St Keyne ( kw, Sen Keyn) is a village in the

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 ...

of St Keyne and Trewidland, 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 lies between the parishes of

Liskeard Liskeard ( ; kw, Lyskerrys) is a small ancient stannary and market town in south-east Cornwall, South West England. It is situated approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of Plymouth, west of the Devon border, and 12 miles (20 km) eas ...

and Duloe. The parish population at the 2011 census was 492. The village is served by a

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...

known as St Keyne Wishing Well Halt.

Notable buildings

The church is dedicated to

Saint Keyne Keyne (; also referred to as Keane, KayaneJ. Meyrick ''A Pilgrim's Guide to the Holy Wells of Cornwall'', pp. 68–69 Keyna, Cenau, Cenedion, CeinwenRay Spencer ''A Guide to the Saints of Wales and the Westcountry'', pp. 51–52David Hugh Farme ...

, said to be one of the daughters of the legendary Welsh King

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 ...

. The church is of little architectural interest. The

Perpendicular In elementary geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at a right angle (90 degrees or π/2 radians). The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the ''perpendicular symbol'', ⟂. It ca ...

north aisle has probably been added to a church originally cruciform in plan (its windows however are Decorated, no doubt reused). The west tower is of three storeys and without buttresses. St Keyne Holy Well - geograph

St Keyne's well is a

holy well A holy well or sacred spring is a well, spring or small pool of water revered either in a Christian or pagan context, sometimes both. The water of holy wells is often thought to have healing qualities, through the numinous presence of its guar ...

dedicated to Saint Keyne, located about southeast of the village. A small housing was built over the well in the 16th century, this was rebuilt in the 1930s. The ballad ''The Well of St Keyne'' was written by the poet

Robert Southey Robert Southey ( or ; 12 August 1774 – 21 March 1843) was an English poet of the Romantic school, and Poet Laureate from 1813 until his death. Like the other Lake Poets, William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Southey began as a ra ...

(1774–1843). In

Victorian times In the history of the United Kingdom and the British Empire, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardi ...

St Keyne's well had the reputation of conferring supremacy to the marriage partner who first tasted it. ("''The quality, that man and wife / Whose chance, or choice, attaines / First of this sacred stream to drinke / Thereby the mastery gains.''")

Civil parish

In 2020 Cornwall Council announced that from 1 April 2021 the part of

Dobwalls and Trewidland Dobwalls and Trewidland ( kw, Fos an Mogh & Trewydhlann) is a former civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish was bounded to the north by St Neot and St Cleer parishes, to the east by Liskeard and Menheniot paris ...

parish surrounding the village of

Trewidland Trewidland ( kw, Trewythelan) is a hamlet in the civil parish of St Keyne and Trewidland, in east Cornwall, England. It is about two miles northeast of Duloe. It is situated in the Looe Valley, which has been designated an Area of Outstanding Na ...

would be moved to the parish of St Keyne, to form the new parish of St Keyne and Trewidland, increasing the area of the parish including St Keyne by more than a factor of three.

References

External links

Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for St Keyne

St Keyne Parish Council
Villages in Cornwall Holy wells in Cornwall {{Caradon-geo-stub