The Tudor Porch House and the Reverend John Eyre
The Tudor Porch House was located in Pool Street. Here Bodmin’s Congregational Church was formally instituted after hearing John Eyre (aged 19) preaching at the Mount Folly in 1773.
The Porch House was sited on the northern side at the western end of Pool Street.* When the Porch with the room over the top was destroyed a passage was cut through to a yard behind.
John Eyre was born in Bodmin in 1754. He had a good education at Bodmin Grammar School.
At the age of 15 he was bound as an apprentice to a clothier. Before the termination of his apprenticeship he commenced holding public religious meetings in the Town Hall.
His father was offended at this and drove him from his house. John joined Lady Huntingdon’s College in South Wales and later became a Minister at Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel at Tregony.**
He eventually became a curate at St Giles, Reading followed by St Lukes, Chelsea.
John was ordained as a Deacon in 1779 and joined St. Lukes, Chelsea in 1782. He was very popular as a preacher and active in all schemes of benevolence. He was one of the founders of the London Missionary Society.
John Eyre was also significant in promoting Schools for the Education of the Poor and other charitable initiatives. He played an important role in the formation of the Bible Society.
On his return to Bodmin he secured the Town Hall for the purpose of preaching the gospel to the town’s inhabitants. His fame increased and both poor and rich flocked to Bodmin to hear the word of God.
After a life of piety and usefulness he died in 1803.
* Pool Street was originally the site of the Borough Mill Pond
** There was also a Lady Huntingdon’s Chapel in Fore Street, Bodmin.
Sources: Dictionary of National Biography & Wikapedia
Stephanie Thomas - President, Bodmin Old Cornwall Society
Click images to enlarge
Passmore Edwards Library Bodmin
Many towns in Cornwall have a library that was built by the entrepreneur and philanthropist John Passmore Edwards, who was born at Blackwater near Truro in 1823. He was a great reader as a child and did odd jobs to earn money for books. Edwards became a lawyer’s clerk at Truro but gave it up and became a journalist. He made his fortune from the “Building News” and the “Echo” – the first halfpenny newspaper. Edwards was also anti-gambling, advocated Chartism and international peace. He became Liberal MP for Salisbury between 1880-1885.
Having made his fortune in London he spent much of it on good works, particularly on libraries for the working classes and the poorly paid. He also established art galleries and hospitals, not just in Cornwall but all over the country, and in 1902 he endowed a scholarship in English Literature at Oxford. However, he declined the honour of a Knighthood.
The Passmore Edwards Library in Fore Street, Bodmin was built in 1897 to a design by Silvanus Trevail on the site of the Western Inn. It is similar in style to many of the others in Cornwall, such as Truro and Falmouth. The roof has Cornish grey slates quarried at Delabole and the base and steps are of Luxulyan granite.
At one time, Bodmin Town Museum was located within the building.
On its façade are the Borough War Memorials to those who had lived in Bodmin and who died in the two world wars.
Passmore Edwards gave many public libraries to Cornish towns – Bodmin, Camborne, Falmouth, Launceston, Liskeard, Penzance, Redruth, Truro and St Ives. He was a generous benefactor and in a space of 14 years, 70 major buildings over Great Britain were established as result of his bequests, including 24 libraries.
John Passmore Edwards 1823-1911
Researched by Bodmin Old Cornwall Society
Sources:
- Bodmin Town Trail Walkabout
- Wikipedia
Above version researched & edited for Bodmin Way Magazine by Stephanie Thomas, President, Bodmin Old Cornwall Society
Bodmin Gaol, Bodmin
With the opening of the newly revamped Bodmin Gaol, now a big tourist attraction it is interesting to read a report made by the Prison Inspectors’ on their visit to Cornwall County Prison on 29th June 1871.
‘The Inspectors’ report on their visit to the Bodmin County Prison states it contains accommodation for 141 male and 59 female criminals, and for 25 debtors. The average daily number of criminals in custody is 102. The total ordinary expenditure of the prison is
£3,471 1s 3d, which sum includes the salaries of all officers, &c. Hard labour of the first-class consists of rope-beating and the tread wheel which latter accommodates 32, with a relief of 32, working four hours and resting four hours, by alternate periods of fifteen minutes. During the rest, the prisoners pick oakum. The ascent of the tread wheel is 7,200 feet. Hard labour of the second-class consists of oakum-picking, mat-making and trades for the males; and needlework, knitting, washing and oakum-picking for the females.
The record of punishments inflicted for prison offences during the year shews that one male was shipped, one placed in irons or handcuffs, ten sent to solitary or dark cells, and 596 suffered a stoppage of diet. As many as three females were placed in irons, whilst only 17 had their diet stopped. In the opinion of the surgeon the diet is “punitive” , though not so much as to endanger the health and strength of the prisoners. A pestiferous pool is reported to be close under the south wall of the prison, much endangering health. Debtors in this prison, who do not maintain themselves, receive the same diet, with extra bread, as convicted prisoners at hard labour for terms between two and six months
Researched by Bodmin Old Cornwall Society
The above version edited for Bodmin Way Magazine by Stephanie Thomas, President, Bodmin Old Cornwall Society
The Guildhall, Fore Street, Bodmin
The Guildhall dates back to the 16th Century and is thought to be the “House of St Petroc’s”. In Queen Elizabeth’s Charter of 1536 it was known as “Hall House” where the Town Council held their meetings and other important functions. It was built on the site of the meeting place of St Petroc’s Guild of Skinners and Glovers, and was a larger building than we see today and included the adjacent premises. In 1968 Mr Shelley who then owned that property which was Shelley’s Pet Shop, discovered a medieval fireplace.
The Guildhall is almost certainly the “Town Hall” in which John Wesley preached in the 18th Century. Riding across Bodmin moor and losing his way he heard the Bodmin (curfew) bell rung at 8 o’clock and arrived in the town before 9 o’clock.. The 15th Century bell, which was originally in the Old Friary was hung in the main hall of the Guildhall for many years until it was removed to the Council Offices and is now in Bodmin museum.
The Royal Arms on the façade of the building were presented by Bassett of Tehidy (Lord de Dunstanville) in 1807.
In 1906 the building was renovated complete with a new suite of municipal offices and a Council Chamber. The front of the building was occupied by the Borough Surveyor and a combined Council Chamber and a Magistrate’s Room at the rear.
The end of the Guildhall had a window facing east and a new window was inserted facing south. The original window had four shields inserted with a pattern similar to the links in the Mayoral chain. Each shield contained one of the four emblems representing three kingdoms and Principality of the British Isles. In order, England (The Rose), Scotland (The Thistle), Ireland (The Shamrock) and Wales (The Leek). In the panels of the new window the following armorial bearings, the Royal Coat of Arms, the Arms of the County of Cornwall, the Arms of the Borough of Bodmin and the Arms of the Ancient Priory of Bodmin.
In 1974 Bodmin Town Council became Bodmin Parish Council and met in the Guildhall until their final meeting nine years later on 16th May 1983.
The Guildhall was sold to Malcolm Barnecutt and is still occupied today as a Bakers Shop and Restaurant.
Source: Tony Buscombe, Essay on Bodmin, The Ancient Capital of Cornwall
The above version edited for Bodmin Way Magazine by Stephanie Thomas, President, Bodmin Old Cornwall Society
BERRY TOWER, BODMIN
BERY TOWER (original spelling) Situated in the old cemetery on the northern side of Cross Lane was built between 1501 and 1514 and is all that remains of the Chantry Chapel of the Holy Rood or Cross used by the New, Holy Rood and St. Christopher Guilds up to the Reformation there. In 1470 there were three Guild Chapels on the Hill.
The largest was the Chapel of the Holy Rood Guild with its own burial ground. There are no records dating the building of the Chapel but documents for the building of the tower still exist. The presence of a burial ground at a Guild Chapel is rare and reflects on the early monastic origins of the site. Today only the tower remains, but in the 19th century foundation walls of the Chapel of the Holy Rood were traceable.
It is also very likely that this area was the site of the monastery of Dinuurin, seat of the Cornish bishops in the 9th century AD, having been originally dedicated to St Guron and later replaced by St Petroc.
Berry Lane leading to Clerkenwater was one of two settlements founded by St Petroc in the 14th century and it is probable that Bodmin was once centred upon this Northern Hill and a probable Saxon derivation favours “Borough” as a meaning for “Bury” and “Bery”.
It is also recorded that baptisms took place at the Chapel of the Holy Rood but by 1690 it was no longer being used. The graveyard was used for grazing and by 1753 only the Tower remained. In 1859 the land was purchased for a new town cemetery as the St Petroc burial ground was full.
In the early 1990’s the Tower’s future was uncertain and faced demolition but in 1994 the entire cemetery area was designated as a Conservation Area. The Tower was fenced off but was later repaired and restored after funding was granted from the Heritage Lottery Fund, North Cornwall District Council and Bodmin Town Council.
A Celtic Cross, once positioned in Berry Lane, now stands nearby.
An entry in the Bodmin Deanery Magazine for March 1925 reports on the Re-Consecration of the Burial Ground at Berry Tower by the Bishop of Truro and the Archdeacon of Bodmin
Sources:
Pat Munn - The Cornish Capital / John Neale - Around Bodmin / Peter Davies - Bodmin Town & Moor / Bodmin Old Cornwall Society
The above version edited for Bodmin Way Magazine by Stephanie Thomas, President, Bodmin Old Cornwall Society
Cornish Cross on the Old Callywith Road, Bodmin
The Cross is a Grade II listed building which marks the boundary between Bodmin and Cardinham. it was first recorded in 1613 as the “Greedetch Cross” because it stands at the junction with the Great Ditch which bounded land owned by Bodmin Priory. The Cross has a decorated wheel-head and stands to an approximate height of 1.8 metres.
It is a Wayside Cross whose main function was to mark the route to the Parish Church. It was also used to mark tracks to the sites of pilgrimages, monastic sites, ancient Chapels and Holy Wells.
On an 1840 tithe map can be seen a track from Callywith to Clerkenwater known as “The Church Path”. There is a mention of a “Chapel over the hill” recorded in 1157. It is also stated that there is a site of an old Holy Well at Penbugle.
Callywith is just outside the borough boundary and gave its name to one of the toll gates on the 1769 Bodmin Moor turnpike (now the A30). The road leading from Bodmin Moor to Castle Street which was the main route into Bodmin until the Launceston Road was cut through Barn Park in 1834.
The word Callywith was derived from the Cornish word “Kellywyth” meaning “wood”.
The above version edited for Bodmin Way Magazine by Stephanie Thomas, President, Bodmin Old Cornwall Society
