England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
Mylor St Melorus

The Parish

The parish of Mylor lies in southern Cornwall forming a large stretch of its coastline with the broad ria of Carrick Roads, a drowned inlet of the English Channel. Mylor is located roughly 7 miles south of the cathedral city of Truro and 3 miles east of Penryn, the wider parish consists of twin peninsulas which project into Carrick Roads intersected almost entirely by Mylor Creek. Mylor sits, away from significant numbered roads, over 3 miles east of the A39 road which links Truro with Penryn & Falmouth. Three main settlements form the population centres of the parish, tiny Mylor Churchtown, on the banks of the ria, the more modern settlement of Mylor Bridge, some 1 1/2 miles east at the crossing of Mylor creek, and Flushing, immediately across from Falmouth. Despite its coastal location arable farming was an important part of the parish's economy, Flushing, however, had an important industry engaged in making ship boilers and under Carrick Roads, itself, a minor area of copper extraction. Today the parish benefits from the visitors that flock to its picturesque coastline, beloved of yachting fraternity and much loved by wildlife enthusiasts too. As a coastal settlement the creeks drain readily into neighbouring Carrick Roads. Mylor Churchtown is sited at a steeply rising site from sea-level to 20 metres whilst both Flushing & Mylor Churchtown similarly rise from sea-level but to over 50 metres, land within the wider peninsulas is strongly undulating but does not rise much above 80 metres. Mylor parish was fairly extensive, covering just less than 3.500 acres within which it would have supported a population of almost 2,300 parishioners. In contrast, in Domesday times, the area was under-populated and not mentioned specifically in that book.

The Church

St Melorus' church has an iconic and picturesque location on slopes rising above the scenic beauty of Carrick Roads. Despite the lack of a mention in Domesday Book the church has its origins in the 12th century Norman Romanesque period, a style well-represented by two doorways, an in situ example on the northern side, the other a re-sited example as the western tower entrance. Two keep with the theme of twos, the church also has two towers, one the turret of its western gable, the other, detached, acts as a notable landmark for orientating shipping on the Roads. Despite the early dates for the doorways most of the church dates from the normal church-building eras of 14th and 15th centuries. The gable tower is early to mid-14th century whilst the bulk of the main body is early 15th century with the Perpendicular style predominant. Later still is the late 15th century southern aisle, a 16th century porch and the typical results of the work of the Victorian restorers. A major restoration campaign of the late 1860s, re-sited that Norman doorway, re-roofed the church and added a southern aisle arcade of 6 bays with much use of Caen stone in doing so. Mylor Churchtown is a difficult place to park, if you are fortunate a space may be found off Penarrow Road outside the lychgate from which the churchyard tumbles steeply down to the coast itself. The angle of the churchyard and complexity of the building makes for a testing challenge for the photographer.