Cornwall

Nearby places

St Day

The parish of St Day, (Cornish: Sen Day), is located in the Hundred of Kerrier and Deanery of Carnmarth (which is actually located within this parish). The parish is named after St Day who, whilst not well known in Britain, is often found honoured in Brittany. The old pronunciation of 'St Dye' was in common use until fairly recently.
The parish was formed in 1835 from within the parish of Gwennap. It lies about 2 miles east of Redruth. The area is heavily populated with houses that were once occupied by local miners. The tin mining industry has now died out in the area.

St Day is an attractive town situated in the centre of the once-extensive mining district.

Cemeteries

• Some memorial inscriptions from the St Day cemeteries, and recorded by the CORNWALL INSCRIPTIONS PROJECT, are available on-line. The CIP survey found 633 memorials with 2172 names.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published Monumental Inscriptions for the Parish Church - 2027 entries.
  The "Churchyard" is closed, but there is a new extension (operated by Kerrier District Council) which is still very much in use.
• War Memorial inscriptions for St Day parish (1914-1918 and 1939-1945 Wars) are separately available.

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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 Gwennap with St Day (HO107/142) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
    • Enumeration Districts 1 to 6.
    • Enumeration Districts 7 to 12.
    • Enumeration Districts 13 to 18.
    • Enumeration Districts 19 to 25.
  • The 1841 census for this parish (Gwennap with St Day) has also been filmed by the LDS church - film No. 241260.
• 1851.
  • The 1851 Census of St Day (HO107/1914) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
    • Enumeration Districts 2a [including Schools], 2b and 2c.
    • Enumeration District 2s.
  • The New Zealand Society of Genealogists have compiled separate surname indexes of the 1851 Census for each Cornish registration district; St Day is listed in Volume 34. The booklets are available in Cornwall at the Cornwall Centre (formerly known as the Cornish Studies Library), and is also available in the Cornwall FHS Library.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of St Day (RG9/1576) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • Enumeration Districts 1 and 2.
  • Enumeration Districts 6 and 7.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of St Day is also available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • RG10/2311. Enumeration Districts 9 and 10.
  • RG10/2312. Enumeration Districts 11 to 14.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of St Day (RG11/2328) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project as follows:
  • Enumeration Districts 1 to 7.
  • Enumeration Districts 8 to 10.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of St Day (RG12/1844), Enumeration Districts 4 and 5, 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 SW7342 and was dedicated to the Holy Trinity in 1835.
  The ecclesiastical district of St Day (alias St Dye) was formed in 1835, the present church having been consecrated in 1828. There was formerly a chapel here dedicated to the Holy Trinity, dating from before 1269, and endowed with some land. Its tower was standing as late as 1780, but the main part was probably pulled down at the time of the suppression of chantries, the stones having (accordng to tradition) been used in erecting the north aisle of Gwennap parish church. St Day does not seem to have been a parochial chapelry. The description of St Day by Norden (born 1548) is 'St Daye - A hamlet. There was sometime a Chappell, now decayde, called Trinitye, to which men and women came in times paste from far in pilgrimage: the resorte was so greate, as it made the people of the Countrye bringe all kind of provision to that place; and so longe in contynued with increase, that it grew to a kinde of market; and by that meanes it grew and contynueth a kinde of market to this daye, without further charter'. In 1568 Queen Elizabeth sold "the Chapel of Holy Trinity" with its lands in the parish of "St. Gwynep" to a government contractor, after which time it became "quite in ruins" although the last ruins, including the tower, appear not to have been removed until 1797.
  The new (replacement) church was consecrated on 1 August 1828 by Dr Carey, Bishop of Exeter. On 1 April 1835, a district was assigned to it and the parish became a separate one for all ecclesiastical purposes.
  As with the Chapel before, the Church is dedicated to the Holy Trinity and the registers date from 1833. The building is of stone in the Gothic style; it has always looked imposing, both from close at hand and also from a distance with its towers and pinnacles adorning the landscape. The main walls, towers, pinnacles and castellettes are constructed of cut granite which, apart from some isolated surface erosion, is now as good as the day it was built. Restoration works were carried out in 1891 and a new pulpit and other furniture were added in 1897. A "new" system for heating the building was installed in 1911 and coloured glass windows set in sandstone window mullions were added, dedicated to the memory of Sir Wm Williams Bart, Lady Williams and Mrs Buller in the 1870s and 1880s. However, the collapse of the mining industry in the 1870s caused massive depopulation of the area and it is understood that questions arose among the Church Commissioners as to the necessity of maintaining such a large church. The refurbishment works carried out in 1931 included the removal of a mezzanine gallery which had had a stiffening effect on the slender brick built columns supporting the high double valley roof, thus causing inherent weakness. This defect was seized upon by the Church who obtained a report that the structure was unsafe and a further report that the granite was "pot" or mined granite and therefore liable to serious erosion.
  The present church is a gothic structure, and had four stained-glass windows, and an organ. The graveyard was virtually full by the turn of the 20th century and the church was finally closed in 1956. In 1985 vandals caused the fall of a small section of the roof and a decision was taken that the rest of the roof structure be dynamited. The pulpit, and possibly the lectern were removed to St Euny Church in Redruth. The font is now in several pieces, and the single bell has been stolen. Work started in September 1999 to stabilise this derelict ruin so that it could be used for open-air concerts and events. It is also planned that the church building become a centre for the interpretation of the Mineral Tramways routes around the St. Day area. This FORMER church of the Holy Trinity is open during the summer months (Approx. Easter to September). It is held on lease from the Diocese of Truro by the Trevithick Trust and is no longer a church.
  The present parish church is across the road, also dedicated to the Holy Trinity. The church is located in what was the Mission Hall (originally built about 1880), located across the road from the entrance to the churchyard. It was used from August 1956 when the old structure was closed. It was greatly extended and modernised during the late 1970s, dedicated in early 1971 by Dr. J.M. Key, the then Bishop of Truro.
  Details about the plans of the modern church are available on-line.
• Non-Conformists. The Wesleyan Methodists, Primitive Methodists and Bible Christians also had chapels in this parish.

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Church Records

• LDS Church Records. This parish is NOT included in the LDS Church's International Genealogical Index (IGI).
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1833 - 1935, Burials 1833 - 1919, Marriages 1833 - 1962.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials.
• Baptisms. Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD, baptisms (1857 to 1900) of the St Day Primitive Methodist Circuit. The area covers: St Day, Scorrier, Gwennap, St Agnes, Kea, Kenwyn, Perranzabuloe.
• Marriages. The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1835 to 1837, which is available in 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 St Day is in the Registration District of Camborne and has been continuously from 1st July 1837. Parishes in this registration district are: Camborne, East Phillack, Gwennap, Gwinear, Gwithian, Illogan, Phillack, Redruth, St. Sithian's, West Phillack.

The address of the Superintendant Registrar is: Roskear, Camborne, TR14 8DN. Tel: 01209 612924.

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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 St Day are available on-line.

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Genealogy

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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Maps

• Map of the Camborne and Redruth Registration district in which the parish lies.
• An old map of the parish of St Day in the 19th century is also available.

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

St Day parish became part of the Redruth Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief on its creation.

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Population

This parish was created from part of Gwennap parish in 1833. In 1841, it was enumerated as part of Gwennap parish when the joint population totalled 10465..

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Statistics

The parish comprises 1025 acres of land.

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