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Wendron Cornish: Gwendron
Wendron Parish Church
Wendron Wendron shown within Cornwall
Population	2,743 (2011 census including Boswin and Halwin)
OS grid reference	SX411591
Civil parish	Wendron
Unitary authority	Cornwall
Ceremonial county	Cornwall
Region	South West
Country	England
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Post town	HELSTON
Postcode district	TR13
Dialling code	01326
Police	Devon and Cornwall
Fire	Cornwall
Ambulance	South Western
EU Parliament	South West England
UK Parliament	Camborne and Redruth
List of places UK England Cornwall 50°08′02″N 5°14′53″W / 50.134°N 5.248°W / 50.134; -5.248Coordinates: 50°08′02″N 5°14′53″W / 50.134°N 5.248°W / 50.134; -5.248

Wendron (Cornish: Gwendron;^[1][2] historically St. Wendron) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is 3 miles (5 km) north of Helston. The parish population at the 2011 census was 2,743. The electoral ward of Wendron had a 2011 population of 4,936.^[3]

Church history

Until the mid 19th century the parish of Wendron included also the town of Helston and the area which became the parishes of Carnmenellis and Pencoys. The parish of Carnmenellis was created in 1846; Helston in 1848; and Pencoys in 1881.^[4]

Before 1284 Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, gave the church of Wendron, with its chapels, to Rewley Abbey near Oxford. Before this it had belonged to the earl's manor of Helston which included the whole parish. The church is cruciform but was enlarged in the 15th century and is of great interest.^[4]

The holy well of St Wendrona is at Trelill and nearby was her chapel, licensed in 1427, about the same date as the well. At Degibma, on Loe Pool, was a chapel of St Degamanus. At Bodilly was a chapel of St Henry the Hermit (died 1120, feast day on 16 January).^[5]

The Revd G. H. Doble served for almost twenty years as the vicar of Wendron (1925–1945). Arthur Langdon (1896) recorded the existence of seven stone crosses in the parish, including two at Merther Uny. The other crosses were in the churchyard, and at Boderwennack, Bodilly, Manhay-vean and Trenethick. There is also an early cross-slab in the church.^[6] The church of St Wendrona contains the brass of Warin Penhalluryk, rector of St Just, vicar of Wendron and Stithians, d. 1535.^[7]

Merther Uny

At Merther Uny was a quasi-parochial chapel of St Uny with its own cemetery. The farm called Marooney was recorded as Mertharuny in 1751 and Metheruny in 1756. In a circular garden still known as "the churchyard" in which human bones have been dug up are the remains of a small chapel. Nearby is "a magnificent Celtic cross of an enriched and most original design". This chapel is on the site of a very ancient church in honour of St Euny. After the Reformation it was allowed to decay. Arthur Langdon (1896) records two crosses at Merther Uny (one illustrated below right).

The roadside cross at Merther Uny

Arthur Langdon (1896) gave the following account of the Merther Uny crosses: "The cross stands in situ on the Merther Uny estate, on Polglaze Hill, by the left-hand side of the road from St. Wendron to Constantine. Formerly there was a road leading down to Merther Uny old churchyard, the entrance to which was close to the cross; but all traces of this road have now disappeared. A tradition is still believed in the neighbourhood that a man lies buried beneath the cross. The monolith is known locally as 'Meruny Cross'."--"The cross occupies its original site, near the south side of the entrance to the old churchyard, and stands on a base ... The cross has some very curious ornament, and in many points resembles that at Roche ..."^[8]

Nonconformity

There were Wesleyan Methodist chapels at Edgecumbe, Menhay, Penmarth, Porkellis, Burrows, Coverack Bridges, Degibna, Gweek and Crelly. There were Bible Christian chapels at Boskenwyn Downs and Carnkie; Wesleyan Methodist Free chapels at Trewenack and Four Lanes; and a Baptist chapel in Lower Town, now part of Helston.^[9]

History and heritage

The former Wendron School

The parish church of Wendron is a grade I listed building.^[10] In its history the parish of Wendron was in the Hundred of Kerrier; it was originally bounded by the parishes of Illogan, Gwennap, Stithians, Constantine, Mawgan-in-Meneage, Gunwalloe, Sithney and Crowan. The villages of Wendron Churchtown, Coverack Bridges, Lower Town, Trewennack, Gweek, Edgecumb, Menhay and Four Lanes were in the historic parish. In the 19th century this was an important tin-mining area and severe unemployment was caused when mining declined. In 1878 the landowner, Lord Robartes, tried to help the unemployed by bringing uncultivated land into production.^[9]

The Cornwall and West Devon Mining Landscape World Heritage Site is partly in Wendron parish. The Long Stone on Prospidnick Hill is just to the east.

See also

"Moondyne Joe" - Joseph Bolitho Johns (c. 1826 – 1900), Western Australian bushranger, has been identified as from Wendron^[11]

References

External links

Media related to Wendron at Wikimedia Commons

• 
  "Online Catalogue for Wendron". Cornwall Record Office.