St Mawgan
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...
, 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...
. The village of St Mawgan is situated four miles northeast of Newquay
Newquay
Newquay is a town, civil parish, seaside resort and fishing port in Cornwall, England. It is situated on the North Atlantic coast of Cornwall approximately west of Bodmin and north of Truro....
.
The nearby airforce base, RAF St. Mawgan
RAF St. Mawgan
RAF St Mawgan is a Royal Air Force station near St Mawgan and Newquay in Cornwall. In 2008 the runway part of the site was handed over to Newquay Airport. The remainder of the station still continues to operate under the command of the RAF...
, takes its name from the village and is next to Newquay Cornwall Airport.
The River Menalhyl
River Menalhyl
The River Menalhyl is a river in Cornwall, UK, that flows through the parishes of St Columb Major and Mawgan-in-Pydar. Its length is about 12 miles and it flows in a generally north-west direction...
runs through St Mawgan village and the valley is known as The Vale of Lanherne. It was the subject of a poem by poet Henry Sewell Stokes
Henry Sewell Stokes
Henry Sewell Stokes was a British poet.The Cornish poet Stokes was a schoolfellow of Charles Dickens; later literary friends included Tennyson and Robert Stephen Hawker. His great nephew, Sewell Stokes, was a novelist, biographer and playwright....
.
History and geography
The Arundells have been the chief landowners here since the 13th century: in 1794 Lanherne House (mainly built in the 16th and 17th centuries) became a convent for emigré nuns from Belgium. Many memorials of the Arundells may be found in the church and more in the church of St Columb MajorSt Columb Major
St Columb Major is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as St Columb, it is situated approximately seven miles southwest of Wadebridge and six miles east of Newquay...
. There are in the village two pubs, The Falcon Inn and The Airways: also at St Mawgan is a bonsai
Bonsai
is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ...
tree nursery and a Japanese Garden attraction, plus a small craft shop.
Parish church
St Mawgan also has a 13th century parishParish
A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest, who might be assisted in his pastoral duties by a curate or curates - also priests but not the parish priest - from a more or less central parish church with its associated organization...
church, dedicated to St Mauganus and St Nicholas. The church was originally a cruciform building of the 13th century but was enlarged by a south aisle and the upper part of the tower in the 15th. The unusual rood screen and bench ends are noteworthy and there are many monumental brasses to members of the Arundell family; these include George Arundell, 1573, Mary Arundell, 1578, Cyssel and Jane Arundell, ca. 1580, Edward Arundell (?), 1586, (St Mauganus was a Welshman and is also honoured at Mawgan in Meneage in Kerrier and in Wales and Brittany.)
Nanskeval
Nanskeval House is on the parish boundaries of St Mawgan in Pydar and St Columb MajorSt Columb Major
St Columb Major is a civil parish and town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as St Columb, it is situated approximately seven miles southwest of Wadebridge and six miles east of Newquay...
: in 1277 it was spelt Nanscuvel. Nanskeval House was once the home of Liberal MP Edward Brydges Willyams
Edward Brydges Willyams
Edward William Brydges Willyams was a Liberal MP, successively for three Cornish constituencies. In 1892, he was appointed High Sheriff of Cornwall.-Parental family:...
and is still part of the Carnanton estate which is still owned by descendants of the same family. Nans means 'valley' in Old Cornish, and Kivell is thought to derive from the Cornish equivalent of the Welsh word ceffyl, meaning a horse. The surname Nankivell
Nankivell (surname)
Nankivell is a surname originating from Cornwall, it may refer to:* Edward J. Nankivell* Joice NanKivell Loch, an Australian author, journalist and humanitarian worker who worked with refugees in Poland, Greece and Romania after World War I and World War II....
and its variants are thought to derive from this place.