Roseland, Cornwall
Encyclopedia
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Roseland is located in the south of the county and contains the town of St Mawes
St Mawes
St Mawes is a small town opposite Falmouth, on the Roseland Peninsula on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the east bank of the Carrick Roads, a large waterway created after the Ice Age from an ancient valley which flooded as the melt waters caused the sea level to...
and villages such as St Just
St Just in Roseland
St Just in Roseland is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated six miles south of Truro and two miles north of St Mawes....
and Gerrans. It is a peninsula, separated from the remainder of Cornwall by the River Fal
River Fal
The River Fal flows through Cornwall, United Kingdom, rising on the Goss Moor and reaching the English Channel at Falmouth. On or near the banks of the Fal are the castles of Pendennis and St Mawes as well as Trelissick Garden. The River Fal separates the Roseland peninsula from the rest of...
(on the east is the English Channel).
Where the peninsula begins continues to be a point of discussion amongst local historians and long-time Roseland inhabitants. The village of Tregony might be considered to be outside the Roseland. If travelling by road one enters the Roseland at the bottom of Tregony Hill by either driving up Reskivers Hill to take the road to St. Mawes and Gerrans, or by taking the lower road to Ruan Lanihorne.
History and geography
John NordenIn 1584 map maker, John Norden
John Norden
John Norden was an English cartographer, chorographer and antiquary. He planned a series of county maps and accompanying county histories of England, the Speculum Britanniae...
, wrote, 'The peninsula is called by the pretty name of Roseland, being derived from Rhos, the Celtic word for heath or gorse.' He goes on to say that, "Roseland is a circuit of land lying between the creek of Falmouth haven and the sea."
John Whitaker
Lake's Parochial History of the County of Cornwall (1870) includes Revd John Whitaker
John Whitaker (historian)
John Whitaker B.D., F.S.A. , was an English historian and Anglican clergyman. Besides historical studies on the Roman Empire and on the early history of Great Britain he was a reviewer for London magazines and a poet.-Life:He was the son of James Whitaker, innkeeper, and was born in Manchester on...
’s, discussion of the Roseland when dealing with Philleigh parish. He notes that the villages of Veryan and Ruanlanihorne each has its church in a valley, the area which would have been inhabited first as the valleys were more sheltered and benefited from soil washed down from the hillsides. At the top of the hills lay an extensive heath (or rhos/rôs).
Whitaker believed that the area was first named 'Roseland' when the English came to settle in 936. The parish of Philleigh was carved out of the parish of Ruanlanihorne and was originally called Eglos-rôs. Two fields were tithable in common between Ruanlanihorne and Philleigh (Higher and Lower Congier) which he claims proves the two parishes were once one. According to Hals (in Lake’s Parochial History) St Just in Roseland was rated under the jurisdiction of Eglos-rôs (Philleigh) in the Domesday Book.
From this it seems reasonable to assume that the first people to use the term ‘Roseland’ understood it to cover the parishes which contained the ‘rhos/rôs ’, so the parishes of Veryan, Ruanlanihorne and Philleigh have a good claim to be part of the Roseland.
So it seems to make sense to regard the Roseland as starting at Daddiport Bridge at the foot of Reskivers Hill. The stream which comes down the hillside to Daddiport Bridge is the boundary between Veryan and Tregony parishes, thus continuing the water boundary of the peninsula. That is the way locals now see the Roseland Peninsula.
20th century writers
In The Roseland: between River and Sea, Laurence O'Toole described it rather differently, including the parishes of Gerrans
Gerrans
Gerrans is a coastal civil parish and village on the Roseland Peninsula in Cornwall, United Kingdom. The village adjoins Portscatho on the east side of the peninsula...
, St Anthony in Roseland
St Anthony in Roseland
St Anthony in Roseland is a village and formerly a parish in Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It is one of four settlements in the Roseland Peninsula.At Trewince is a house of five bays and two storeys built in 1750...
, St Just
St Just in Roseland
St Just in Roseland is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated six miles south of Truro and two miles north of St Mawes....
, and St Mawes
St Mawes
St Mawes is a small town opposite Falmouth, on the Roseland Peninsula on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies on the east bank of the Carrick Roads, a large waterway created after the Ice Age from an ancient valley which flooded as the melt waters caused the sea level to...
and so only taking the parishes that protrude on that thin arm of the land.
Place House at St Anthony was the seat of the Spry family
Spry family
The Spry family has resided for many centuries at Place in the Cornish parish known as St Anthony in Roseland. There are a number of memorials in the church, St Anthony's. The Spry family settled in Cornwall in the early 16th century.-Some notable members:...
for several hundred years. It has been enviously described by Joe Bennett
Joe Bennett (writer)
Julian "Joe" Bennett is a writer and columnist living in Lyttelton, New Zealand.Born in England, he emigrated to New Zealand when he was twenty nine. Before his writing career, he worked as a high school teacher at one of Christchurch's leading high schools, Christ's College...
in his travel book Mustn't Grumble, 2006.
Film
The 2009 film documentary And Did Those Feet suggests that Jesus Christ may have visited the Roseland Peninsula. The legend of Christ's visit to England is depicted in William BlakeWilliam Blake
William Blake was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his lifetime, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of both the poetry and visual arts of the Romantic Age...
's poem "And did those feet in ancient time
And did those feet in ancient time
"And did those feet in ancient time" is a short poem by William Blake from the preface to his epic Milton a Poem, one of a collection of writings known as the Prophetic Books. The date on the title page of 1804 for Milton is probably when the plates were begun, but the poem was printed c. 1808...
".