St Neot
- Not to be confused with St Neots
| St Neot Cornish: Loveni | |
| Cornwall | |
|---|---|
 The Post Office in St Neot | |
| Location | |
| Grid reference: | SX185678 |
| Location: | 50°28’55"N, 4°33’32"W |
| Data | |
| Post town: | Liskeard |
| Postcode: | PL14 |
| Dialling code: | 01579 |
| Local Government | |
| Council: | Cornwall |
| Parliamentary constituency: |
South East Cornwall |
St Neot is a village in Cornwall, between the towns of Bodmin and Liskeard. The parish population at the 2011 census was 1,000.
The parish is named after the Saxon monk, Saint Neot: the saint also gives his name to St Neots in Huntingdonshire: his alleged bones were taken in the early Middle Ages from St Neot in Cornwall to the monastery of Eynesbury, which this became 'St Neots'. The northern side the parish includes part of Bodmin Moor. Hamlets in the parish include Draynes, Ley and Pantersbridge.
History
The manor of St Neot was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) when it was held by Odo from Robert, Count of Mortain; it had been held by Godric the priest before 1066. The Count had taken this land away from the clergy of St Neot. There was one hide of land which never paid tax and land for 5 ploughs. There were 1 plough, 3 serfs, 3 villeins, 6 smallholders, 2 cattle, 2 pigs and 30 sheep. The value of the manor was 5 shillings though it had formerly been worth £1 sterling. The priests of St Neot had only one acre of their former land. There were 4 smallholders, 1 ox, 10 goats and 20 sheep.[1]
During the Civil War St Neot was staunchly Royalist. To commemorate this, each year on Oak Apple Day (29 May), an oak branch is mounted on the top of the church tower to symbolise the historical allegiance.[2]
John Anstis, born and buried at St Neot, was an English officer of arms and antiquarian who rose to the highest heraldic office in England and became Garter King of Arms in 1718. Henry Dangar (1796–1861) was a native of St Neot who became a surveyor and explorer of Australia.
Parish Church of St Neot
The original dedication may have been to 'St Anietus', with whom the Saxon Neot has been confused. In the 11th century a small monastery existed here; the early mediæval church building (of which the tower remains) must have been smaller than the one in existence today. Rebuilding in granite was undertaken in the 15th century and the fine stained glass windows are from about 1500.[3] The stained glass is partly original and partly from a restoration done by John Hedgeland, c. 1830.[4] There are 16 windows of 15th or 16th century workmanship unless indicated: 1: the Creation window; 2: the Noah window; 3: the Borlase window; 4: the Martyn window; 5: the Motton window; 6: the Callawy window; 7: the Tubbe and Callawy window; 8: an armorial window (Hedgeland); 9: the St George window (15th century); 10: the St Neot window (12 episodes from the legend); 11: the Young Women's window (four saints with the 20 donors below); 12: the Wives' window (Christ and three saints with the 20 donors below); 13: the Harris window; 14: the Redemption window (Hedgeland); 15: the Acts window (Hedgeland); 16: the chancel window depicts the Last Supper (Hedgeland; copied from the earliest representation in the British Museum).[5]
Nearby is the holy well of St Neot. Legend tells that the well contained three fish, and an angel told St Neot that as long as he ate no more than one fish a day, their number would never decrease. At a time St Neot fell ill, and his servant went and cooked 2 of the fish; upon finding this, St Neot prayed for forgiveness and ordered that the fish be returned to the well. As they entered the water, both were miraculously returned to life.[2]
Other notable buildings
Two 15th-century bridges are at Pantersbridge and Treverbyn (crossing the Warleggan and Fowey rivers). Lewarne is a neo-Tudor country house built for the Grylls family in 1869. Treverbyn Vean is a Victorian mansion designed for Colonel Charles Sommers Cocks by two of the greatest Victorian architects, George Gilbert Scott and William Burges. A. G. Langdon (1896) records six stone crosses in the parish, of which three are at the vicarage.
Transport links
No railway was ever built to the village, despite pressure from local people and mine owners in the 1860s and 1870s. Instead, Doublebois railway station was opened on 1 June 1860 about two miles south of St Neot on the Cornwall Railway main line.
The nearby Carnglaze Caverns, a former slate quarry, forms an unusual music venue.
Outside links
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("Wikimedia Commons" has material about St Neot) |
References
- ↑ Thorn, C. et al., ed. (1979) Cornwall. Chichester: Phillimore; entries 4,28; 5,14,2
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Thompson, E. V. (1984). 100 Years on Bodmin Moor. St Teath: Bossiney Books. ISBN 0-906456-90-8.
- ↑ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford
- ↑ Nikolaus Pevsner: The Buildings of England: Cornwall, 1951; 1970 Penguin Books ISBN 978-0-300-09589-0
- ↑ Guide to South Cornwall. London, Ward, Lock, [c. 1955]; pp. 155–56