St Mellion ( kw, Sen Melyan) is a village and rural
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 ...
in east
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, United Kingdom. The parish is about south of
Callington
Callington ( kw, Kelliwik) is a civil parish and town in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom about north of Saltash and south of Launceston.
Callington parish had a population of 4,783 in 2001, according to the 2001 census. This had inc ...
and is in the St Germans Registration District. To the north, the parish is bordered by Callington and
St Dominick
Saint Dominic ( es, Santo Domingo; 8 August 1170 – 6 August 1221), also known as Dominic de Guzmán (), was a Castilian Catholic priest, mystic, the founder of the Dominican Order and is the patron saint of astronomers and natural scientis ...
parishes, to the east and south by
Pillaton
Pillaton ( kw, Trebeulyow) is a village and civil parish in south east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
The parish extends to approximately 4.6 square miles, (1,177 hectares). It is bounded by the parishes of St Mellion and St Dominic to the ...
parish, and to the west by
St Ive
St Ive ( ; kw, Sen Iv) is a village in the civil parish of St Ive and Pensilva in eastern Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is split into four parts: St Ive Church End, St Ive Cross, St Ive Keason and St Ive Parkfield.
In addition ...
parish.
The population in the
2001 Census was 377. The
2011 Census recorded that this had increased to 383.
The parish name is taken from
St Melaine, a 6th-century bishop of
Rennes
Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
,
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
.
Parish church
The
Church of England parish church
A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ca ...
of St Melanus is in the village of St Mellion (the largest settlement in the parish) at . The older part of the church is the south side which was built in the 14th century whereas the north side is of the late 15th century and was built of granite. There is a series of monuments to the Corytons: these include a brass to Peter Coryton and his wife and 24 children, 1552, and two elaborate sculptural compositions to
William Coryton
William Coryton (1580–1651) of West Newton Ferrers, St Mellion, Cornwall, was a Cornish gentleman who served as MP for Cornwall in 1624, 1626 and 1628, for Liskeard in 1625, for Grampound in 1640 and for Launceston 1640–41. He was expelled fr ...
, 1651, and Sir William, 1711, both in a style characteristic of the early 17th century.
Notable sites
St Mellion is also the location of
Pentillie
Pentillie Castle is a grade II* listed building, listed English country house, country house and Estate (house), estate on the bank of the River Tamar in Paynters Cross, near to St Mellion, in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. The secula ...
, a 17th-century castle and estate which has been the seat of the Coryton family since 1698. They had previously had an estate at West Newton Ferrers, also in St Mellion. The manor of Newton Ferrers (''Niuuetona, Niweton, Niwetone'') is 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 ...
of 1086. Part of the manor was held by Reginald 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 half a hide of land and land for six ploughs. There were two ploughs, three serfs, three villeins, 12 smallholders, 12 acres of pasture, five cattle, 40 sheep and 10 goats. The value of this part was £1 though it had formerly been worth £1 10s.
The other part of the manor was also held by Reginald from Robert, Count of Mortain. There was one hide of land and land for eight ploughs. There were 10 villeins and 20 smallholders with one plough, three serfs, half a league of pasture, woodland two leagues long and one furlong wide. The value of this part was £1 10s. though it had formerly been worth £2.
The present house was built about 1686–95 (these dates being on the gatepiers) for Sir William Coryton. It is a plain granite mansion of two storeys: the centre is of seven bays and there are two projecting wings of two bays each. It is the earliest Cornish mansion in the classical style (i.e. with no Tudor survivals). Two thirds of the house were gutted by fire in 1940; of this some has been rebuilt while the rest remains as a ruin. The
St Mellion golf course is also in the parish.
Crocadon Quarry, 200 metres east of St Mellion village, is a
Site of Special Scientific Interest
A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...
for its
geology
Geology () is a branch of natural science concerned with Earth and other astronomical objects, the features or rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which they change over time. Modern geology significantly overlaps all other Ear ...
.
References
Sources
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External links
St Mellion Parish Council
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mellion
Civil parishes in Cornwall
Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall
Villages in Cornwall