Poughill (pronounced "Pofil" or "Puffil") is a village and former

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 ...

, now in the parish of Bude-Stratton, in the

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, ...

district, in north-east

, England, United Kingdom. It is located one mile north of

Bude Bude (, locally or ; Cornish language, Cornish ) is a seaside town in north Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as ...

. In 1931 the parish had a population of 413.

History

Poughill is mentioned in the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

as ''Pochehelle''. The name is of uncertain origin. It may be from

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''pohha'' 'pouch', used in the topographical sense of a deep valley, or ''Pohha'' used as a personal name or nickname, and ''hylle'' 'hill' or ''wylle'' 'spring'. So the meaning could be "hill by a deep valley", "spring in a deep valley", "hill of a man named Pohha" or "spring of a man named Pohha". Poughill was an

ancient 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 ...

, in the

hundred 100 or one hundred (Roman numerals, Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 (number), 99 and preceding 101 (number), 101. In mathematics 100 is the square of 10 (number), 10 (in scientific notation it is written as 102). The standar ...

of Stratton. It became a civil parish in 1866. In 1900 the developing area of Flexbury was transferred from the parish to the new Bude–Stratton Urban District. On 1 April 1934 a small part of the parish was transferred to Kilkhampton, the remainder of the parish was transferred to Bude–Stratton, and the civil parish was abolished.

Battle of Stamford Hill

The Battle of Stamford Hill, also known as the Battle of Stratton, was fought on the outskirts of Poughill on 16 May 1643. Each May, on the closest weekend to the anniversary, there is a two-day re-enactment of the battle, fought over the Saturday and Sunday, together with a procession through the streets of neighbouring Stratton village.

Notable buildings

Notable old houses in Poughill include Burshill Manor (a

Grade II listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, H ...

), an open hall house dating from the early 16th century, and Church House, a Grade II* listed building dating from the early 16th century. The village's water-mill is located on the footpath towards Bush. Lying at the foot of Trevalgus Hill in thick woodland, it is believed to have been a manorial mill for Trevalgus Manor. The mill was powered by the stream which runs south towards Stratton called the Stratt. Part of the mill building was constructed of timbers from ships wrecked along the coastline. Poughill Methodist Church - geograph

St Olaf's Church

At the heart of the village is St Olaf's church. The church is of exceptional interest and dates from the 14th century. The frescoes date from about 1470, and depict St Christopher.

Notable residents

During the latter half of his life, Sir Goldsworthy Gurney, the

surgeon In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...

, gentleman scientist,

inventor An invention is a unique or novel device, method, composition, idea, or process. An invention may be an improvement upon a machine, product, or process for increasing efficiency or lowering cost. It may also be an entirely new concept. If an ...

, and pioneer of applying steam power, lived in Reeds, a small house on the outskirts of the village, until his death in 1875. Sir Henry Lovell Goldsworthy Gurney, a Malaysian colonial administrator assassinated by

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

extremists during the

Malayan Emergency The Malayan Emergency, also known as the Anti–British National Liberation War, was a guerrilla warfare, guerrilla war fought in Federation of Malaya, Malaya between communist pro-independence fighters of the Malayan National Liberation Arm ...

, was born here in 1898.A. J. Stockwell, ‘Gurney, Sir Henry Lovell Goldsworthy (1898–1951)’,

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from History of the British Isles, British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') ...

, Oxford University Press, Sept 2004; online edn, Oct 200
accessed 21 Nov 2007
/ref>

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, for prizes, were held in Poughill in the 1800s.Western Times, 29 September 1849.

References

External links

* {{authority control Villages in Cornwall Manors in Cornwall Former civil parishes in Cornwall