Week St Mary
| Week St Mary | |
| Cornwall | |
|---|---|
 St Mary's Church, Week St Mary | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX236975 |
| Location: | 50°45’2"N, 4°30’4"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | EX22 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Cornwall |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North Cornwall |
Week St Mary is a village in northeastern Cornwall, sitting a little to the south of Bude close to the River Tamar which forms the border between Cornwall and Devon. The parish is in the Stratton Hundred, and had a recorded population at the 2011 census of just 657.
The name of the village is from the dedication of the village church and the Cornish gwig, meaning 'village', or just possibly the Old English wic, with the same meaning.
The parish church, St Mary the Virgin, is of the 14th–15th centuries. The tower contains a ring of six bells.[1][2] The parish is in the Diocese of Truro.
Parish church
The parish church is dedicated to St Mary the Virgin, and its dates from the 14th to 15th centuries.. The tower contains a ring of six bells.[3][4]
In 1878, the church was hit by lightning, throwing one of the basement stones of the pinnacle 20 feet from the tower. The stones at the base of the tower are now separated by gaps of three inches to four inches. The church tower had been hit by lightning on two previous occasions.[5]
History
The manor of Week was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as having one hide of land and land for eight ploughs. It was one of twenty-eight manors held by Richard from Robert, Count of Mortain. There were three ploughs, four serfs, six villeins and ten smallholders. There was 2 acres of woodland and one square league of pasture. There were forty sheep and twenty-five other beasts. The value of the manor was £1-10 s.[6]
In 1506, Thomasine Bonaventure founded a college here, remaining parts of which have been converted into a farmhouse. The College, Week St Mary is now owned by the Landmark Trust. Thomasine was born in Week St Mary, moving later to London where she married a series of wealthy husbands, gathering a fortune which was used to found and endow the college in the village of her birth.
The building of the college was overseen by John Dinham of Wortham who remodelled his own house Wortham Manor at about the same time. As well as being a school the college was also a chantry and the schoolmaster was required to pray for the souls of the foundress's husbands. The chantry led to it being dissolved in 1548 though in 1546 it was said to be "a great comfort to all the country there".[7][8]
About the village
The parish contains two Sites of Special Scientific Interest, both noted for their biological interest. 'Brendonmoor SSSI', in the east of the civil parish, was notified in 1990[9] and 'Greenamoor SSSI', also a nature reserve jointly owned by Plantlife and Cornwall Wildlife Trust, was designated in 1992.[10][11][12]
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Week St Mary) |
References
- ↑ Week St. Mary Village Community
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Cornwall, 1951; 1970 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09589-0
- ↑ Week St Mary Village Community
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Cornwall, 1951; 1970 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09589-0
- ↑ "The Tower of Week St Mary's Church". The Cornishman (19): p. 7. 21 November 1878.
- ↑ Thorn, C. et al., ed. (1979) Cornwall Chichester: Phillimore; entry 5,3,18
- ↑ The College - The Landmark Trust
- ↑ Week St Mary: The Old College
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Brendonmoor
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Greenamoor
- ↑ Greena Moor (Creddacott Meadows) Nature Reserve - Cornwall Wildlife Trust
- ↑ Greena Moor - Plantlife