NORTHILL— PADSTOW to Ireland to be educated ; he came to Corn- wall in a coracle, and landed somewhere in the estuary of the Camel. He almost certainly founded a religious cell before going on to Bodmin ; but there has been some dispute as to the priority. In the thirteenth century Padstow was known as Aldestowe ; in fact, the place has been troubled with a multiplicity of names, most confusing to an inquirer. There can be no doubt that the estuary was once far more navigable than now, though it still offers fair harbourage for small craft. The Doombar (possibly dune-bar) and the choking sands spoil the passage. The sand, useful agricultur- ally as well as to golfers, is death to the pros- perity of a seaport. The Harlyn Bay discoveries prove that this neighbourhood was once thickly populated, in days long before the arrival of St. Petrock. The church is well worth a visit, on account of its fine E.E. tower, its sculptured Norm, font, its remains of old timber roofing, and the quaint bench-ends in the chancel. In. the chancel over the piscina is an effigy, some- times said to be St. Petrock himself, sometimes St. Anthony of Egypt. There is some excellent glass, and in the churchyard is a good cross. Place House, the seat of the Prideaux, is on the site of an ancient monastic foundation, probably an offshoot or perhaps the forerunner of Bodmin Priory. It is a fine castellated building, con- taining some noteworthy pictures (early Opies and a Vandyck). Dean Prideaux was born here.
