Kelly’s Directory of Cornwall 1893

LUDGVAN is a township and parish, on the hill side facing Mounts Bay, 3½ miles north-east from Penzance, 1 mile north from Marazion Road station on the West Cornwall section of the Great Western railway, 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 parish is governed by a local board of 12 members, formed July 15, 1864, under the “Local Government act of 1858.” The church of St. Paul is an ancient building of granite, in the Norman style, consisting of chancel, nave of four bays, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, containing 5 bells: the columns on the north side of the nave are granite monoliths, and lean outwards: the font is Early English: in this church lie the remains of the Rev. William Borlase LL.D., F.R.S. the well-known historian and antiquary of this county, who was born at Pendeen, in the parish of St. Just, Feb. 2, 1695-6, and was rector of this parish fifty-two years, where he died Aug. 31 1772, aged 78: in the chancel is a memorial tablet to Robert Davy, of Varfell, in this parish, ob. 1796, and to Grace, his wife, ob. 1826, the parents of Sir Humphry Davy kt. and bart. D.C.L., F.R.S., A.R.A. the distinguished inventor of the safety lamp, and there are other inscriptions to members of this family from 1635: in the north aisle is a curiously carved slate slab, inscribed with a quaint epitaph, to John South, a former rector, who died in 1636: the church plate was presented by the 2nd Earl of Godolphin in 1728; there is also a cup with cover, dated 1576: the church was partially restored, refloored and reseated with open benches in 1888 at a cost of £800, and has 400 sittings. In the churchyard is a rude cross three feet in height. The register of baptisms dates from the year 1566; marriages and burials, 1563. The living is a rectory, average yearly value from tithe rent-charge £608, with residence, and 23 acres of glebe, in the gift of the Duchess of Cleveland, and held since 1893 by the Rev. Arthur Townshend Boscawen. There are Wesleyan chapels at Crowlas, White Cross, built in 1858, Canons Town, erected in 1878, Trenowin and at Long Rock; a Bible Christian chapel at Tregarthen and two for Primitive Methodists at Cockwells and Castle-an-Dinas. A Cemetery of half-an-acre was laid out in 1860 at a cost of about £150, and is under the control of a burial board of 12 members. As Castle-an-Dinas are the remains of an ancient British encampment with three rings; a tower was erected in the 18th century to mark the entrance. About half-a-mile south of the tower is a small burial plot surrounded by s stone wall; on the south wall are four slabs, one of which is inscribed “Virtue alone Consecrates the Ground;” the others bear the following initials and dates:— E.S. aged 22, 1812; J.H. aged 63, 1823 and J.H. aged 20, 1812. The charities, amounting to £3 15s. yearly value, are applied to educational purposes. A fair is held on the 2nd Tuesday in October, yearly, at Lower Quarter, for cattle. Captain John Peverell J. Rogers R.A., J.P. of Penrose, Helston, who is lord of the manor, the Duke of Leeds, the Duchess of Cleveland and Lord St. Levan are the chief landowners. The soil is clayey; subsoil is killas. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats, potatoes and broccoli. The area is 4,560 acres (including 40 of water); rateable value, £7,867; the population in 1891 was 2,334.

Crowlas is a hamlet half-mile east on the road from Penzance to Redruth.

Sexton, John Bennetts.

Post, M.O. & T.O., [Money Order & Telegraph Office], S.B. [Savings Bank] & Annuity & Insurance Office, Crowlas.—Richard Pearce, sub-postmaster. Letters through Long Rock R.S.O. arrive at 9.20 a.m. & 4 & 7.20 p.m.; dispatched at 9.20 a.m. & 3.10 & 7.40 p.m.

Post & T.O. Long Rock (Railway Sub-Office. Letters should have R.S.O. Cornwall added).—James Shaw, postmaster. Letters arrive at 8.10 a.m. & 3 & 6.30 p.m.; Box cleared, 7.25 & 10.25 a.m. & 2.20, 4.5 & 5.50 p.m. Chyandour is the nearest money order office. Postal orders are issued here, but not paid

Post & T.O. Canons Town.—William John Ruberry, sub-postmaster. Letters arrive from Lelant R.S.O. at 9.15 a.m. & 6.20 p.m.; dispatched at 9.15 a.m. 3.35 & 7 p.m. Lelant is the nearest money order office

Wall Letter Boxes at Mounts View cleared at 10.5 a.m. & 3.40 & 8 p.m.; Low Quarter, 9.25 a.m. & 3.15 & 7.45 p.m.; Augivincark, 10.30 a.m. & 4.45 p.m.; Cockwells, 10.30 a.m. & 4.25 p.m.; Church Town, 9.30 a.m. & 3.25 & 7.50 p.m

Local Board

Board day, 1st friday in month, at National School. Clerk, Richard Edwards, Lower Quarter

Treasurer, James Hosking Tressowe

Medical Officer of Health, John Quiller Couch, Chapel street, Penzance

Surveyor & Inspector of Nuisances, John N. Rowe, Tregarthen

Collector, William Nankervis Harvey, Cannack cottage

Schools:—

A School Board of 5 members was formed September 29, 1875; Richard Edwards, clerk to the board; William Henry Glasson Johns, attendance officer

Board, Canons Town (mixed), built in 1878, for 90 children & now (1893) about to be enlarged for 50 more children; average attendance, 82; Miss Annie M. Jaco, mistress

Board, Church town (girls & infants), built in 1878, for 215 children; average attendance, 70 girls & 69 infants; Mrs Elizabeth Clark, mistress

National, Church town, built in 1835, for 100 boys; average attendance, 80; William Hoskin, master