St Issey

Cornwall Information & Accommodation Guide

St Issey, in Cornish, Egloskrug - 'the church on the tumulus or barrow', is a parish and village in north Cornwall.

St Issey parish is linked with the parish of Little Petherick.

Until 1199 St Issey parish was part of the manor and peculiar of Pawton and belonged to the Bishop of Exeter. It was then appropriated by the bishop to the Chapter of Exeter Cathedral.

The Saints' Way passes through St Issey. It is believed that St Petroc founded a Nunnery within the parish.

The original Chapel of St Issey seems to have been at St Jidgey and not at St Issey Churchtown.

Parish Church of St Issey

The parish church is dedicated to St Issey. It stands within a pre-Christian burial mound.

The church is partly Norman. It was enlarged in the 15th century when the south aisle and tower were built. The tower was then rebuilt circa. 1680, and again in 1871, after being struck by lightning in 1869.

St Issey church contains some interesting features. These include the reredos and a Pietà of Catacleuse stone which may be fragments of a late medieval monument, possibly that of Lady Matilda Chyverston which is mentioned in a document of 1399. According to local tradition the stonework was originally in the chapel at Halwyn, an estate of the Hamelys.

The identification of St Issey is quite complex. Some people believe he is Teilo, a Welsh bishop who was connected to St Samson. Another possibility is that the name Issey is Ide or Itha, who was an Abbess at Limerick in Eire in the 6th century. Another explanation is that St Issey parish gets its name from Saint Yse, one of the twenty-four children of St Brychan, a 4th century Welsh saint and king.

At Halwyn, in the north of the parish, there are ruins of an old chapel and well dedicated to St Madoc. Little is known of this Saint other than the name often occurs in areas where St Brychan's children settled.

A rock with basin known as St Maddick's Rock is believed to have existed in the area until the 1730s when a farmer split it for gateposts.

Within the parish are the remains of a sea mill (tidal grist mill).
Sea Mills was a grist mill in the late 18th and early 19th century on the River Camel. It was powered by flood tidal water which then drove a water wheel when the tide was on the ebb. The sea walls can still be seen including the sluice gate but the wheel is gone.

Sea Mills is now a house on the banks of Little Petherick Creek.

Mr Tregaskis, a previous owner of Sea Mills, was a member of the Total Abstinence Society and he tried to persuade the people of Padstow to abandon their 'Obby Oss' celebrations. He offered them a free ox to roast for the next seven years if they would cease the festival. Needless to say, the inhabitants of Padstow were not pleased by his suggestion and he was driven out of town and the 'Obby Oss' celebrations still continue today.

The Old Mill and Mellingey Mill still have working waterwheels. Mellingey - 'mill house'.

The house adjacent to the Mill House was the home of Dr Marley. He was a close friend of Charles Dickens. Dickens borrowed his name for the character in 'A Christmas Carol'.

There are a number of archaeological sites within the parish: an Iron Age settlement, known as Trenance Rounds; nine round barrows near Cannalidgey; a menhyr, known as the Magi Stone or the Fiddler, also near Cannalidgey; three barrows on Trelow Downs and the Nine Maidens stone row.

Trelow Downs is a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) for the dry and wet heaths and scrub.

St Issey gave its name to a tug in the Royal Navy. On 28 December 1942 HMS St Issey (Lt. J. H. W. Howe, RNR) was torpedoed and sunk by a German submarine (U-617) off Benghazi, Libya.

Place-names within St Issey parish: Halwyn; Mellingey; Cannalidgey; Trenance; Trelow Downs; St Jidgey; Mesengrose - 'the meadow of the cross'; Tredinnick; Trevance; Trewince; Tregolds; Trevorrick.


Family History

For a searchable database of
Parish registers and records including baptisms, births, burials, marriages, etc. for St Issey

St Issey Folk



ATM / Cashpoints

Crealy Park, St Issey. This is approx. 1.22 miles away. The ATM charges around £1.75.

Tesco, Sarahs Lane, Padstow. This is approx. 2 miles away. The ATM is free to use.

Location:
St Issey is situated approximately 2 miles (3 km) south of Padstow. The parish covers an area of approximately 4,500 acres (18 km2).

Road directions to St Issey

Books online:
Click here to buy books online about St Issey

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