St Merryn, Cornwall
Historical Description
Merryn, St, a parish in Cornwall, on the coast, 2 miles WSW of Padstow, and 8 from Wadebridge station on the G.W.R. and L. & S.W.R. It has a post office under Padstow; money order and telegraph office, Padstow. Acreage, 3946; population, 489. Harlyn, formerly the seat of the Peter family, commands a splendid sea view. The surface is exceedingly diversified, and the coast is lined by high rugged cliffs. The rocks are crystalline and schistose, and include veins of lead and antimony. Roofing slate is quarried, and a dark-coloured trap almost equal to marble is worked. A small quay, constructed in 1794, is under Catacluse Cliff. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Truro; value, £240 with residence. Patron, the Bishop of Truro. The church is ancient and pretty good, was partly rebuilt of Catacluse stone, and contains a curiously carved trap-rock font. There is a Wesleyan chapel. A church formerly stood near Harlyn, and has left some remains. A lighthouse stands on Trevose Head in this parish.
Administration
The following is a list of the administrative units in which this place was either wholly or partly included.
Ancient County | Cornwall | |
Hundred | Pyder | |
Poor Law union | St. 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 Merryn from the following:
- Samuel Lewis' A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858. (Merryn, St.)
Maps
Online maps of St Merryn 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.