St Stephen-by-Launceston
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St Stephens by Launceston Rural 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 ...
in the east of
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. It is in the
Registration district A registration district in the United Kingdom is a type of administrative region which exists for the purpose of civil registration of births, marriages, and deaths and civil partnerships. It has also been used as the basis for the collation of ...
of Launceston. The population of the parish in the 2001 census was 312, increasing to 360 and including Dutson at the 2011 census. The former parish of ''St Stephens by Launceston'' was abolished in 1894: ''St Stephens by Launceston Urban'' became part of the town of Launceston, while ''St Stephens by Launceston Rural'' became part of Launceston Rural District. The parish lies immediately north west of the town of Launceston and is bounded to the south by the parishes of Launceston,
St Thomas the Apostle Rural St Thomas the Apostle Rural, also known as St Thomas-by-Launceston () is a civil parish in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is centred on the village of Tregadillett () and is in the Registration District of Launceston. The parish li ...
, and
Lawhitton Lawhitton () is a village in the civil parish of Lawhitton Rural, in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated two miles (3 km) southwest of Launceston and half-a-mile west of Cornwall's border with Devon at the River ...
. To the east it is bounded by the
River Tamar The Tamar (; ) is a river in south west England that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A large part of the valley of the Tamar is protected as the Tamar Valley National Landscape (an Area of Outsta ...
(the border between Cornwall and
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
). To the north and north-west it is bordered by the parishes of Werrington,
North Petherwin North Petherwin () is a civil parish and village in the historic county of Devon and the ceremonial county of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated five miles (8 km) northwest of Launceston on a ridge above the River ...
and
Egloskerry Egloskerry () is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately northwest of Launceston, Cornwall, Launceston. Egloskerry parish consists of the village itself and ...
.


History

In Anglo-Saxon times there was a monastery here dedicated to
St Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...
whose canons owned the surrounding land including the town of Launceston (i.e. ''Lan-stefan-ton'') (the name did not then belong to Dunheved the present town). A mint was established here as early as the reign of Aethelred II, 976, but only one specimen is known to exist (it weighs 1.61g). However, after the Norman Conquest the Norman Earl acquired Dunheved and rebuilt the castle there. He expropriated the market and mint of the canons and the townspeople followed them to Dunheved.''Cornish Church Guide'' (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 198 (The name of Launceston belonged originally to the monastery and town here, but was then transferred to the town of Dunheved.) The church of St Stephen Plea Rolls of the Court of Common Pleas; CP40/800, in 1461; http://aalt.law.uh.edu/AALT1/H6/CP40no800/bCP40no800dorses/IMG_0652.htm ; 4th entry, second line retained its importance and remained the mother church of many of the surrounding parishes, Tremaine, Egloskerry, Tresmeer, Werrington, St Giles, Laneast, St Thomas, St Mary Magdalene and others throughout the Middle Ages.


Notable buildings

The parish church, dedicated to St Stephen, is within the northern outskirts of the town of Launceston at . The church's buttressed and battlemented tower (16th century) houses a ring of six bells. The church was built in the early 13th century after the monastery which had been on this site had moved into the valley near the
castle A castle is a type of fortification, fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by Military order (monastic society), military orders. Scholars usually consider a ''castle'' to be the private ...
. The old tower was demolished by Reginald Earl of Cornwall. The present fine tower was built in the 16th century; the font is Norman. On the Tamar at Yeolmbridge is the oldest bridge in Cornwall: it has two pointed arches and the roadway has been widened in modern times.


Cornish wrestling

St Stephens hosted
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 in the 1800s.Royal Cornwall Gazette, 21 July 1827.


Notable residents

*
Joan Rendell Joan Rendell MBE (1921 – 4 May 2010) was an English historian, writer (mainly on Cornish subjects), and phillumenist. Life Rendell was born in Plymouth, Devon, in 1921. She was the daughter of Gervase Rendell, born 1879 in Eastry, Kent. For m ...
, historian, resided at Yeolmbridge in the latter part of her life.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Stephens By Launceston Rural Civil parishes in Cornwall Villages in Cornwall Launceston, Cornwall