England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Linkinhorne St Melor

The Parish

The parish of Linkinhorne lies in eastern Cornwall not too far from its border with neighbouring Devon. Linkinhorne is situated about 7 miles south of the market town of Launceston and sits, in lanes, a mile south of the B3257 road which connects Lewannick with Callington. Of modern day Linkinhorne there is very little, a group of properties gathered around inn & church together with a scatter of farms and cottages across the wider parish, it is difficult to reconcile this depopulated area with what was once a parish of over 1,500 folk. The economy would have been largely farming based with pastoral farming in the main, the land being very undulating and therefore difficult to till. Linkinhorne is drained by a tributary of the River Lynher which heads southward to reach the English Channel as one of many forming the ria of Plymouth Sound. Linkinhorne is sited at around 130 metres above the sea, the land is deeply incised and local heights rise almost to 200 metres within a couple of miles. Linkinhorne parish was extensive, as are many in Cornwall, it covered around 6,000 acres and, as previously stated, would have supported a population in the region of 1,500 parishioners, many fewer today. There is no specific mention of Linkinhorne within Domesday Book.

The Church

St Melor's church sits opposite the village inn amongst the main grouping of properties. The church is impressive with its western tower second only to Probus in height, St Melor being 120 feet and 4 stages high, a landmark for many miles. The church is almost entirely from the Perpendicular period of church building, Pevsner dates the build to the latter 50 years of that period, roughly 1480 to 1530. The church follows the standard layout of that period with nave & chancel and western tower all constructed of the granite blocks characteristic of this area. The five bay nave is augmented with both northern & southern aisles. Pevsner is praising of the southern porch which shows figure-of-eight ornamentation similar to that of the church of Maker. The site is strongly sloping from north to south, the southern end being elevated above road level, the main entrance being opposite the inn leads to a pathway skirting the southern side of the church. Whilst the edges of the churchyard are covered with trees there are sufficient remaining angles for adequate photography.