Kelly’s Directory of Cornwall 1893

LELANT or Uny Lelant is a township and parish, opposite Hayle, on the estuary of the Hayle river, with a station on the St. Ives branch of the Great Western railway, and is 3½ miles south-east of St. Ives and 6 miles north-east from Penzance, in the Western division of the county, hundred of Penwith, petty sessional division of Penwith East, Penzance union and county court district, rural deanery of Penwith, archdeaconry of Cornwall and diocese of Truro.

The church of St. Uny is an ancient building of stone, partly Norman, restored or altered in the 13th and 15th centuries: it consists of chancel, nave and aisles of equal height, separated by arcades of six arches, south porch and an embattled western tower, 60 feet in height, with pinnacles, and containing 6 bells, all cast in 1836: the rood loft remains in the north aisle and portions of a stoup in the porch: the original font, of Early English date, has been discovered in a farm yard: the east window is a memorial to William Praed and William Tyringham Praed, 1848, and there are other stained windows in the aisles: in the church are memorials to the family of Praed, 1620–1846; Pawley, 1635–1721; Cundy, 1799–1802, and others: over the entrance of the south porch is an elaborate niche containing a sun dial: the communion plate is dated 1725, but an old Elizabethan chalice is still in use at Towednack: the church was thoroughly restored in 1873, at a cost of £2,000, when open benches for 420 persons were substituted for the former pews; the roof was also reconstructed and the chancel decorated and paved: a mortuary chapel and additional land for a burial ground, vested in trustees, were added to the churchyard in 1879. In the churchyard stands a massive cross, 5 feet 6 inches high and 1 foot 7 inches broad; the round head is boldly carved with a St. Andrew’s cross, and a boss in the centre; outside the churchyard wall is another cross, 3½ feet high and about 1 foot broad, with an oval head, bearing a Maltese cross, and on the reverse a figure of Our Lord. The register of baptisms dates from the year 1684; marriages and burials, 1716. The living is a vicarage, with the chapelry of Towednack annexed, average tithe rent-charge £411, joint net yearly value £215, including 10 acres of glebe, with residence, in the gift of the Bishop of Truro, and held since 1869 by the Rev. Richard Frederick Tyacke M.A. of Trinity College, Dublin, and surrogate.

There are Wesleyan chapels at Lelant Town, Carbis Bay, Ninnes and Polpear: Primitive Methodists at Lelant Town and Ninnes and Methodist New Connexion at Carbis Bay. A fair is held on the 15th of August, yearly, for cattle. Trevethoe, half a mile distant, is held on lease by Lord St. Levan B.A., D.L., J.P. of Roger William Giffard Tyringham esq. of Tyringham, Newport Pagnell, Bucks, who is lord of the manor and chief landowner; the mansion is pleasantly situated, surrounded with plantations, and overlooks the estuary of the Hayle; it was almost entirely rebuilt by Humphrey Mackworth Praed esq. in 1761; the front, ornamented with a pediment, is constructed of granite ashlar: immediately behind the house, rising to a height of 550 feet above the sea level, is Trecroben Hill, on the summit of which are the remains of an ancient fortress. The soil is gravelly; the subsoil is killas and granite. The chief crops are wheat. The area is 3,757 acres, of which 170 is water; rateable value, £5,873; the population in 1891 1,439.

At Carbis Bay an excellent family hotel, for the Carbis Bay Hotel Co. Limited, has been erected under the supervision of Silvanus Trevail, of Truro.

Chy-an-gwail, near the Providence mine, 2 miles north-west, and Lelant Down, or Trecroben, on the side of the hill so called, 1½ miles south-west, are hamlets; at the former is a chapel of the Methodist New Connexion.

Post, M.O. & T.O. [Money Order & Telegraph Office], S.B. [Savings Bank] & Annuity & Insurance Office. (Railway Sub-Office. Letters should have R.S.O.Cornwall added).—Charles Burt, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive at 8 a.m. & 3 & 5.25 p.m.; dispatched at 7.45 & 9.50 a.m. & 4.20 p.m.

Post Office, Carbis Bay.—Miss Mary Jane Cowling, sub-postmistress. Letters arrive from Lelant R.S.O. at 9.35 a.m. & 4.20 p.m.; dispatched at 3.25 & 8.50 p.m. week days only. Lelant is the nearest money order & telegraph office

Post Office, Lelant Down.—Paul Roach, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from Lelant R.S.O. at 10.20 a.m.; dispatched at 2.55 p.m. week days only. Postal orders are issued here, but not paid Lelant is the nearest money order & telegraph office

Wall Letter Boxes, Lelant, cleared at 9.30 a.m & 3.55 & 7.30 p.m.; sundays 9.30 a.m.; Chy-an-Gwail, cleared 1.10 p.m. & Longstone, 9.15 a.m. & 3.25 p.m week days only

Schools:—

A School Board of 5 members was formed July 23rd, 1875; J. C. Rosewarne, clerk to the board & attendance officer

Board, Trevarrack, for 230 children; average attendance, 42 boys, 40 girls & 38 infants; William Rawe, master; Miss Annie Cardew, mistress

National (mixed), for 160 children; average attendance, 46 boys & 43 girls; William John Taylor, master; Miss Jessie Morley, mistress

Railway Stations:—

Lelant, John Hosking, station master

Carbis Bay, John Charles Richards, station master