From "Notes on the Parish of Mylor", published by Hugh Pengelly Olivey 1907

Beware, Ongoing work - This is First Draft Only and like to contain typographic errors

NOTES ON MYLOR.

Section I

Introductory and Topographical Description.

THE County of Cornwall is one of the most interesting and remarkable of the English counties. When we consider its geographical position and insular character, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel, except where it is nearly divided from Devonshire by the river Tamar ; its shores deeply traversed by creeks and sandy coves; its rocky headlands and fertile valleys, producing scenery of the grandest character ; its mineral treasures and its fisheries ; there is little wonder that it has attracted the notice and commercial intercourse of foreign nations, of which some exist at the present day only in the pages of ancient history. There are consequently remnants in its ancient language and customs, and antiquities derived from such sources. From its remote position it was almost a kingdom of itself. It was called by the Romans " Damnonium," which included part of Devonshire, and this continued to be the boundary until after the incursion of the Danes, who, with the Cornish, were defeated at Exeter by Athelstan in 937, when the Cornish boundary became limited to the line of the Tamar, which is said to have divided England from Cornwall. A branch of the Cornish passed over into Brittany, which was called Armorica (or in Cornish, Armoric, from Armor, a wave of the sea ; Armoric, a country situated on the sea). The Cornish, Welsh, and Armoric languages were very nearly allied, the names of persons and places being very similar in each. They were called Celtic as distinct from the Anglo-Britons. Cornwall retained for many centuries this original language in spite of the innovation of Phoenicians, Greeks and Romans, who were superseded by the Danes, Saxons and Normans. It was only natural that by frequent intercourse with these nations, they should have adopted certain of their customs and traces of their languages. The chief commodities of trade were fish, tin and copper. Although these few remarks refer to the county as a whole, they may to a very great extent be applicable to this parish of Mylor. The area of the county is about 1,356 square miles, or 868,220 acres, exclusive of the Scilly Isles. The population according to the last census was 322,571. It is divided into nine hundreds, namely, East, West, Powder and Kerryer in the southern, and Stratton, Lesnewith, Trigg, Pyder, and Penwith on the northern side.

THE PARISH OF MYLOR

This is situated in the deanery and hundred of Kirryer, which includes the most southern part of the county, and of which it is one of the most picturesque portions. It forms a peninsula, being bounded by water on all sides except where it joins the parishes of St. Gluvias and Perran-arWorthal.

On the east and south Mylor is separated from the town of Falmouth and the parish of Budock by the Falmouth harbour, on the south and towards the west by a creek which is navigable up to the borough of Penryn. Restronguet Creek washes its banks on the north and joins Mylor Pool as it flows east, and separates it from Feock. Mylor abounds in most delightful views, which are presented to the eye in every direction. The prospects are charmingly diversified with hill and dale, woodland scenery and land-locked peeps of water, with good cottages and villas, towers of churches, and many objects which render the landscape interesting. On the south side from the grounds of Trefusis it commands a view of the magnificent harbour of Falmouth, enlivened by the shipping of all nations, and round the point towards Mylor Church is seen the Carrick Road, or King's Road, and beyond it St. Just-in-Roseland (or, as it should be, Rosland), and here the river Fal (or Vale), after its winding course from Truro and various creeks, flows into the sea between the castles of Pendennis and St. Mawes, and from here also are seen the house and grounds of Trelissick and Porthgwidden, and the venerable tower of St. Michael Penkivel Church, elevated above the surrounding woods which adorn Tregothnan. At the extreme north are the woods of Carclew, and on part of the western border those of Enys. The chief part of the population, which at the last census amounted to 2,147, are contained in the town of Flushing (formerly called Nankersey), which faces Falmouth and the picturesque village of Mylor Bridge, situated at the head of the Mylor Creek. These places are about a mile-and-half distant from each other, and form an almost equi-angular triangle with the church, which is situated on the eastern side of the parish, close to the sea, on the entrance to Mylor Creek, and is about four miles distant from the northwestern boundary. Lofty elm trees surround the churchyard, which also contains two magnificent specimens of yew, these are very ancient, and cast their shadows far and wide over the tombs of bygone parishioners whose remains rest beneath their branches ; one of them measures 180 feet in circumference. New portions of burial ground have been added to the churchyard in recent years, namely, in 1866 and 1871, the gift of the Admiralty to the parishioners of Mylor, and contiguous to this piece of ground is a plot for the burial of persons who die on the sea, and which was also their gift in 1846. Deeds relating to these are preserved with other parish documents. The church was carefully restored in 1870.
The whole parish comprises by actual measurement, 3,596 acres, three of which is water, thirtyfour tidal water, and 259 of foreshore.

The tithable lands measure 3,030a. 2r. 3p., woods, 479a. 3r. 37p., waste and roads, 50a. 3r. 2p., and the church and old churchyard, 3r. 38p. To this was added in 1866, 2r. 14p., and a further addition in 1871, 2r. 3p., making a total of church and churchyard, 2a. 0r. 15p. The annual gross value is £9,007 16s. 9d. ; rateable value of buildings, etc., £4,930 4s. 10d. ; of agricultural land, £2,648 17s. 6d. ; the assessable value, £6,254 13s. 7d. ; the rate at one shilling in the pound, £293 5s. The population in 1901 was 2,147, namely, in Mylor, 1,297, in Flushing, 858; males, 1,008, females, 1139 ; inhabited houses, 739.

The following are the numbers since 1801
1801-1,665.     1841-2,568.     1881-
1811-1,897.     1851-2,205.     1891-2,238.
1821-2,193.     1861-2,201.     1901-2,147,
1831-2,647.     1871-2,389.

The living, to which is attached a residence and glebe of fourteen acres, is an undischarged vicarage in the patronage of the Bishop of Truro.
The tithes are commuted at £620, namely, to the vicar, £215, and to the lay impropriator, Lord Clinton, £405. The church is dedicated to St. Melor, or Meloris, hence the name of the parish.

This St. Melor, or Meloris, is reputed to have been the son of Melianus, Duke of Cornwall, and is said to have been slain for embracing Christianity, August 28, A.D. 411, by his pagan brother-in-law, Rinaldus, or Remigius, who first cut off Milor's right hand, then his left leg, and finally his head.

The festival day, therefore, was anciently kept on the day of his death, according to the calendar of the ancient British church. A massive granite cross has been erected to his memory, measuring 17ft 6ins. in length. This was discovered buried head downwards on the spot where tradition says St. Meliorus was slain and buried, A.D. 411. It has been re-erected in the supposed original position on the eastern side of the south porch. It is inserted seven feet in the ground. The shaft is square, being sixteen inches at the bottom, and fifteen inches at the top.

The parish consists chiefly of freehold land, held by the lords of the manors much as it has been for ages past, namely, those of Carclew and Restronguet, of Trefusis and Tregew, and a small manor of Mylor. The old semi-feudal system therefore continues, every tenement is part and parcel of the lord's demesne or service, either on lease for lives or on lease for a term of years. The old system of lives however, is giving way to leases, but unfortunately for short periods, consequently there is little encouragement to erect substantial buildings and make improvements. There are a few lands outside these manors mentioned. Trevissom, on the Penryn Creek, formerly the property of the bishops of Exeter, and purchased from them by T. W. Reed, Esq. The mansion is now owned by the Bishop of Ripon, and the farm until recently owned by the representatives of Mr. Reed. Great Wood, on the north-east side of Mylor Creek, is the residence of J. Gregory Bond, Esq. Francis G. Enys, Esq., also owns a considerable portion of land on the western side, adjoining Enys, having acquired it, in exchange, of the manor of Mylor a few years ago.

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