Cornwall

Nearby places

Luxulyan

The parish of Luxulyan, (Cornish: Logsulyan), is situated in the Deanery and Hundred of Powder. It is bounded on the north by Lanivet, and the east by Lanlivery and Tywardreath, on the south by St Blazey and St Austell, and on the west by Roche. The name of the parish is pronounced 'Luksillyan'. It is a small village on the edge of Bodmin Moor. In the nineteenth century a mining and mineral railway was built through the Luxylyan valley to connect with mining area around Bugle. Luxulyanite, a beautiful and rare type of Cornish granite, is found in this area. It was chosen for the sarcophogus of the Duke of Wellington at St Paul's cathedral.

The present-day Parish of Luxulyan is rather long and narrow in shape, with St Blazey Bridge on the A390 (St Austell to Liskeard road) at its southernmost extremity and Innis (or Ennis) Downs, with its British Telecom Maritime Radio Station and roundabout signalling the end of the A30 Bodmin by-pass, in the north. The current adult population is just under one thousand, of whom about one third live in the village; the remainder being dispersed amongst the numerous hamlets and farmsteads which make up the parish.

The principal villages in the parish are: the Churchtown, Bridges, Treskilling, Rosemelling, Higher Menadue, and Bedwith.

Cemeteries

• The Parish Church - 715 entries
  
• Gunwen Methodist Chapel - 50 entries.

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Census

Census information for this parish (1841 - 1901) is held in the Cornwall Record Office. The Cornwall Family History Society offers a census search service for its members. The Cornwall Family History Society have also published on-line census detail by surname on the FamilyHistoryonLine site.

Specific census information for this parish is available as follows:

• 1841. The 1841 Census of Luxulyan (HO107/145), Enumeration Districts 10 to 13, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1851. The 1851 Census of Luxulyan (HO107/1904), Enumeration Districts 4a, 4b, 4c and 4d, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of Luxulyan (RG9/1533), is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • Enumeration Districts 1b, 2c, and 3c.
  • Enumeration District 4b.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of Luxulyan (RG10/2246), Enumeration Districts 1 to 4, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of Luxulyan (RG11/2289), Enumeration Districts 1 to 4, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of Luxulyan (RG12/1814), Enumeration Districts 1 to 4, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.

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Church History

• Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SX0558; it is dedicated to St Ciricius & St Julitta, perhaps earlier to St Sulien. It consists of a chancel, nave, and north and south aisles. The arcades each have six four-centred arches of granite, supported on monolith pillars of the same material. The south porch is the only entrance in use; it is battlemented and vaulted, with Pentewan stone, on which is sculpted Gothic paneling and tracery. The tower, which is of three stages, is built of large masses of squared granite and finished with battlements.
  The parish church itself has been enlarged, in fact almost entirely rebuilt, in the century preceding the Reformation by the addition of the aisles to the nave and chancel, plus the erection of the three-stage western tower. It was a great period of church building and rebuilding similar to the amount of like activity during the Victorian era. There had doubtless been an economic revival after the catastrophic succession of Black Death and other plagues during the previous century, while previous high levels of population were gradually recovered. If the tradition be true that the turret at the north-east corner of the church tower housed the local stannary records, it is natural to infer that, at the time it was being built, the tinners of the Luxulyan area were prosperously active. There was plenty, possibly more than enough, building stone at hand for enlarging the church. The local coarse-grained granite did not present too many difficulties to local masons who had become adept at cutting and shaping it, although it is still a matter of wonder how some of the massive blocks in the lower part of the church tower were manhandled into place as many must weigh a ton or more. The rebuilding must have taken years rather than months, but labour by the time it was undertaken was cheap again after the wage upsurge caused by the Black Death while building probably progressed apace in times of temporary recessions in tin streaming fortunes. Besides the aisles and tower, the fifteenth century builders added the embattled, stone-roofed porch. The original font was moved back to its present position in the extended western end. Behind it, the tower arch is now open to the church; a singing gallery, which once hid it, was removed in 1863.
  A history of the church is available.
• Non-Conformist.
  • The Wesleyan Methodists had chapels at Rosemelling and also at Gunwen, to which a cemetery was attached.
  • The Bible Christians had chapels at Ebenezer, Ennis, and Bridges. The old chapel at Ebenezer was remarkable as being the first built by Mr O'Bryant for use of his people, then called the Bryanites, but later referred to as Bible Christians. The site of the chapel at Ennis was formerly a burying place of the Society of Friends (Quakers).

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Church Records

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for Luxulyan are: C020263, P020261/2, Bible Christian Circuit C065221. These are searchable by surname.
  • The LDS Church's International Genealogical Index (IGI) coverage of this parish is 1594 - 1875.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1594 - 1881, Burials 1594 - 1898, Marriages 1594 - 1902, Boyd's Marriage Index 1594 - 1812, Pallot's Marriage Index 1790 - 1812, Non-Conformist records 1820 - 1837.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • Pre 1813 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials
• Baptisms.
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published on CD, baptisms 1736 to 1840 for this parish.
  • Cornwall Legacy have published on CD baptisms (1837 to 1873) of the Bodmin Bible Christian Circuit. Areas include: Bodmin, Lanivet, Roche, Luxulyan, Withiel, and St Breock. They have also published on CD baptisms (1872 to 1900) of the Bodmin Bible Christian Circuit. Areas include: Bodmin, Lanivet, Roche, Lanlivery, Luxulyan, Withiel, and Egloshayle.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD baptisms (1837 to 1870) of the Bodmin Wesleyan Circuit. Areas include: Bodmin, Lanlivery, Lanivet, Roche, Luxulyan, Cardinham, St Mabyn, Withiel, Egloshayle and St Breock.
• Marriages. The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1594 to 1837, which is available in Book, CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
• Burials. The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Burials 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book format.

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Civil Registration

The parish of Luxulyan was in the Bodmin Registration District since 1st July 1837; there were sub-districts are Bodmin, Egloshayle, Lanlivery and St Mabyn but these have now been abolished. It is now in the St Austell Registration District Parishes within the district were: Blisland, Bodmin, Bodmin Borough, Cardinham, Egloshayle, Endellion, Helland, Lanhydrock, Lanviet, Lanlivery, Lostwithiel, Luxulion, St. Kew, St. Mabyn, St. Minver Highlands, St. Minver Lowlands, St. Tudy, St. Winnow, Temple, Wadebridge, Warleggon, Withiel.

The Superintendant Registrar of St Austell can be contacted at: 12 Carlyon Road, St Austell, PL25 4LD. Tel: 01726 68974. Fax: 01726 68974.

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Description & Travel

• ePodunk's Cornwall page - providing general, plus some historical and genealogical information, about Cornwall and its parishes, together with links (mainly relating to general sites and services, rather than ones that are specific to Cornwall or particular parishes).
• Photographs of Luxulyan are available.

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Genealogy

OPC Assistance. The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates a service to help family historians; the OPC page for this parish is available on-line, from where the OPC can be contacted by email.

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Historical Geography

• Bodiggo (Bodewitghi, Bodewitghi), Grid Reference 044587.
• Trevellion (Trevillyn, Treuelien, Trevelien), Grid Reference 044612.

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Maps

• Map of the St Austell Registration district in which the parish lies.
• An old map of the parish of Luxulyan in the 19th century is also available.

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Occupations

Apprenticeship Indentures for Luxulyan (1731 - 1833) can be found in the Cornwall Record Office.

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

Luxulyan parish was part of the Bodmin Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief. Overseers' Accounts (1745 to 1773, 1812 to 1817, 1817 to 1820, 1826 to 1832, 1832 to 1835), Settlement Papers (1716 to 1863) and Bastardy Bonds (1724 to 1839) are available in the Cornwall Record Office.

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Population

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Statistics

The parish comprises 5410 acres of land and 22 acres of water.

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