Merther

Merther

Merther Church
Merther
Merther shown within Cornwall
OS grid reference SW862447
Civil parish
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town TRURO
Postcode district TR
Police Devon and Cornwall
Fire Cornwall
Ambulance South Western
EU Parliament South West England

Merther is a small hamlet 2 miles (3 km) east of Truro in Cornwall, England. It lies on the eastern side of the Tresillian River in the civil parish of St Michael Penkevil. It was formerly the churchtown of the small parish of Merther, and also the site of a manor house and medieval chapel dedicated to St Cohan (also spelt Coan). The former parish church is now in ruins.[1]

St Coan was a martyr; there were formerly at Merther a chapel and holy well dedicated to him.[2] A new church was built at Tresillian Bridge in 1904 (the font, bells, statue of St Anthony and pulpit from Merther were moved to the new church). The church was abandoned in the mid-20th century.

Tresawsan Farm

Tresawsan is a hamlet in the parish of Merther; the meaning of Tresawsan is "Englishmen's farm".[3]The historian William Hals was born at Tresawsan.

Geography

Merther (altitude:39 metres (128 ft)) is 200 metres (660 ft) from the eastern bank of the tidal, T reslllian River, a tributary of the Truro River which flows into the River Fal. It is 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) via the modern tarmac road to Tresillian Church (which replaced St Cohan's) and the A390 road, which connects Truro and St Austell. There is a shorter route to Tresillian Church, by foot via the farm at Treffry.[4] The former churchtown now consists of Eglosmertha, School Cottage, Rectory Cottage, Penhale and a ruined church and churchyard.[5]

History

Eglosmerther is a Grade II listed building on the site of a manor house, and the barton was held in 1311 by the Reskymers.[6] It is now a farm, and the farmhouse including the courtyard wall, was a rebuild, in 1806–8 of an earlier house.[7]

East of the parish church, in a field called St Coan (grid reference SW866448) is the site of St Cohan's Chapel and well. The chapel was destroyed in about 1750 and by 1860 the last stones removed. An effigy of St Anthony probably from the 15th-century was moved to Merther Church.[8] In 1904 a more conveniently positioned church, at Tresillian Bridge was enlarged. The 12th-century Pentewan stone font, 17th-century polygonal oak pulpit and bells were removed to the new church, and St Cohen's became a mortuary chapel.[9] St Cohan's Church, is now roofless and overgrown with vegetation.[10][11]

Until 1866, Merther was a chapelry to Probus, 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) to the north-east. It then became a civil parish, which was abolished in 1934 and absorbed into the civil parish of St Michael Penkevil.[12]

The ecclesiastical parish was combined with Lamorran in 1900 to form the parish of Lamorran and Merther.

References

  1. ↑ /photos/72003498%40N00/1169877846&usg=__9arVRvCv8TTsynVPWb7AghsIUu8=&h=375&w=500&sz=104&hl=en&start=5&tbnid=DPbWZ0-1KWy9WM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dalma%2Bplace%2Bredruth%26hl%3Den%26rlz%3D1T4RNWN_enGB254GB256 "Pictures of Merther Church" Check |url= value (help). flickr. Retrieved 2009-04-16.
  2. ↑ Ellis, P. B. (1992) The Cornish Saints. Penryn: Tor Mark Press, p. 8
  3. ↑ Weatherhill, Craig (2009) A Concise Dictionary of Cornish Place-Names. Westport, Mayo: Evertype; p. 75
  4. ↑ OS Explorer 105. Falmouth & Mevagissey (Map). Southampton: Ordnance Survey. 2015. ISBN 978 0 319 24307 7.
  5. ↑ 1:10000 Merther, Cornwall (Map). Southampton: Ordnance Survey. 1973.
  6. ↑ Historic England. "Eglosmerther (428767)". PastScape. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  7. ↑ "Eglos Merther Farmhouse and Courtyard Wall". Historic England. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  8. ↑ Historic England. "St Cohans Chapel (428759)". PastScape. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  9. ↑ Historic England. "St Cohans Church (428769)". PastScape. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  10. ↑ "Church of St Cohan". Historic England. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  11. ↑ "Tresillian Church". Historic England. Retrieved 14 April 2017.
  12. ↑ Vision of Britain website
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