Constantine, Kerrier
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- This place should not be confused with Constantine Bay, Cornwall, which is west of Padstow.
Constantine is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, UK. It is located in Kerrier, roughly halfway between Falmouth and Helston. Constantine is named after Saint Constantine, a 6th century Cornish saint and prince. His "Feast" is celebrated in the village, on or around 9th March. The Constantine Social Club run a Carnival, usually on a weekend at the end of July[1].
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[edit] Twinned with Breton Village
Like many other Cornish places, Constantine Parish with Gweek, is twinned with a partner in Brittany in Western France.In this case the village is twinned with Pont-Croix, Département Finistère . In Breton, "Pont-Croix" is "Pontekroaz" and, colloquially, "Ar Pont".[2]
[edit] History
The history of Constantine is related in The Book of Constantine (2001)[3] An earlier study, A history of the parish of Constantine in Cornwall by Charles Henderson (1937) is also worth reading.[4] Five walks around Constantine(2006) provides brief historical notes and many illustrations.
The ancient name of Constantine, "Langustentyn", implies that the settlement was monastic, with the "Lan" prefix. Dr. Lynette Olson [5] has examined literary and archaeological evidence for all early monastic establishments in Cornwall and found significant doubts about the religious nature of Constantine before the Norman Conquest.
Little remains of the Norman church, which was rebuilt between 1420 and 1480[6]. The chancel was rebuilt in 1862.
The settlement called Constantine Churchtown grew up around the church. Mineral extraction lead to a massive increase in population and the village expanded down what is now called Fore Street, during the Nineteenth Century [7].However, one property, "The Bow Window", is thought to be a 300 years old farmhouse.
The village had three main industries: agriculture, mining for tin, copper and iron[8]and quarrying granite[9][10].
The largest mine was Wheal Vyvyan, which was worked from 1827 to 1864. The production figures for copper 1845-1864 and for tin ore, 1855-1864, are given in Cornish Mines.[11] The value of copper raised peaked in 1845, 1850 and 1855. The peaks of value in tin ore production were in 1856 and 1863. In 1864, the value of tin raised was only a quarter of the previous year's value and the mine closed.[12].
In 1921, Alice Hext, of Trebah gave the playing field and sports pavilion to the village[13], in memory of her husband, Charles Hawkins Hext, who died in 1917.
Port Navas has an ancient Oyster farm[14].
[edit] Schools
A British School was opened in 1836 at Ponjeravah [15] .After 1957, the school moved to what is now the Church Hall and in 1966 to its present site, the building being refurbished and extended in 2005, as Constantine Primary School[16]. For secondary education, children have to travel to Helston, Mullion, Falmouth or Penryn.
[edit] Today
Constantine parish is the home of four Cornish Bards, including Vanessa Beaman, who was installed a Grand Bard at the annual Gorseth Kernow, in September 2006.[17]
Also in September 2006, Constantine won the Calor Best Village in Cornwall 2006 competition.[18]
The Civil Parish is in the process of preparing a Parish Plan as a framework for future development/conservation.
A Cornish language group meets at Queen's Arms, on the second Tuesday of each month
[edit] Current businesses in Constantine
The village has several shops, including a SPAR grocer/newsagent and a Post Office/General Store/Off-Licence The latter is remarkable for stocking 700-800 different sorts of Whisky and attracting customers from Scotland and across England.
Other businesses
- c4c: makes clothes of babies and childrens . Specialises in garments that are "cut for cloth" nappies (U.S. term: diapers), requiring more space around the pelvis area. Clothes are made in India, using organic cotton, under fairtrade conditions[21]
- A Directory of business in Constantine, Mawnan, Port Navas and Gweek is published each year.[22]
- A social enterprise, Constantine Enterprises Company[23], owns the former Methodist chapel and runs a wide range of events there. It is now known as the Tolmen Centre.
[edit] See also
[edit] Notes
- ^ in 2007, the Carnival will be the weekend 28/29 July.
- ^ http://constantinecornwall.com/village/pg_twinning.htm - Twinning Association
- ^ The Book of Constantine
- ^ For Bibliographical details, see References below.
- ^ Early monasteries in Cornwall, page 105
- ^ Harris, Ida and David (1975). The Church of Saint Constantine in Cornwall: a brief guide, compiled and illustrated by Ida and David Harris. ISBN.
- ^ Ordnance Survey 6 inch map, 1888, surveyed in 1878 Sheet LXXVII NW shows the street complete.
- ^ Mining history at Constantine Village website
- ^ history at Constantine Village website
- ^ See also pages 44-49 of the Book of Constantine. For more information on Quarrying in the Constantine area, see Peter Stanier's South West Granite
- ^ Cornish Mines
- ^ The story of the local mines is covered in detail - pages 40-43 of the Book of Constantine
- ^ The book of Mawnan (2002)
- ^ Constantine Village website on Oyster farming at Port Navas
- ^ Notes on Schools in Constantine 1957
- ^ Constantine Primary School website
- ^ Cornish Gorseth site
- ^ Calor Best Village Press Release
- ^ Origin Coffee Company website
- ^ Objective One Partnership for Cornwall and the Isles if Scilly: Quarterly Review July-Sept 2006, pp8-9 "Ethical Coffee company in demand"
- ^ c4c Company website
- ^ Who's where in Constantine ...
- ^ Constantine Enterprises Company website
[edit] References
- Trethowan, Gerald (2001). The Book of Constantine. Tiverton, Devon: Halsgrove. ISBN 1-84114-102-X.
- Henderson, Charles (1937). A history of the parish of Constantine in Cornwall. Truro: Royal Institution of Cornwall.
- Scolding, Bill (2006). Five walks around Constantine.. Constantine, Cornwall: Constantine Enterprises Company. ISBN 0-9552816-0-1, ISBN-13 978-0-9552816-0-0.
- Stanier, Peter (1999). South West Granite: a history of the granite industry in Devon and Cornwall. St. Austell, Cornwall: Cornish Hillside Publications. ISBN 1-900147-14-9 (Hardback) ISBN 1-900147-13-0 (paperback).
- Burt, Roger (1987). Cornish mines. Exeter, Devon: University of Exeter with the Northern Mine Research Society. ISBN 0-85989-287-5.
- Olson, Lynette (1989). Early monasteries in Cornwall (Studies in Celtic History series). Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-478-6. This link for Dr. Olson's online CV (University of Sidney, Australia)
- The Mawnan History Group (2002). The Book of Mawnan: celebrating a South Cornwall parish. Tiverton, Devon: Halsgrove. ISBN 1-84114-148-8.
[edit] External links
- French Wikipedia article on Pont-Croix (Twinned town)
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