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Roach, or Roche (St. Gomonda)

ROACH, or Roche (St. Gomonda), a parish, in the union of St. Austell, E. division of the hundred of Powder and of the county of Cornwall, 7 miles (S. W.) from Bodmin; containing 2041 inhabitants. It is supposed to have derived its name from some remarkable rocks in the parish, on the principal of which are the remains of a small oratory or chapel dedicated to St. Michael, anciently the habitation of Conan, a celebrated hermit who afterwards removed to the see of St. Germans. The parish comprises 6080 acres, of which 2916 are common or waste. The surface is undulated, rising in some parts into bold eminences; and Hainsborough, one of the loftiest elevations in the county, in which the river Fal has its source, is partly within the parish. In the streams that descend from this eminence, grains of pure gold are occasionally discovered, some of them of considerable size. The inhabitants are chiefly employed in tin stream-works, of which here are several: the tin is washed from the soil by artificial waterfalls. A tin-mine was opened in 1831, which from its situation near the rock is called the Rock mine; and great quantities of china-clay are raised in the parish, and sent to Liverpool for the potteries. The living is a rectory, valued in the king's books at £20, and in the gift of the Trustees of the late John Thornton, Esq.: the tithes have been commuted for £440, and the glebe comprises 34 acres. The church, rebuilt in 1822, has a fine Norman font; in the churchyard is an ancient cross. There are several places of worship for Wesleyans and Bryanites. A mile and a half to the north of the rock, is Holy Well, said to be efficacious in curing diseases of children, of whom great numbers are brought for that purpose on Holy-Thursday.

Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.

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