Formerly a pretty considerable trade was carried on at Looe, and many
ships belonging to this port used to go from thence to France, Spain,
and up the Straits, &c.
Even so late as the beginning of the last century there were several
ships kept here, principally employed in foreign voyages; but, for
seventy or eighty years last past, few, if any, have been so employed.
* * * * *
Tallan Church is most romantic in its situation; it contains a curious
monument to one of the Bevilles. Polbenro, divided between this parish
and Lansallos, affords picturesque scenery superior to any on the
southern coast of Cornwall; and the whole road from Fowey to Looe, by
Polruan, Lansallas, Polperro, and Talland, will amply compensate the
fatigue of climbing hills, and descending into deep vales, by the
singular and striking prospects varied at every point.
The manor of Killigarth belonged at an early period to the family of
Kilgat, evidently implying some relation between the names.
Kilmenawth, or Kilmenorth, formed a part of the large possessions
belonging to Lord Chief Justice Trevilian, who was murdered under some
forms of law in the year 1388, the 11th year of Richard the Second.
This place was the residence of Admiral Sir Charles Wager.
The hamlet of Lemain or Lammana, which seems to have included a
considerable portion of the parish with the island, must have been of
importance, since a record exists, which states a division of the
monastic property of Glastonbury, between the bishop and his chapter
on one part, and the monks on the other, when about the year 1200,
Pope Innocent the Third removed the see of Wells to that place.
The words are, “De Prioratibus quoque ad Glastoniensem Ecclesiam
pertinentibus, ita ordinatum est. Ut Prioratus de Hibernia ad
ordinationem Episcopi, Prioratus vero de Basselake, et de Lamana ad
ordinationem conventus pertineant.”
Portlooe appears to have been the principal estate of the hamlet, but
no traditions are extant about its antiquity. It belonged about the
middle of the last century to Mr. John Hoskins of East Looe, probably
by purchase; he left an only daughter, who married first Mr. Edward
Buller, a brother of the Judge, This gentleman had been educated in
Holland according to the customs of those times, with a view to trade,
which however he never pursued, but settled on his wife’s barton of
Portlooe, and died there, leaving several children. Mrs. Buller,
nevertheless, married secondly Mr. Thomas Escott, an officer in the
Cornwall Militia.
The island has probably passed through different hands since the
dissolution of Glastonbury Abbey. It recently belonged to the family
of Mayow, by whom it was sold for a very trifling consideration, to
Sir William Trelawny, afterwards Governor of Jamaica.
Pel-Vellan, (the Mill Pool,) created and named by the late Colonel
John Leman, is an exquisite specimen of that gentleman’s taste. The
editor remembers it a wild uncultivated uninclosed common, adjacent to
the tide Mill. About twenty years after the commencement of
decorations, he placed the following inscription where a rill of water
formed a small cascade under the shelter of some shrubs, and of three
or four trees which had stood on the Down.
Παρα την σκιην
Καθισον· καλον το δενδρον,
Απαλας σειει δε χαιτας
Μαλακωτατῳ κλαδισκῳ·
Παρα δ᾿ αυτῳ γ᾿ ερεθιξει
Πηγη ρεουσα Πειθους.
Mr. Bond has given a detailed history of Admiral Sir Charles Wager,
pages 165 to 173.
The Admiral represented West Looe in Parliament, and resided in the
parish, but Mr. Bond has not been able to collect any traces of his
birth, either from tradition or from records. There is a monument to
his memory in Westminster Abbey, with a long and appropriate
inscription.
The barton and manor of Kyllygarth, including a division of Polperro,
are within this parish. The great tithes and the advowson belong to
the family of Kendall.
Talland measures 2208 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815.
The parish 3,178 0 0
West Looe 563 0 0
――――――――――――――
£3,741 0 0
――――――――――――――
Poor Rate in 1831.――The parish 570 7 0
West Looe 129 13 0
――――――――――――――
£700 0 0
――――――――――――――
Population,―― in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
The parish { 709 | 801 | 839 | 841
West Looe { 376 | 433 | 539 | 593
―――― ―――― ―――― ――――
1076 1234 1378 1434
giving an increase on the parish of 10½ per cent., on West Looe 57
per cent., on both together of 26 per cent. in 30 years.
Present Vicar, the Rev. N. Kendall, instituted in 1806: he is also
the patron. The net income of the vicarage in 1831 was £110. The
impropriator of the great tithes is J. Graves, esq.