England & Wales Hardwicke Marriage Index
Marriages 1754 - 1837
St Gluvias St Gluvias the Martyr

The Parish

The parish of St Gluvias lies in southern Cornwall roughly 8 miles south of the county town of Truro. St Gluvias is unusual in being merely a small suburb of the larger town of Penryn which sits on the former route of the A39, nowadays downgraded as the B3292 whilst the new A39 bypasses to the west, which links Truro with the port of Falmouth. Penryn is the main centre for the parish, a large town holding 3/4s of the parish population according to estimates in early gazetteers. Penryn has a linear arrangement with the early town lying along the line of the valley of the Penryn River from the shores of Carrick Roads inland for well over a mile, modern suburbs have spread onto surrounding hills between the original town and the newer bypass. St Gluvias, by way of contrast, is northeast of the Penryn River, a formerly small and compact village nowadays merely an eastern suburb of Penryn. Penryn has an ancient history being a medieval foundation granted its market in 1259. The foundation of Glasney College in 1265 held provost, canons and a bishop's palace turning the town into "Cornwall's version of Exeter Cathedral" according to Pevsner. The town's main income comes from its role as a port, by the 17th century it was trading as far away as Turkey, and it serviced the hinterland with imports of timber, coal and cattle as well exporting the valuable tin so produced. Other industries soon developed notably ship-building, tanning and engineering supporting the more bucolic trades of fishing, shell-fishing and pastoral farming. The town has suffered from the collapse of Cornwall's mining with a noticeable drop in population, in 1870 a Board of Health report described the area as "poverty stricken". Modern developments have helped renew the town, the arrival of the railway line serving the town and nearby Falmouth boosted its credentials and today tourism, like much of Cornwall, provides an increasing share of its income. As a coastal community the Penryn River merely feeds adjacent Carrick Roads with its rainwater. The parish is sited between sea level and 100 metres whilst land rises beyond the town of Penryn to local high spots of just over 200 metres to the west en route to Helston. At just short of 2,900 acres St Gluvias parish was extensive and supported a population that was in the region of 3,300 parishioners. In Domesday times there was very little here, neither St Gluvias or Penryn being mentioned, tiny Treliever manor to the west did get a mention, held by the Bishop of Exeter this manor could offer 14 ploughs as well as extensive pastures and woodland.

The Church

St Gluvias' church, the dedication refers to a Welsh saint described as "the son of Gwynllyw the warrior, King of Gwentlog", lies to the east of the Penryn River on steeply rising ground climbed by Church Hill. Whilst there has been a church here from as early as 1291 and documents record a re-dedication in 1321 there is nothing remaining from those early times. Indeed such is the extent of Victorian intervention that there is only small pieces remaining of the medieval, at all. The earliest fabric recorded by Pevsner is that of the 3-stage western tower complete with its northwestern stair-turret, here the 15th century is shown well in its Perpendicular styling. Also from the 15th century one finds its piscina, unusually sitting in the porch, and a pointed-arched aumbry at the eastern end of the southern aisle. Not only Victorian work is noted, that southern aisle was widened as early as 1744 in the first of many restoration events. The main such event was the work of 188e when the church was almost completely rebuilt leaving just the eastern end untouched. At least this rebuild consistently used the Perpendicular styling to continue a harmonious theme. Thankfully for visitors a small car park to the west of the site allows a calm visit there being little street parking nearby. That medieval western tower looms dramatically over the road, only a stepped low wall topped by railings standing between it and the traffic, thankfully for the photographer the churchyard does open out to the south allowing the accepted favored aspects.