St Columb Major

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For other places named St Columb, see St Columb.
St. Columb Major Parish
St Columb Major (Cornwall)
St Columb Major

Shown within Cornwall
OS Grid Reference: SW912633
Population: 3984 (2001 Census[1])
Settlements

Arms of St. Columb with town motto
Major Settlement: St. Columb Major
Settlement Type: Town

St Columb Major (Cornish: Sen Kolomm Veur), often simply called St Columb, is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, to the south west of Wadebridge and east of Newquay. It has a large church dedicated to St. Columba featuring a four-tier tower and a wide through-arch.

Twice a year the town plays host to "Hurling", a medieval game once common throughout Cornwall but now only played in St. Columb and St. Ives. It is played on Shrove Tuesday and then again on the Saturday eleven days later. The game involves two teams of several hundred people (the 'townsmen' and the 'countrymen') who endeavour to carry a silver ball made of apple wood to goals set two miles apart, making the parish the largest pitch for a ball game anywhere in the world.

Main article: Cornish hurling

Contents

[edit] Geography

St Columb is situated in mid-Cornwall, about 5 miles (8km) inland from the North Coast.

The parish covers an area of 12,884 acres or 20.1 square miles (52km2) [2]. Its highest point, at 709ft (216m), is Castle an Dinas, the site of an iron-age hill fort about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of St Columb. Much of the land in the parish is used for farming (both arable and pastoral), with small areas of woodland. There is also some moorland in the generally slightly higher northern and eastern parts of the parish, notably part of the Goss Moor in the southeast, Castle Downs below Castle an Dinas (east) and an area of moorland adjoining Rosenannon Downs (northeast). The Vale of Lanherne, the valley of the River Menalhyl (see below) is famed for its beauty and occupies the area to the west of the town, connecting St Columb and St Mawgan churchtown.

[edit] Town

St Columb occupies a plateau at about 300ft (90m) elevation. The north part of the town (known as 'Bridge') decends in to the Vale of Lanherne, having a minimum elevation of approximately 165ft (50m). It was originally a linear settlement built on the main road running north-east to south-west, but modern estates have since been built, extending the town to the south and east. In the older part of the settlement there is much high-density housing with relatively narrow streets, and a number of retail outlets and public houses; the more modern estates are generally of a more low-denisty nature. To the south there is an industrial estate.

[edit] Rivers

A number of small rivers and streams flow through St Columb parish, most rising in the eastern part and flowing west. One of the sources of the River Fal lies just within the boundary on the Goss Moor; this flows southwest to the South Coast. The River Menalhyl, which flows through the north part of St Columb (Bridge), has three branches with a confluence at Gilbert’s Water, just to the east of the town. The longest of these rises next to the Nine Maidens standing stones in the north part of the parish. The Menalhyl was historically important in the area, powering a number of mills along its course. A smaller river rises near Winnard's Perch (north of Talskiddy), later joining the Menalhyl near its mouth at Mawgan Porth. The other main river of the parish is the un-named one (often called the River Porth) that rises to the east of Ruthvoes, and that in its latter course fills the Porth Reservoir and enters the sea at St Columb Porth. This is the river that, according to legend, was begun by the blood of the murdered Saint Columba running down the valley.

[edit] Settlements

Besides the town, there are numerous villages and hamlets in the parish, including Talskiddy in the north, Ruthvoes (southeast), Trebudannon (south), Tregaswith (southwest), Tregatillian (east) and a large number of smaller farming settlements and isolated dwellings.

[edit] Transport

The A39 main road runs north to south through the parish. Until the late 1970s it went through the town, but a bypass was at that point built to the east of St. Columb. The A30 dual carrigeway also runs through the southeastern part of the parish, over the Goss Moor. The Par-Newquay railway line does not enter St Columb parish but forms part of its southern boundary. A small part of the parish is occupied by a corner of the airfield of RAF St Mawgan, which also serves as Cornwall’s principal civil airport.


[edit] History

[edit] Bronze and Iron Ages

Several ancient monuments that date from this period:

  • Castle an Dinas, an Iron Age hillfort.[3]
  • The Nine Maidens stone row, the largest row of standing stones in Cornwall.[4]
  • The Devil's Quoit (sometimes recorded as King Arthur's Quoit).[5]
  • King Arthur's Stone, this long lost stone is said to be not far from the Devil's Quoit near St. Columb, on the edge of the Goss moor. It was a large stone with four deeply-impressed horseshoe marks. Legend has it that the marks were made by the horse upon which Arthur rode when he resided at Castle An Dinas and hunted on the moors.


[edit] Middle Ages

  • St. Columba's Holy Well, (found in the nearby hamlet of Ruthvoes.).[6]
  • In 1645 during the English Civil War, Sir Thomas Fairfax's troops were advancing from Bodmin towards Truro; on the 7th of March the army held a rendezvous, and halted one night, four miles beyond Bodmin. The King's forces were quartered at this time near St. Columb, where a smart skirmish took place between the Prince's regiment and a detachment of the Parliamentary army under Colonel Rich, in which the latter was victorious.[7]
  • In the year 1676, the greatest part of this church of St. Columb was casually blown up with gunpowder by three youths of the town. [8]

[edit] Twentieth century

  • On May 27, 1983: The town was visited by the Prince and Princess of Wales (Charles and Diana). The visit was to commemorate the 650th anniversary of the signing of the town charter by Edward III.[10] A plaque commemorates this visit outside the Conservative club in Union Square.
  • In 1992 Australian stuntman Matt Coulter aka The Kangaroo Kid set the record for the longest jump with a crash on a quad bike at Retallack Adventure Park, St Columb Major.[11]

[edit] Religion

[edit] Parish Church

Exterior

The tower is a fine example of a fifteenth-century building, consisting of four stages with battlements and pinnacles. It is 80 feet high and contains eight bells re-hung in 1950. In 1920 the chiming clock was added as a memorial to the men of St. Columb who died in the Great War.

In 1860 plans were drawn up by William Butterfield, in hope of St. Columb church becoming the cathedral of the future diocese of Cornwall, but the cathedral was built at Truro.[12]

St Columb Church from an old etching (before 1845)

St Columb Church today.

Saint Columba's Cross in the churchyard.

Interior

Some of the more interesting items include:

  • Some fine brasses, including Sir John Arundell (died 1591) and his wife (died 1633).
  • A fine wooden screen by the architect George Fellowes Prynne [1].
  • A fine organ by Bryceston Bros. & Ellis of London.
  • A "Letter of Thanks" to the Cornish people sent by Charles I in 1643.
  • Some exceptional oak benchends, dating as far back as 1510.
  • Two sculptures by the artist Allan G Wyon.



[edit] Notable parish residents


[edit] Other visitor attractions in the area


[edit] Industry and Commerce

  • Pall Corporation - Filtration and separation technology. Currently employ 300 people at St Columb.
  • Mole Valley farmers - agricultural supplies and equipment
  • Borders Books - sells books, CDs, DVDs, magazines and Paperchase stationery through a network of stores nationwide.
  • Infoteam International Services LTD
  • Worlds Apart - designs, develops, manufactures and distributes children’s products around the world.
  • Murtaya, a sports car produced locally.

[edit] See also


[edit] External links


[edit] Gallery

Glebe-houses from an old etching (mostly demolished now).

The oldest remaining Glebe house.

Castle an Dinas as viewed from St. Columb Major.

St. Columb Major as viewed from Castle an Dinas.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Neighbourhood Statistics
  2. ^ GENUKI: St Columb Major
  3. ^ A Gazetteer of Arthurian Topographic Folklore. Retrieved on 2006-03-07.
  4. ^ The Modern Antiquarian site#627. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
  5. ^ The Modern Antiquarian site#644. Retrieved on 2006-09-24.
  6. ^ St Columba Holy Well, Ruthvoes. Retrieved on 2006-09-25.
  7. ^ From: 'General history: Historical events', Magna Britannia: volume 3: Cornwall (1814), pp. X-XXIV. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=50607. Date accessed: 21 August 2007.
  8. ^ The Parochial History of Cornwall By Davies Gilbert, Thomas Tonkin, William Hals
  9. ^ . The Times, Thursday, June 10, 1909; pg. 9; Issue 38982
  10. ^ . The Times, Saturday, May 28, 1983; pg. 10; Issue 61544
  11. ^ Crashing Records
  12. ^ The Gentleman's Magazine, 1860, p. 147
  13. ^ ART / 4 / 2DAY
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