Kelly’s Directory of Cornwall 1883

HALSETOWN is an ecclesiastical parish, formed in June, 1846, out of the parish of St. Ives, in the Western division of the county, hundred of Penwith, Penzance union and county court district, rural deanery of Penwith, archdeaconry of Cornwall and diocese of Truro, 1 mile south-west from St. Ives station , and 6 miles north from Penzance The church of St. John, erected in 1866 at a cost of £2,300, is a structure of granite and Bath stone, consisting of chancel, nave of five bays, aisles, south porch and a tower 66 feet in height, with a gabled root and containing 1 bell and will seat 400 persons: the site and £2,000 were given by Robert Hichens esq. of St. Ives; near the church, stands an ancient but much worn granite cross. The register dates from the year 1848. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners £150, with residence and 2 acres of glebe, in the gift of Rev. Frederic Harrison Hichens M.A. of Avonbank, Clifton Down, Bristol, and held since 1876 by the Rev Richard Edward Coles B.A. of Pembroke College, Oxon. There is also a small Mission church at Halsetown village and Wesleyan and Bible Christian chapels, the latter built in 1832. The soil is light; subsoil, killas and granite. The crops are oats, barley, wheat and roots. The principal landowners are Thomas Jenkyn esq. Caroline Duchess of Cleveland, Messrs Bolitho and Earl Cowley. The population in 1871 was 1,810.

Parish Clerk, James Curnow.

Letters through St. Ives R.S.O arrive at 9.20 a.m. There is a Letter-Box, in the wall of the Wesleyan chapel, cleared at 11.20 a.m daily. St. Ives is the nearest money order & telegraph office

National School (mixed), for 80 children; average attendance, 50; & supported by a Government grant & school fees; Miss Taylor, mistress