Merryn, St.

MERRYN, ST., a parish, in the union of St. Columb Major, hundred of Pyder, E. division of Cornwall, 2¼ miles (W. S. W.) from Padstow; containing 593 inhabitants. The parish is bounded on the west and north by the Bristol Channel, and comprises 3608 acres, of which 1159 are common or waste land; the surface is strikingly varied, and the coast is lined with cliffs of singularly wild and rugged aspect. A small quay was constructed under the Catacleuse Cliff in 1794, by Henry Peter, Esq., for the accommodation of coasting-vessels, and the seine boats belonging to the pilchard-fishery. Lead-ore is found; there are also some quarries of inferior slate, which is used for roofing houses, and fine dark-coloured trap rock is obtained in the cliff Catacleuse. A fair is held on the Monday preceding the 22nd of June. The living is a vicarage, endowed with a portion of the rectorial tithes, valued in the king's books at £15. 6. 8., and in the gift of the Bishop of Exeter: the impropriate tithes have been commuted for £410, and the incumbent's for £250; the glebe comprises 36 acres. The church is an ancient structure, the pillars of which are of trapstone; the font is curiously carved with figures of the Apostles, and originally belonged to the ruined church of St. Constantine, an ancient village of which some remains still exist, near Harlyn. There are places of worship for Wesleyan and Primitive Methodists.