Egloshayle (, meaning ''church on an estuary'') is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

and village in north

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, United Kingdom. The village is beside the River Camel, southeast of

Wadebridge Wadebridge (; ) is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town straddles the River Camel upstream from Padstow.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 ''Newquay & Bodmin'' The pe ...

. The civil parish stretches southeast from the village and includes Washaway and Sladesbridge.

History

Egloshayle was a

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

settlement and later a river port, rivalling

Padstow Padstow (; ) is a town, civil parishes in England, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary, approximately northwest of Wadebridge, ...

downriver. The trade consisted of

tin Tin is a chemical element; it has symbol Sn () and atomic number 50. A silvery-colored metal, tin is soft enough to be cut with little force, and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, a bar of tin makes a sound, the ...

clay Clay is a type of fine-grained natural soil material containing clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolinite, ). Most pure clay minerals are white or light-coloured, but natural clays show a variety of colours from impuriti ...

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

, and vegetable crops. Egloshayle is now a residential suburb of Wadebridge. Wadebridge developed in the parishes of Egloshayle and St Breock. A

vicar A vicar (; Latin: '' vicarius'') is a representative, deputy or substitute; anyone acting "in the person of" or agent for a superior (compare "vicarious" in the sense of "at second hand"). Linguistically, ''vicar'' is cognate with the English p ...

of Egloshayle named Thomas Lovibond was responsible for the construction of the first bridge across the River Camel to replace a dangerous ford. Begun in 1468 and completed in 1485, the bridge was traditionally, but inaccurately, known as the "Bridge on Wool", as its foundations were said to be wool sacks. The bridge is, in fact, conventionally constructed with its foundations on the river bedrock. It is thought by some local historians, however that the bridge was completed by 1475, by a John Lovibond.

Churches

The parish church, which is Grade I listed, is named after St Petroc and is constructed almost entirely in the

Perpendicular In geometry, two geometric objects are perpendicular if they intersect at right angles, i.e. at an angle of 90 degrees or π/2 radians. The condition of perpendicularity may be represented graphically using the '' perpendicular symbol'', � ...

style. It has a Norman font, a stone pulpit dating from the 15th century, and also has a fine monument to Dame Barbara Molesworth (ob. 1735). There is a peal of eight bells: the tenor bell weighs 12-1-25. The Anglican chapel at Washaway, dating from 1883, has a font which is one of the earliest in the county. Arthur Langdon (1896) recorded that there were six stone crosses in the parish, including two in the parish churchyard and one at Washaway. Three-hole Cross is about north of Egloshayle at a crossroads. (Another cross is described at Pencarrow.) The

bell-ringer A bell-ringer is a person who rings a Bell (instrument), bell, usually a church bell, by means of a rope or other mechanism. Despite some automation of bells for random swinging, there are still many active bell-ringers in the world, particularl ...

s of the village are celebrated in the song ''The Ringers of Egloshayle''. The song has been recorded by, amongst others, the Cornish singer Brenda Wootton.

Notable buildings and antiquities

Local private properties of interest include Pencarrow House (18th century) and Croan House (17th century), each of which have seven bays. Kelly Rounds (or Castle Killibury) is an

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

fort on the border of the parish and has been associated with the legend of

King Arthur According to legends, King Arthur (; ; ; ) was a king of Great Britain, Britain. He is a folk hero and a central figure in the medieval literary tradition known as the Matter of Britain. In Wales, Welsh sources, Arthur is portrayed as a le ...

. One of the houses on the Egloshayle road overlooking the River Camel is Grade 2 listed.

Cornish wrestling

Cornish wrestling Cornish wrestling () is a form of wrestling that has been established in Cornwall for many centuries and possibly longer. It is similar to the Breton people, Breton Gouren wrestling style. It is colloquially known as "wrasslin’"Phillipps, K C: ...

tournaments have been held in Egloshayle at Hingham Mill.Cornish Guardian, 4 September 1969.

Notable people

Plant collecting brothers

William William is a masculine given name of Germanic languages, Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman Conquest, Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle ...

and

Thomas Lobb Thomas Lobb (1817–1894) was a British botanist and, along with his older brother, William Lobb, collected plants for the plant nursery Veitch Nurseries, Veitch. Lobb worked in India, the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines. In 1845 he discov ...

, spent their early life at Egloshayle. Arthur Hamilton Norway (1859–1938), who became head of the Post Office in Ireland before the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and the father of novelist Nevil Shute, was born in the village.1901 Census of England and Wales

References

External links

{{authority control Villages in Cornwall Civil parishes in Cornwall