Tregony ( kw, Trerigoni), sometimes in the past Tregoney, is a village and former
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 ...
, now in the parish of
Tregony with Cuby, in
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. It lies on the
River Fal
The River Fal ( kw, Dowr Fala) flows through Cornwall, England, rising at Pentevale on Goss Moor (between St. Columb and Roche) and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. On or near the banks of the Fal are the castles of Pendennis and ...
. In the village there is a post office (now closed and located in the shop), shop, a sports and social club and two churches. Tregony has bus links to the nearest city,
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parishes in England, civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its ...
. Cornelly parish was united with Tregony in 1934. On 1 April 2021 the parish was abolished and merged with
Cuby to form "Tregony with Cuby". Tregony was once a port, but
clay mining upriver in St Austell has caused the river to become silted over. The population was 768 in 2011 with nearly 15% claiming Cornish identity.
History
The manor of Tregony was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) when it was held by Frawin 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 ...
. Its earliest known spelling was Trefhrigoni, in 1049. There was 1 hide of land and land for 5 ploughs. There were 2 ploughs, 5 serfs, 3 villeins, 6 smallholders, 12 acres of woodland, 100 acres of pasture, 3 cattle, 40 sheep and 20 goats. The value of the manor was 15 shillings though it had formerly been worth 25 shillings.
Tregony used to be considered a town, and the
rotten borough of Tregony elected two members to the
Unreformed House of Commons
"Unreformed House of Commons" is a name given to the House of Commons of Great Britain and (after 1800 the House of Commons of the United Kingdom) before it was reformed by the Reform Act 1832, the Irish Reform Act 1832, and the Scottish Reform ...
, until the
Reform Act 1832
The Representation of the People Act 1832 (also known as the 1832 Reform Act, Great Reform Act or First Reform Act) was an Act of Parliament, Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom (indexed as 2 & 3 Will. IV c. 45) that introduced major chan ...
abolished its representation as a
rotten borough
A rotten or pocket borough, also known as a nomination borough or proprietorial borough, was a parliamentary borough or constituency in England, Great Britain, or the United Kingdom before the Reform Act 1832, which had a very small electorat ...
. At that time the parishes of Tregony and Cuby were united. The arms of the borough of Tregony were A pomegranate Or slipped and leaved Vert.
Tregony was the birthplace of the
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
churchman
Archer Thompson Gurney. The
Trewarthenick Estate in the hamlet of
Trewarthenick
Trewarthenick ( kw, Trewedhenek) is a hamlet in the civil parish of Tregoney in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Ordnance Survey ''One-inch Map of Great Britain; Truro and Falmouth, sheet 190''. 1961
Trewarthenick lies within the Cornwall Area ...
in Cornelly parish, was the birthplace of
William Gregor
William Gregor (25 December 1761 – 11 June 1817) was an English clergyman and mineralogist who discovered the elemental metal titanium.
Early years
He was born at the Trewarthenick Estate in Cornwall, the son of Francis Gregor and Mary Co ...
, a geologist-clergyman who discovered
titanium
Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...
. Captain
William Hennah RN, who took part in the
Battle of Trafalgar
The Battle of Trafalgar (21 October 1805) was a naval engagement between the British Royal Navy and the combined fleets of the French and Spanish Navies during the War of the Third Coalition (August–December 1805) of the Napoleonic Wars (180 ...
retired to Tregony and died there.
Churches and schools
The Church of St James at Tregony was founded in the 11th century but in the early 16th century it was abandoned as it had been submerged by the tidal river. (This was caused by the building of Tregony Bridge ca. 1300 which led to the accumulation of alluvial deposits on the riverbed.) The church valuables were removed to
Cuby Church sometime between 1530 and 1553: for many years thereafter the building was quarried for stone and no remains were to be seen by the early 20th century. The church had been founded by the Norman family of Pomeroy whose castle stood here: nearby there were also in mediaeval times a priory and a chapel of St Anne. There are no remains of any of these buildings either.
Since the parish lost its church, the parishioners have used Cuby Church instead. The other active church in Tregony is one of the few remaining independent Congregational churches—those that did not become part of the United Reformed Church. The former
Methodist
Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's b ...
Church still has a small wooden sign on it but is now a private home.
It has a primary school in Back Lane. The area's secondary school,
The Roseland Academy (built in 1962), is just over the Parish of Tregony boundary and has recently had a brand new sports hall. It has also achieved specialist school status in Music with English and IT.
The almshouses were built in 1696 and rebuilt in 1895.
Cornelly church
The parish of Cornelly near Tregony has a church but no village: it is now grouped with Tregony and
Cuby. Cornelly church is dedicated to St Cornelius and was built in the 13th century: the upper part of the tower, the south porch and the windows of the south wall are 15th century additions. The font is probably 16th century but of very crudely carved granite; the pulpit is painted with coats of arms; a monument to Jane Reeves, 1783, has an excellent portrait bust of her.
[Pevsner, N. (1970) ''Cornwall'', 2nd ed. Penguin Books; p. 56]
See also
*
People from Tregony
References
External links
*
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{{authority control
Villages in Cornwall
Former civil parishes in Cornwall
Manors in Cornwall