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Pillaton

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The parish of Pillaton, (Cornish: Trebeulyow), is situated in the Deanery and Hundred of East. It is bounded on the north by St Mellion and St Dominick, on the east by the River Tamar and Landulph, on the south by Botus Fleming and the detached part of St Stephens-by-Saltash, and on the west by Quethiock. The name Pillaton means 'farmstead of stakes, posts'. It is an attractive village overlooking Lynher valley on the south-east border of Cornwall with Devon. The Weary Friar hotel was originally believed to have been a resting place for monks building the church. The manor of Pillaton is the Piletone or Pilatona of the Domesday Survey of 1086.

Originally, Pillaton was a rural village that was part of the Newton Ferrers estate. This altered in 1959 when a bridge was built across the river Tamar connecting Plymouth to Saltash. This brought the village within commuting distance of Plymouth and resulted in a considerable increase in the number of houses. The Churchtown and Penter's Cross (now Paynters Cross) are the only villages.

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 for:
    • The Parish Church - 519 entries.
    • Polborder Methodist Chapel - 63 entries.
  • Callington Area Heritage Centre (broken link) have placed on-line monumental inscriptions for Memorials for the parish church, only completed in 1986 on site.
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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:
    • 1841.
      • The 1841 Census of Pillaton (HO107/133), Enumeration District 7, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
      • The 1841 census for this parish has also been filmed by the LDS church - film No. 241258.
    • 1851. The 1851 Census of Pillaton (HO107/1900), Enumeration District 7, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
    • 1861. The 1861 Census of Pillaton (RG9/1525), Enumeration District 5, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
    • 1871. The 1871 Census of Pillaton (RG10/2231), Enumeration District 5, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
    • 1881. The 1881 Census of Pillaton (RG11/2282), Enumeration District 6, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
    • 1891. The 1891 Census of Pillaton (RG12/1808), Enumeration District 6, 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 SX3664 and was dedicated to St Odulphus on 16th October 1259. It comprises a chancel, nave, north aisle, and south transept The arcade has six four-centred arches supported on monolith granite pillars. There is a south porch; the chacel and north doors are blocked. The tower is substantially built of granite ashlar; it has three stages, is buttressed on the square, and finished with battlements and crocketed pinnacles. The belfry contained three bells. Transcriptions from the memorials in the church and churchyard can be found here.
  • Non-Conformist. There was a Wesleyan Methodist chapel in the Churchtown, and a Bible Christian chapel at Polborder.
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Church Records

  • LDS Church Records.
    • The LDS Church batch numbers for Pillaton are: E002191,M002191, P002191. These are searchable by surname.
    • The IGI coverage for this parish is 1557 - 1812.
  • The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1557 - 1840, Burials 1557 - 1812, Marriages 1557 - 1979, Boyd's Marriage Index 1557 - 1812, Pallot's Marriage Index 1790 - 1812.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
    • Pre 1813 Marriages
    • 1813-37 Marriages
    • 1813-37 Burials.
  • Baptisms.
    • Baptisms 1813 to 1910 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
    • Pillaton Wesleyan-Methodist Chapel baptisms 1908 to 1909 are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
    • The Parish Chest have published on CD baptisms 1739 to 1858 for this parish.
  • Banns. Banns 1823 to 1910 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • Marriages.
    • Phillimore marriages 1557 to 1812, and marriage transcriptions 1838 to 1911, for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
    • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1557 to 1837, which is available in CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • Burials.
    • Burials 1813 to 1911 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
    • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Burials 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book and CD formats.
  • Other Non-Conformist Records. OPC Coverage of Non-Conformist records of this parish is available.
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Civil Registration

The parish of Pillaton is in the St Germans Registration District, and has been since 1st July 1837; there were sub-districts at Antony, St Germans and Saltash but they have now been abolished. Parishes within the district were: Antony, Botusfleming, Landrake, Landulph, Maker, Millbrook, Pillaton, Quethiock, Rame, St. Erney, St. Germans, St. John's, St. Mellion, St. Stephen's, Saltash, Sheviock, Torpoint.

The Superintendant Registrar of St Germans can be contacted at: Ploughastel Drive, Saltash, Cornwall, PL12 6DL. Tel: 01752 842624.

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Description & Travel

You can see pictures of Pillaton which are provided by:

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Gazetteers

The National Gazetteer of Great Britain and Ireland - 1868

"PILLATON, a parish in the middle division of the hundred of East, county Cornwall, 4 miles S.E. of Callington, its post town, and 5 N.W. of St. German's. The village, which is of small extent, is situated on the river Lynher, and is wholly agricultural. It is mentioned in Domesday Book as Pileton, and was held at that time by Robert Earl of Mortaigne, from whom it came to the Inkpens, Dillingtons, and Corytons. The parish is bounded on the E. by the river Tamar, which separates it from the county of Devon. The living is a rectory* in the diocese of Exeter, value £203. The church is a modern edifice with a square turreted tower containing three bells. The interior of the church contains tombs of the Coryton family of Pentilie Castle. There is a National school for both sexes, also a Sunday-school in connection with the church. The Wesleyans have a place of worship. Pentilie Castle is the principal residence. A fair for cattle and pleasure is held on Whit-Tuesday."

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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 Pillaton ecclesiastical parish:

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History

  • Callington Area Heritage Centre (broken link) have placed on-line a webpage for the history of Pillaton parish.
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Maps

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SX385640 (Lat/Lon: 50.453655, -4.275918), Pillaton which are provided by:

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Occupations

Apprenticeship Indentures for Pillaton (1785 - 1836) can be found in the Cornwall Record Office.

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Poor Houses, Poor Law

  • Pillaton parish was part of the St Germans Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.
  • Settlement papers (1783 to 1862) and Bastardy Bonds (1784 - 1818), are available in the Cornwall Record Office
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Population

  • Population in 1801 - 336 persons
  • Population in 1811 - 477 persons
  • Population in 1821 - 452 persons
  • Population in 1831 - 413 persons
  • Population in 1841 - 434 persons
  • Population in 1851 - 393 persons
  • Population in 1861 - 349 persons
  • Population in 1871 - 385 persons
  • Population in 1881 - 338 persons
  • Population in 1891 - 449 persons
  • Population in 1901 - 388 persons
  • Population in 1911 - 405 persons
  • Population in 1921 - 358 persons
  • Population in 1931 - 343 persons
  • Population in 1951 - 325 persons
  • Population in 1961 - 279 persons
  • Population in 1971 - 334 persons
  • Population in 1981 - 460 persons
  • Population in 1991 - 485 persons
  • Population in 2001 - 435 persons
  • Population in 2011 - 473 persons
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Statistics

The parish comprises 2901 acres of land and 8 acres of water.