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St Columb Major, Cornwall

Historical Description

Columb-Major, St, a small town and a parish in Cornwall. The town stands on an eminence, the reputed site of a Danish fort. On the north and south sides are trout streams which discharge into the sea, 4 miles distant. It is 2¼ miles from St Columb Road station on the G.W.R., and 15 NNE from Truro. It consists chiefly of one good street, and a pleasant suburb called Bridge contains some good Gothic houses and other private residences, is a seat of petty sessions, centre of a county court district, has a railway sub-post office (named St Columb, R.S.O., Cornwall), two banks, a very commodious hotel, once kept by Polkinhorn, the noted Cornish wrestler, and five inns, mechanics' institute with temperance house, a market-house with town-hall. Constitutional and Liberal clubs, a parish church, five dissenting chapels, a workhouse, and a cemetery of 2¼ acres under the control of a burial board. The church is chiefly of the 13th century, presents features of much beauty, consists of aisled nave, aisled chancel, and a transept, with pinnacled tower containing 8 bells, and has a curious font, and monuments of the Hoblyns, the Vyvyans, the Bealinges, the Pendarvises, and the Arundels. A college for six priests stood adjacent to the church, and was destroyed by fire in 1701. A weekly market is held on Thursday, and fairs on the Thursday after Mid-Lent Sunday, and after 12 Nov. The parish comprises 12,884 acres; population, 2612. Granite, felspar, tin, copper, cobalt, and bismuth are found. The ancient camp, called Castle-an-Dinas, is 2 miles SE of the town, and there are several Druidical monuments. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Truro; tithe rent charge as commuted £1515 with 42 acres of glebe and 5 glebe houses, net value, £1232. Bishop Arundel, who died in 1504, was a native. A mission church was erected in 1884, and a Wesleyan chapel in 1887. Trewan is a chief residence in the neighbourhood. In connection with a valuable charity named " Jenkins " Charity, is the ancient game of hurling, which takes place on every Shrove Tuesday and the Saturday week following.

Transcribed from The Comprehensive Gazetteer of England & Wales, 1894-5

Administration

The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.

Ancient CountyCornwall 
Ecclesiastical parishSt. Columb St. Columba 
HundredPyder 
Poor Law unionSt. Columb Major 

Any dates in this table should be used as a guide only.


Civil Registration

For general information about Civil Registration (births, marriages and deaths) see the Civil Registration page.


Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for St Columb Major from the following:


Maps

Online maps of St Columb Major are available from a number of sites:


Newspapers and Periodicals

The British Newspaper Archive have fully searchable digitised copies of the following Cornwall papers online:


Visitations Heraldic

We have a copy of The Visitations of Cornwall, by Lieut.-Col. J.L. Vivian online.

CountyCornwall
RegionSouth West
CountryEngland
Postal districtTR9
Post TownSt. Columb

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