Madron (St. Madern)
MADRON (St. Madern), a parish, in the union of Penzance, W. division of the hundred of Penwith and of the county of Cornwall; containing, with the market-town of Penzance, 11,144 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the coast, and comprises by measurement 6000 acres, whereof 2440 are common or waste; the surface is boldly undulated, and the higher grounds command a delightful view of Mount's bay and the adjacent country. The substratum is rich in mineral produce, but no mines are worked. Stone of suitable quality for the roads is quarried, and granite of a superior kind is found in abundance; clay, also, of a peculiar sort, is obtained for making bricks for smelting-houses and furnaces, being capable of enduring an intense degree of heat. The living is a vicarage, with that of Morvah annexed, valued in the king's books at £21. 5. 10.; patron, the Rev. M. N. Peters; impropriators, the Rev. C. V. Le Grice, and D. P. Le Grice, Esq. The great tithes have been commuted for £431. 10. 10., and the vicarial for £660; the vicarial glebe contains half an acre. The church is partly in the decorated and later English styles, with a square embattled tower. At Penzance is a district church; also the chapel of St. Paul; and the Baptists, Independents, and Wesleyans have places of worship. A school was founded by Mr. George Daniel, and endowed with lands now let for about £106 per annum. Here is a stone with an ancient British inscription, stating it to be a sepulchral monument to Rialobran, son of Cunoval; the parish likewise contains the once celebrated well of St. Madern.
Transcribed from A Topographical Dictionary of England, by Samuel Lewis, seventh edition, published 1858.