Blisland
| Blisland | |
| Cornwall | |
|---|---|
 Blisland Parish Church | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX101732 |
| Location: | 50°31’41"N, 4°40’52"W |
| Data | |
| Population: | 666 (2011) |
| Post town: | Bodmin |
| Postcode: | PL30 |
| Dialling code: | 01208 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Cornwall |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
North Cornwall |
Blisland is a village in Cornwall, in the hills on the east side of the River Camel, about five miles northeast of Bodmin and onthr west side of Bodmin Moor. According to the 2010 census, the parish had a population of 666.
The parish is entirely rural in character, the northeast being moorland and the southwest lower lying farmland. The parish is bordered to the north by St Breward parish; to the west by St Mabyn and Helland parishes; to the south by Cardinham, Warleggan, and St Neot parishes; and to the northeast by Altarnun parish.
The hamlets of Bradford, Keybridge, Merry Meeting, Pendrift, Tresarrett and Waterloo are in the parish.[1] Blisland is sometimes said to be the only village in Cornwall with a village green,[2] however Herodsfoot and Talskiddy are others.
Blisland School is located just outside Blisland in a hamlet named Waterloo on the edge of Bodmin Moor.
Contents
Name
The derivation of the placename is unclear – the earliest known form is Bleselonde in 1284. The etymology of the prefix is obscure.[3] Ekwall mentions forms such as Bloiston from documents in 1177–1198 and suggests that the first element is the same as in 'Blisland' and that Blois- / Blis- may be from an original Cornish language name.[4] Charles Henderson in the Cornish Church Guide mentioned the older form as Bliston, thought to mean Heath-Town.
In the Domesday Book (1086) the manor is entered as Gluston and so probably it was really Bluston from Anglo-Saxon times to the 12th century, and by 1284 the new 'Blisland' form was adopted.
History and antiquities
On Blisland Manor Common is the prehistoric stone circle known as the Trippet Stones; and on Hawkstor Down a henge monument the Stripple Stones.
Blisland Manor House is 16th century with later alterations; Lavethan House mid-17th century; and the house at Trewardale 1773, enlarged 1839. Lavethan house (1653) incorporates parts of the 15th century. The archway was brought from another site.[5] Early clapper bridges at Bradford and Poleys Bridge (on the River Camel) built of granite in 1839 are also noteworthy. Blisland Manor was in the hands of the family of Billing for many years: they were also landowners at St Breward and elsewhere. Trehudreth was the seat of the family of Lean among whose members was Sir John Maclean (originally John Lean). Trewardale is the seat of the family of Edward-Collins amongst whose members were General Charles Edward-Collins, High Sheriff of Cornwall and Brigadier Thurston Edward-Collins.
Langdon (1896) records twelve stone crosses in the parish, of which one is at St Pratt's Well and four at Lavethan.
At Durfold is a great 50-foot waterwheel which was used to operate, through a flat rod a mile and a quarter long, a 14-inch pump at Parkyn's china clay works at Temple. This wheel was made at Hawarden in 1865 and shipped to Laxey on the Isle of Man; after use in the silver mines there it was dismantled and brought to Wadebridge by sea and rail, then hauled to Durfold by traction engine and re-erected.[6]
Churches
Blisland Parish Church
The parish church is the Church of St Protus and St Hyacinth, a Norman church with some later mediæval work. Dr Sidney J. Madge published in 1950 a good account of the church and its two patron saints entitled Blisland Church and its Patron Saints; a 2nd edition was issued in 1965 with a preface by John Betjeman. Charles Henderson, writing in the Cornish Church Guide (1925) suggests that Lavethan (formerly Lanedewen) may record the original dedication of the church since the second element may be St Adwen (patron of Advent). The present form of the dedication relies on identifying the the local saint, St Pratt of tradition, with St Protus Martyr.
The extensive restoration of the church includes work by Ninian Comper and F. C. Eden. According to Betjeman: "As a restoration and even improvement on a mediæval church, this holy and peaceful place ... can hardly be bettered in the kingdom."[7] In the church is the early 15th century brass of John Balsam, formerly rector here.[8]
St Catherine's Church, Temple
At Temple is the church of St Catherine, originally also a parish church, but the parish of Temple was merged with Blisland in 1934.
Pictures
Blisland Parish Church interior
Parish Church: doorway
Rood screen (detail), part of Comper and Eden's restoration work
Trehudreth Mill
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Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Blisland) |
References
- ↑ Cornwall; Explore Britain
- ↑ Hilton, Victor (1963) The Bide-a-while Book. Shaldon: Victor Hilton; p. 44, entry for Tregaddick
- ↑ Mills, A. D (1991). The Popular Dictionary of English Place-Names. Parragon Book Service Ltd & Magpie Books. p. 40. ISBN 0-7525-1851-8.
- ↑ Ekwall, E., The concise dictionary of English place-names, 2nd ed., 1940, p. 47a
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Cornwall, 1951; 1970 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09589-0
- ↑ Todd, A. C. & Laws, Peter (1972) The Industrial Archaeology of Cornwall. Newton Abbot: David & Charles; p. 209
- ↑ Betjeman, J. (ed.) (1968) Collins Pocket Guide to English Parish Churches: the South. London: Collins; pp. 146–47
- ↑ Dunkin, E. (1882) Monumental Brasses. London, Spottiswoode
- Betjeman, John (1973) "The Church of St Protus and St Hyacinth, at Blisland, Cornwall", in his: West Country Churches. London: Society of SS. Peter and Paul
