Constantine, Kerrier

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This place should not be confused with Constantine Bay, Cornwall, which is west of Padstow.
Constantine's 15th Century Church
Constantine's 15th Century Church
Constantine War Memorial, in the Churchyard, carved from local stone by Elkana Symons
Constantine War Memorial, in the Churchyard, carved from local stone by Elkana Symons

Constantine is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, UK. It is located in Kerrier, roughly halfway between Falmouth and Helston.

It is bounded by the civil parishes of Mabe, Mawnan, Gweek, Wendron and the north bank of the Helford River[1]. .

Constantine is named after Saint Constantine, a 6th century Cornish saint and prince.

Contents

[edit] Annual Events

Saint Constantine's "Feast" is celebrated in the village, on or around 9th March. The Agricultural Society (founded 1900) and the Cottage Garden Society run Shows early in July. The Constantine Social Club run a Carnival, usually on a weekend at the end of July[2]. The Constantine Art Society has a two-week exhibition, starting at the end of July. An annual "Cornish Talk and Taste" festival takes place in January.

[edit] Twinned with Breton Village

Like many other Cornish places, Constantine Parish with Gweek, is twinned with a partner in Brittany in Western France.In this case the village is twinned with Pont-Croix, Département Finistère. In Breton, "Pont-Croix" is "Pontekroaz" and, colloquially, "Ar Pont".[3]

[edit] History

The history of Constantine is related in The Book of Constantine (2001)[4] An earlier study, A history of the parish of Constantine in Cornwall by Charles Henderson (1937) is also worth reading.[5] Five walks around Constantine(2006) provides brief historical notes and many illustrations.

[edit] Early period

In Pre-History, a fogou was constructed near Trewardreva. No-one knows its purpose.

The ancient name of Constantine, "Langostentyn", implies that the settlement was monastic, with the "Lan" prefix. Dr. Lynette Olson [6] has examined literary and archaeological evidence for all early monastic establishments in Cornwall and found significant doubts about the religious nature of Constantine before the Norman Conquest.

[edit] After the Norman conquest

Little remains of the Norman church, which was rebuilt between 1420 and 1480[7]. The chancel was rebuilt in 1862.

[edit] Extractive industries

The settlement called Constantine Churchtown grew up around the church. Mineral extraction led to a massive increase in population and the village expanded down what is now called Fore Street, during the Nineteenth Century [8].However, one property, "The Bow Window", is thought to be a 300-year-old farmhouse.

The village had three main industries: agriculture, mining for tin, copper and iron[9]and quarrying granite[10][11].

The largest mine was Wheal Vyvyan, which was worked from 1827 to 1864. The production figures for copper 1845-1864 and for tin ore, 1855-1864, are given in Cornish Mines.[12] The value of copper raised peaked in 1845, 1850 and 1855. The peaks of value in tin ore production were in 1856 and 1863. In 1864, the value of tin raised was only a quarter of the previous year's value and the mine closed.[13].

[edit] Twentieth century

View of the Church and the Recreation Ground, showing the Social Club on the left of the picture
View of the Church and the Recreation Ground, showing the Social Club on the left of the picture

In 1921, Alice Hext, of Trebah gave the playing field and sports pavilion to the village[14], in memory of her husband, Charles Hawkins Hext, who died in 1917. She supported the development of the Sport and Social Club until her death in 1939 [15]

In 1933, overhead cables, providing electricity to homes was installed in the village[16]

Port Navas has an ancient Oyster farm[17].

[edit] Notable residents

  • John Hellins F.R.S., the mathematical astronomer, was curate of Constantine from 1779 to 1783[18].

[edit] Schools

A British School was opened in 1836 at Ponjeravah [19] .After 1957, the school moved to what is now the Church Hall and in 1966 to its present site, the building being refurbished and extended in 2005, as Constantine Primary School[20]. For secondary education, children have to travel to Helston, Mullion, Falmouth or Penryn.

[edit] Today

Constantine parish is the home of five Cornish Bards, including Vanessa Beeman, who was installed a Grand Bard at the annual Gorseth Kernow, in September 2006.[21]

Also in September 2006, Constantine won the Calor Best Village in Cornwall 2006 competition.[22]. Constantine was also judged the Best Village in the West of England 2007, in the Business Category [23].

The Civil Parish is in the process of preparing a Parish Plan as a framework for future development/conservation.

A Cornish language classes are provided at the Tolmen Centre on Monday evenings.

[edit] Current businesses in Constantine

The village has several shops, including a SPAR grocer/newsagent and a Post Office/General Store/Off-Licence. The latter is remarkable for stocking 700-800 different sorts of Whisky and attracting customers from Scotland and across England. There are Save the Children shops in Constantine and Port Navas[24].

Other businesses

  • Origin Coffee, wholesaler and distributor of ethically-produced coffee, founded in 1999 [25] [26]. Origin also provides training for Baristas [27].
  • A Directory of business in Constantine, Mawnan, Port Navas and Gweek is published each year.[28]
The Tolmen, formerly the Wesleyan Methodist Church
The Tolmen, formerly the Wesleyan Methodist Church
  • A social enterprise, Constantine Enterprises Company[29], owns the former Methodist chapel and runs a wide range of events there. It is now known as the Tolmen Centre.

[edit] Government and politics

Constantine Civil Parish is in the District of Kerrier. The Ward of Constantine, Gweek and Mawnan elects two Councillors to the District Council. In May 2007, a Conservative and an Independent Councillor were re-elected. Constantine Parish Council meets on the Thursday nearest 20th of the month at 7:00 p.m.[30] A free magazine, Gweder Myras (The Mirror) [31] is circulated to villagers, giving an account of Parish Council meetings and other goings on.

[edit] Place-names in the Civil Parish of Constantine

  • asterisked names have notes below.

Bonallack, Bosahan, Bosanarth, Bosawsack, Bosvathick, Boswarch, Boswidjack, Bridge, Brillwater, Brill*,Calamansac, Carvedras, Goongillings, Groyne Point, High Cross, Job's Water, Lestraynes, Maen Pern, Merthen, Nancenoy, Penwarn, Polpenwith, Polwheveral, Ponjeravah, Port Navas, Retallack, Scott's Quay, Seworgan, Trebarvah, Trecombe, Tregantallan, Treglidwith, Treleggan, Trenarth, Trengrove, Tresahor, Tresidder, Trevassack, Trevease, Treviades, Trewardreva, Trewince, Treworvack, Treworvall, Tucoyse.

  • Brill is a hamlet to the west of the village of Constantine.
Brill
Brill

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ For a map of the boundaries, zoomable to plan detail, use Cornwall County Council's Interactive Map of Cornwall.
  2. ^ In 2007, the Agricultural show is on 7 July and the Garden Show is on 21 July. The Carnival will be the weekend 28/29 July.
  3. ^ http://constantinecornwall.com/village/pg_twinning.htm - Twinning Association
  4. ^ The Book of Constantine
  5. ^ For Bibliographical details, see References below.
  6. ^ Early monasteries in Cornwall, page 105
  7. ^ Harris, Ida and David (1975). The Church of Saint Constantine in Cornwall: a brief guide, compiled and illustrated by Ida and David Harris. ISBN. 
  8. ^ Ordnance Survey 6 inch map, 1888, surveyed in 1878 Sheet LXXVII NW shows the street complete.
  9. ^ Mining history at Constantine Village website
  10. ^ history at Constantine Village website
  11. ^ See also pages 44-49 of the Book of Constantine. For more information on Quarrying in the Constantine area, see Peter Stanier's South West Granite
  12. ^ Cornish Mines
  13. ^ The story of the local mines is covered in detail - pages 40-43 of the Book of Constantine
  14. ^ The book of Mawnan (2002)
  15. ^ Minute Book of the Constantine Sport and Social Club, in private hands - review of the year 1940
  16. ^ Electricity supply: West Briton, 17 November 1933.
  17. ^ Constantine Village website on Oyster farming at Port Navas
  18. ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article by R. E. Anderson, ‘Hellins, John (d. 1827) ’, rev. Adrian Rice,[1] accessed 30 May 2007
  19. ^ Notes on Schools in Constantine 1957
  20. ^ Constantine Primary School website
  21. ^ Cornish Gorseth site and Article in Cornish Wikipedia
  22. ^ Calor Best Village Press Release
  23. ^ [http://www.villageoftheyear.org/category-winners/constantine.htm Calor Best Village competition 2007 website.
  24. ^ Save the Children fund Branch website
  25. ^ Origin Coffee Company website
  26. ^ Objective One Partnership for Cornwall and the Isles if Scilly: Quarterly Review July-Sept 2006, pp8-9 "Ethical Coffee company in demand"
  27. ^ Guardian, Education section 4 September 2007, page 2: "Improving the daily grind" by Louise Tickle.
  28. ^ Who's where in Constantine ...
  29. ^ Constantine Enterprises Company website
  30. ^ Constantine Parish Council information
  31. ^ CONSTANTINE GWEDER MYRAS

[edit] References

  • Henderson, Charles (1937). A history of the parish of Constantine in Cornwall. Truro: Royal Institution of Cornwall. 
  • Scolding, Bill (2006). Five walks around Constantine.. Constantine, Cornwall: Constantine Enterprises Company. ISBN 0-9552816-0-1, ISBN-13 978-0-9552816-0-0. 
  • Stanier, Peter (1999). South West Granite: a history of the granite industry in Devon and Cornwall. St. Austell, Cornwall: Cornish Hillside Publications. ISBN 1-900147-14-9 (Hardback) ISBN 1-900147-13-0 (paperback). 
  • Burt, Roger (1987). Cornish mines. Exeter, Devon: University of Exeter with the Northern Mine Research Society. ISBN 0-85989-287-5. 

[edit] External links

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Civil Parishes of Kerrier District

Coordinates: 50°07′N, 5°10′W

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