Cornwall

Nearby places

Gwithian

The parish of Gwithian (Cornish: Sen Goedhyan) is situated in the Deanery and Hundred of Penwith. It is bounded on the north by the sea and the parish of Camborne, on the east by the parishes of Camborne and Gwinear, on the south by Phillack, and on the west by St Ives Bay. Named after a little known saint, possibly Breton, the picturesque little village of Gwithian is near Hayle on the north Cornish coast. Gwithian Churchtown is a little village lying almost at sea-level on the coast between Hayle and Portreath; it has a a church and an inn. The surrounding area of dunes and beach are very popular for camping-caravaning and there are several sites in the locality as well as a chalet park.

In mediaeval times this was an important settlement area, but was always subject to shifting sand, which eventually claimed the once prominent village in the parish, that of Conerton, now buried. The sand dunes (towans) of Gwithian are found all along the shores of St. Ives Bay on the north coast of Cornwall. These here make up the second largest sand dune system in Cornwall and are one of the largest systems to be found on the west coast of the United Kingdom. They are also comparable in size to their counterparts in Europe. The system is approximately 5 kilometres long by 2 kilometres wide and is aligned from north-east to south-west. The sand has, in recent times, attracted the surfers.

Mines that were important in the past have now been replaced by tourism and agriculture. Because of its exposed position to the Atlantic, the rocks at Godrevy have seen many wrecks in the past. In January 1858, the foundations of the lighthouse was laid, and it was first lighted on 1st March 1859. This area of sea is now guarded by an automated lighthouse. An ancient oratory is believed to be buried under the shifting sands near the Red River.

The civil parishes of Gwinear and Gwithian were combined to form Gwinear-Gwithian in 1934.

Cemeteries

• The Cornwall Family History Society have published Monumental Inscriptions for the Parish Church - 269 entries.
• War Memorial inscriptions for Gwithian parish 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 Gwithian (HO107/142), Enumeration Districts 9 and 10, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1851.
  • The 1851 Census of Gwithian (HO107/1916), Enumeration Districts 2a, and 2b, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
  • The New Zealand Society of Genealogists have compiled separate surname indexes of the 1851 Census for each Cornish registration district; Gwithian is listed in Volume 38. 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 Gwithian (RG9/1585), Enumeration Districts 9 and 10, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of Gwithian (RG10/2329), Enumeration Districts 10 and 11, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of Gwithian (RG11/2338), Enumeration Districts 10 and 11 [including Merchant Shipping], is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of Gwithian (RG12/1852), Enumeration Districts 10 and 11, 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 SW5841 and was dedicated to Saints Felix and Gocianus (Gothian). The church was rebuilt in 1864, previous to which it comprised a chancel, nave, north transept, south aisle, with porch and tower. The building was originally cruciform, and it is said that the removal of the wall in the south transept caused the downfall of the chancel arch, of which traces remain. The aisle was added in the 15th century. The column of the arcade were of simple character; the carches were four-centred and moulded. The opportunity was taken to reduce the size of the church because of a falling population in the parish. In the rebuilding work, the aisle was taken down but the arcade was carefully preserved.
  Details about the plans of the modern church are available on-line.
• Non-Conformist. In Connor Downs in this parish, the United Methodist Free Church built a chapel.

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Church Records

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for Gwithian are: C025171/2, M025173. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1560 - 1895; it is NOT believed to be fully included in the LDS Church's International Genealogical Index (IGI).
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1560 - 1894, Burials 1560 - 1916, Marriages 1560 - 1837, Boyd's Marriage Index 1560 - 1812, Pallot's Marriage Index 1790 - 1812.
• Baptisms.
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published on CD baptisms 1716 to 1845 for this parish.
  • Baptisms (1560 - 1769) occurring in Gwithian, are available on-line.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD, baptisms (1866 to 1900) of the Hayle Wesleyan Methodist Circuit. The area covers Hayle, Phillack, Breage, Crowan, Gwinear, St Erth and Gwithian.
  • Cornwall Legacy have also published on CD, records of the Hayle Wesleyan Circuit (Wall Section). These include: baptisms (1862 to 1900), Wall Chapel marriages (1867-1884, 1899-1900, Connor Downs Chapel baptisms 1900. The areas covers Hayle, Phillack, Breage, Crowan, Ludgvan, Gwinear, Copperhouses, St Erth and Gwithian.
• Marriages.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1660 to 1837, which is available in Book, CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • marriages (1560 - 1759) occurring in Gwithian, are available on-line.
• Burials.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Burials 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book or CD formats.
  • burials (1560 - 1757) occurring in Gwithian, are available on-line.

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Civil Registration

The parish of Gwithian is in the Penzance Registration District and has been since 1st July 1837. There were originally sub-districts at Marazion, Penzance, St Buryan, St Just, St Ives and Uny-Lelant but these have now been abolished. The enhanced parish of Gwithian-Gwinear is now part of the Penzance Registration District. Parishes in this registration district were: Camborne, East Phillack, Gwennap, Gwinear, Gwithian, Illogan, Phillack, Redruth, St. Sithian's, West Phillack.

The Superintendant Registrar of Penzance can be contacted at: Alphington House, Alverton Place, Penzance, TR18 4JJ. Tel: 01736 330093.

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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).
• Pictures of Gwithian are available on-line.

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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.
  • The OPC for Gwithian has produced a genealogical website for the parish.
• Persons living in a parish but born elsewhere are known as "Strays". Some Strays found in other parishes but stating they came from Gwithian are listed on-line.

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Historical Geography

• Connerton (Conarditona, Conarditone), Grid Reference 588415.

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Land & Property

Landholders in Gwithian in 1522 are listed on-line.

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Law and Legislation

Some depositions taken on persons resident in Gwithian are available on-line.

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Maps

• Map of the Penzance Registration District in which the parish lies.
• An old map of the parish of Gwithian in the 19th century is also available.

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Poorhouses, Poor Law, etc.

Gwithian parish was part of the Redruth Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.

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Population

The civil parishes of Gwinear and Gwithian united to form 'Gwinear - Gwithian' in 1934. However, population figures were combined from 1901 for the joint Gwinear-Gwithian civil parish.

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Probate Records

• A list of Wills & Admons for Gwinear, Cornwall 1660 - 1773 is available on-line.
• A probate index, together with Wills and Administration Abstracts for Gwithian 1660 -1856, is available on-line.

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Religion & Religious Life

The Protestation Returns of 1642 for Gwithian are available on-line.

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Statistics

The parish comprises 2420 acres of land.

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Taxation

The Hearth Tax entries for Gwithian (1660-1664) are available on-line.

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