the parish of Mawgain, is _Trelowarrens_, the seat of Sir Richard Vyvyan, Bart., a very curious and antient embattled mansion, containing fine portraits by Vandyke.[22] The house and grounds were much improved by the late Sir Vyell Vyvyan, and adjoining the house is a very neat _Chapel_, well fitted up with an organ, &c.
In _Mawgan Church_, is a very antient tomb to the memory of the Carminoe family, with the mutilated effigies of a crusader and his lady.
About five miles north of Helston, on the left of the road to Redruth, is _Clowance_, the property of Sir John St. Aubyn, Bart. It is an antient building standing in an extensive park, surrounded by high walls. This estate is said to have been in possession of this family, ever since the reign of Richard II. Great improvements have been made by the present noble proprietor, although he seldom resides here: the plantations and grounds are arranged with great taste and judgment, and tend greatly to enliven the dreariness of this part of the county. The interior contains a number of fine family portraits, by Sir Peter Lely and other eminent artists, besides a valuable selection of rare and choice prints.
_Godolphin House_ is one of the most interesting mansions in the county, and although going rapidly to decay, displays much of its former grandeur. It is situated two miles and a half from Clowance, and about a mile from the direct road to Marazion. The Godolphin family are said to have possessed the manor, as far back as the time of William the Conqueror; but the present mansion was built in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, by Sir Francis Godolphin. It also appears, that by his successful adventures and perseverance in mining concerns, the customs were increased above £10,000 per annum. Charles II. created Sir William Godolphin a Baronet in 1663, and his son Sidney was made Baron Godolphin of Rialton, in 1689. This nobleman displayed great ability in the House of Commons, and filled several distinguished offices under the crown. He died in the year 1712, and was succeeded by his son Francis, whose youngest daughter married, in 1744, the Duke of Leeds, by which event the Godolphin estates, are now become the property of the Osborne family.[23]
_Pengersick Castle_, the remains of which chiefly consist of the keep, and a machicolated gate, are highly deserving of notice. History is silent as to the origin of this fortress; it however appears that the manor and barter were purchased in the latter end of the reign of Henry VIII., by a Mr. Milliton, (Job Milliton, who is mentioned as possessor of St. Michael’s Mount, in the time of Edward VI.,) who having slain a man privately, made the purchase in the name of his son, and immured himself in a secret chamber in the tower, where he died without being called upon to account for the offence! The remains are situated at the bottom of an eminence, on the borders of a creek near the sea, and although not very extensive, form a very interesting and picturesque subject for the pencil of an artist.
The manor is chiefly the property of the Duke of Leeds, and William Aremdell Harris, Esq.
From hence to Marazion, the distance is six miles, and a very pleasing ride.
MARAZION or MARKET JEW, is a small town distant 286 miles from London, and exactly 10 from Helston; but few places in England surpass it for mildness of climate and agreeable prospects. This town is stated in former times to have been a place of some consequence, and to have suffered more than once by conflagration. It now consists of about 200 houses, chiefly built at the bottom of a hill, which shelters the town from the cold north winds, and, by the late returns, contains about 1300 inhabitants. This town is governed by a Mayor, eight Aldermen, and 12 Burgesses, according to a charter granted in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, although it does not return members to Parliament.—It has a weekly market, and two fairs annually.
The majestic appearance of _St. Michael’s Mount_, which has for ages past been so much extolled for its singularity and beauty, cannot fail to arrest the attention and admiration of every traveller.[24] Regarding the origin of this wonderful object, much dispute has arisen among antiquarians; but the circumstance that the mount was partly, if not wholly, covered with wood, seems to be generally credited. When the mount first became a religious spot, is uncertain; but a _Priory of Benedictine Monks_ was founded by Edward the Confessor, which after the conquest was augmented by Robert Earl of Mortaign, and continued until the dissolution of religious houses in the reign of Henry VIII., when its revenues were valued at £110 12s. per annum! The monks however were frequently disturbed in their religious avocations, during the turbulent state of early reigns; particularly by one Henry de la Pomeroy, who treacherously took possession of this priory, during the imprisonment of Richard I. in Germany, but who fearing the king’s anger, is said shortly after to have died through grief.[25] From this and other circumstances, the mount was fortified in a castellated manner, and in after times became a place of considerable notoriety, particularly during the contentions in the reign of Charles I.[26] After the dissolution, it was granted to Humphrey Arundell, of Lanherne. In the reign of Edward VI. it was leased to Job Milliton, Esq. Sheriff of Cornwall, and passed through the hands of several persons, until it became the property of the St. Aubyn family, and now belongs to Sir John St. Aubyn, Bart., of Clowance, who has converted the remains of the priory into an occasional summer residence. Attached to it is a very pretty _Chapel_, in which divine service is occasionally performed; the seats are extremely well carved and ranged on each side, much in the manner of stalls in cathedrals. At the western end, an organ has been recently erected, and may be considered one of the finest instruments in the county. In the alterations which have taken place, great attention has been paid to preserve the original character of the buildings, and the dining room (which was the refectory of the convent) has a curious frieze in stucco, displaying the mode of hunting several wild animals.
The mount is chiefly composed of granite, and the passage to its summit, which is on the north side, is extremely steep and craggy. At high water it appears a complete insulated mass of rock, gradually diminishing in size from the base, until it forms a pyramid, nearly 240 feet high. The prospects from the summit cannot fail to raise the most lively emotions, as the eye ranges over a vast range of the ocean, and which appears the more noble, when contrasted with the humble dwellings of the poor fishermen beneath.
During the early part of the last century, the _Pier_ was rebuilt and enlarged, and is now capable of affording great shelter to vessels; the advantage of which to the fishermen on the coast is incalculable, as they often put in here for safety in stormy weather. Most of the persons who have taken up their abode on the north side of the mount, are engaged in fishing pursuits, where many cottages have been erected for them.
After proceeding about three miles over the sands of Mount’s Bay, is PENZANCE. This town has long been noted for the pleasantness of its situation, the salubrity of its air, and the beauty of its natives; and is in consequence much resorted to by travellers, who, in most instances, have derived more benefit than they had anticipated. Indeed the mildness of the climate of Penzance, is often compared to that of Italy. It is situated on the north-west side of Mount’s Bay, and distant little more than 10 miles from the Land’s End, and 283 from London.—Owing to the improvements made of late years, Penzance is now become a very populous and highly respectable place,[27] and altogether possesses as many claims as any watering place in the kingdom. The Corporation consists of a Mayor, eight Aldermen, 12 Assistants, and a Recorder; but, like Marazion, does not return members to Parliament.—Beside the chapel dedicated to St. Mary, there are separate meeting-houses for Methodists, Quakers, and Jews.
A very considerable trade is carried on here in the pilchard fisheries, and from thence great quantities of tin and copper are also exported. The market here is abundantly supplied with fish, and all kinds of provisions are remarkably plentiful and reasonable.
About half a mile from the town, is the celebrated _Wherry Mine_, which has not been worked since the year 1798, owing to the great danger attending the progress of the works. The opening of this mine, says Dr. Maton, “was an astonishingly adventurous undertaking. Imagine the descent into a mine through the sea, the miners working at the depth of 12 fathoms below the waves; the rod of a steam engine extending from the shore to the shaft, a distance of nearly 120 fathoms; and a great number of men momentarily menaced with an inundation of the sea, which continually drains in no small quantity through the roof of the mine, and roars loud enough to be distinctly heard in it.” Tin is the principal produce of this mine, and the ore is extremely rich.
On the western side of Mount’s Bay, about a mile and a half from Penzance, is the small fishing town of NEWLYN, and the village of MOUSEHOLE; the latter remarkable only as having been the residence of _Old Dolly Penkeath_, the last person said to have spoken the Cornish dialect, and who died at the age of 102 years, in the month of January, 1778.
About three miles from hence, at a place called BOSCAWENUN, close to the sea, is a very curious piece of antiquity, composed of two large flat stones, one resting on a natural rock, and the other on three large stones; but whether this singular pile is the remain of some Druidical monument, or may be classed under the denomination of _Roman Antiquities_, is a matter not easily determined. The most interesting Druidical remains in this neighbourhood, are a pile of stones, between St. Burian’s and Sarund, consisting of 19 in number, set upright in a circle 25 feet diameter, one large stone being in the centre.
ST. BURIAN, the next place of any note, was once remarkable as having possessed a college of Secular Canons, said to have been founded by King Athelstan, after the conquest of the Scilly Isles; but not a vestige of this antient edifice now remains. St. Burian’s, however, is an independent deanery, in the gift of the King, and under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Exeter.