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St Endellion

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St Endellion (aka St Endillyon), commonly called Endellion, (Cornish: Sen Endelyn), is situated in the Deanery of Trigg Minor and the Hundred of Trigg. It is bounded on the north by the sea, on the east by St Teath, on the south by St Kew and St Minver, and on the west by St Minver. There are many legends about the saint which gave her name to this church and parish. One is that she was the daughter of the Welsh king Broccan, another that she was the god-daughter of King Arthur, who helped her when a local lord killed her cow. It is the only church known to be dedicated to this saint. The parish is on the north coast of Cornwall south of Port Isaac. The high ground upon which the church stands renders its tower a conspicuous object at a considerable distance, and was a landmark from the sea.

Port Isaac, or more properly Portissuk, is a Saxon port and a village within this parish, but about a mile and a half from the Churchtown. Port Isaac was created a separate parish in 1913. Besides the Churchtown, the other villages are Trelights, and Trewetha (Trewether). Besides fishing activities, other occupations included mining and agriculture.

Most parish and church description(s) on these pages are from Lake's Parochial History of the County of Cornwall by J Polsue (Truro, 1867 - 1873)

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Cemeteries

The Cornwall Family History Society have published Monumental Inscriptions on-line for the Parish Church - 1305 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.
Specific census information for this parish is available as follows:

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Church History

  • Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SW9978 and was dedicated to St Endelienta. It comprises a chancel, nave, and north and south aisles. The arcades are each of five four-centred arches with monolith pillars, all of granite; they are held together by roughly carved tie beams. There is a south porch and a priest's door. The tower is believed to have been built from granite brought from Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel. It is of three stages and finished with battlements and pinnacles. It contains six bells.
    The church is first recorded in Bishop Brantyngham's registers, circa 1380. A history of Endellion Church is available.
  • Non-Conformist. The Wesleyan Methodists and the Bible Christians built chapels in Trelights.
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Church Records

  • LDS Church Records.
    • The LDS Church batch numbers for St Endellion are: C002371/2/3, M002371, P002371. These are searchable by surname.
    • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1684 - 1812.
  • The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1732 - 1967, Burials 1738 - 1968, Marriages 1735 - 1970, Boyd's Marriage Index 1614 - 1812, BTs 1614 - 1673.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
    • Pre 1813 Marriages
    • 1813-37 Marriages
    • 1813-37 Burials
  • Baptisms.
  • Marriages.
    • Phillimore marriages 1684 to 1812 are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
    • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1614 to 1837, which is available in Book, CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • Burials.
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Civil Registration

The parish of St Endellion is in the Bodmin Registration District, and has been since 1st July 1837; there were sub-districts are Bodmin, Egloshayle, Lanlivery and St Mabyn but these have now been abolished. Parishes within the district are: 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 can be contacted at: Lyndhurst, 66 Nicholas Street, Bodmin, Cornwall, PL31 2AG. Tel: 01208 73677.

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of St Endellion which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

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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

The Domesday Settlements of Cornwall, a study undertaken by the Cornwall Branch of the Historical Association, has identified and located settlements listed in the Exeter and Exchequer Domesday Survey of AD 1086. The following places have been identified in St Endellion ecclesiastical parish:

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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SW999795 (Lat/Lon: 50.580805, -4.827929), St Endellion which are provided by:

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

The parish of St Endellion was part of the Bodmin Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.

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Population

The parish of Port Isaac was created from part of this parish in 1913.

  • Population in 1801 - 727 persons
  • Population in 1811 - 950 persons
  • Population in 1821 - 1149 persons
  • Population in 1831 - 1218 persons
  • Population in 1841 - 1154 persons
  • Population in 1851 - 1223 persons
  • Population in 1861 - 1192 persons
  • Population in 1871 - 1153 persons
  • Population in 1881 - 1145 persons
  • Population in 1891 - 1136 persons
  • Population in 1901 - 1146 persons
  • Population in 1911 - 1049 persons
  • Population in 1921 - 1047 persons
  • Population in 1931 - 1090 persons
  • Population in 1951 - 1220 persons
  • Population in 1961 - 1129 persons
  • Population in 1971 - 1028 persons
  • Population in 1981 - 1015 persons
  • Population in 1991 - 1105 persons
  • Population in 2001 - 1143 persons
  • Population in 2011 = 987 persons
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Statistics

The parish comprises 3776 acres of land, one acre of water and 12 acres of foreshore.