Kelly’s Directory of Cornwall 1893

GULVAL is a parish, township and village, 1 mile north-east from Penzance terminal station of the Great Western main line and 2 west from Marazion, in the Western division of the county, hundred of Penwith, petty sessional division of Penwith West, Penzance union and county court district, rural deanery of Penwith, archdeaconry of Cornwall and diocese of Truro.

The church of St. Gulval is a building of granite, mainly of the 16th century, and consists of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, north transept with organ chamber on the east side, south porch and an embattled tower with pinnacles containing 6 bells, hung in 1889 by subscription as a memorial of the 50th year of the incumbency of the present vicar: the chancel retains a piscina and credence and there is a curious monument erected in 1627, to the Davills family: all the windows but one are stained: in 1858 the church was reseated and partially restored at a cost of £600: in 1885, during the rebuilding of the east wall of the chancel, the upper portion of an Anglo Saxon cross of Early date was discovered built into it; this, together with fragments of a cross of later date, found buried in the churchyard, is now (1893) placed west of the porch: in 1891–2 the church was new-roofed throughout, the 13th century north transept rebuilt as a memorial to members of the Bolitho family, and a north aisle and organ chamber added, from designs by Mr. J. P. St. Aubyn, architect, and the church was reopened by the Bishop of Truro, 10 Oct. 1892: further improvements, including the reflooring and decoration of the chancel, are now (1893) being carried out; during the last two years about £5,000 has been expended on the church, which now affords 420 sittings. The register of baptisms dates from the year 1599; marriages and burials, 1598. All the registers, from their commencement down to 1812, are now in print [Millet & Bolitho 1893]. The living is a vicarage, tithe rent-charge as commuted £361, average £275, gross yearly value £473, with 20 acres of glebe and residence, in the gift of the Lord Chancellor, and held since 1839 by the Rev. William Wriothesley Wingfield B.A. of Christ Church, Oxford, and surrogate.

The mission church of All Saints, at Trythall, is a building of granite, erected in 1885 from J. P. St. Aubyn esq. and consists of chancel, nave, porch and vestry: the font and pulpit are very fine, the latter being of alabaster with pillars of green marble: the east window is stained: there are 120 sittings. There are Wesleyan chapels at Trevarrack, Gear and Trezelah, a Bible Christian chapel at Carfury, and a Free Methodist chapel at New Mill. The charities are of small yearly value.

Here are extensive ice works, capable of producing 60 tons of ice per week. At Rosemorran is an ancient round-headed cross, 3 feet high, and at Bleu (i.e. parish) Bridge, which is merely a crossing stone, is a monolith of granite, 5 feet 9 inches high, inscribed “Quenatavus Icdinui filius.” Trevayler, the seat of the Veale family, is now occupied by Sir George Cumming Fitz-Gerald bart. Robins and William Bolitho esqrs. are lords of the manor; the legatees of Miss John and Colonel Sir George Cumming Fitz-Gerald bart. of Trevaylor are chief landowners. The soil near the sea is chiefly killas, a species of clayey slate, and is extremely productive, while on the higher side it is light with granite beneath. The chief crops are vegetables for the London and other markets; potatoes and broccoli are grown on the lower ground, a large portion of the higher being in dairy farm; a little wheat, with oats barley and roots, are grown. The area is 4,357 acres (190 of which are water); rateable value, £8,086; and the population in 1891 was 1,446.

Ding-Dong mine, in this parish, is one of the oldest in Cornwall, but has not been worked since 1880.

Parish Clerk, Richard Foster Bolitho esq.

Deputy Clerk, Edwin Major.

Post, M.O. & T.O. [Money Order & Telegraph Office], S.B. [Savings Bank] & Annuity & Insurance Office.—Mrs. Mary Tredrea, sub-postmistress. Letters through Penzance arrive at 8.9 a.m. & 4.35 p.m.; dispatched at 3.15 p.m. & 6.50 p.m.

Post Office, New Mill.—Charles Osborne, sub-postmaster. Letters received from Penzance at 10.15 a.m.; dispatched at 1.55 p.m. There is no dispatch or delivery on sundays. Gulval is the nearest money order & telegraph office.

Wall Letter Box, Church Town, cleared at 3.15 p.m & 6.45 p.m.; no sunday collection

Schools:—

A School Board of 5 members was formed May 29, 1871, with Madron contributory with 1 member; T. H. Cornish, Penzance, clerk to the board; Edward White & William White, Pendeen, attendance officers

Board, Gulval Cross established in 1872, for 160 children; enlarged in August, 1892, by the addition of a new room, at a cost of £277; average attendance, 38 boys, 53 girls & 50 infants; George Richard Glasson, master; Mrs. Thomasine Richards Manning, infants’ mistress

Board, Trythal (mixed), built in 1877, for 120 children; average attendance, 66; James Tregear Chapple, master

Police Inspector (of the Penwith western division), Edward Matthews, Chyandour