Probus
| Probus Cornish: Lamprobus | |
| Cornwall | |
|---|---|
 St Probus and St Grace, Probus | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SW897477 |
| Location: | 50°17’32"N, 4°57’12"W |
| Data | |
| Postcode: | TR2 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Cornwall |
Probus is a village in Cornwall, inland, five miles north-east of Truro and just off the A390 road. It lies very close to the Cornish Main Line railway and was formerly served by the Probus and Ladock halt.
Probus is famous for having the tallest church tower in Cornwall.[1] The tower, on the Church od St Probus and St Grace, is 129 feet tall, and richly decorated with carvings. The name of the village originates from the church's dedication to Saint Probus.[2] The parish population at the 2011 census was 2,299,
History
There was a monastery here before the Norman Conquest which continued to exist until the reign of Henry I. King Henry gave the church of Probus to Exeter Cathedral and the clergy of Probus thereafter were a dean and five canons (the deanery was abolished in 1268 and the canonries in 1549). The first vicar was instituted in 1312; the parish had dependent chapelries at Cornelly and Merther. The church was built mainly in the 15th century but the tower was still under construction in 1523. In the church is the brass of John Wulvedon and his wife, 1512.[3] In the early years of the 19th century the rare custom of turning to the east for the doxology at the conclusion of the recitation of each Psalm, particularly by those in choir, was observed in Probus church.
There are records of no less than nine mediæval chapels in the parish and three more of which traditions exist. Two mansions formerly existed at Golden: one of the Wolvedon family and a larger one of the Tregians.
The line of Wolvedons became extinct in 1514. At the Tregian mansion Cuthbert Mayne, a recusant priest infiltrated from Douai, was arrested in June 1577.[4] The farmhouse at Golden contains the remains of a hall-house of the late 1530s, reconstructed about a century later, and extended in the 18th century. There is also a fine barn with original roof timbers and a first floor window.[5]
An annual market and fair was held here from 1321.[6]
Landscape
Trehane Barton is the former home of the Stackhouse family and the old estate now contains a Site of Special Scientific Interest. When the SSSI was notified in 1989 the barns supported the largest known breeding colony of Greater Horseshoe Bat in Cornwall and one of only eleven known colonies in Britain.[7] No bats were present during a visit in October 2010 to access the site which was given an ″unfavourable no change″ condition.
Sports and recreation
Probus has a King George V Field, established as a memorial to King George V.
People and culture
The Hawkins Arms, a St Austell Brewery house, is an 18th-century pub standing on Fore Street. The Comrades Club is a members' club situated on The Square.
The Probus Parish Players, formed in 1991, holds an annual pantomime in the Village Hall.
Probus has a Probus Club, known as the Probus Club of Probus.
Nearby is Trewithen Garden.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Probus) |
References
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Cornwall, 1951; 1970 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09589-0page 128
- ↑ Mills, A. D. (1991). The Popular Dictionary of English Place-Names. Parragon Book Service Ltd & Magpie Books. p. 264. ISBN 0-7525-1851-8.
- ↑ Dunkin, E. (1882) Monumental Brasses. London, Spottiswoode
- ↑ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; pp. 187-189
- ↑ Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed., revised by E. Radcliffe. Penguin; p. 74
- ↑ Samantha Letters, "{{brithist|40409 Gazetteer of Markets and Fairs in England and Wales to 1516: Cornwall]"
- ↑ SSSI listing and designation for Trehane Barton
- Shaw, Thomas (1961) Methodism in Probus, 1781-1961