Marhamchurch ( kw, Eglosvarwenn) is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

and village in north

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, United Kingdom. Marhamchurch village is situated south of

Bude Bude (; kw, Porthbud) is a seaside town in north east Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as Bude Haven.''Cornish ...

off the A39 road. The Civil Parish population at the 2011 census was 837.

History

The name derives from the Celtic Saint Marwenne (Morwenna) who is thought to have founded a hermitage here around the end of the fifth century. Marwenne was one of the twenty-four children of St

Brychan Brychan Brycheiniog was a legendary 5th-century king of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, alternatively Breconshire) in Mid Wales. Life According to Celtic hagiography Brychan was born in Ireland, the son of a Prince Anlach, son of Coronac, and h ...

, a Welsh saint and king. Marhamchurch parish church is dedicated to St Marwenne. Most of the present church is of the 14th century; in the 15th century an aisle and porch were added. In the early 15th century the existence of an anchorite's cell occupied by an anchoress called Cecilia Moys is recorded. Features of interest include the four-holed cresset stone and a Norman quarter-capital (though this is unlikely to be a fragment of the Norman church which may have preceded the present building). St Marwenne was probably the same as

Morwenna Morwenna is the eponymous patron saint of Morwenstow, a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, UK. Her name is thought to be cognate with Welsh '' morwyn'' "maiden", although the first name is also used in Brittany and said to be composed o ...

of Morwenstow. In the 9th century the district was probably on the border between Cornwall and Devon as the farms in the parish have Saxon names unlike those of

Poundstock Poundstock ( kw, Tregorlann) is a civil parish and a hamlet on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated four miles (6.5 km) south of Bude half-a-mile west of the A39 trunk road about one mile from the coa ...

on the other side of the River Neet. Marhamchurch was recorded in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...

(1086) when it was one of several manors held by Hamelin from

Robert, Count of Mortain Robert, Count of Mortain, 2nd Earl of Cornwall (–) was a Norman nobleman and the half-brother (on their mother's side) of King William the Conqueror. He was one of the very few proven companions of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastin ...

. There was one

virgate The virgate, yardland, or yard of land ( la, virgāta was an English unit of land. Primarily a measure of tax assessment rather than area, the virgate was usually (but not always) reckoned as hide and notionally (but seldom exactly) equal ...

of land and land for 2 ploughs. There was one plough, 1 serf, 1 villein, 2 smallholders, 20 acres of pasture and 20 sheep. The value of the manor was 6 shillings though it had formerly been worth 10 shillings.Thorn, C. et al., ed. (1979) ''Cornwall''. Chichester: Phillimore; entry 5,5,5

Marhamchurch Revel

Marhamchurch Revel is a festival held every year, on the Monday after 12 August in Marhamchurch. During the festival a Queen of the Revel is chosen from the village schoolgirls and crowned by Father Time in front of the church where St. Morwenna's cells are said to have stood. Following these events a procession led by the local band and the newly crowned Revel Queen then proceeds through the village to the Revel Ground. Here the villagers are entertained with a show of various entertainments.

References

External links

Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Marhamchurch
{{authority control Villages in Cornwall Civil parishes in Cornwall Manors in Cornwall