Ludgvan

Coordinates: 50°08′38″N 5°29′42″W / 50.144°N 5.495°W / 50.144; -5.495

Ludgvan Parish Church
Vegetable crop south of Ludgvan

Ludgvan (/ˈlʌdʒən/ LUJ-ən; Cornish: Lujuan)[1] is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is 2 1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) north-east of Penzance. Ludgvan village is physically split between the area known as Churchtown, situated on the hill, and Lower Quarter to the east, adjoining Crowlas.[2] For the purposes of local government, Ludgvan elects a parish council every four years and the principal local authority is Cornwall Council.

History

Like many communities in Cornwall the legendary origins of Ludgvan are attributed to the arrival of its patron saint, in this case Saint Ludowanus. However, the place-name appears to derive from the Cornish for place of ashes or burnt place.[3] Evidence for it being a saint's name includes documents in which it is named St Ludgvan and records of its name as Lewdegran and Ludewon. In recent times Ludgvan feast has celebrated St Lewdegran.[4]

Ludgvan was mentioned in the Domesday Book (under the name of Luduhan)[3] as falling within the manor of Ludgvan Lese, which at the time of record covered more of what is now the Penwith district including some parts of the modern parish of St Ives.[5] The Lords of the manor of Ludgvan Lese kept certain shipping rights within the port of St Ives up to and possibly beyond the 19th century. Ludgvan Lease now exists as a hamlet within the parish. At the time of Domesday Book the manor had 3 hides of land and land for 15 or 30 ploughs. It was held by Richard from Robert, Count of Mortain; there were 12 ploughs, 8 serfs, 14 villeins and 40 smallholders. There were 300 acres of pasture, 27 unbroken mares, 22 cattle, 17 pigs and 140 sheep. The value of the manor was £3 sterling though it had formerly been worth £5.[6]

On 12 January 1319, probate records indicate that the Church of St. Ludevon was in the town of Treguwal.[7] Perhaps Treguwal (etymology: Tre = farm, place; Guwal, gweal = arable land) is either the nearby village of Gulval or a medieval name of Ludgvan's lower quarter.

Parish church

The church is dedicated to Saint Ludowanus and later jointly with Saint Paul the Apostle. It is probable that the original idea of a Saint Ludgvan began in the eleventh century. In 1316 it was referred to in probate records as the Church of St. Ludevon.[8] The church was rededicated in 1336. Early spellings of the place-name vary between forms with and without 'Saint' referencing and differentiating the church and its surrounding churchtown. The building was originally cruciform and Norman but was rebuilt in the 15th century with a tower. In 1840 a south aisle replaced the previous transept and porch. The feast traditionally celebrated in the parish is the Sunday nearest to 22 January, in observation of the Conversion of St Paul.[9][10] The last church services conducted in Cornish were in Ludgvan in the late 17th century (this claim is also made for Towednack).

Mining

There was once a number of mines within the parish. Rospeath mine closed (in circa) 1856 and made large returns for the investors. There was no adit and the mine only worked to 4.5 fathoms (8.2 m) depth. The mine was reopened in December 1879 with an adit being cut, machinery erected to pump out the water and to sink a shaft. The width of the lode in the shaft is from 2 1⁄2 feet (0.76 m) to 3 feet (0.91 m). The mine is bounded by Wheal Bolton on the west, Wheal Fortune on the east and to the south Wheal Darlington, Wheal Virgin and others known at the Marazion Mines.[11]

Governance

Ludgvan elects a parish council every four years and the principal local authority is Cornwall Council. The civil parish population at the 2011 census was 3,250,[12] whereas the electoral ward population which also covers the above plus the surroundings up to the North Cornish Coast at Zennor was 4,145 at the same census.[13]

Tremenheere

A group of walkers near Lower Tremenheere

At Tremenheere is the Tremenheere Sculpture Garden.[14] The meaning of Tremenheere is "Standing Stone Farm" (Tre = place/farm, Menhir = standing stone) and there is another place of the same name in St Keverne.[15] The family of Tremenheere derive their name from the estate they held at Tremenheere from medieval times.[16] Their coat of arms is "Sable three Doric columns palewise Azure" with the Cornish motto: "Thrugscryssough ne Deu a nef".[17]

Culture and sport

The village has an Old Cornwall Society.

Ludgvan AFC currently play in the Jolly's Cornwall Combination League at their home ground of Fairfield.[18] Ludgvan Cycling Club generally meets at the Community Centre on Sunday mornings.

Legends

It has been claimed that Ludgvan was the home of the last native wolf in Great Britain.[19] This cannot be confirmed by available historical sources.

Notable residents

References

  1. ↑ Place-names in the Standard Written Form (SWF) : List of place-names agreed by the MAGA Signage Panel. Cornish Language Partnership.
  2. ↑ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 Land's End ISBN 978-0-319-23148-7
  3. 1 2 Mills, A. D. (1996). The Popular Dictionary of English Place-Names. Parragon Book Service Ltd and Magpie Books. p. 217. ISBN 0-7525-1851-8.
  4. ↑ Ellis, P. B. (1992) The Cornish Saints. Penryn: Tor Mark Press; p. 18
  5. ↑ Thorn, C. et al. (eds.) (1979) Cornwall. (Domesday Book; 10) Chichester: Phillimore
  6. ↑ Thorn, C. et al. (eds.) (1979) Cornwall. (Domesday Book; 10) Chichester: Phillimore; entry 5,3,27
  7. ↑ Great Britain. Public Record Office (1 January 1904). "Calendar of inquisitions post mortem and other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office". London, Printed for H. M. Stationery Off. by Mackie and to be purchased by Eyre and Spottiswoode – via Internet Archive.
  8. ↑ "Full text of "Calendar of inquisitions post mortem and other analogous documents preserved in the Public Record Office"".
  9. ↑ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 10
  10. ↑ Ellis (1992), p. 18.--The Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul the Apostle is a feast celebrated during the liturgical year on January 25.
  11. ↑ "Rospeath Mine, Ludgvan". The Cornishman (94). 29 April 1880. p. 5.
  12. ↑ "Civil parish population census 2011". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  13. ↑ "Ward population at 2011 census". Retrieved 8 February 2015.
  14. ↑ "Tremenheere Sculpture Garden". Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  15. ↑ "Tremenheere". Cornwall's archaeological heritage. Retrieved 3 September 2010.
  16. ↑ "Tremenheere". House of Names. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  17. ↑ Pascoe, W. H. (1979) A Cornish Armory. Padstow: Lodenek Press; p. 109
  18. ↑ "Hurlers and Saints go safely through". The Cornishman. 29 October 2015. p. 68.
  19. ↑ Robert Hunt in Popular Romances of the West of England see "Wolves in Great Britain".
  20. ↑ Dudgeon, Piers (1991) The English Vicarage Garden
  21. ↑ Hosking, James (1970) To America and Back with James Hosking, 1811; ed. James M. Hosking. St Buryan: the editor (The text is reproduced in facsimile from Narrative of a Voyage from England to the United States of North America; with travels through part of eight of the states ... Penzance: pr. f. the author by T. Vigurs, 1813)
  22. ↑ Courtney, W. P. (1894). "Oliver, William (1695–1764), physician and philanthropist, by W. P. Courtney Published 1894". Dictionary of National Biography; Vol. XXXXII. Smith, Elder & Co. Retrieved 7 January 2008.
  23. ↑ Re: Robert Trewhella, b 1836 – Zennor; GenForum
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