Ruan Lanihorne is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated approximately four miles (6.5 km) east-southeast of Truro between the River Fal and its tributary the Ruan River.[1]
Ruanlanihorne, as the parish is spelt, is entirely rural in character with wooded areas in the river valleys.[1] It is bounded to the north by Tregoney parish, to the east by Veryan parish, to the south by Philleigh parish and to the west by St Michael Penkevil parish.[2] Apart from the church town of Ruan Lanihorne, the only other settlements of any size are in the south of the parish: Treworga and Ruan High Lanes which is right on the parish's boundary with Veryan.[1][2]
The parish is in the Truro Registration District and the population was 250 in the 2001 census[3]
The name Lanihorne is perhaps a modified form of Laryhorn (the Cornish name of this place). The village was, from the mid 12th Century onwards, the site of a adulterine castle of the Lercedekne family and the main settlement was at Sheepstor (Sheepstall) some distance away towards Tregony(where the Pomeroy family also built a castle). In 1334 John Lercedekne was granted permission for the castle by Edward III. Before the castle was demolished in the 19th-century, it was described as having a 40 ft high keep, seven or eight towers and possibly an outer court.[4][5][6]
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The parish church is situated in Ruan Lanihorne village at grid reference SW 894 420. The church was dedicated to St Rumonus (or Rumon) in 1321 and has a chancel and nave, a north aisle, and a south transept. The single-stage tower houses a ring of two bells.[3]
The church is built of local grey slate stone and is Gothic in style. The font is dated about the 14th century and the tower perhaps about the same date.[7] Restoration work included the installation of a stained glass window in 1866. The Rev John Whitaker, author of The Cathedral of Cornwall and other historical works, was Rector of Ruan Lanihorne for thirty years (1778–1808).[7]
This saint is also honoured at Tavistock Abbey and at Grade-Ruan in Cornwall. For more information: see Saint Ronan and Saint Rumon in G. H. Doble's The Saints of Cornwall, part 2, pp. 120–34.
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