Germoe, Cornwall

Historical Description

Germoe, a village and a parish in Cornwall. The village stands near the coast, 5¼ miles W by N of Helston, and 5 ESE of Marazion Road station on the G.W.R., is traditionally said to have been founded in the 5th century by Ger-mochus, a king of Ireland. Post town, Marazion. Acreage of parish, 1331; population, 497. Many of the inhabitants are workers in tin mines. The living is a perpetual curacy, annexed to the vicarage of Breage, in the diocese of Truro; pint net yearly value, £77 with residence. The church is ancient, and has an embattled tower. It was restored in 1891. A curious structure, called Sfc Germoe's Chair, is onthe N side of/the churchyard, comprises a recessed stone seatwith pillars, pointed arches, and a rude sculpture of a human head, and is said to have been erected by the Millitons of Pengersick. There is a Wesleyan chapel.

Administration

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

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

Churches

Church of England

St. Germoe (parish church)

The church of St. Germoe is an ancient building of stone in the Perpendicular style, with portions of Transition, Norman and Early English date, and consists of chancel, nave of five bays, north aisle and two side chantries, south porch and an embattled tower with crocketed pinnacles, containing 3 bells, all dated 1753: the font, of native elvan, is curious from its misshapen form and rude sculptures; the fragments of a bowl of another font also remain: there is an inscription in the church to the memory of the Gilbert family: the church plate bears the date 1732, and was presented by Francis, second Earl of Godolphin, who then occupied Godolphin manor in the adjoining parish, and died in 1766: in the north-east corner of the churchyard is a stone seat, called the chair of St. Germoe, or throne of King Germocus, and said to have been erected by the Millyton family of Pengersick; the structure measures, internally, about 6 feet by 3 feet, and the front consists of two pointed arches, each 6 feet in height, on three circular columns; at the back is a seat divided into three compartments, the centre one inclosing the carved head in granite of the Virgin, wearing a Saxon crown: over the south porch there is an old carving of a crucifix: the east window is to Richard Tyacke and his wife Sibella: the pulpit was given by the Rev. James Frederick Lemon M.A. in 1906, in memory of James Plomer Lemon, for many years churchwarden, and of Henrietta Lemon, his wife: the church was thoroughly restored and reseated with open benches in 1891-2 at a cost of £2,000: there are 150 sittings.

Directories & Gazetteers

We have transcribed the entry for Germoe from the following:

• Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Germoe (St. Germoe))

Maps

Online maps of Germoe are available from a number of sites:

• Bing (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• Google Streetview.
• National Library of Scotland. (Old maps)
• OpenStreetMap.
• old-maps.co.uk (Old Ordnance Survey maps to buy).
• Streetmap.co.uk (Current Ordnance Survey maps).
• A Vision of Britain through Time. (Old maps)

Newspapers and Periodicals

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

• Royal Cornwall Gazette
• Cornishman
• West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser
• Lake's Falmouth Packet and Cornwall Advertiser

Visitations Heraldic

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