Ludgvan

Ludgvan is a village and civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall, United Kingdom. The parish includes the villages of Ludgvan, Crowlas, Canon's Town and Long Rock. The parish is bounded by those of Towednack and Lelant to the north, Madron and Penzance to the west, by St Erth, St Hilary and Marazion to the east and by the sea to the south. The village is physically split between the area known as "Churchtown", situated upon the hill, and "Lower Quarter" to the east, adjoining Crowlas. There is now only a sparse number of dwellings situated on the north side of the connecting road.

History

Like many communities in Cornwall the legendary origins of Ludgvan are attributed to the arrival of its patron saint, in this case Saint Ludgvan (or Saint Ludowanus). However, the place-name appears to derive from the Cornish for "place of ashes" or "burnt place".cite book |last= Mills|first= A. D.|title= The Popular Dictionary of English Place-Names|year= 1996|month= |publisher= Parragon Book Service Ltd and Magpie Books|isbn= 0752518518 |pages= p.217] Ludgvan was mentioned in the Domesday Book (under the name of "Luduhan") as falling within the manor of Ludgvan-Lees, which at the time of record covered much of what is now the northern part of the Penwith including some parts of the modern parish of St Ives. Lords of the manor of Ludgvan-Lees kept certain shipping rights within the port of St Ives up to and possibly beyond the 19th century. Ludgvan Lease now exists as a hamlet within the parish. Also within the parish of Ludgvan lies Varfell which was the ancestral home of the Davy family, including Sir Humphry Davy. It has been claimed [Robert Hunt in "Popular Romances of the West of England" see [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/prwe/prwe314.htm] ] that Ludgvan was the home of the last native wolf in the UK; however, this cannot be confirmed by available historical sources. The village has an Old Cornwall Society.

William Oliver, FRS, inventor of the Bath Oliver biscuit, and founder of the Royal Mineral Water Hospital, Bath was born here.cite web | last = Courtney | first = W. P. | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Oliver, William (1695–1764), physician and philanthropist, by W. P. Courtney Published 1894 | work = Dictionary of National Biography Vol. XXXXII | publisher =Smith, Elder & Co. | date = 1894 | url = http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/olddnb/20736 | format = HTML | doi = | accessdate = 2008-01-07]

Local Government

For the purposes of local government, Ludgvan elects a parish council every 4 years. The principal local authorities in this area are Penwith District Council and the Cornwall County Council.

References

External links

* [http://crocat.cornwall.gov.uk/dserve/dserve.exe?dsqIni=Dserve.ini&dsqApp=Archive&dsqDb=Catalog&dsqCmd=Overview.tcl&dsqSearch=((text)='ludgvan') Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Ludgvan]

References