Parishes: St Neot - Northill

St. Neot

ST. NEOT, in the hundred and deanery of West, lies about five miles westnorth-west from Liskeard, which is the post-office town; about eight east from Bodmin; and the same distance north-east from Lostwithiel. There is no village in this parish, except the church-town, which is large. The Archdeacon's court was held at this place, till the year 1753, when it was removed to Lostwithiel, and from thence, in 1773, to Bodmin, where it is now held.

There are holiday-fairs at St. Neot, on Easter Monday and the fifth of November. St. Neot lies on the old road from Bodmin to Liskeard. When the survey of Domesday was taken, there was a college at this place, then called Neotstow; the manor of which was said to have belonged then, and in the reign of Edward the Confessor, to the canons of St. Neot.

We find no account of the manor of St. Neot till within the last thirty years, in which it has had three different owners: it was sold, by the late Elias Lang, Esq., to the late Sir John Morshead, Bart., who had also the manor of St. NeotBarrett, probably a divided moiety of the original manor, which had acquired the name of Barrett from its proprietors; they now both belong to Lady Morshead, his widow.

It is probable that the Domesday manor of Fawintone, described as held by the Earl of Moreton in demesne, comprehended a large district on the banks of the Fowey, which rises in this parish, and extended to the borough of Fowey at its mouth. At a later period, the Cardinham family certainly had the manor and borough of Fowey; and there appear to have been two manors of Faweton, both distinct from that and from each other, and probably both within the parish of St. Neot, as one of them is still known to be. There was, in the reign of Henry III., a manor of Faweton, which belonged to Andrew de Suleny, on whose death, without issue, it devolved to his uncle Jessery; and he dying without issue, it was inherited by his sisters in moieties: one moiety passed by marriage to the Treverbyns; the other, by a succession of female-heirs, as far as the reign of Henry V., to the families of Champernowne, Willington, and Wroth (fn. n1). Sir Reginald Mohun died seised of a manor of Fawton in 1620 (fn. n2). We have not been able to trace this manor any lower; there are three small tenements of the name in St. Neot, two of which were lately sold by E. J. Glynn, Esq. (fn. n3); the other belongs to Thomas Bewes, Esq.

The manor of Faweton, alias Trenay, belonged to the Daubeny family from the reign of Edward I. (if not earlier) to that of Henry VIII., when Sir Giles Daubeny sold it to John Tubb, of whose son George it was purchased by William Bere, Esq. (fn. n4) The coheiresses of Bere married Sir John Grylls, of Court in Lanreath, and Bellott of Bochym. The Rev. Richard Gerveys Grylls possesses a moiety of this manor by inheritance, and has purchased the other moiety, which had been some time in severalties: the moieties were divided by deed in the year 1722. The manor of Polruan in Lantegloss, now the property of William Rashleigh, Esq. M. P., was formerly held with this manor. The bailiffry of the hundred of West (fn. n5) is annexed to the manor of Faweton, alias Trenay. The barton of Trenay was sold by the Tubbs to Connock; we understand there are three Trenays; Great and Little Trenay, united in one tenement, the property of Francis Gregor, Esq.; and Higher Trenay belonging to Thomas Bewes, Esq.

The manor of West-Draynes, formerly belonging to the Carews (fn. n6), and, at a later period to the Tillies, is now the property of J. Tillie Coryton, Esq. The manor of Pengelly belonged to Sir William Molins, who was slain at the siege of Orleans in 1428, and was inherited by the family of Hastings. In the reign of James I. it was in the Moyles: the present possessor is Francis Gregor, Esq., of Trewarthenick, who purchased it of the late Sir Lionel Copley, Bart. (fn. n7) This manor was held, in the reign of James I., by the service of providing a grey cloak for the Duke, whenever he should come into Cornwall, and delivering it at Poulstonbridge to the lord of the manor of Cabilia, whose office it was to attend the Duke with it during his stay in Cornwall (fn. n8). A more ancient record, as printed in Blount's Tenures, assigns the service of providing the cloak to the lord of Cabilia, and that of carrying it to the lord of Pengelly. The manor of Trevegoe was in moieties, in the reign of James I.; one moiety, which had been purchased by Hodge, belonged then to Matthew Veale; the other, which had been in the Hungerfords, had been forfeited by attainder, and granted to Arundell, was then, by purchase from Layton, in the family of Bagott (fn. n9) : this manor now belongs to Lady Morshead. The manor of Treverbyn, which belonged to the Courtenays of Trethurfe, appears to have been dismembered: the Earl of Cork, who represents one of the coheiresses of Courtenay, possesses a small tenement of that name. The manor of Cabilla, Cabilia, or Carburrow, the property of the Honourable Mrs. Agar, (the barton of which is in Cardinham,) extends over a considerable part of this parish.

Trevenna, some time a seat of the Mohuns, is now the property of Joseph Grigg. Mennabroom, formerly a seat of the Coles, is now a farm-house, the property of John Buller, Esq. Hole is the property and residence of Mr. John Rundle.

In the parish-church are considerable remains of painted glass, containing the legends of St. Neot and other saints, as hath been already described. It is said by some of the Monkish historians, that this church was originally dedicated to St. Guevor or Guerrier, and subsequently to St. Neot, who, for many years, had led a hermit's life, and died and was buried at this place. The great tithes of this parish were formerly appropriated to the priory of Montacute (fn. n10), in the county of Somerset: they are now, with some exceptions, the property of the Rev. R. G. Grylls, who is patron and the present incumbent of the vicarage. The tithesheaf of the manor of St. Neot-Barrett is appropriated to the repairs of the church. Two-thirds of the great and small tithes of two of the Fawtons, and some other farms, (which tithes now belong to the Duke of Bedford, and Thomas Bewes, Esq. (fn. n11),) were appropriated in former times to the repair of Launceston castle. There are the remains of a chapel dedicated to St. Luke, in this parish, on the borders of Alternon, a mile north-east of Dosmery pool: the ancient font remains. The estate on which this chapel stood, called Pinnock's and Luke's hills, and containing about 300 acres, has been unclaimed for many years: in 1613 it was in the Trefusis family.

John Anstis, Esq., Garter King of Arms, author of "The Black Book of the Order of the Garter," and an industrious collector of records relating to Cornwall and other counties, was born at St. Neot, in the year 1699.

Newlyn

NEWLYN, in the hundred and deanery of Pyder, lies about seven miles southwest from St. Columb, and about eight north from Truro, which is the post-office town. Part of the borough and decayed market-town of Michel is in this parish, the remainder in St. Enodor. (fn. n12)

The manor of Newlyn, which belonged to the Arundells of Lanherne, has recently been sold by Lord Arundell to Lady Clifford.

The manor of Cargaul or Cargol, in this parish, belonged, when the survey of Domesday was taken, to the priory of Bodmin, and is supposed to have been one of those which the Bishop of Exeter is said to have taken from that monastery, since it is known to have belonged to the see of Exeter in the reign of Edward II. (fn. n13) : the bishops had a palace here, of which there were considerable remains when Tonkin collected his materials, about the year 1736; and he speaks of the prison as then remaining, although not much used. The manor of Cargol was formerly on lease to the family of Borlase: Humphrey Borlase, of Cargol, who is said to have been created Baron Michell by King James II., after his abdication, having died in distressed circumstances, this leasehold manor was sold to Mr. Philip Hawkins, ancestor of Sir Christopher Hawkins, Bart., the present lessee under the Bishop. In the year 1312 the Bishop of Exeter procured a grant for a Thursday's market in the manor of Cargol, and a fair at the festival of St. Matthew (fn. n14) : there are now two fairs held annually on this estate; on the first Tuesday in October, (a fair of rather modern date,) and November 8.

The manor and barton of Treluddra or Treluddero, formerly the property and seat of an ancient family of that name, passed, by marriage, about the latter end of Henry the Eighth's reign, to a younger branch of the Borlases: after the death of Humphrey Borlase above-mentioned, this estate was sold to Sir William Scawen, of whose family it was purchased by Sir Francis Bassett, Bart. (now Lord de Dunstanville), and by him sold to Sir Christopher Hawkins, Bart., the present proprietor: the old park at Treluddero has been long disparked.

The manor of Trerice was, at an early period, the property and residence of a family of that name, whose heiress, in or about the reign of Edward the Third, brought it to a branch of the Arundell family, descended, as there is reason to suppose (fn. n15), from the Arundells of Hempston-Arundell, in Devonshire. Sir John Arundell of Trerice, who was sheriff of Cornwall 10 Edw. IV., lost his life in an attack on St. Michael's Mount, then occupied against the King by the Earl of Oxford. It is said that he removed his residence from another seat, at Efford, on the north coast of Cornwall, near Stratton, to Trerice, because it had been foretold that he should die on the sands; which prophecy was accomplished by his receiving his death's-wound on the sands between Marazion and the Mount. This Sir John Arundell was Vice-Admiral of Cornwall in the reign of Henry VI. John Arundell of Trerice, in the year 1522, distinguished himself by the capture of Duncan Campbell, a celebrated Scottish pirate, after a sharp engagement. The letter of thanks, written by the Duke of Norfolk, pursuant to the King's command, was printed by Mr. Carew in his History of Cornwall: the same John, being then a knight, was Vice-Admiral of Cornwall in 1553. John Arundell of of Trerice, Carew's contemporary, known better by the name of "Old Tilbury," and "John for the King," lived to a great age; and when upwards of fourscore defended Pendennis-castle against the parliamentary forces to the last extremity: his son, Sir Richard, an active officer in the Royal army, who had distinguished himself at Edghill and Lansdowne, and several other battles and sieges, during the civil war, and afterwards suffered considerably in his fortune by sequestration, &c. was, in 1664, created Lord Arundell of Trerice: his grandson, the fourth and last Lord Arundell of this family, who died in 1773, upon his marriage with a sister of Thomas Wentworth, Earl of Strafford, settled all his lands, in default of issue, on her nephew, William Wentworth, Esq., of Hembury in Dorsetshire, with remainder to Sir Thomas Acland, Bart., and his heirs. Mr. Wentworth, who succeeded to the estates under this settlement, levied a fine, and settled this manor and the other Arundell estates on his son Frederick Thomas (afterwards Earl of Strafford), with remainder, on failure of issue, to his daughter, who married into the family of Kaye, of Woodsome in Yorkshire, and on failure of issue from both, (which was the event,) to Sir Thomas Acland, Bart. The manor of Trerice, and the other estates so settled, are now the property of Sir Thomas Dyke Acland, Bart., grandson of Sir Thomas, named in the settlement. The old mansion, built in 1572, is occupied by the tenant of the demesne, but occasionally visited by its owner.

The manor of Degembris, which was formerly in the Tregians, was purchased by the Arundells, in the reign of James I. The manor of Tresulian or Tresilian was the property, and most probably the seat of Sir Robert Tresilian, Chief Justice of the King's-Bench, after whose attainder (fn. n16) this manor was granted by King Richard II. to John Hawley (fn. n17), who married his daughter and heir; it seems afterwards to have reverted to the male line; as we are told, that at a later period it passed, by a female heir, from the Tresilians to a younger branch of the Carnes of Glamorganshire, who took the name of Tresilian, and afterwards sold this manor to the Arundells (fn. n18) : both this and Degembris have since passed with Trerice. The barton of Tresilian, which had been mortgaged to the family of Davies, was afterwards sold to that of Gully: it is now the property and occasional residence of — Bennet, a minor. The site of the ancient manor of Cragantallan, which came to the Arundells with the heiress of Durant, is not known: it merged into the other manors belonging to the Arundells, and passed with them to Sir Thomas Dyke Acland.

The manor of Nancolla, in this parish, belongs to Lord Viscount Falmouth. The manor of Trevarthian was the property and seat of the ancient family of Trevarthian or Treverden, whose heiress brought it to the Reskymers. In the early part of the last century it was in the family of Wills, of Wivelscomb near Saltash, in which it continued for several generations: it is not now known as a manor: the barton is the property of — Bennet of Tresilian: the house is occupied by a farmer. The barton of Pollamounter, in the manor of Degembris, formerly the property and residence of the Pollamounter family, who removed thence to Trevithic in St. Columb, is now a farm-house, held by lease under Sir Thomas Dyke Acland.

In the parish-church of Newlyn is a marble monument, ornamented with her bust, in memory of Margaret, the lady of John Lord Arundell, of Trerice, who died in 1691. The great tithes of this parish are appropriated to the chancellor of the church of Exeter: the Bishop is patron of the vicarage.

Mr. John Oxnam has lately built a school-room, and a house adjoining for a master, in Newlyn church-town, and has declared his intention of endowing it with 5l. per annum, charged upon his estate in this parish. The school is proposed to be instituted on Dr. Bell's plan, and to be supported, in addition to the above endowment, by voluntary contributions.

Northill

NORTHILL, in the deanery and in the north division of the hundred of East, lies about seven miles south-south-west from Launceston, which is the post-office town, and about nine nearly north from Liskeard. The principal villages in this parish are, Trebartha, Treveniel, and Yeilland or Illand.

The manor of Landreyne is said, in a MS. volume, drawn up by the last male heir of the Spoure family, and containing an account of that family and their possessions, to have belonged to William Lord Wallis, who was attainted in the reign of Edward III., and had a daughter Christian married to John Trebartha: we can find no account of this Lord Wallis in any other heraldic books, either printed or manuscript; it is certain that the manors of Landreyne and Northill belonged to the Courtenays, Earls of Devon; and having been forfeited by attainder, were annexed to the duchy of Cornwall. Landreyne was purchased, under the powers of the land-tax redemption act, in 1799, by the late Francis Rodd, Esq., whose son, Francis Hearle Rodd, Esq., is now lord of that manor, and of Trebartha, Treveniel, Tolcarne, Tremollet, and Trewithy, all in this parish. Mr. Polwhele (fn. n19) speaks of Walter Reynell as having been lord of the manor of Trebartha in the reign of Richard I., on the authority of a manuscript in the British Museum: it was at a later period the property and seat of an ancient family, who took their name from the place of their abode, and became extinct in the male line in the reign of Henry VII., when their heiress brought this estate to the Spoures: the last-mentioned family became extinct in the year 1729. Mrs. Grylls, the heiress of this family, being in her second widowhood (fn. n20), bequeathed Trebartha and other estates to her intended third husband (fn. n21), Francis Rodd, Esq., a Herefordshire gentleman, captain in the Coldstream regiment of Guards, grandfather of Francis Hearle Rodd, Esq., the present proprietor: the manor of Treveniel and Tolcarne were included in the bequest of Mrs. Grylls: Treveniel was purchased, by the Spoures, of Sir George Carew, in the sixteenth century; by immemorial custom, the lord of this manor claimed of the mayor of Launceston the service of holding his stirrup whenever he should mount his horse, on the occasion of the Duke of Cornwall's coming to Launceston. The manor of Tolcarne or Talkarne was formerly the seat and property of a family of that name, from whom it passed, by marriage, to George Kekewich, Esq., of Shropshire: in or about the year 1630, it was purchased of John Kekewich, Esq., of Catchfrench, by Richard Spoure, Esq.

The manor of Tremolla or Tremollet belonged to the Tregians: in the year 1635 it was purchased by Jonathan Rashleigh, Esq., whose descendant, Philip Rashleigh, Esq., in 1783, sold it to the late Colonel Rodd. The manor of Trewithe or Trewithy belonged to the Vincents, whose heiress brought it to the Darleys: it was purchased of the latter, in 1783, by Mr. John Tyeth, who in 1803 sold it to the late Colonel Rodd. Battens, successively a seat of the Vincents, and their representatives, the Darleys, is now a farm-house, the property of F. H. Rodd, Esq. The manor of Trefrize extends into this parish.

In the parish-church are memorials of the families of Spoure and Darley; F. H. Rodd, Esq. is patron of the rectory. There were formerly chapels at Landreyne and Trebartha, in this parish. (fn. n22)