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St Teath

Coordinates: 50°35′35″N 4°44′10″W / 50.593°N 4.736°W / 50.593; -4.736
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St Teath
St Teath is located in Cornwall
St Teath
St Teath
Location within Cornwall
Population2,628 (Civil Parish, 2011)
Civil parish
  • St Teath
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBODMIN
Postcode districtPL30
Dialling code01208
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireCornwall
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cornwall
50°35′35″N 4°44′10″W / 50.593°N 4.736°W / 50.593; -4.736

St Teath (/tɛθ/; Cornish: Eglostedha) is a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom.

Geography

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The village is situated approximately three miles (5 km) southwest of Camelford and seven miles (11 km) northeast of Wadebridge.[1] The hamlet of Whitewell lies to the west. The parish population at the 2011 census was 2628.[2] An electoral ward also exists which includes Delabole and St Breward; the population for this ward at the same census was 3,957.[3]

History

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Parish church

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St Tetha's church, exterior
St Tetha's church, interior

The parish church is dedicated to Saint Tetha the Virgin, a 5th-century companion of Saint Breaca and supposed daughter of King Brychan Brycheiniog in Wales. The church is a Grade I protected building consisting of a Norman core and 15th-century expansions. It is large, with a nave and two aisles.[4] The church was collegiate until 1545 when the two prebends were abolished.[5] The church was renovated in 1879, reopening 6 November by the Bishop of Truro, Edward Benson.

There is a Cornish cross in the cemetery on the other side of the road from the churchyard. An account of it was given in the Antiquarian Magazine, August 1883. Part of it was once used as a footbridge; it was afterwards used in the churchyard wall but the parts were reunited and repaired; both the head and the shaft are ornamented. There is also a cross base in the churchyard.[6][7]

Anne Jeffries

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St Teath was the birthplace in December 1626 of Anne Jeffries, a woman said to have associated with fairies.[8]

Cattle sale and cricket match

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The first recorded mention of cricket in Cornwall is an advertisement in the Sherborne Mercury on 18 June 1781 for the sale of cattle at St Teath, near Camelford. The advertisement was dated 14 June 1781 and signed by Nathaniel Long.

Whereas the annual sale for cattle at St Teath, near Camelford, Cornwall held at the first Tuesday in July had for several years being rather neglected. This is to inform the publick, that the Gentlemen farmers etc of the neighbourhood will produce a large show of cattle of the said day being the 3rd day of July next.
NB. The evening of the same day will be cricketed for a very handsome silver-laced hat.[9]20th Century

During World War II, bombs were dropped twice on or near St Teath, this occurring on consecutive days in August 1940. On the second occasion, 30 August, none of the bombs that were dropped actually exploded.[10]

Cornish wrestling

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Throughout the 19th century, St Teath hosted Cornish wrestling tournaments in various venues including the New White Hart Inn.[11][12]

Abraham Bastard (1789-1868), was born in St Teath and beat the famous wrestler James Polkinghorne in a famous match at St Kew in the 1820s.[13] He later became a preacher, who wrote a well known book of his life.[14][15]

References

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  1. ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 200 Newquay & Bodmin ISBN 978-0-319-22938-5
  2. ^ "Parish population 2011". Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  3. ^ "Ward population 2011". Retrieved 14 February 2015.
  4. ^ Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed. Penguin; p. 202
  5. ^ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; p. 201
  6. ^ Langdon, A. G. (1896) Old Cornish Crosses. Truro: Joseph Pollard; pp. 391-94 & 423
  7. ^ G. E. Ellis "Cornish crosses" Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries, 1964 Vol. 29, pp. 273-274
  8. ^ Haughton, Brian. "Anne Jefferies and the Fairies – Brian Haughton.com". Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  9. ^ Gilbert, Martin (2005). One Hundred Years of The Cornwall Cricket League. pp. 15–16.
  10. ^ ""When Bombs Fell" - The air-raids on Cornwall during WW2 : Part 2 - 1940". WW2 People's war. BBC. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  11. ^ West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 26 May 1870.
  12. ^ Royal Cornwall Gazette, 16 July 1880.
  13. ^ Historic venue for wrestling in St Kew, Cornish Guardian, 16 August 1956, p9.
  14. ^ Cornish Wrestling down the ages, West Briton and Cornwall Advertiser, 4 January 1954, p1.
  15. ^ Samuel Ley Thorne,The Converted Wrestler; or the Life of Abraham Bastard, 1877

Further reading

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  • Maclean, John (1872–79) The Parochial and Family History of the Deanery of Trigg Minor. 3 vols. London: Nichols & Son
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