The town and parish of St. Ives, in Penwith, are universally believed
to have for their patroness a female missionary from Ireland. The
ruins of an old fortress is there called Dinas Iva; and various other
circumstances tend to confirm the tradition. It seems to be much more
likely, therefore, that another parish in Cornwall should be dedicated
to the same person, than to a Persian bishop, of whose pilgrimage to
England there can be little assurance.
The church stands on the top of a hill; and the tower is remarkable
from the circumstance of having the two buttresses at each corner, as
well as the corner itself, terminated by a pinnacle, making twelve in
all. The patronage is in the Duke of Cornwall.
This parish measures 5,085 statute acres.
Annual value of the Real Property, as £. _s._ _d._
returned to Parliament in 1815 3767 0 0
Poor Rate in 1831 404 3 0
Population, { in 1801, | in 1811, | in 1821, | in 1831,
{ 486 | 535 | 602 | 656
giving an increase of 35 per cent. in 30 years.
Present Rector, the Rev. J. Jope, presented by the King in 1806.