St Merryn

St Merryn is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, United Kingdom approximately three and a half miles south of the fishing port of Padstow and approximately 11 miles northeast of the coastal resort of Newquay.

The village is built around a crossroads and has a post office, various shops, restaurants, public houses, and a petrol station with garage.

Geography

The Seven Bays, all with sandy surfing and holidaying beaches, are (from west to east) Porthcothan Bay, Treyarnon Bay, Constantine Bay, Booby's Bay, Mother Ivey's Bay, Harlyn Bay and Trevone Bay. Most of these bays have lifeguard facilities, car parks, public toilets, and refreshments available during the summer months.

As well as beaches the Seven Bays area includes much farming land, Trevose Headland, extensive tourist holiday accommodation, the North Cornwall Coastal Path which follows the clifftops and crosses all of the Seven Bays, the Padstow lifeboat station (now located on Trevose Head), the Villages of St Merryn & Trevone, and the hamlets of Constantine Bay, Harlyn, Porthcothan and Windmill.

The B3276 is the largest road passing through the Seven Bays area. It runs from Padstow through Windmill (turnoff north to Trevone), St Merryn (turnoffs north to Harlyn, Constantine Bay, Treyarnon Bay) and Porthcothan, eventually reaching Newquay.

St Merryn Village

The village has free parking. There are shops, restaurants & public houses in St Merryn, clustered around the crossroads, and extending as far south as the old stone cottage Spindrift. The known history of St Merryn village includes the tin-mining era, smuggling, slating, and fishing. Its modern activities are based on its tradition of farming, but its other natural resources, golden beaches and blue seas, have allowed it to develop a modern tourist industry. So much so that some local areas such as Constantine Bay and Harlyn have many second-homes. But the Seven Bays area is an ancient, atmospheric and beautifully natural place, where there is little distinction drawn between locals and visitors.

There are many holiday houses to let, static and touring caravan parks, holiday home parks, and several campsites nearby, and there are also various hotels. About 2 miles (3.2 km) inland is the abandoned St Merryn Airfield. Having been used for various purposes, from storage areas to a go-kart track, much of this has now been converted into self-contained holiday home parks, namely Atlantic Bays, St Merryn Holiday Village and Maribou.

In the summer, St. Merryn hosts a funfair, steam traction rally, St Merryn Carnival featuring floats and parade, the St Merryn Church fete and regular coffee mornings in the Church Hall, skittles tournaments (in the 'Young Men's Green', opposite the Cornish Arms public house now run by local celebrity chef Rick Stein), various events and auctions at the Community Hall, and in some seasons 'The Amazing Maize Maze' is a nearby attraction for all the family. In the winter months indoor activities include pool competitions, darts competitions, traditional Cornish euchre card games, quiz nights, and snooker (open to local residents and their personal guests).

Spindrift Cottage, the Farmers Arms and Tolgus

Whilst St Merryn Church had its first official Vicar on 2 July 1259 AD, The Farmers Arms public house did not gain its first 'official' licence to sell alcohol until 1872. However, the architecture of the old part betrays a longer history, and it is known to have brewed its own beer in past times. The bar room has a stone well, betraying the high water table in the local area. The well has a wooden cover, and visitors can see down the lit well to the high water level by permission of the landlord. The land under St Merryn is a shallow clay and shale 'dish' which accounts for the high water table despite the elevated position of St Merryn village, hence the success of local farming.

Spindrift refers to sea spray whipped off the crest of waves by a force 8 wind, and forms part of the formal definition of a Beaufort Scale Force 8. The cottage Spindrift was restored (2007 to 2009) using reclaimed materials and traditional techniques. Now a dwelling, it was in the past a cart parts store, office and small smithy, and later a shop with dwelling rooms. Older residents still remember the projecting front addition to Spindrift as a haberdasher's shop. Between the front of Spindrift Cottage and Tolgus (currently a restaurant) can be seen a large slate slab. This once supported a horse trough, as can be seen from the grooves cut into the top, and below it is another well. There are some unique architectural features of Spindrift which appear unique to St Merryn, and some can also be seen in the public house The Farmers Arms and on the Old Stone Barn opposite.

There are two old public houses in St Merryn. In 2009 the traditional Cornish Arms was taken over by celebrity chef Rick Stein.

In the original part of The Farmers Arms public house is a stone and lime fireplaces. Note the unusual lintel with a shallow arch, made of metal strips, each turned up or down at the ends. This unusual feature relies not on forming a stable arch but by stopping 'spread' for its stability. An almost identical lintel and fireplace construction was uncovered inside Spindrift Cottage in 2007. These lintels appear to be constructed from heated and beaten 'cartwheel bands' or 'iron tyres', used on horse drawn vehicles in past times. The building next to Spindrift is Tolgus, a corruption of the Cornish plural word for 'taxis'. This raises speculation locally that St Merryn was once a coaching stop, with horse trough, cart repair, horse stabling, and blacksmithing. Spindrift cottage contains no fewer than three large stone fireplaces in a row in one wall in less than 20 feet (6.1 m). One being for cooking (with offset run to a 'copper' - an old water heater), one being for heating (a traditional fireplace), and one a metal-working furnace (large enough for cartband work, but not for larger scale fabrications).

Parish church

St Merryn Church stands six hundred yards east from the crossroads which marks the centre of St Merryn village. The church is part of a small cluster of old buildings with a handful of small cottages, and the Cornish Arms public house, just outside the centre of the village. The church is open for visitors during the day in the summer months, and has a busy schedule of services. Sunday services are held at 11 am on the first four Sundays of each month, with an additional Matins at 8 am in the summer months. Visitors to the church who arrive by car may park without charge in the grounds of the Church Hall, which is located next to the church.

The annual summer Church Fete is based in the Church Hall adjacent, with stalls and activities in 'The Young Men's Green' which was bequeathed to 'the young men of the village for sporting uses'. The Church Fete and Charity Fetes always include a traditional game of 'Kayles' on the skittle alley in the Green field. The Green is located next to the Church, accessed either from the Church grounds, or through the 5-bar gate opposite the Cornish Arms.

History and architecture

Local historians believe that around 650 AD a missionary priest first came to St Merryn. The Parish of 'Sancta Marina' was run from a monastery in Bodmin. The 7th century Saint Merryn (or Meran, or Marina) from Bithynia is surrounded by many legends (including possible links to Merijn, or Merlin, see King Arthur). Léon Clugnet published versions of her legends in nine languages in 1905. Churches in Wales and Brittany are also named after the saint. Despite the legends, sainthood was ratified by Rome in 1338. At the same time a second dedication was made to St Thomas Becket. This dedication did not replace the St Merryn dedication, which remains to this day the name of this church.

The first resident Vicar, John de Withiel, was installed on 2 July 1259. The 750th anniversary of this event was celebrated on 2 July 2009. However, there were non-resident 'vicars' before this date.

The church building is of Norman foundation but the chancel, south aisle and upper part of the tower are of the 15th century.^[1] The fine font of Cataclewse stone, quarried on Trevose Head, originally belonged to the chapel of St Constantine in the parish. The piers of the aisle are also of Cataclewse stone. St Merryn Church has an impressive 'wagon roof' which was built in 1422 and the tower contains a peal of six bells.

From 1876 onwards the Church of St Merryn has been in the Diocese of Truro (in the Pydar deanery).

There is a section in the churchyard dedicated to military graves, and especially naval, with graves of men from several countries including Canada and America. There are many from HMS Vulture, a land based training station near St Mawgan.

Chapel of St Constantine

The ruined chapel at Constantine Bay has a nearby holy well (uncovered in 1911). Taking the waters there was said to bring rain during dry weather. The chapel's splendid font is now in the parish church at St Merryn. That chapel was re-roofed in 1290, on orders from the Bishop (Brantingham) of Exeter so the Vicar of St Merryn could hold mass on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The ruins of the chapel still exist in the dunes (now a golf course) near Trevose.^[2] The ruins can still be visited, as they are on an ancient right of way, nowadays on Hole 3 of Trevose Golf Club.

References

External links

• Historical information on St Merryn from Genuki
• Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for St Merryn