The Parochial History of Cornwall/Volume 1/St Enodor
ST. ENODOR.
HALS.
Is situate in the hundred of Pidre, and hath upon the north Little Colon; east, St. Stephen's and St. Denis; south, Ladoch; west, Newland. In the Domesday Tax, 20th William I. (1087,) this district was taxed under the names of Borthy and Resparva. And Berthy is still the voke lands of a manor pertaining to Penrose, now Boscawen and others. The 3d Henry IV. one Ralph de Borthy held in Dinbegh, in Pidre, by the tenure of knight-service, a small knight's fee. (Carew's Survey of Cornwall, p. 41.)
In the Inquisition of the Bishops of Lincoln and Winchester into the value of Cornish Benefices, (1294,) Ecclesia Enadori in Decanatu de Pidre, is rated viil. vis. viiid. Vicar ejusdem xxs. In Wolsey's Inquisition, and Valor Beneficiorum, Enador Vic. is valued at 26l. 13s. 4d.; the patronage in the Bishop of Exeter, who endowed it; the Incumbent Martin; the Rectory, or sheaf, in possession of Davy's heirs; and the parish rated to the 4s. per pound Land Tax, (1696,) 141l. 6s.
Some of the inhabitants of this parish have told me that one St. Athenodorus is the tutelar guardian of this church, from whom it is denominated Enador. Athenodorus, the stoic philosopher of Athens, was born before Christ Jesus, and was tutor to the Emperor Augustus, who taught him that he should neither do or say any thing, but take respite till he could say over the Greek alphabet, that so he might neither say or do any thing through rashness or anger; for which advice he is specially remembered.
Car-vin-ike, alias Car-fyn-ike, (i.e. the rock spring, fountain, leat, or riveret of water, so called from the natural circumstances of the place,) is the dwelling of Anthony Tanner, Gent, that married Carthew; his father Arundell, by whom he had this place. Originally descended from the Tanners, late of Court and Boderick, in St. Stephen's, and giveth the same arms.
Pen-coll, or Pen-cooth, in this parish, (i.e. the headwood, a name also of old taken from the ancient natural circumstances of the place,) is the dwelling of Arthur Fortescue, Gent, that married Verman; his father Elford, being of the Fortescues of Filleigh, in Devon, and gives the same arms.
Gon-rounsan, in this parish, is the dwelling of John Flammock, Gent, that married Coode, and giveth for his arms the same as the Flammocks of Bodmin. This land is since sold to Philip Hawkins, Esq. son of Mr. Hawkins of Creed.
Tre-wheler, in this parish, is the dwelling of Edward Hoblyn, Gent, that married Williams; his father Cosowarth; a younger branch of Nanswhiddon family, and giveth the same arms.
This parish of St. Enedor is the flattest or levellest parish of lands in Cornwall, and, by consequence, the storehouse or preserver of moisture, or water; and in testimony of the wateryness of this soil, I do remember that in the latter end of the reign of King Charles the Second, the tower of this church sunk in its foundation, so much that the whole fabric fell to the ground, and greatly damnified the church with its stones; which church and tower, by the Bishop of Exeter's grant of a collection throughout his diocese, are both again well-built and repaired as it now stands.
This parish is enriched with lodes of tin and copper.
At Pen-hale, or haile, in this parish, that is to say, the head-river, or the head of the river; and suitable to its name, in the low lands thereof are the original fountains or springs of two notable rivers, viz. that on the south side of those lands, making its current or flux to Tresillian Bridge, in Merther, on the south part of this county; that on the north side of Penhale lands, making its course to Lower St. Colomb Port, on the north part of Cornwall; both which rivers abound with fishes proper to the country in their seasons, as trouts, eels, peal, and salmon, &c. before they empty themselves into the North and South Seas of the British Channel, and the Irish or Atlantic Ocean.
TONKIN.
I have to remark on this parish, that all the southern part is in the hundred of Powder, although it is wholly rated to that of Pidar.
Athenodorus, to whom this church is dedicated, is a saint in the Roman Calendar, and brother to Gregory Thaumaturgus, or the miracle-worker, both natives of Neocæserea, in Pontus, or Cappadocia; of noble extraction, very well skilled in the sciences, the knowledge of tongues, and philosophy; who, hearing of the great fame of Origen, came to hear him, and were by his learned lessons, and holy exhortations, brought to leave the Pagan philosophy and all mundane sciences, and to embrace the holy theology, in which they made so great a progress in the space of five years, under so good a master, that, although they were both very young, they were honoured with the office of Bishops in the churches of Pontus. This St. Athenodorus suffered martyrdom about the year 272, under Aurelian.
THE EDITOR.
In this parish are situated three villages, called Summercourt, Penhale, and Fraddon, each of which had formerly the privilege of holding an annual fair. All are now transferred to Somercourt. One held on the 25th of September, is considered to be the most important in Cornwall. The name is obviously modern, although the village itself seems to be quite as ancient as any in the neighbourhood.
There is in this parish also another village, of considerable importance up to the year 1832, called Michell, St. Michael, or Modeshole.
This place, although never entitled, by the utmost stretch of courtesy, to the appellation of a town, was privileged with sending Members to Parliament in the time of King Edward the Sixth, probably to increase the political power of the Lords Arundell, who then possessed the paramount manor of Michel, together with an unrivalled influence in that part of Cornwall.
Many of the small places in Cornwall received this privilege from the Tudors, for the express purpose of becoming close or nomination boroughs, withdrawn as they then were from public view or attention.
The system thus created has acted at different periods in various ways. At first, many of the small Boroughs returned neighbouring gentlemen to Parliament, the natural aristocracy of the country, and practically the peers of other gentlemen holding hereditary seats, and distinguished by the shadowy appellation of offices long since extinct. These representatives formed the strongest bulwark of national liberty in the subsequent reigns of the Stuarts. So that Charles the Second, and his brother King James, endeavoured to smooth the way for their progress towards despotism by invading chartered or prescriptive rights; and thus the inviolability of these rights became associated in men's minds, after the Revolution, with the very idea of liberty itself; and this union remained so permanently fixed and strong at the distance of a century, as to dash in pieces the otherwise powerful administration of Mr. Fox and Lord North, because they proposed to interfere authoritatively with the Charter of the East India Company. Times were, however, at that period completely changed. The English Empire had extended itself into all parts of the globe; an immense manufacturing and commercial interest had grown up; and, of still greater consequence, the national debt had created a vast monied capital, not subject to the laws of primogeniture, and therefore inclined towards democracy. All these obtained representatives through the small Boroughs, but tempered in most cases by the media through which the seats were acquired. Statesmen by profession, and many inclined to support the existing order of things by their situation in life, and by their connection, obtained admission also into Parliament in the same manner, and all these, united with the representatives of counties, and of large towns, formed an assembly, owing its existence, no doubt, to accidental causes, but, in the opinion of many wise and experienced men, better adapted to the government of a great country than any one that the world had seen, or than could be established by systematic arrangements.
That House of Commons has been swept away by the enactment of 1832; and it remains to be proved by an experiment, at which bold men might shrink, whether a more direct delegation will as effectually represent all the varied materials of the State, and whether a body so powerful may not ultimately absorb into its immediate superintendence the whole legislative and executive functions.
Michell had to boast among its representatives of Sir Walter Ralegh, of Mr. Carew, the historian of Cornwall, and of many distinguished gentlemen of the county. It used to be said, that Colonel Clive spent so much money in a contest for this place as to occasion his return to India, where he gained the battle of Plassey, and established the Eastern Empire.
The right of election seems to have been vague and undefined at Michell, as it was in early times at almost all other places; but repeated decisions of the House of Commons tended to ascertain, and usually to abridge the right, as this was deemed most favourable to the new Government; and finally, by Act of Parliament in 2d George II. the last decision of the House of Commons on any right of voting acquired the force and authority of law.
Such a decision took place with respect to Michell in the year 1700, fixing the right of voting in the possessors of five burgage tenures, here denominated mesne lordships, and in all resident payers of scot and lot. Property within the limits of the borough being divided, and each possessor of land wishing to multiply voters, they were raised to the amount of sixty or eighty, till at last the whole property coming into the hands of two Cornish gentlemen, they, in promotion of a system which may yet be regretted, consolidated the land, let the better houses on conditions, such as to prevent the occupiers from appearing on the parish rates, and converted to farm shelters, or took down, hovels that were originally constructed for election purposes. Contests were thus avoided, and the borough rendered close; the two proprietors having mutually pledged themselves in writing to support each other in their equal shares.
One of the proprietors died, and his son continued to act on the agreement. The other proprietor also died; and his brother having verbally ratified the compact, continued also to act on it, and a joint return was made in 1830. But a total change of men and measures having taken place in the administration of Government, the Reform Bill was introduced, and so powerful is the action of party feelings on the most honourable minds, heightened as they were, on this important occasion, by an honest conviction generally entertained on all sides, of the real and permanent welfare of the country being involved, that one of the proprietors thought himself absolved from adhering to the contract, unless his associate would take the same line of politics on this great subject as himself. A poll was thereupon called for, and the numbers were, for Kenyon five, for Best three, and Hawkins two; one voter having been got over by the infringing party.
Pencoose is now the property of Mr. William Basset, having been purchased from the Fortescues.
Trewhele belongs to Mr. John Basset, of this parish.
Treweere is held in joint tenantry by Mr. Retollock, son of Mr. Retollock who resided at Michell as agent for the borough, and Sir Richard Vyvyan, of Trelowarren. This place is considered to be a barton; and it must formerly have been the residence of some gentleman, although the place is now reduced to a common farm.
Gomronson, heretofore the property of the Flammocks, now belongs to Hawkins.
Boswallow was purchased by Mr. John Stephens, of St. Ives, about the middle of the last century, and now belongs to his grandson, Mr. Samuel Stephens, of Tregenna.
The paramount manor of Michell has passed into various families, on account of its political importance. Originally Arundell's, it for some time belonged to the Scawens, an ancient race of Cornish gentlemen now extinct. One of the family held the honourable, and then gratuitous, office of Vice Warden, on the Restoration of King Charles the Second.[1] This manor was finally purchased by the late Sir Christopher Hawkins, and belonged to his devisee at the period of the general dissolution of close boroughs.
St. Enodor measures 6,140 statute acres.
| Annual value of the Real Property, as returned to Parliament in 1815 | £. 5303 |
s. 0 |
d. 0 |
| Poor Rate in 1831 | 399 | 12 | 0 |
| Population,— | in 1801, 869 |
in 1811, 881 |
in 1821, 833 |
in 1831, 1124 |
giving an increase of 2913 per cent, in 30 years.
Present Vicar, the Rev. S. M. Walker, collated by the Bishop of Exeter in 1828.
THE GEOLOGY, BY DR. BOASE.
Its extreme eastern corner is situated on granite, where it meets with the parishes of St. Columb Major and St. Dennis. The remainder of this parish rests on rocks of the schistose group; the part next the granite belonging to the porphyritic, and that more remote to the calcareous series, conformably, in all respects, to the geology of St. Colomb Major.
- ↑ The last representative of this family resided in Surrey, and died about the year 1770.