Kelly’s Directory of Cornwall 1883

MADRON, or St. Madron, is a parish, the village of which is 1½ miles north from Penzance, 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. The ecclesiastical parishes of St. Mary and St. Paul, Penzance, have been taken out of this parish, which is the mother parish of Penzance. The parish is governed by a local board of nine members. The church of St. Madron (commonly called Madderne) is an ancient building of granite, chiefly in the Perpendicular style, and consists of chancel, nave, aisles, north and south porches and an embattled tower containing 5 bells: the chancel is of earlier date and retains a piscina and sedile: nearly all the windows are stained: there are some exceedingly interesting brasses, several mural monuments, and a curious old granite font. The original church was built by Henry de Pomeroy, in 1131, and is mentioned in the taxation of Pope Nicholas in 1291 as dedicated to St. Madderne: Bishop Grandison consecrated the high alter in 1336: The register dates from the year 1577. The living is a vicarage, with that of Morvah annexed, tithe rent-charge £882, gross joint yearly value £890, in the gift of the 3 daughters of the late Rev. M. N. Peters B.A. late vicar, and held since 1880 by the Rev. Franklin Tonkin M.A. of Corpus Christi college, Cambridge. There are five chapels for Wesleyans, situated at Church Town, Trenere road, Tregavera, Boswarthen and Bosullow; one for Bible Christians at Hea Moor and one for Primitive Methodists at Church Town. A Cemetery of ¾ acre was formed in 1880, at a cost of £500, and is under the control of a burial board of 9 members. The Penzance Union Workhouse is in this parish. St. Madron’s Well, situated in a moor, about a mile north-west of the church, is noted for its healing properties: about 200 yards from it are the ruins of an ancient chapel, or baptistry, with the sanctuary step and stone altar still remaining; the ruins of the wall enclosing a chapel yard are still visible. Tregwainton Cairn consists of the round head of a cross, fixed in a rude circular base: at Trembath is a cross with mutilated head in a similar base, in the church tower another: the head of a third is built into a wall at Hea: at Boswarton there remains a fourth, also on a circular base, with a graceful Maltese cross in relief on the head; the remains of others are standing at Boscathnoe, and Tremethick. Lanyon Quoit, or Cromlech, consists of three upright stones, supporting a huge monolith 18½ feet long, and 9 wide; Kulfra [Mulfra?] Cromlech he been overthrown, and the top stone is partially on the ground. “Men-an-Tol,” or Hole stone, on Anguidal Down, is a monolith about 4 feet in diameter, and 1 foot thick, pierced by a rounded hole about 1 foot across: parallel to it, at a distance of 7 or 8 feet are two other stones, from 4 to 5 feet high: the Men Scryfa is an inscribed stone 9 feet high and about 2 wide; it is stated by Dr. Borlase to be one of the oldest of Cornish remains; the inscription reads, “Rialobranus Cunovali filius.” The Rev. John Wesley preached here at intervals from 1742 to 1760. Castle Horneck, the seat of the John Borlase esq. residing in Bath, is 1 mile from Penzance; Lareggan, of W. Copeland Borlase esq. M.P. is 1 mile from Penzance; Poltair of Lieut.-Col. Harry Reginald Salusbury-Trelawny D.L. J.P. is 1¼ miles north-west from Penzance; Nancealverne, of Mrs. Scobell, is half a mile north by-west; Trereife, of Charles Day Nicholls Le Grice esq. D.L., J.P. is 1½ miles south-west; Trewidden, of Edward Bolitho esq. is 2 miles south-west, and Trengwainton of Thomas Simon Bolitho esq. J.P. is 2 miles north-west. Charles Day Nicholls Le Grice esq. D.L., J.P. is lord of the manor, Mrs. Scobell, E. Bolitho, John Borlase and T. S. Bolitho esqrs. are the chief landowners. The soil is killas; the subsoil is granite and killas. The chief crops are wheat, oats and barley, and large quantities of brocoli and potatoes are grown. The acreage, exclusive of Penzance, is 5,475 of land and 30 of water; rateable value, £13,813; and the population in 1881 was 2,651, likewise exclusive of Penzance. The hamlets, with the distance from Madron, are Hea Moor, ¾ mile south-east; Jamaica ¾ mile south-east; Boswarthen, 1 mile north-west; Chyandour, 2 miles south-east; Tolcarn, 2 miles south; Bossullow, 2½ miles north-west; Ninnis, 2½ miles north; Beryas, 2½ miles south-west; Mulfra, 3 miles north.

Parish Clerk, F. Augustus Cocks.

Post Office.—John Rowe, receiver. Letters through Penzance (which is the nearest money order & telegraph office), arrive at 10.30 a.m. & 6 p.m.; dispatched at 2.20 & 7.30 p.m

Wall Box, at Jamaica place, Hea Moor, cleared at 2.50 & 7.40 p.m

Local Board

Board day fourth monday in each month, at King William IV. Madron.

Clerk, Henry Harvey Pezzack, Penzance

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

Surveyor & Inspector of Nuisances, Jas. Newton, Church twn

Collector, Thomas Harvey Pengelly, farmer, Bone farm, Madron

Public Officers:—

Assistant Overseer, Wm. Thos. White, jun. farmer, Tregoddec

Surveyor of Highways, James Newton, Church town

Schools:—

A School Board of 5 members was formed in 1879; T. H. Pengelly, Bone farm, clerk to the board

The Endowed School is governed by a special board of 11 members

Board (mixed & infants) established on the former endowed school, founded by George Daniel in 1704: yearly income from endowment £90; Frederick Augustus Cocks, master: Miss Elizabeth Ann Bullen, mistress; & Miss Tilley Stevens, infants mistress

Board, Bosullow (mixed), Miss Jane Hockin, mistress

Private school, of Miss Carne, Hea Moor; Miss Woolcock, mistress

The schools at Hea Moor & Bosullow are supported by Government grants & school fees