St Breock ( kw, Nanssans) is a village and a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of Parish (administrative division), administrative parish used for Local government in England, local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below district ...

in north

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, England, United Kingdom. The spelling St Breoke was also formerly in use.

Geography

St Breock village is 1 mile (1.6 km) west of

Wadebridge Wadebridge (; kw, Ponswad) is a town and civil parish in north Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland ...

immediately to the south of the

Royal Cornwall Showground Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

. The village lies on the eastern slope of the wooded Nansent valley. The civil parish of St Breock is in

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordere ...

Registration District and the population in the 2001 census was 703, increasing to 725 at the 2011 census. The parish extends approx five miles (8 kilometres) south of Wadebridge. To the north, the parish is bounded by the

River Camel The River Camel ( kw, Dowr Kammel, meaning ''crooked river'') is a river in Cornwall, England. It rises on the edge of Bodmin Moor and with its tributaries its catchment area covers much of North Cornwall. The river flows into the eastern Cel ...

, to the west by St Issey parish, to the northeast by Egloshayle parish and to the southeast by Lanivet parish. Together with Egloshayle it was one of the two parishes within which the town of Wadebridge developed.

History

Prehistory

St Breock Down Monolith - Standing Stone - geograph

Around two miles south of the village stands the St Breock Downs Monolith, a 16 ft (5 m) high prehistoric standing stone. It is the largest and heaviest prehistoric

standing stone A menhir (from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large human-made upright stone, typically dating from the European middle Bronze Age. They can be fou ...

.St Breock Downs Monolith
English Heritage, retrieved 12 April 2012 Around one mile northwest of the monolith is a prehistoric

dolmen A dolmen () or portal tomb is a type of single-chamber megalithic tomb, usually consisting of two or more upright megaliths supporting a large flat horizontal capstone or "table". Most date from the early Neolithic (40003000 BCE) and were so ...

known as

Pawton Quoit Pawton Quoit is a prehistoric portal dolmen, which dates to the Early and Middle Neolithic period in England (3500–2600 BC). The burial monument is located near Haycrock Farm, south of St Breock, in Cornwall, England. Description Pawton Quoit ...

20th Century

During

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

there was a report of both bombs and incendiaries being dropped near St Breock in August 1940.

Manor of Pawton

The Manor of Pawton, already established in

Saxon The Saxons ( la, Saxones, german: Sachsen, ang, Seaxan, osx, Sahson, nds, Sassen, nl, Saksen) were a group of Germanic * * * * peoples whose name was given in the early Middle Ages to a large country ( Old Saxony, la, Saxonia) near the No ...

times, was very large, extending to six whole parishes and parts of four others. It was granted to the Bishops of Sherborne by King Egbert of Wessex and held by their successors until it was alienated under Henry VIII. In 1086 there were 44 hides of land, land for 60 ploughs, 40 villagers and 40 smallholders; pasture 12 sq leagues, woodland 2 sq leagues.

Charles G. Henderson Charles Gordon Henderson (11 July 1900 – 24 September 1933) was a historian and antiquarian of Cornwall. Biography His father, Major J. S. Henderson, was half Scottish and half of the Irish family of Newenham: his mother was a Carus-Wilson f ...

wrote in 1925 that slight remains of the bishop's palace and deer park were still to be seen. On the down above Pawton is a very large barrow with massive dolmen. At Nanscowe Farm a pillar stone of the 5th or 6th century with inscription meaning 'To the son of Ulcagnus; and to Severus' (in Latin).

Parish Church

The parish church is dedicated to St Briocus and dates back to the 13th century although it was extensively rebuilt in 1677. (The aisle, south transept and porches are additions of the 15th and 16th centuries.) The church has a battlemented tower with a ring of five bells. It is situated beside the stream in the valley bottom and in 1965 suffered damage in a major flood. The nave is longer than usual in a parish church: this may be connected to the fact that the

Bishops of Exeter A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...

owned the manor of Pawton before the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and i ...

and had a palace there. In 1790 the rector here was John Molesworth and his wife

Catherine Molesworth Catherine St Aubyn (1760–1836) was a Cornish amateur artist. Life Catherine St Aubyn was born in 1760, the daughter of Sir John St Aubyn, 4th Baronet of the St Aubyn Baronetcy of Clowance, in the County of Cornwall. Her brother was the long- ...

was an amateur artist. The church was restored for £1,400, and reopened on 26 July 1881 by

Edward Benson Edward Benson may refer to: * Edward White Benson (1829–1896), Archbishop of Canterbury * E. F. Benson Edward Frederic Benson (24 July 1867 – 29 February 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist, archaeologist and short story wr ...

, the

Bishop of Truro The Bishop of Truro is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Truro in the Province of Canterbury. History There had been between the 9th and 11th centuries a Bishopric of Cornwall until it was merged with Credito ...

. The church contains some fine monuments to members of the Tredeneck family and one of 1598 to William and Jane Viell. The heirs of the Viell family in the 17th century were the Prideaux family of

Prideaux Place Prideaux Place is a grade I listed Elizabethan country house in the parish of Padstow, Cornwall, England. It has been the home of the Prideaux family for over 400 years. The house was built in 1592 by Sir Nicholas Prideaux (1550–1627), a dis ...

, which still owned the manor of St Breock in 1968. There is a brass probably also to a Tredeneck, ca. 1520. The church organ was the work of 'Father' Willis.Rendell, Joan (1982) ''Cornish Churches''. St Teath: Bossiney Books; pp. 18-19 Seth Ward, afterwards a bishop, was briefly the incumbent here.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Breock Villages in Cornwall Civil parishes in Cornwall