Cornwall

Nearby places

St Wenn

The parish of St Wenn, (Cornish: Sen Gwenna), is situated in the Deanery and Hundred of Pydar. It is bounded on the north by St Issey and St Breock, on the east by Withiel, on the south by Roche, and on the west by St Columb Major. St Wenna was believed to be the daughter of the Welsh king Broccan. The parish is in an agricultural area in the middle of Cornwall between St Austell and Padstow. To the north is the moorland area of St Breock Downs, which in prehistoric times was an overland route from the port of Padstow to the south coast. That area of St Breock Downs, which is within this parish, rises to a height of 739 feet. A tall monolith, known as the Great Stone, is the parish boundary.

Villages are the Churchtown, Tregonetha, and Rosnannon.

Cemeteries

• The Parish Church - 139 entries.
• Tregonetha Methodist Chapel - 19 entries.

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 St Wenn (HO107/150), (Enumeration Districts 12 and 13), is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1851. The 1851 Census of St Wenn (HO107/1905), (Enumeration Districts 3a and 3b) is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of St Wenn (RG9/1543) (Enumeration Districts 10 and 11), is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of St Wenn (RG10/2256), Enumeration Districts 10B and 11A,is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of St Wenn (RG11/2297), Enumeration Districts 5 and 6, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of St Wenn (RG12/1819), (Enumeration District 12 and 13), is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.

Church History

• Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SW9664 and was dedicated to St Wenna. It comprises a chancel (which was rebuilt in 1823), nave, and north and south aisles. The arcades each comprise three depressed four-centred arches supported on monolith pillars; the material is St Stephens porcelain stone. The chief entrance is a south porch; a north door and a west door to the north aisle are blocked up. The tower only consists of two stages; a third was destroyed by lightning in 1663. It is of massive proportions and superior workmanship showing that it once was a noble structure. It is buttressed on the square. The belfry contained five bells.
  A chapel at Carenzawatha was dedicated to St Mary Magdalane; it was destroyed in the Civil War and only some slight remains are now evident.
  Details about the plans of the modern church are available on-line. Further information and history of the church is available.
• Non-Conformist. There were Bible Christian chapels at Tregonetha and Rosnannon; the Wesleyan Methodists had a chapel at Rosnannon.

Church Records

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for St Wenn are: C053481, C021582, P021581. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1608 - 1875.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1706 - 1865, Burials 1706 - 1892, Marriages 1706 - 1968, Boyd's Marriage Index 1609 - 1812, Pallot's Marriage Index 1790 - 1812, BTs 1609 - 1673.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • Pre 1813 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials
• Other Non-Conformist Records. OPC Coverage of Non-Conformist records of this parish is available.
• Baptisms.
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published on CD baptisms 1724 to 1851 for this parish.
  • Cornwall Legacy have published on CD: baptisms (1839 to 1900) of the St Columb Wesleyan Methodist Circuit. Areas include: St Columb, Summercourt, Newquay, Padstow, St Stephens, St Enoder, St Dennis, St Issey, St Wenn and Colan.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD baptisms (1838 to 1900) of the St Columb Bible Christian Circuit. Areas include: St Columb, St Dennis, St Stephens, St Enoder, Roche, St Mawgan, Ladock, Newquay, St Wenn, St Eval, St Merryn and Perranzabuloe.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD, baptisms (1838 to 1900) of the St Ervan Bible Christian Circuit. The Circuit covers St Ervan, St Breock, St Wenn, St Issey, Padstow, Roche, St Dennis, St Columb, St Merryn, St Eval, St Enoder, Little Petherick, Egloshayle, Wadebridge, Mawgan-in-Pydar and Colan.
• Marriages.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Marriages in the Parish 1678 to 1837, which is available in CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • Phillimore marriages 1678 to 1812 in this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
• Burials. The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Burials in the Parish 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book format.

Civil Registration

The parish of St Wenn was originally in the St Columb Registration District. There were sub-districts at Newlyn, Padstow and St Columb Major, but these have now been abolished. It is now in the Registration District of St Austell. Parishes within the old St Columb district were: Colan, Crantock, Cubert, Little Petherick, Mawgan-in-Pydar, Newlyn, Newquay, Padstow, St. Breock, St. Columb Major, St. Columb Minor, St. Enoder, St. Ervan, St. Eval, St. Issey, St. Merryn, St. Wenn.

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

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 Wenn are available on-line.

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.
• Susan Old is undertaking the reconstruction of parishes in the Hundred of Pydar. Information and a point of contact on this project can be found on-line.

Maps

• There is a map of the St Austell Registration districtin which the parish lies.
• An old map of the parish of St Wenn in the 19th century is also available.

Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

St Wenn parish was part of the St Columb Major Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.

Population

Statistics

The parish comprises 4695 acres of land.

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