England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Illogan St Illogan

The Parish

The parish of Illogan lies on the northern coast of southern Cornwall forming an extended stretch of the county's coastline yet extending inland to the heights of Carn Brea. Illogan is located roughly 2 miles northwest of the mining centre of Redruth and sits just over a mile north of the busy A30 route which travels from London all the way to Penzance. Illogan, itself, is a mid-sized village but the principal settlement of the parish is the port of Portreath hugging the coast where the stream which drains the parish forms a deeply incised valley. Illogan parish has a long history, early settlement in the form of a hill-fort at Carn Brea was followed by Roman occupation to exploit the mineral wealth of the district. It was that mineral wealth that drove the economy of the parish, tin is the usual Cornish mineral but here it was copper ore that was the principal mined ore, the port of Portreath being utilised to transfer the ore to processing facilities in Swansea, Wales. Other extractive industries included exploitation of the local granite for building stone, other activities included pastoral farming and a small fishing fleet from Portreath. Modern developments did come and go to Illogan, a branch line from the main London to Penzance route once ran down to Portreath but this is now dismantled. Today the area, inland, has something of a post-industrial feel but on the coast the booming tourism business, albeit seasonal employs many folk with the coastal scenery readily appreciated from the South West Way National Trail which traverses the parish. Small streams drain the parish northwards rushing to the nearby coast in deeply incised valleys. Illogan village is sighted at around 80 metres above the sea but as a coastal parish land stretches from sea level to 225 metres on Carn Brea. One of Cornwall's larger parishes Illogan covered almost 8,100 acres even if early gazetteers describe over a quarter of the acreage as "waste", within that extensive acreage population was falling steeply from a height of just over 7,800 parishioners with out-migration a phenomenon apparent in the mining areas. In Domesday times Illogan is not mentioned in Domesday Book but the parish is covered by two manors, Nancekuke and Tehidy, the former, held by the Canons of Bodmin having relatively few assets whilst the latter, in the hands of Count Robert of Mortain could offer 17 ploughs as well as extensive meadows, pastures & woodland.

The Church

The present church of Illogan lies in the north of the parish on the western side of Church Road, it is a replacement for a church, believed to be 14th century which was demolished in 1846 leaving only the tower for use as a navigational landmark for those at sea. Today's church is a Victorian affair dominated by the nave and its twinned aisles which are of similar height and near length making for a curious design. The church uses the style of the late 14th century Perpendicular, possibly in homage to the original building. Whilst the church is a statement in size for a bustling parish it clearly had little architectural interest for Pevsner who's description is short and merely factual description. Church Road is amply sized for adequate street parking outside the grounds which are bordered in local stone with an inset gateway leading to a tarred pathway to the church. The church sits within an oval of open ground bordered with dense trees and making for something of a challenge to find the better angles to capture it adequately.