Week St Mary ( kw, Gwig Sen Maria) is a village and

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 authorit ...

in northeast

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a Historic counties of England, historic county and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people ...

, England, United Kingdom. It 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.''Corn ...

close to the

River Tamar The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. T ...

and the border between Cornwall and

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

in the

Hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to des ...

of Stratton. The parish population at the 2011 census is 657. Week St Mary has a 14th–15th century

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

dedicated to St Mary the Virgin and the tower contains a ring of six bells. The parish is in the

diocese of Truro The Diocese of Truro (established 1876) is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury which covers Cornwall, the Isles of Scilly and a small part of Devon. The bishop's seat is at Truro Cathedral. Geography and history The ...

History

The manor of Week was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as having one hide of land and land for eight ploughs. It was one of twenty-eight manors held by Richard 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 Hast ...

. There were three ploughs, four serfs, six villeins and ten smallholders. There were 2 acres of woodland and one square league of pasture. There were forty sheep and twenty-five other beasts. The value of the manor was £1-10 s. Parts of the college founded here by Thomasine Bonaventure in 1506 have been converted into a farmhouse. It is now owned by the

Landmark Trust The Landmark Trust is a British building conservation charity, founded in 1965 by Sir John and Lady Smith, that rescues buildings of historic interest or architectural merit and then makes them available for holiday rental. The Trust's headqua ...

. The building of the college was overseen by John Dinham of Wortham who remodelled his own house

Wortham Manor Wortham is an historic manor within the parish of Lifton in Devon, England. The early sixteenth century manor house survives, today the property of the Landmark Trust. It was long the seat of the Dynham family, a junior branch descended from th ...

at about the same time. As well as being a school the college was also a chantry and the schoolmaster was required to pray for the souls of the foundress's husbands. The chantry led to it being dissolved in 1548 though in 1546 it was said to be "a great comfort to all the country there". The 14th–15th century church was hit by lightning in 1878 throwing one of the basement stones of the pinnacle from the tower. The stones at the base of the tower are now separated by gaps of to . The church tower had been hit by lightning on two previous occasions.

Geography

The parish covers an area of or 9.6 square miles (24.8 km²), and had a population of 550, according to the 2001 census, 657 in 2011.

Protected areas

The parish contains two

Sites 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 ...

(SSSI), both noted for their

biological Biology is the scientific study of life. It is a natural science with a broad scope but has several unifying themes that tie it together as a single, coherent field. For instance, all organisms are made up of cells that process hereditary in ...

interest. Brendonmoor SSSI, in the east of the civil parish, was notified in 1990 and Greenamoor SSSI, also a

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological o ...

jointly owned by

Plantlife Plantlife is the international conservation membership charity working to secure a world rich in wild plants and fungi. It is the only UK membership charity dedicated to conserving wild plants and fungi in their natural habitats and helping peo ...

and

Cornwall Wildlife Trust The Cornwall Wildlife Trust is a charitable organisation founded in 1962 that is concerned solely with Cornwall, England. It deals with the conservation and preservation of Cornwall's wildlife, geology and habitats managing over 50 nature reser ...

, was designated in 1992.

References

External links

{{Use British English, date=November 2020 Villages in Cornwall Civil parishes in Cornwall Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall Manors in Cornwall