- Constantine, Cornwall
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For the village in St Merryn Parish, see Constantine Bay.For other uses, see Constantine.
Coordinates: 50°07′06″N 5°10′26″W / 50.1183°N 5.1738°W
Constantine Cornish: Lanngostentin 
Constantine
Constantine shown within CornwallPopulation 1,705 (Civil Parish, 2001) OS grid reference SW732291 Parish Constantine Unitary authority Cornwall Ceremonial county Cornwall Region South West Country England Sovereign state United Kingdom Post town FALMOUTH Postcode district TR11 Dialling code 01326 Police Devon and Cornwall Fire Cornwall Ambulance South Western EU Parliament South West England UK Parliament Camborne and Redruth List of places: UK • England • Cornwall 
Constantine's 15th century church
Constantine War Memorial, in the churchyard, carved from local stone by Elkana Symons
Trewardreva Cross from Arthur Langdon Old Cornish crosses,1896, page 282: Front and back of the Cornish Cross at the roadside, Trewardreva, near Constantine Churchtown.Constantine (Cornish: Lanngostentin) is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately five miles (8 km) west-southwest of Falmouth.[1]
The parish of Constantine is bounded by the parishes of Mabe, Mawnan, Gweek, Wendron and the north bank of the Helford River.[2]
Constantine is named after Saint Constantine, a 6th century Cornish saint possibly identified with a minor British king Constantine.
Contents
History
The history of Constantine is related in The Book of Constantine (2001),[3] as well as an earlier study, A History of the Parish of Constantine in Cornwall by Charles Henderson (1937).[4] Five Walks Around Constantine (2006) provides brief historical notes and many illustrations.
Early period
In pre-historic times, a fogou was constructed near Trewardreva: no-one knows its purpose.
The ancient name of Constantine, "Langostentyn", implies that the settlement was monastic, with the "Lan" prefix. Dr. Lynette Olson (1989) [5] has examined literary and archaeological evidence for all early monastic establishments in Cornwall and found significant doubts about the religious nature of Constantine before the Norman Conquest.
Andrew Langdon (1999) lists twelve stone crosses, or parts of crosses located in the parish. One of these was carved and erected in 1991. Several have been transferred from other sites. The stone cross at now at the cross-roads in High Cross was found in 1992 and re-erected nearby.[6]
After the Norman conquest
Little remains of the Norman church, which was rebuilt between 1420 and 1480: the tower has been called impressive.[7] The chancel was rebuilt in 1862 and there was other restoration work between 1859 and 1901. There is a brass of 1574 to Richard Gerveys and family.[8]
Trewardreva Manor House was built ca. 1600 and remodelled in 1719-49: the west wing was demolished in 1860.[9]
Extractive industries
The settlement called Constantine Churchtown grew up around the church. Mineral extraction led to a massive increase in population and the village expanded down what is now called Fore Street, during the 19th century.[10] However, one property, "The Bow Window", is thought to be a 300-year-old farmhouse.
The village had three main industries: agriculture; mining for tin, copper and iron;[11] and quarrying granite.[12][13]
The largest mine was Wheal Vyvyan, which was worked from 1827 to 1864. The production figures for copper 1845-1864 and for tin ore, 1855–1864, are given in Cornish Mines.[14] The value of copper raised peaked in 1845, 1850 and 1855. The peaks of value in tin ore production were in 1856 and 1863. In 1864, the value of tin raised was only a quarter of the previous year's value and the mine closed.[15]
Twentieth century
View of the Church and the Recreation Ground, showing the Social Club on the left of the pictureIn 1921, Alice Hext of Trebah gave the playing field and sports pavilion to the village,[16] in memory of her husband, Charles Hawkins Hext, who died in 1917. She supported the development of the Sport and Social Club until her death in 1939.[17]
In 1933, overhead cables, providing electricity to homes were installed in the village.[18]
Port Navas has an ancient oyster farm.[19]
Education and language
A British School was opened in 1836 at Ponjeravah.[20] After 1957, the school moved to what is now the Church Hall and in 1966 to its present site, the building being refurbished and extended in 2005, as Constantine Primary School.[21] There is also a Pre-School,[22] set in an eco-friendly building on the primary school campus. For secondary education, children have to travel to Helston, Mullion, Falmouth or Penryn.
Constantine parish is the home of five bards of the Cornish Gorseth, including a former Grand Bard, Vanessa Beeman.
Notable residents
- John Hellins F.R.S., the mathematical astronomer, was curate of Constantine from 1779 to 1783.[23]
- Vanessa Beeman, Grand Bard of Gorseth Kernow September 2006 to September 2009.[24][25]
Government and politics
Constantine Parish Council meets on the Thursday nearest 20th of the month at 7:00 p.m.[26] The Civil Parish has prepared a Parish Plan as a framework for future development/conservation.
Annual events
Saint Constantine's "Feast" is celebrated in the village, on or around 9 March. The Agricultural Society (founded 1900) and the Cottage Garden Society run Shows early in July. The Constantine Social Club run a Carnival, usually on a weekend at the end of July. The Constantine Art Society has a two-week exhibition, starting at the end of July. An annual "Cornish Talk and Taste" festival takes place in January.
Twinning
Like many other Cornish places, Constantine Parish with Gweek, is twinned with a partner in Brittany in Western France. In this case the village is twinned with Pont-Croix, Département Finistère. In Breton, "Pont-Croix" is "Pont-e-kroaz" and, colloquially, "Ar Pont".[27]
The Tolmen Centre
The Tolmen, formerly the Wesleyan Methodist ChurchA social enterprise, Constantine Enterprises Company,[28] bought the former Methodist chapel in 1998. A wide range of social and cultural events happen there, all run by volunteers. The building is now known as the Tolmen Centre.
In September 2006, Constantine won the Calor Best Village in Cornwall 2006 competition.[29] Constantine was also judged the Best Village in the West of England 2007, in the Business Category.[30]
Place-names in the civil parish of Constantine
BrillBonallack, Bosahan, Bosanarth, Bosawsack, Bosvathick, Boswarch, Boswidjack, Bridge, Brillwater, Brill (a hamlet to the west of the village of Constantine), Calamansac, Carvedras, Goongillings, Groyne Point, High Cross, Job's Water, Lestraynes, Maen Pern, Merthen, Nancenoy, Penwarn, Polpenwith, Polwheveral, Ponjeravah, Port Navas, Retallack, Scott's Quay, Seworgan, Trebarvah, Trecombe, Tregantallan, Treglidwith, Treleggan, Trenarth, Trengrove, Tresahor, Tresidder, Trevassack, Trevease, Treviades, Trewardreva, Trewince, Treworvack, Treworvall, Tucoyse.
Notes
- ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 Truro & Falmouth ISBN 9780319231494
- ^ For a map of the boundaries, zoomable to plan detail, use Cornwall County Council's Interactive Map of Cornwall.
- ^ The Book of Constantine
- ^ For bibliographical details, see References below.
- ^ Early monasteries in Cornwall, page 105
- ^ Stone Crosses: Andrew Langdon (Dyffresyas Crowson -Protector of Crosses) Stone crosses in West Cornwall (including The Lizard), The Federation of Old Cornwall Societies, 1999 (Cornish Cross series No.5) ISBN 09020660284. Langdon hold that place-names starting "Lan" indicate the location of a Burial Ground, not a church or monastery (P.3, section d). The items listed in the book in Constantine are numbered 18 to 29.
- ^ Harris, Ida and David (1975). The Church of Saint Constantine in Cornwall: a brief guide, compiled and illustrated by Ida and David Harris.
- ^ Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall, 2nd ed. Penguin Books; p. 55-56
- ^ Pevsner (1970); p. 56
- ^ Ordnance Survey 6 inch map, 1888, surveyed in 1878 Sheet LXXVII NW shows the street complete.
- ^ Mining history at Constantine Village website
- ^ history at Constantine Village website
- ^ See also pages 44-49 of the Book of Constantine. For more information on quarrying in the Constantine area, see Peter Stanier's South West Granite
- ^ Cornish Mines
- ^ The story of the local mines is covered in detail in pages 40-43 of the Book of Constantine
- ^ The book of Mawnan (2002)
- ^ Minute Book of the Constantine Sport and Social Club (in private hands); review of the year 1940
- ^ Electricity supply: West Briton, 17 November 1933.
- ^ Constantine Village website on Oyster farming at Port Navas
- ^ Notes on Schools in Constantine 1957
- ^ Primary School website
- ^ Pre-school website
- ^ Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article by R. E. Anderson, ‘Hellins, John (d. 1827) ’, rev. Adrian Rice,[1] accessed 30 May 2007
- ^ "Vanessa Beeman" (in Cornish). http://kw.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanessa_Beeman. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ "Cornish Gorseth site". Gorseth Kernow. http://www.gorsethkernow.org.uk/english/welcome.htm. Retrieved 16 December 2009.
- ^ Constantine Parish Council information
- ^ Constantine Twinning Association webpage
- ^ Constantine Enterprises Company website
- ^ Calor Best Village Press Release
- ^ Calor Best Village competition 2007 website.
References
- Trethowan, Gerald; Moore, Liz (2001). The Book of Constantine. Tiverton, Devon: Halsgrove. ISBN 1-84114-102-X.
- Henderson, Charles; Doble, G. H. (who edited the text after Henderson's death) (1937). A History of the Parish of Constantine in Cornwall. Truro: Royal Institution of Cornwall.
- Scolding, Bill (2006). Five walks around Constantine.. Constantine, Cornwall: Constantine Enterprises Company. ISBN 978-0-9552816-0-0.
- Stanier, Peter (1999). South West Granite: a history of the granite industry in Devon and Cornwall. St. Austell, Cornwall: Cornish Hillside Publications. ISBN 1-900147-14-9 (Hardback) ISBN 1-900147-13-0 (paperback).
- Burt, Roger; Burnley, Ray (1987). Cornish mines. Exeter, Devon: University of Exeter with the Northern Mine Research Society. ISBN 0-85989-287-5.
- Olson, Lynette (1989). Early monasteries in Cornwall (Studies in Celtic History series). Woodbridge, Suffolk: Boydell Press. ISBN 0-85115-478-6.
- The Mawnan History Group (2002). The Book of Mawnan: celebrating a South Cornwall parish. Tiverton, Devon: Halsgrove. ISBN 1-84114-148-8.
External links
Geography of Cornwall Unitary authorities Major settlements Bodmin • Bude • Callington • Camborne • Camelford • Falmouth • Fowey • Hayle • Helston • Launceston • Liskeard • Looe • Lostwithiel • Marazion • Newlyn • Newquay • Padstow • Par • Penryn • Penzance • Porthleven • Redruth • Saltash • St Austell • St Blazey • St Columb Major • St Ives • St Just-in-Penwith • St Mawes • Stratton • Torpoint • Truro • Wadebridge
See also: Civil parishes in CornwallRivers Topics History • Status debate • Flag • Culture • Places • People • The Duchy • Diocese • Politics • Hundreds/shires • Places of interest • full list...Civil parishes of Camborne and Redruth constituency 
Categories:- Villages in Cornwall
- Civil parishes in Cornwall
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