This parish is dedicated to St. Eva or Ewe, not from our grandmother
Eve. It is a rectory, and in the gift of Sir John St. Aubyn and Dr.
John Hawkins, from the Tredinhams.
Various manors are situated in this parish. Pelrew, i. e. the black
park, includes two bartons, distinguished by the names of Trevelisick
Wartha and Trevalisick Wallas, that is, the higher and lower, and
belong to William Seccombe, Gent. who gives for his arms, Argent, a
fess Gules between three lions rampant Sable.
Adjoining to these lands is Trelisick; for the meaning of which see
St. Erth, a part of the said manor, but the property of Mr. Tremayne.
The manor of Precays. This being part of the possessions of Sir Henry
Bodrigan, was on his attainder _inter alia_ given by Henry the Seventh
to Sir Richard Edgecumbe, Comptroller of his household, in whose
posterity it now continues; the Hon. Richard Edgecumbe being the
present lord of this manor.
To speak now of the most noted places, the first we come to, and which
joins with Trelisick in Tregonan, that is, the town on the downs,
formerly the property of the Tredenhams; but on the death of John
Tredenham, Esq. at Westminster, December the 25th, 1710, a gentleman
of very bright parts and of great loyalty, which he often shewed in
Parliament, this barton came to his second sister, Mary, the wife of
Francis Scobell, esq. who makes this place his residence.
Next the manor of Treworick, that is, the town on the river, called in
Domesday Book Treworoc, was one of the manors given by William the
Conqueror to Robert Earl of Morton. This was also a part of the
property forfeited by Sir Henry Bodrigan, and given to Sir Richard
Edgecumbe.
The manor of St. Ewe or Eva, so called from the name of the parish.
The church and glebe being taken out of it, and the advowson being
still appurtenant, was anciently the inheritance of the family of
Coleshul. Sir John Coleshul, slain at the battle of Agincourt, left a
son of the same name, Sir John Coleshul, Sheriff of Cornwall the 17th
Henry VI. and the 7th Edward IV. who dying without issue his sister
Joan, married to Sir Remfry Arundel, became his heir.
Sir John St. Aubyn possesses one fifth and one sixtieth, or thirteen
sixtieths of this property; the remaining parts came through different
hands at last to Sir John Tredenham of Tregoran, and were sold, with
the greatest part of the Tredenham estates, to Francis Scobell, Esq.
in 1727; so that John Hawkins, of Pennemer, D.D. and Sir John St.
Aubyn, are the actual proprietors.
Not far from the church, as the name signifies, a tenement called
Lanewa, lately the seat, under the said lords, of George Slade, Gent.
till he removed to Trevisick, in St. Austell.
The manor of Heligon was anciently the inheritance of the Whitleighs,
of Efford, in Devonshire. Richard Whitleigh, Esq. had two daughters
and heirs, Joanna, married to Richard Hals, of Kenedon, in Devonshire,
Esq. and Margaret to Roger Granville, Esq. of Stow, between whom this
and many more manors were divided. Roger and Margaret Granville gave
their part of this manor to their third son, Degorie Granville, of
Penheale, Esq. and in the 28th year of Henry the Eighth John Hals, of
Efford, and his son Richard Hals, sold their half of the manor to
Sampson Tremayne, senior, of St. Ewe: and, on the 8th of May, in the
10th year of Queen Elizabeth, Richard Granville, of Penhele, sold the
other half to the said Sampson Tremayne, and the whole is now enjoyed
by his descendant John Tremayne, who married in 1735 Grace, the
youngest daughter, and in a manner sole heiress, of Henry Hawkins, of
St. Austel, attorney-at-law.
Sir John Tremayne, serjeant-at-law, built the present house, in
addition to some rooms of an old house in the same place. Those
places, called Kestell, that is, castle, belong to the manor. Kestell
Wartha, the Middle Castle, and Kestel Wallas, but why so named I
cannot learn, there not being the least remains of any fortification.
Kestell Wartha, or the higher castle, was for a time the residence of
Lewis Tremayne, Esq. during the life of his father. This gentleman,
great-grandfather of Mr. John Tremayne, the present possessor, was
then a lieutenant-colonel under King Charles the First, and a very
stout honest man.
The manor of Coran is now become a part of the manor of Pentnar, in
Mevassary, the lord of which is the Hon. John Roberts.
Lanhedrar, the seat of thieves, belonged to Robert Earl of Morton.
Serlo de Lanhedrar, of this place, had summons as a Baron, and also to
attend the King beyond the seas, 25th Edward the First.
Lower Lanhedrar was the seat by lease under the Arundels, of Thomas
Maunder, Gent. who left three daughters his coheirs: Mary married to
Henwood, Priscilla to John Wolridge, of Gorminick, the third to John
Williams, who lived at Tregenna.
To the northward of Lanhedrar, is Trelean, memorable, or rather
infamous, for having been the birthplace of that trumpeter of
rebellion Hugh Peters, as the late Mr. Lewis Tremayne has often
assured me.
Next to this is Rosecorla, that is, the valley of the sheepfold,
lately the seat, in lease too from the Arundels, of Edward Maunder,
Gent.
Next is Trelewick. This seems to have been anciently a manor of
itself, although long since disfranchised. It is now the seat of
William Archer, a minor. His father, John Archer, Esq. married ――――
Adis, of Plymouth. The arms of Archer are, Sable, a chevron engrailed
between three sheens (i. e. spear-heads) Or.
The manor of Tregian gave name to the noted family of Tregian, and was
their chief seat till they removed to Golden in Probus, when the
ancient seat fell into decay, so that no traces are now left. This,
with the rest of Mr. Tregian’s great estate, was forfeited, as will be
stated under Probus.
Pensiquillis, the head of the dry copes, or the dry hill of wood, was
the last seat of the Penkevills, in this county; where they retired
after they had sold off the greatest of their considerable estates
therein. The last heir-male of this ancient family, Benjamin
Penkivill, Esq. died here unmarried, of the smallpox, the 21st of
November, 1699, leaving his six sisters co-heirs.
To the north of this place is Lithony, commonly Luny, and is the
modern seat of the Mohuns. Warwick Mohun, Esq. on his marriage with
――――, daughter of ―――― Adis, Esq. built a house here in his father’s
lifetime, where he resided till his death, which happened on the road
to London in October 1736.
To the south is Borew, the bleak dwelling, but why so called I cannot
guess. This was formerly the seat of Cruffs, on lease from the
Arundels.
And next to that is Tregenno, the town of the mouth or entrance, as I
believe from the situation of its chief place just by the downs. This
manor was for several generations the seat, on lease under the
Arundels, of the family of Robins; the last of which, Stephen Robins,
resided for the most part in St. Winnow. It has since been the
dwelling of Richard Randyl, Gent. whose arms are, Gules, on a cross
Argent, three mullets pierced Sable.
Further south lies Levalra, where lived Hugh Henwood, Gent.; but, on
his decease in 1733, the place was sold.
To the north of Tregenno is the manor of Penstruan, that is, the head
of the springs. This was a part of Sir Henry Rodrigan’s forfeited
estate, and came by grant to the Edgecumbes.
I now come to the church of St. Ewe, which consists of a nave, a south
aile, a vestry to the north, and a cross aile, At the western end is a
square tower, with a steeple on the top, in which are three bells.
Some of the windows have painted glass; in one, an angel holds in his
hands an escutcheon, charged, Azure, on a fess Sable, three chevronels
sideways of the Field. The church plate is very handsome. On the
flaggon is inscribed:
Jacobus Robins, de Tregennoe, Arm.
nuper expirans
ex voto legavit.
On the cover: St Ewe.
On the cup: Εις Ευχαρισταν.
In the north-west corner of the churchyard is a rough altar tomb,
without an inscription visible at present, but tradition says it had
formerly the following:
Here lies Parson Hugh,
The famous Atwell, Rector of St. Ewe.
The church is built low, and at one end of the parish. It had formerly
but a low wooden cover for two bells; but the parishioners have taken
that down, and are this present year, 1732, erecting a handsome square
tower, at their own sole charge, wherein they design to have a ring of
three bells.
In the nave, against the wall, is a small monument with this
inscription:
M’æ Sm.
Roberti Quarme, Gen^osi,
ob. xi^mo Ap. anno Dom^i M.DCCVIII.
ætatis suæ LXXII.
Patri suo charissimo filius natu et amore maximus
Gualterus, apud Falm^o in hoc Com^tu postea residens,
sibiq. vivo, et suis
ponendum curavit.
* * * * *
Ad Lectorem Monitio.
Non omnibus omnes placuere.
Non Ambrosius, non Augustinus, non Johanes Chrysostomus,
Nec Petrus, nec Paulus, nec facundus Apollos,[44]
Nec Divus ipse noster Salvator Jesus:
Num tu Viator omnibus?
Deo placere cura, et valeto.
Arms, Barry lozengy Argent and Gules, Counterchanged. Crest, a tiger
passant Proper.