South Hill Parish
Description
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South Hill is a very quiet and small rural parish in east Cornwall. It is about 3 to 4 miles from Callington to the South East and 6 to 7 miles from Liskeard to the South West. Launceston is about 10 miles North. The parish of Callington is to the South East with Stoke Climsland on the eastern and north eastern side. Linkinhorne is to the north west and west. The River Lynher forms the boundary with St Ive to the West |
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The parish and church of St Sampson was anciently part of the manors of Killigrew. The present church was believed to have been constructed in 1333 on the site of an earlier place of worship. The parish of Callington has always been associated with South Hill. St Sampson’s church is 105 years older than St Mary’s of Callington, even to this day St Sampson's is considered the mother church. |
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St Sampson was born around 500 AD and is believed to have set up a monastery at either South Hill or Golant. Proof of the importance of early Christianity at South Hill came with the finding of a Romano-British granite pillar about 8ft high with an inscribed cross and inscription on it. It was found in the rectory grounds in 1891 and was re-erected in the churchyard. The vicarage was demolished early in the last century and South Hill is now, no more than a church, a farm and a handful of houses. The main village of the parish is Golberdon, with smaller hamlets at Maders, Mornick, Trevigro and Trewoodloe with South Hill being the smallest of these. Golberdon used to have a PO/shop, chapel and a nearby school but all this has gone and the only facility remaining is a village hall. The Victorian mining boom that so dramatically affected neighbouring parishes, only had a limited effect upon South Hill. The only mines actually within South Hill were very small and not particularly successful. There was a mine called Blogsters not far drom Trevigro and there is the site of a mine shaft indicated at Whitley, however this may be a shaft for the Redmoor mines that must have undermined the parish boundary. Neighbouring parishes to the west, Linkinhorne and St Cleer achieved world renown. To the east the mines of Redmoor and Holmbush provided employment for many residents in the Parish and as can be seen from the census of 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 there was an increased population due to miners lodging in the parish. It was not unknown for miners to walk daily, the 4 or 5 miles from Callington to the mines of the Caradon area, and South Hill was that much closer. Judging by the advertisement on the Newspaper Extracts page one resident of Maders certainly used the proximity of the Redmoor Mines and miners to her advantage by opening a beer house.
With the miners there followed the Methodist movement and several
chapels were built in the parish, but sadly these have all now been
closed. The pub that existed in Golberdon was closed by the movement and
even today there is no public house in the parish.
Today, South Hill remains a quiet rural parish with many of its residents commuting to Plymouth and other neighbouring towns for their employment. Golberdon is now the largest village in the parish. |
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