Ertach Kernow - Lanivet a brief snapshot of a historic churchtown
Lanivet is not perhaps the place that people think of as the geographical centre of Cornwall and since the completion of the A30 bypass in 1977 passed through very often. Having to visit the west of Bodmin I recently travelled this route and stopped off to have a look at the church and a brief investigation of the village. It brought back memories of my days working in Bodmin in the 1970’s when I saw the sign ‘Lanivet Supply Store’.
At that time the store was run by an elderly woman Mrs F H Matthews, I can still visualise her spidery handwriting on her cheques. Her mother Edith Kate Marshall had opened the store in 1902, carrying on running the store even after losing her husband in 1917 during World War One. Ownership of the store was later taken over by her daughter following her mothers death in 1936, although she had run the shop for many years during Mrs Marshall’s long-term illness. An advert in the newspaper celebrated the 62nd year of the store in 1964 and was still going well into the 1970’s. Mrs Matthews died in 1982 at the age of 81, no doubt still remembered by many.
As always click the images for larger view
Occupation of the area around Lanivet can be traced back to Roman times. Besides the inscribed stone in the church there is one of the few sites, now named the Mulberry Downs Quarry, where the Romans mined for tin. This opencast works is 100 feet deep and 700 feet long and said to have produced 6lb’s of tin per ton. This quarry was still operating in the early 20th century and between 1859 and 1916 delivered 1,350 tons of black tin. For those adventurous folk the quarry is said to be accessible from the southeast with much care. This is a wooded area and has been designated a site of special scientific interest due to its geological relevance. Modern investigation with boreholes drilled into the soil and substrata’s show that there are cassiterite deposits, over manganese and lower iron layers besides copper and arsenic ores. At one point the Lanivet area boasted eleven copper mines and these productive mineworking’s were a valuable part of the local economy besides agriculture.
The church dedicated to St Nivet gives its name to the village. Lann is Kernewek for an enclosure, more specifically of a church so translating this is ‘enclosure of Nevet'. The longer Lannivet was used from the 13th century until the 15th although John Norden on his late 16th century map spells it Lanevett. It is actually a cross in the churchyard, which is said to be the centre of Cornwall, but whether it is or not perhaps someone with a knowledge of topographical science would better to confirm that. The current St Nivet’s Church dates from the early 15th century but bearing in minds the Cornish name of the settlement named in records from 1268 this would imply that an earlier church existed. The immediate earlier church was dedicated in 1318 with the high altar rededicated in 1338. Once again given the dates and settlement name it seems likely there was an even earlier church or at least a religious building of some type on this site.
St Nivet’s Church although a Grade I listed building does sadly languish and is included in the latest Historic England 2023 at risk register. The description provided states; ‘Large Anglican parish church in the centre of a large village. Classic Cornish pattern plan of three aisles with tall west tower. Granite and slate roofed mostly C15. High level stonework needs repair and some roofs need re-slating. Rainwater goods need repair.’ Hopefully some action will take place to ensure the survival of this church which is one of many at risk throughout Cornwall. These buildings are not just religious sites but an important part of Cornish history and cultural heritage. Fortunately many are now being used by enlightened communities for activities and events beyond their original purposes. There is a large banner in the church with the message ‘Raise the Roof’ and saying, ‘We have a responsibility to future generations to conserve this beautiful and historic building’. Quite right too and should apply to all the churches and historic buildings throughout Cornwall.
The dissolution of the monasteries during the Reformation led to the destruction of Bodmin Priory. However it did allow the church at Lanivet to buy four of the five great bells in July 1538 for less than £37. There must have been one bell previous to this and in due course prior to 1727 all five were recast. Once again they were recast by the local Pennington family of Stoke Climsland in 1808. The Pennington's were considered the finest bell founders in Cornwall and Devon and cast some 480 bells between 1710-1818. A further bell was added in 1869 making a peal of six. Two smaller bells were also added with further recasting taking place on certain bells in 1988 and 2018.
Despite the exterior issues the interior looks very good. Sadly as often happened with Victorian church restoration resulted in destruction and loss. A whole series of wall paintings were lost in the 1864 restoration work and all that now remains are some sketches and a detailed description by Joseph Polsue written in 1870. These will be included on the website edition of this article as too long to include here. The roof beams of varnished timber seen today replaced the original barrel roofs divided by bands of carved oak with bosses. The work was carried out by the well-known architect James Piers St Aubyn who undertook a large number of church works throughout his career including a good many throughout Cornwall. There are a number of memorials of interest within the church including the attractive stained-glass windows most dating from the 19th century. The entrance and stairs to the rood screen can be seen as in many other medieval churches where the screen has been removed. There is also the inscribed stone dating from the Roman period
Outside there are two Cornish crosses of especial historic interest the one on the north side of the church is said to be the exact centre of Cornwall. The base of this is buried below the ground level and on its original site indicating the increased level of the graveyard over the past 1,000 years. There is some wonderful carving if you look closely at it and thought by many to represent the devil. To the rear of the church the gravestones have been removed to the side of the churchyard leaving an open space. This is what the original churchyard would have looked like. Medieval wealthy people would have been buried inside the church with an engraved slab over their tomb, these can still be seen in many churches. Poorer folk would have been buried in unmarked graves and it wasn’t until the 17th century that due to space and other issues wealthy people began to be buried outside the church erecting monuments and engraved stones. The Burial Acts of the 1850s banned interior church burials with some exceptions.
So much more could be written about this interesting and historic church but we must move on to St Benet’s Abbey. It has been thought by some to have originated as a Lazar House in the 15th century, where those afflicted with leprosy and other illnesses were cared for. However with the much larger institution at St Lawrences at nearby Bodmin established in the 13th century this is unlikely. Established as ‘Sancto Benedicti’ in 1411 as a chapel there were endowments recorded being made to it between 1430 and 1535. Along with other religious houses it was suppressed in 1545 and sold by the crown to Henry Chiverton in 1549. By 1620 it was owned by the wealthy Courney family for a time, later the Grose family removed much of the building to build another property. Subsequently it has been occupied as a private residence and now a small hotel and restaurant.
The nearby small hamlet of Lepery on John Norden’s map caught my interest and was also included on Joel Gascoyne’s map of 1699. Norden refers to it as a hamlet and by Thomas Martyn’s map of 1748 and the later the earliest Ordnance Survey in 1809 it has disappeared. What happened to Lepery, was it once perhaps a leprosy colony? Pure speculation.
There was quite recently the strange story regarding the Lanivet Hoard. There was a discovery of 56 coins over a period of some two years by the now disbanded Mid Cornwall History Hunters of which 31 coins dated back to the time of Nero from 54BCE. Classified as treasure the Duchy of Cornwall disclaimed their rights and the hoard is now in the possession of the Royal Institution of Cornwall at the Truro Museum. Bizarrely three coins from the original hoard were missing and had been substituted by three similar more valuable coins. This was only discovered when photographs of the original hoard were compared with another image sent to the British Museum for historical analysis. Anna Tyack the Find’s Officer for Cornwall at that time said ‘The substitute coins looked similar to those found but are actually in a better condition and are more valuable than those they were swapped in for. The substitution does not make sense.’
Just a small fragment of Lanivet’s history. If passing close by call in and have a look at the church and surroundings it’s well worth an hour or so. There is of course the hospitality of the Lanivet Inn to enjoy and the story of a link to Panda’s to hear about.
Heritage Column
