St Merryn

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St Merryn
Cornwall

St Merryn
Location
Grid reference: SW881738
Location: 50°31’34"N, 4°59’28"W
Data
Post town: Padstow
Postcode: PL28
Dialling code: 01841
Local Government
Council: Cornwall
Parliamentary
constituency: 		North Cornwall

St Merryn is a village in north Cornwall, about three and a half miles south of the fishing port of Padstow and eleven miles northeast of the coastal resort at Newquay.

The village has a post office, primary school, veterinary practice, various shops, restaurants, and public houses. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 1,692.

Geography

The parish of St Merryn covers a far wider area than the village alone, encompassing 3,798 acres, bounded by a millstream to the south that separates it from the St Ervan and St Eval parishes and with five and a half miles of coastline along the Atlantic Ocean.

The Seven Bays region of St Merryn includes (from west to east) Porthcothan Bay, Treyarnon Bay, Constantine Bay, Booby's Bay, Mother Ivey's Bay, Harlyn Bay and Trevone Bay. The nearest bay to St Merryn village itself is Harlyn Bay, a mile north of the village.[1]

Interesting features include the seaside cliffs, like the Marble cliffs, Tregudda gorge, Trevose Head and the collapsed cave known as Round Hole.

The South West Coast Path follows the clifftops and crosses the Seven Bays.[2]

Name

There are two theories about the naming of St Merryn.

Visit Cornwall asserts that according to local historians the village and parish are named after a Welsh missionary priest named Merryn who came to St Merryn around 650 AD.[3] It has also been proposed that Cornwall's St Merryn was a monk named Maruanus or Maruan.[4][5] Which Merryn (or alternative spelling) this may be is debatable. Regarding Merryn son of Brychan, in his 1965 book series The Saints of Cornwall the scholar Gilbert Doble disputes assertions made by Charles G. Henderson that the Merryn in question may have been the "Marwenna found in William of Worcester's list of the Children of Brychan"[6]

The benefice of St Merryn was named Vicaria Sancte Marine (the vicarage of St Marina) in 1259. It continued to be listed in church records as a form of Saint Marina until 1477 when it was named Seynt Meryn.[7] Doble states that by the Middle Ages, the earlier Celtic saint was replaced by Marina of Bithynia.[6][8]

History

Three rocket-armed Fairey Swordfish, 774 Naval Air Squadron

St Merryn air field

RNAS St Merryn operated from 1937 to 1956 was also known as the HMS Vulture and HMS Curlew. Initially the airfield was built with an airstrip and one hangar for civil purposes. In 1940, following construction of buildings for military use, it became an aircraft training centre for training for airborne observers and aircraft carrier flight manoeuvres. The following year German aircraft bombed the field; it was rebuilt in 1942. The Ward Room was housed within the Cornish Arms Inn; there is an honour roll posted at the location commemorating the aviators of the St Merryn air field. In 1952 the HMS Curlew unit joined the airfield for Naval reserve and airborne observer training. The field was closed for military purposes in 1956.

There is limited general aviation on the landing strips now and some of the former airfield is used for industry, farm land and leisure activity. The control tower and other airport buildings are visible in the area.[9][10]

St Merryn beef shipment of 1999

In August 1999 beef from a St Merryn slaughterhouse made the national news when it was the source of the first beef from the British mainland to be served in Brussels in three years. It signalled a re-emergence of British beef in the international marketplace after the 'Mad Cow Disease' scare had halted exports.[11] The shipment, coordinated by the Meat and Livestock Commission in Britain, came 3 weeks after the European Union lifted its ban on the import of British beef.[12]

Churches

The Parish Church, St Merryn

St Merryn Church

The original dedication of the church was to St Merryn but in Norman times the saint was assumed to be a St Marina (see above, Toponymy). When the sainthood of Thomas Becket (Thomas of Canterbury) was ratified by Rome in 1338, a second dedication was made to him but it did not replace the St Merryn dedication.[13] The first resident Vicar, John de Withiel, was installed on 2 July 1259.[14] The church building is of Norman foundation but the chancel, south aisle and upper part of the tower are of the 15th century.[15] The font of Cataclewse stone, quarried on Trevose Head, has carved figures of the twelve Apostles;[16][17] It originally belonged to the chapel of St Constantine in the parish.[14][18] Charles Henderson dated it as c. 1420 and gives the date of rebuilding the chancel as 1422.[19]

The north transept was built about the 13th century.[16] The piers of the aisle are also of Cataclewse stone. St Merryn Church has a 'wagon roof' built in 1422 and a tower with six bells.[14][16][17] The 15th century church expansion included the addition of a south aisle of seven bays.

The plaster coat of arms of King Charles II, commissioned in 1662 by Harlyn House's Thomas Peter, hangs near the tower. The church renovations occurred over two periods: once between 1887 and 1907 and again in 1962, when the west tower was rebuilt. The church became a Grade II building on 6 June 1969[16][17][20] and a Grade II* building on 20 May 1988.[21]

Jonathan Toup was a prominent Vicar of St Merryn, 1776–1785. A small marble tablet erected to his memory by his niece Phillis Blake is on the south wall of the church. The tablet, which states that Toup's scholarship was "known to the learned throughout Europe," had funding from the delegates of the Oxford University Press.[22][23]

The annual summer Church Fete "Roses Day Fun" is on Feast Day Sunday (nearest Sunday to 7 July), with stalls and activities in 'The Young Men's Green'.[24][14]

St Constantine chapel ruins

The ruins of the Mediæval St Constantine chapel include what is likely the 20-foot high walls of the west tower. The shale and slate stone church was estimated to have been 40 feet by 24 feet with a "nave and chancel, south aisle and west tower".[25] The chapel was re-roofed in 1290, on orders from the Bishop of Exeter so the Vicar of St Merryn could hold mass on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. The chapel's font is now in the parish church at St Merryn.[18]

Near the chapel ruins is a 'holy well' which was uncovered in 1911.. Taking the waters there was said to bring rain during dry weather.

The ruins of the chapel are still to be found in the dunes (now a golf course) near Trevose.[18]

St Merryn Methodist Church

St Merryn Methodist Church

The St Merryn Methodist Church is a Wesleyan Methodist chapel which was completed in 1905. It is a single-storied, Arts and Crafts building with a rectangular plan, 2 light windows and a slate roof. It is a Grade II listed building.[26]

The original early 19th century chapel, made of stone rubble with a slate roof, was also a single-storied building with a rectangular plan. That building, with a two-windowed front and that sits close to the road, is now the site of an arts and crafts centre, and is Grade II listed.[27]

Culture

In the summer, St. Merryn hosts a number of activities including the Great Atlantic Raft Race, St Merryn Vintage Steam Rally, St Merryn Carnival and other local festivals and community events.[28] 'The Amazing Maize Maze' is sometimes held in the area. The Community Hall hosts auctions and events.[3]

Economy

The past industries include tin-mining, smuggling, and fishing. Now, farming and tourism are the prime industries.[1] There are two old public houses in St Merryn, Farmers Arms Inn and Cornish Arms; the latter was taken over in 2009 by celebrity chef Rick Stein.

Tourism

Most of the Seven bays have lifeguard facilities, car parks, and public toilets during the summer months.[29] Lodging choices include houses to let, hotels, caravan parks, holiday home parks, and campsites.[30][31] About two miles inland, on former St Merryn Airfield land, is land used for farming and leisure activity, like the Atlantic Bays, St Merryn Holiday Village and Maribou holiday home parks.[9]

  • Beach lifeguards and swimming-surfing areas at Harlyn Bay, just north of St Merryn
    Beach lifeguards and swimming-surfing areas at Harlyn Bay, just north of St Merryn
  • St Merryn Holiday Village
    St Merryn Holiday Village

Outside links

 ("Wikimedia Commons" has material
about St Merryn)

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 St Merryn – This is Cornwall
  2. ↑ Seven Bays. Cornish Horizons
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 St Merryn. Visit Cornwall
  4. ↑ Sabine Baring-Gould. The lives of the saints. J. C. Nimmo; 1898 [cited 19 September 2012]. p. 658.
  5. ↑ Frances Egerton Arnold-Forster. Studies in Church Dedications: or, England's patron saints. Skeffington & Son; 1899 [cited 19 September 2012]. p. 266.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Gilbert H. Doble. The Saints of Cornwall; part 4: Saints of the Newquay, Padstow and Bodmin District. Truro: Dean and Chapter, 1965. pp. 53–54: Saint Merryn (published in 1930 as part of Saint Constantine and Saint Merryn: Cornish Saints Series, no. 26); p. 54.
  7. ↑ Nicholas Orme. English Church Dedications. University of Exeter Press; 1 January 1996 [cited 19 September 2012]. ISBN 978-0-85989-516-3. p. 103.
  8. ↑ Peter Berresford Ellis. The Cornish Saints. Tor Mark Press; 1 May 1998 [cited 19 September 2012]. ISBN 978-0-85025-372-6. p. 20.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 St Merryn. Airfields of Britain Conservation Trust. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  10. ↑ Royal Air Force: St Mawgan External Trails: Exploring Royal Navy and Royal Air Force Historical Sites throughout Cornwall. Royal Air Force. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  11. ↑ Jonathan Chapman. "British Beef is Back." BBC. 25 August 1999. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  12. ↑ "British ship first beef to Brussels in 2 1/2 years." Toledo Blade. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  13. ↑ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 158.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 "St Merryn Celebrates." BBC – Cornwall. 30 June 2009. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  15. ↑ Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed. Penguin Books; pp. 190–91
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 Church of St Merryn, St Merryn. British Listed Buildings. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 St Merryn Cornwall, St Merryn: A Church Near You
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; pp. 158–159
  19. ↑ "the bill for the erection of [the chancel] is extant".--Henderson, in: Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 158.
  20. ↑ North Churchyard Walls and Entrance to Churchyard of Church of St Merryn, St Merryn - British Listed Buildings
  21. ↑ Church of St Merryn&nbps;- Heritage Gateway
  22. ↑ Sir Sidney Lee. "Toup, Jonathan." Dictionary of National Biography; Vol. 57. London: Smith, Elder & Co., 1899.
  23. ↑ Text from a publication now in the public domain: Hugh Chisholm, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
  24. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named Arnold-Forster
  25. ↑ Remains of Church of St Constantine, St Merryn - British Listed Buildings
  26. ↑ Chapel of St Merryn (Methodist) - British Listed Buildings
  27. ↑ Arts and Crafts Centre, St Merryn - British Listed Buildings
  28. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named SMOnline
  29. ↑ ''St Merryn's Seven Bays. Cornish Horizons. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  30. ↑ Accommodation. St Merryn Online. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
  31. ↑ Accommodation. North Cornwall Travel. Retrieved 17 September 2012.
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