Menheniot

Menheniot (pronounced Men-en-yut) (Cornish: Mahynyet)[1] is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is 2 ¹⁄₂ miles (4.0 km) southeast of Liskeard.[2] The meaning of the name is "sanctuary of Neot" (from minihi and Neot).[3]

Menheniot Cornish: Mahynyet
Menheniot parish church
Menheniot Location within Cornwall
Population	1,716 (United Kingdom Census 2011 including Doddycross)
OS grid reference	SX289628
Civil parish	Menheniot
Unitary authority	Cornwall
Ceremonial county	Cornwall
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	LISKEARD
Postcode district	PL14
Dialling code	01579
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Cornwall
Ambulance	South Western
UK Parliament	South East Cornwall

Menheniot village

Menheniot had a population of 1,605 in the 2001 census.[4] This had increased slightly to 1,655 at the 2011 census,[5] whereas the ward population at the same census was 3,658.[6] The village has a primary school, a pub, a shop and a post office.

Geography

To the south of the civil parish is Clicker Tor Quarry, a Site of Special Scientific Interest noted for its geological interest, containing one of the best examples of ultramafic rocks in South West England.[7]

At Coldrenick was a black and white mansion dated 1870 by the architect C. F. Hayward.[8] At Merrymeet is an Anglican mission church dedicated to St Mary the Virgin.

Hendra Cross

Parish church

The parish church, located in the village, is dedicated to St Lalluwy. It has a buttressed tower and a spire.[9][10] The alleged dedications to St Antoninus and St Corentin derive from errors made by John Whitaker and Dr George Oliver. The church is a fine building of the 14th century but has been rendered less interesting by unsympathetic restorations. Accounts of four guilds associated with the church have been preserved: they relate to part of the reigns of Queen Mary I and Queen Elizabeth I. The date of the parish feast was altered in 1405 from March 8 to October 6. In 1478 the benefice was appropriated to Exeter College, Oxford and the cure of souls became a vicarage. Five chapels in the parish are recorded in the Middle Ages but they were abolished at the Reformation. There was also a lazar house at Maudlin near Liskeard which did remain in existence for some time after. As a valuable benefice several of the incumbents have been men of some distinction, including William Wykeham in 1365, Peter Courtenay, afterwards Bishop of Exeter, in 1477, and John Moreman, DD, 1529-54.[11] Dr Moreman was the author of a commentary on the epistle to the Romans and also the first to teach his people the Lord's prayer, creed and ten commandments in English.[12] George Hall became vicar of Menheniot and in 1641 archdeacon of Cornwall.[13][14] He was deprived of his offices under the Commonwealth but became a bishop after the Restoration.

Features of interest include the ceiled wagon roofs, the pulpit (1891 by Harry Hems of Exeter), which depicts the polar exploits of Vice-Admiral Trelawney-Jago, and the earliest monumental brass in Cornwall (commemorating Sir Ralph Carmynow, d. 1386). There are a number of interesting monuments to the Trelawnys, including Jonathan Trelawny (d. 1674) and Edward Trelawney, Dean of Exeter (d. 1726). The black marble slab to L. Stephens (d. 1724) and the tablet to Lady Charlotte Carr (by M. Eames of Exeter) are also of interest.[15]

Captain John Richards Lapenotière, who lived in the parish until his death in 1834, is buried in the churchyard. He was the first person to bring news of the Battle of Trafalgar back to London.

Economy and transport

Menheniot lies in a former mining area and is surrounded by disused shafts and engine houses. Lead seams were discovered in the 1840s and Menheniot became the centre of a mining boom which lasted until the 1870s. During this period the population doubled.[9] Wheal Trelawney was a lead and arsenic mine which was worked from 1840 to 1890 and again in 1900-02.[16]

The village has a station, Menheniot railway station, on the Cornish Main Line which is operated by Great Western Railway.[17][18]

See also

• Richard Gendall

References

1. Place-names in the Standard Written Form (SWF) Archived 15 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine : List of place-names agreed by the MAGA Signage Panel Archived 2013-05-15 at the Wayback Machine. Cornish Language Partnership.
2. Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 Plymouth & Launceston ISBN 978-0-319-23146-3
3. Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 157
4. Office for National Statistics: Census 2001 : Parish Headcounts: Caradon Archived 2015-12-23 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved January 2010
5. "Parish population at 2011 census". Genuki.org.uk. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
6. "Ward population 2011 census". Ukcensusdata.com. Retrieved 9 February 2015.
7. "Clicker Tor Quarry" (PDF). Natural England. 1986. Retrieved 26 October 2011.
8. Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin; p. 54
9. GENUKI; Menheniot; retrieved April 2010
10. "Menheniot: St Lalluwy & St Antoninus". A Church Near You. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
11. Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 157-58
12. Brown, H. Miles (1964) The Church in Cornwall. Truro: Blackford; p. 40
13. "Archdeacons of Canterbury - British History Online". British-history.ac.uk. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
14. Concise Dictionary of National Biography
15. Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed., revised by Enid Radcliffe. Penguin; p. 117
16. Todd, A. C. & Laws, Peter (1972) The Industrial Archaeology of Cornwall. Newton Abbot: David & Charles; p. 235
17. National Rail website; Menheniot; retrieved April 2010
18. British Railway Stations website Archived 2011-07-21 at the Wayback Machine; retrieved April 2010

External links

Media related to Menheniot at Wikimedia Commons