Grampound

Grampound Cornish: Ponsmeur
Cornwall
Fore Street
Location
Grid reference:	SW936483
Location:	50°17’53"N, 4°53’59"W
Data
Population:	654  (2011)
Post town:	Truro
Postcode:	TR2
Dialling code:	01726
Local Government
Council:	Cornwall
Parliamentary constituency:	St Austell and Newquay
Website:	http://www.grampound.org.uk/

Grampound is a village in Cornwall, an ancient crossing point of the River Fal. Once greater than today, it is a modest village, found along the A390 road six miles west of St Austell and eight miles east of Truro.

The village is close to Creed, with which it shres a civil parish ('Grampound with Creed'). Formerly, part of Grampound was in the parish of Creed and part was in the parish of Probus.

St Nun's Church and Town Hall

Name

The name Grampound comes from the Norman French: grand pont ('Great bridge'), referring to the bridge over the River Fal. Its spelling has varied over the last 600 years.

The Cornish name Ponsmur is recorded in 1308, which bears the same meaning as the French words.

Geography

Grampound sits in the valley of the River Fal north of Tregony. It is on the A390 road six miles west of St Austell and eight miles east of Truro.

Grampound's linear layout is of Norman origin, with long thin burgage plots extending away from the main street, Fore Street (A390). Most of the village core is a Conservation Area, and there are many listed buildings on Fore Street, for example the local school and the Town Hall. There is a range of buildings of different ages.

History

The area around Grampound was settled in prehistoric times, and in the early mediæval period the parish of Creed and the manor of Tybesta were established here. Grampound grew after the Norman conquest as the main crossing place on the Fal, a focus for travellers and traders moving between western Cornwall and the English counties. Thus Grampound became one of the most important towns in mediæval Cornwall with a rich and vibrant history.

The bridge from which the town took its name is first recorded in 1296. The first charter was granted by the Earl of Cornwall in 1332 and the town remained important until the 15th century. Thereafter it declined and John Norden refers to the inhabitants as "few and poore" in his account published in 1584.

Notwithstanding the later decline, Grampound's mediæval charter made it a borough and so Grampound was entitled to elect two members to the House of Commons from the reign of Edward VI until 1821: it was thus one of the notorious 'rotten boroughs'. Grampound was disenfranchised in 1821 (after a corruption scandal that led to the conviction and imprisonment of several men for bribery). Members who have represented the borough include such names as William Noye, John Hampden, Grey Cooper and Charles Wolfran Cornwall.

The seal of the borough of Grampound was "A bridge of two arches over a river, the dexter end in perspective showing the passage over at the sinister and a tree issuing from the base against the bridge on the centre an escutcheon of the arms of the family of Cornwall viz. Arg. a lion rampant Gu. within a bordure Sa."

Grampound also gives its name to Grampound Road, a village two miles to the north-west.

Economy

There are a number of local businesses including the Cornish Smokehouse, Lobb's garage, Tristan Hay Pine and Period furniture, and The Dolphin Inn.

Many people commute to work in the nearby centres of St Austell and Truro. There are a number of businesses run from home.

The tannery industry was important in the past in Grampound. The principal leather tannery, which closed in 2002, was owned by the Croggon family. It consists of several large buildings and surrounding fields on the southern side of the village. This area is being developed into 55 new homes and office space.

Parish church

The Church of St Nun is the only remaining open church in Grampound. There is the nearby, older church of St Crida in Creed and they are both managed by the same Parochial Church Council and part of the churches led by the Rector at Probus, Ladock, Grampound with Creed and St.Erme Parishes.

There were once several chapels in Grampound, which have since been converted into dwellings.

Culture and community

There is an annual carnival on the first Saturday in September which includes a procession along Fore Street (A390) which is closed temporarily. Markets are held in Grampound Hall twice a month on a Saturday. One of these markets is run by Transition Grampound and the other by the village hall committee.

The new village hall was opened in 2004 with lottery funding. This hall is also an arts venue and regularly hosts performances of drama, dance, and music. A local amateur dramatic group, The Grampound Players, has also performed in recent years.

The recreation ground is managed by a charity (Grampound with Creed War Memorial Recreation Ground and Public Hall) in Grampound as a public space. It is host to the carnival each year and also to Grampound Football Club.

A small museum, the Grampound with Creed Heritage Centre, is located in the Town Hall.

Landmarks in Grampound include market cross, St Nun's church, and the Town Hall and clock tower in the centre of the village. A war memorial plaque is on the wall of the town hall. The Dolphin Inn is a little further down the hill. Grampound with Creed Primary School, Grampound Hall, and the recreation ground are near the Fal bridge.

Sport

Grampound is home to Grampound Football Club and Grampound Bowling Club both of whom have facilities at the recreation ground. Grampound Road Cricket Club, part of the Premier League and with new Pavilion on the Playing Fields.

Hampden

John Hampden, though a Buckinghamshire man by birth and ancestry, enetered Parliament in 1621 as one of the members for the Borough of Grampound. He was famous for resisting King Charles's irregular attempt to collect ship money and infamous for causing the Civil War. In 1642, Hampden was one of the Five Members whom King Charles I sought to arrest in the chamber of the House of Commons in 1642, which incident sparked the Civil War between King and Parliament.

Outside links

• Grampound with Creed Parish Council
• Grampound history
• Photo Archive of Grampound Heritage Project