Luxulyan

Luxulyan ( /ləkˈsɪljən/; Cornish: Lansulien), also spelled Luxullian or Luxulian, is a village and civil parish in central Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village lies four miles (6.5 km) northeast of St Austell and six miles (10 km) south of Bodmin.^[1] The population of the parish was 1,371 in the 2001 census.^[2]

Geology and geography

Luxulyan parish lies in an area of china clay quarries on the St Austell granite batholith (see also Geology of Cornwall) and numerous small granite domes are dotted around the parish. Luxulyan Quarry, a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest to the north of the village, exposes examples of this rock.^[3]

Luxulyanite, a rare type of Cornish granite (named after the village) is found in the area and was used for the Duke of Wellington's sarcophagus in St Paul's Cathedral.^[2]

Luxulyan is best known for Luxulyan Valley, a steep sided and thickly wooded stretch of the valley of the River Par that contains a major concentration of early 19th century industrial remains, including a combined Aqueduct and Viaduct. The valley was designated a World Heritage Site in 2006.

One of the southern branches of the Saints' Way long-distance footpath runs through the parish. Other villages in Luxulayan parish include the Churchtown, Bridges, Treskilling, Rosemelling, Higher Manedue, and Bedwith.

The Atlantic Coast Line from Par to Newquay runs up the Luxulyan Valley and there is a station at Luxulyan. A bus service connects the village with St Austell and Lostwithiel.

History

St Sulien, or Sulian, was abbot here during the sixth century. The church in the village may have been dedicated to him originally, but it is now dedicated to Saints Ciricius (Cyr, Cyriacus, Quiricus) and Julitta.

There are roads in Luxulyan named after all three saints. Sulien is a Welsh variant of the given name "Julian," but has also been interpreted as being derived from the Welsh sul, meaning "sun" + geni, meaning "born," Sulien being the name of a Celtic solar deity.^[4]

In the early 1980s Luxulyan was the site of a six-month occupation of farmland by much of the village population, with many groups and individuals from across Cornwall helping, to prevent test drilling by the Central Electricity Generating Board investigating the area as a potential nuclear power station site.^[5]

Luxulyan has benefited from increased tourism since the nearby Eden Project opened.

Notable buildings

The parish church, originally Norman, was entirely rebuilt in granite in the 15th century. It is dedicated to St Ciricius and St Julitta. The tower is without buttreses or pinnacles and the south porch has battlements and a handsome tunnel-vault. It still has the Norman font (very similar to that at St Austell) and the east window is a monument to Silvanus Trevail, d. 1903. Near the church is a holy well (also 15th century).^[6][7] The Blackmoor Stannary, centred at nearby Hensbarrow Beacon, kept its records stored in the church.

Methrose is a farmhouse probably of the early 16th century ("one of the best farmhouses in Cornwall"--Pevsner); it is built of granite and stands on the right of a courtyard. The service end is of two storeys and the later parlour wing was attributed by Charles Henderson to Nicholas Kendall (some time between 1622 and 1649).^[8] The remains of an Iron-Age hillfort known as Prideaux Castle are located in the southern portion of the parish near the border with St Blazey.

Notable people

Notable people from Luxulyan include William O'Bryan, the Methodist preacher and founder of the Bryanites or Bible Christians, and Silvanus Trevail, the architect. Both were born in the parish.

References

External links

• Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Luxulyan