St Hilary 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 authorit ...

and village in west

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 is situated approximately five miles (8 km) east of Penzance and four miles (6.5 km) south of

Hayle Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...

. Chynoweth is an area immediately north of St Hilary churchtown. The land of the parish is high enough to provide views of bays on both coasts, St Ives Bay five miles north and Mount's Bay two miles south. Mee, Arthur (1937) ''Cornwall''. (The King's England.) London: Hodder & Stoughton; p. 221 For the purposes of local government St Hilary has a parish council and elects councillors every four years. The principal local authority in the area is

Cornwall Council Cornwall Council ( kw, Konsel Kernow) is the unitary authority for Cornwall in the United Kingdom, not including the Isles of Scilly, which has its own unitary council. The council, and its predecessor Cornwall County Council, has a tradition ...

. During the height of mining activity the population was three times that in the 1930s.

Geology

The area has many former mines: especially notable was a mine called Wheal Fortune which extended into the parish of

Ludgvan Ludgvan ( ; kw, Lujuan) is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, UK, northeast of Penzance. Ludgvan village is split between Churchtown, on the hill, and Lower Quarter to the east, adjoining Crowlas. For the purposes of local go ...

. Penberthy Croft Mine, to the north of the parish, was designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest in 1993 and is noted as the most important site in Britain for secondary ore minerals of

lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

, and

arsenic Arsenic is a chemical element with the symbol As and atomic number 33. Arsenic occurs in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. Arsenic is a metalloid. It has various allotropes, ...

. Wheal Jewell, a mine between

Marazion Marazion (; kw, Marhasyow) is a civil parish and town, on the shore of Mount's Bay in Cornwall, UK. It is east of Penzance and the tidal island of St Michael's Mount is half-a-mile offshore. At low water a causeway links it to the town and ...

and Goldsithney, put its 40-inch cylinder pumping-engine up for auction on 21 July 1884, along with other plant and tools. An earthquake occurred in St Hilary in 1796.

Notable buildings

The

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, ...

is dedicated to Saint Hilary of Poitiers and is in the Early English style but had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1853. It has a 13th-century tower and is a Grade I

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

. Ennys Manor farm on Trewhella Lane dates from 1688, and was the home of the Millet family until the 19th century and then passed by marriage to the Grylls family. A

children's home Residential child care communities or children's homes are a type of residential care, which refers to long-term care given to children who cannot stay in their birth family home. There are two different approaches towards residential care: The fam ...

existed in St Hilary in the 1920s and 1930s, accommodated in a former pub, the Jolly Tinners.

Notable residents

Stream valley at Wheal Fortune - geograph

Notable people from the parish include three former Vicars, the writer

Denys Val Baker Denys Val Baker (24 October 1917 – 6 July 1984) was a Welsh writer, specialising in short stories, novels, and autobiography. He was also known for his activities as an editor, and promotion of the arts in Cornwall. Early years Born Denys Ba ...

, and the artist Anne (Annie) Walke (wife of

Bernard Walke Bernard Walke, born Nicolo Bernard Walke, was an English Anglican priest. Most of his ministry was in three Cornish parishes; he was parish priest of St Hilary from 1913 to 1936. Personal life Bernard Walke was the eldest of three sons of a ...

Malachy Hitchins Malachy Hitchins (1741–1809) was an English astronomer and cleric. Life The son of Thomas Hitchins, he was born at Little Trevince, Gwennap, Cornwall, and was baptised on 18 May 1741; Thomas Martyn, compiler of a map of Cornwall, was an uncle, ...

was an astronomer and Vicar of St Hilary. Thomas Pascoe was Vicar of St Hilary for 56 years in the 19th century.

was Vicar of St Hilary, from 1913 to 1936. Father Walke was the author of four religious plays and of an autobiography, ''Twenty Years at St Hilary'' (London: Methuen & Co., 1935; reissued by Mott, London, 1982 with an introduction by Frank Baker and ). The youngest son of Malachy Hitchins,

Fortescue Hitchins Malachy Hitchins (1741–1809) was an English astronomer and cleric. Life The son of Thomas Hitchins, he was born at Little Trevince, Gwennap, Cornwall, and was baptised on 18 May 1741; Thomas Martyn, compiler of a map of Cornwall, was an uncle, ...

(1784–1814), was born at St Hilary. He became a solicitor at St Ives, Cornwall, and was the author of "The Tears of Cornubia" and other poems. He compiled material for a history of Cornwall, which after his death was edited by

Samuel Drew Samuel Drew (6 March 1765 – 29 March 1833) was a British Methodist theologian. A native of Cornwall, England, he was nicknamed the "Cornish metaphysician" for his works on the human soul, the nature of God, and the deity of Christ. He also wro ...

, and published in 1824.

Legend

The ghost of Rev. John Penneck, Chancellor of Exeter, (died 1724) is said to raise great storms here.Anthony D. Hippisley Coxe, Haunted Britain, pg. 22, McGraw-Hill Book Company, New York 1973

References

External links