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LAMPROBUS, KERNOW The Garden Parish
The Parish of Probus, can be found around 4 miles north of the city of Truro, wih the village of Probus approximately 2 further miles North, It is a relatively small village with a population of approximately 2,050 persons. Much history can be found within the village, much of this History originates from the Parish Church of St Probus and St Grace which can be found in the main square of the village, Records of this church can be found as far back as 1086 with the church featuring within the ‘Doomsday Book’ Probus in the past was the main connection between the town of St Austell and the City of Truro until 1994 where a Bypass was constructed wrapping around the village, leaving the village secluded from many visistors and helping the village to keep much of its herritage.
50.2919° N, -4.9510° W St Probus and St grace church is believed to have been built in the early 5th Century due to the structure of the church being built on a circular site which is indicative of the early 5th century. The Church is also mentioned in the 1086 Doomsday book by a Cornish landowner, In the 1140s the church became a collegiate foundation with a Dean and five canons and the right of sanctuary when the church was handed to the cathedral of Exeter by King Henry I, this was removed during King Henry VIII’s reign. In 1447 the chapel of St George which was situated in the south east corner of the courtyard was licensed but there are no traces of this building that remain in the current churchyard. The graveyard is no longer used for burials except for family plots that still have places available for burials, the new graveyard for the church can be found down Chapel Street just past the Primary school.
One of the main features of not only St Probus and St Grace parish Church but also Probus as a whole is the spire sitting at a height off 38.35 meters which makes it the tallest church spire in the County of Cornwall Although no official records to confirm, it is believed that the reason St Grace features within the name of the church is because they themselves helped fund the construction of the spire for the church.
Within the tallest church tower in Cornwall also situated is the church bells that consist of 8 bells and are rang every Sunday morning by the Probus bell ringers who is open to anybody within the parish of Probus. The current priest of St Probus and St Grace church is Reverend Paul who has just been ordained for the second time as the Vicar of St Probus and St Grace parish church
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In the photograph several podiums can be seen and feature on both the north side and the south side these are believed to have been built to hold statues rather than the design of the church but there is no record wether these statues actually made it onto the church or wether they had succomd to damage over the years and fallen from the church.
50.2924° N, -4.9514° W Trudgian Farm Shop can be found in the main of square of the village and is a family run shop retailing meat and vegtables fresh from their Trudgian Farm 3 miles away from the shop. Within the shop is a cheese counter supplying Cornish cheeses and a Butcher counter that deals with all the meat that comes direct from their farm both the counters are run by family members of the farm and have worked in the shop for many years The farm has been running since 1901 and the shop supplying the goods from the farm to the locals of Probus since 1994, Trudgian also have another farm in the Parish of Creed which borders the North East of the parish of Probus Margaret the shop owner who features in the photograph above said the reason they created the shop was ‘to help feed the locals but also during the 1990s when BSE (mad cow disease) was rapidly spreading across the country their farm had never succumb to the disease and was able to still provide meat to the locals’
Agriculture has always been a big influence within Probus unlike many other areas in Cornwall, Probus didn’t contain any mines unlike its neighbours. The parish gained the nickname the Garden Parish due to its agricultural background with the village surrounded by farmland almost isolating the village from other villages or towns. Trudgian farm shop provides a perfect example of what can be produced on the land of probus producing enough produce to feed the village straight from the farm.
Probus was home to a demonstration garden from 1970s and situated on the Trewithen estate and was sponsored by South West water. Unfortuanly in 2004 the gardens was closed so the estate could sell the land but in 2021 the land is still unsold and is untouched
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Trewithen Estate’s land is used for the vistas that surround the house but also is let to local farmers to be used for produce. Trewithen gardens can be visited during the summer months for a fee or you can follow the paths surrounding the eatate and see from a far.
50.2923° N, -4.9525° W The Hawkins Arms has been a staple within the centre of probus since the 1700s originally named “The Queens” records show a pub in the location in 1758 owned by the trewithen estate, which at the time was owned and managed by Sir Christopher Hawkins In 1919 under the ownership of John Heywood the pub was sold to St Austell Brewery for £773, even though the pub isn’t owned and hasnt been for over 100 years by the Hawkins family the name still stands and on the front of the pub the cote of arms of the Hawkins family still hangs over the outside pavement. Over the 100 years that the pub has been owned by the St Austell Brewery the pub has had 10 landlords with one name featuring above the front door, Henry Pollard who was the landlord of the pub in 1914 before the sale of the pub in 1919
The Hawkins arms was one of the many buildings within the Hawkins family estate and Sir Christopher Hawkins had it renamed from “The Queens” to “Hawkins Arms” as in the 18th Centrury when he owned the pub it was tradition for the owners name to feature within the name and their cote of arms to be hung from outside the pub. St Austell Brewery decided to keep the name of the pub to embrace the history that the pub holds but also in recognition to the Hawkins family for their contributions to the village and surrounding area.
The Hawkins family owned 7 pubs including the Hawkins Arms across Cornwall all featuring their name in some capacity. In 2019 Peter and Anne Marie became the latest landlord under the St Austell Brewery ownership in 100 years taking over the pub in the 100th year and opening in September of 2019
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Probus used to have two pubs the other being “The Kings” which was owned by Amos Weekes who surrendered the pub in 1841 in favour of taking over the Hawkins Arms.
50.2919° N, -4.9510° W In St Probus and St Grace graveyard lays the grave of Sir Christopher Hawkins who died in 1829, The grave can be found in the West of the church graveyard and stands out from the other graves with its tomb style towering above the surrounding grave stones. Sir Christopher’s grave also features four soldiers who are all kneeling on one knee with the top of the tomb resting on their shoulder as if they where carrying him. While he was the owner of the estate, he was also a member of parliament serving the follow consistuents of Grampound from 1800-1807, Mitchell from 1784-1799 and from1806-1807, Penryn from 1806-1807 and 1818-1820 and St Ives between 1821-1828 all as their local MP. Sir Christopher Hawkins had no children so the estate of trewithen was passed to his brother John Hawkins in 1829 who passed the estate to his son upon his death in 1841 before the esatate was handed down in 1903 to John Heywood leaving the Trewithen estate in the hands of somebody without the Hawkins name for this first time in almost 200 years but still remains within the Hawkins Family
John Hawkins was the first of the Hawkins to move to Cornwall in 1554 and was a courtier to King Henry VIII and lived near St Erth running a successful business near by in Mevagissey Phillip Hawkins was a weathly landowner who bought Trewithen estate in Probus in 1715. Phillip died with no children therefore leaving the estate of trewithen to his nephew Thomas Hawkins, who further commissioned the redesign of the estate and had many specimens of trees planted surrounding the estate creating the now famous vistas of trewithen gardens. Thomas succomb to smallpox and the estate passed to his eldest son, Christopher Hawkins
Over the years the estate has been handed down the family tree many times and in the 1900s was when the development picked up with the gardens by sponsoring plant hunting expeditions to the Himalayas The current owner of the estate is Michel Galsworthy and has lived in the house since the 1980s.
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Sir Christopher opened many mines in the County of Cornwall including tin and copper mines,
50.2922° N, -4.9604° W Probus not only has a primary school which can be found opposite the local allotments on chapel street but in the past there was a private school at the bottom of the village, this school attracted students from all over the county These days the private school no longer exists anymore including the building which was knocked down. You can locate the area where the school was by finding the road sign “COLLEGE CLOSE LEADING TO LEWMAN ROAD” and to the left hand side of the road currently features a petrol station and within the bushes is the 1831 sign for the front of the school College close was named due to the school and Lewman Road was named after the head teacher of the school
In 1897 Queen Victoria celebrated her Diamon Jubilee officially being celebrated on the 22nd June 1897, the Diamond Jubilee is the celebration of a monarch reaching 60 years on the thrown from their accession. Queen Victoria was the first British Monarch to reach the Diamond Jubille and only Queen Elizabeth II has also reached this milestone as the British monarch, after the Jubilee for Queen Victoria many lamps where erected around the country to celebrate the first Diamond Jubille in British Royal history including in Probus where there was also an oak tree planted for her Golden Jubilee by the Parish Council.
The lamp features the ER crown on the top with text surrounding the lampshade reading “ Diamond Jubilee Probus 1897” Its unknown wether the lamp was placed where it was due to the crown being the head of the church and therefore the reason behind it being placed there.
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The Jubilee Lamp was erected in the middle of the road outside the church of St Probus and St Grace, for the Diamond jubileee of Queen Victoria.
Bibliography (2021, 08). Retrieved from Probus parish church: https://probuschurch.com/church-life/adults/ A history of Jubilees. (2021, 08). Retrieved from Royal: https://www.royal.uk/history-jubilees#:~:text=The%20first%20British%20 monarch%20to,(for%20her%20Diamond%20Jubilee). Art and the country house. (2021, 08). Retrieved from https://www.artandthecountryhouse.com/essays/essays-index/trewithen-house-and-the-hawkins-family-a-building-history#:~:text=Hawkins%20died%20without%20issue%20in,ownership%20 the%20gardens%20were%20restored. Church, P. P. (2021, July 22). Probus Parish Church. Retrieved from https://probuschurch.com/about-us/history/ Cornwall Garden Trust. (2021, 08). Retrieved from https://www.cornwallgardenstrust.org.uk/probus-gardens/ Hawkins arms Now and Then. (2021, 08). Retrieved from Cornish Story: https://www.cornwallgardenstrust.org.uk/probus-gardens/ Historic Probus Pub reopens. (2021, 07 22). Retrieved from Business Cornwall: https://businesscornwall.co.uk/news-by-ind Merrifield, A. M. (2004). The Book of Probus. Truro: Halsgrove. probus church. (2021, 07). Retrieved from A cornish Journey: https://acornishjourney.wordpress.com/the-churches/probus-church/ Probus St Probus and St Grace Church. (2021, 08 04). Retrieved from Britain Express: https://www.britainexpress.com/counties/ cornwall/churches/probus.htm The estate. (2021, 08). Retrieved from Trewithen: https://trewithengardens.co.uk/estate/ The Farm. (2021, 08). Retrieved from Trudgian Farm: http://trudgianfarm.co.uk The History of Trewithen . (2021, 08 04). Retrieved from Trewithen: https://trewithengardens.co.uk/trewithen-house/history-of-trewithen/ The Shop. (2021, 08). Retrieved from Trudgian Farm: http://trudgianfarm.co.uk
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LAMPROBUS, KERNOW