Ludgvan Cornwall Family History Guide

Ludgvan is an Ancient Parish in the county of Cornwall.

Other places in the parish include: Tregurthen, White Cross, Truthwell, Trenowin, Whitecross, Newtown, Longrock, Crowlas, and Canons Town.

Alternative names: Ludjan

Parish church: St. Paul

Parish registers begin:

Parish registers: 1563
Bishop’s Transcripts: 1608

Nonconformists include: Bible Christian Methodist, Primitive Methodist, and Wesleyan Methodist.

Table of Contents

Adjacent Parishes

Parish History

The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales 1870

LUDGVAN, or LUDJAN, a village and a parish in Penzance district, Cornwall. The Village stands on a rising ground, 1 mile WNW of Marazion r. station, and 3 NE of Penzance; was anciently called Ludaham; commands a charming view southward over St. Michael’s mount and bay; and has a post office under Penzance, and a cattle fair on 2 Oct.

The parish contains also Crowlas hamlet, and several other hamlets. Acres, 4,584; of which 40 are water. Real property, £6,984; of which £418 are in railways. Pop., 3,480. Houses, 673. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged, at Domesday, to the Earl of Mortaigne; passed to the Ferrers, the Champernownes, the Willoughbys de Broke, and the Paulets; and belongs now to J. J. Rogers, Esq. Varfell was the residence of Sir Humphrey Davy, in his early years; and belonged, for several generations, to his ancestors. Mining operations are largely carried on. Granitic and schistose rocks abound; and tin and copper ores are obtained.

A granitic rock very rich in mica, and known as Ludgvan stone, was once in much request, but appears to be now exhausted. A ditched-ditched camp, called Castle-an-Dinas, and measuring 436 feet in diameter, occupies the summit of the highest hill, and commands extensive views. Earthworks, thrown up by the parliamentarian force, at the siege of St. Michael’s mount, are on the road to Marazion. A mineral spring is at Collurian.

The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £800. Patron. alternately the Duke of Cleveland and the Earl of Sandwich. The church has a fine Norman arch; was repaired and enlarged in 1840; and contains tablets of the Davy family, and the remains of Dr. Borlase, author of the “Antiquities and Natural History of Cornwall,” and for 52 years rector of the parish. There are six chapels for Wesleyans, two for Primitive Methodists, one for Bible Christians, a national school, and charities £4. Remains of an ancient chapel are at Collurian.

Source: The Imperial Gazetteer of England & Wales [Wilson, John M]. A. Fullarton & Co. N. d. c. [1870-72].

A Topographical Dictionary of England 1848

LUDGVAN (St. Paul), a parish, in the union of Penzance, W. division of the hundred of Penwith and of the county of Cornwall, 1½ mile (N. N. W.) from Marazion; containing 3190 inhabitants. The parish is situated on the shore of Mount’s bay in the English Channel, and is intersected by the road between Penzance and Truro; it comprises 4544 acres, of which 1204 are common or waste. A kind of granite, peculiar to the locality, is quarried for building and for repairing the roads. A fair is held in October.

The living is a rectory, valued in the king’s books at £30. 11. 0½., and in the gift of Lord Bolton: the tithes have been commuted for £808, and the glebe contains 38½ acres, with a house. The church, which is ancient, has a Norman arch over the south entrance, and was enlarged in 1840 by the erection of an aisle; the tower is handsome, and forms a good landmark at sea. In the churchyard is an old cross. The Baptists, and Primitive and Wesleyan Methodists, have places of worship; and a national school is supported.

Remains are still to be seen of an earthwork thrown across the road leading to Marazion, by the parliamentarians engaged in the siege of St. Michael’s Mount. There are also some remains of Castleandinas, an ancient fortification, the diameter of which is 400 feet from east to west, and the principal ditch 60 feet wide; it occupies the summit of the highest hill in this part of the county, and commands fine views of the sea. At Collurian are the remains of a chapel dedicated to St. Thomas; and on the same estate is a chalybeate spring. A Roman patera was found some years since on the glebe. Dr. Borlase, the learned antiquary, and historian of Cornwall, was rector of the parish for nearly fifty-two years, and was buried in the chancel of the church in 1772; Sir Humphry Davy, late president of the Royal Society, resided in the parish in early life.

Source: A Topographical Dictionary of England by Samuel Lewis 1848