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The parish of

CARDINHAM

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Cardinham Parish Church
The Parish Church of St Meubred
© Pauline Pickup 2008

Cardinham has existed for more than 1000 years and is one of the Cornish parishes not carrying the same name as the saint for whom the church is named (St Meubred). The name is Cornish from "Car" or "Caer" which means "enclosure" or "fort," and "dinas" which may also mean "fortress." It is assumed from the name that there has been a castle or fortress there since ancient times, and it is thought that the castle was built there about 1080 by Robert of Mortain, a half-brother to William the Conqueror. The castle was occupied by Robert Fitz-Turold and his descendants for about 200-300 years. The family used the family name "de Cardinan," taken from this place. The castle was a very short distance to the south and east of the church. It is on private land, but almost nothing remains there.

The present church dates from about the 15th century, and was repaired after some damage from an errant bomb during World War 2. The church and parish maintain their own identity with regular services, but currently share a vicar with Warleggan and St Neot parishes.

It is sparsely populated without commerce or significant industry. The land area is more than 9000 acres, and the population during the past 200 years has been generally between 400-800 persons. Most of the properties are farm land, with small clusters of houses near the church and at Millpool, about 1½ miles to the north.

There are two cemeteries, the original being the church yard of the Parish Church of Cardinham (St Meubred's Church). There is a newer cemetery nearby, only a few meters down the hill southward and on the opposite side of the road. The parish registers include the burials in both locations without distinguishing which burial ground. The OS grid reference is approximately 123687.

The parish registers of baptisms, banns, marriages, and burials are extant beginning in 1701. Earlier records were apparently lost and are not known to exist. There are a few Bishops Transcripts dating back to 1675, but coverage is not complete. Although Fletchers Bridge, Turfdown, and Margate are in Bodmin Borough, most of the church events for those living there were in the Cardinham Parish.

Both Wesleyan Methodists and Bible Christian adherents lived in the parish, but jurisdictions do not follow Anglican boundary lines. Most records are to be found in the Bodmin Wesleyan Circuit, the Bodmin Bible Christian Circuit, and the Liskeard Bible Christian Circuit, although baptisms were occasionally performed by someone farther afield, especially among the Bible Christians. There have been non-conformist chapels in the hamlets of Millpool and Fletchers Bridge, as well as Cardinham. The Methodist Chapel at Millpool holds regular services, while no services are currently being held in the chapel at Cardinham village, and the chapel building at Fletchers Bridge has passed into private hands.

Civil registration is in the Bodmin Registration District, and has been since the inception of registration in 1837.

Cornwall Online Parish Clerks

The Online Parish Clerk for Cardinham is David Coppin, who can be contacted by Email.

PARISH INFORMATION

CENSUS:

Please visit COCP (Cornwall Online Census Project), which is complete for 1841 to 1891 and validated, FreeCens at Rootsweb - both are free, searchable databases - or check GenUKI for other alternatives.

REGISTERS:

For Parish Register information, please see our searchable database (C-PROP) which is updated frequently or GenUKI. The C-PROP parish coverage page is here.

DIRECTORIES:

Please visit the University of Leicester's Directories website, which has many directories online to view for free.

OTHER:

Wills:

dated 9 Sep 1679, William MOTTON
dated 6 May 1717, Marmaduke MOTTON
dated 4 Apr 1812, Petherick BUNT
dated 3 Oct 1861, Thomas BUNT

Indentures:

dated 18 Jul 1579, between William BILLINGE and Sir John ARUNDELL, click here
dated 10 Mar 1639, involving William EVANS of Cardinham, click here.
1. dated 4 May 1698, involving Patrick BUNT, click here.
2. dated 5 May 1698, mentioning Patrick BUNT and John GOODING of Cardinham, click here.
3. dated 30 May 1698, involving Patrick BUNT, click here.
4. dated 31 May 1698, involving Patrick BUNT, click here.
5. dated 17 Nov 1705, mentioning Patherick BUNT and his son, click here.
6. dated 22 Apr 1763, involving Petherick BUNT, click here.
7. dated 28 Sep 1772, involving Petherick BUNT and John SIMONS, mentioning Thomas POMERY, Elizabeth RUNDLE (formerly POMERY), Richard SIMONS, Jane SIMONS and George SIMONS, click here.
dated 25 Jan 1731, mentioning Antony LOBB, William LOBB, Richard POLLARD and his son and William EVANS, click here.
dated 24 Dec 1737, involving Thomas LOBB, Thomas WILLS, Richard POLLARD, William EVANS, James EVORY, Samuel SMITH, William SLYMON and son and Anthony HENWOOD, click here.
dated 29 Apr 1754, involving John HILL and Ambrose DOW, mentioning John KITT, William SLYMAN, Anne PROUT, Thomas and Anne HIILL, click here.
dated 8 Nov 1811, concerning land and property in Lanivet, but naming Edmund John GLYNN.
dated 23 Sep 1858, concerning land and property in Warleggan, but mentioning Petherick BUNT of this parish.

Other documents mentioning several parishes, including Cardinham, can be found here.

Voters Lists:

Gravestone: The Memorial Inscription for John OUGH, buried 7 October 1775.

For more information regarding history, population, etc., visit GenUKI.

MAPS:

For a Parish Locator map, please click here. Cardinham can be located at coordinates H - 6.

For further map information, please visit GenUKI (Genealogy - United Kingdom & Ireland).

To see a current, zoomable Ordnance Survey map, please visit MultiMap, or for maps and satellite images use Google Maps.

ADJACENT PARISHES:

Bodmin, Helland, Blisland, Temple, Warleggan, Bradock, St Winnow and Lanhydrock.

ONLINE BOOKS:

Cardinham is included in The Parochial History of Cornwall, Volume I by Davies Gilbert, William Hals, Thomas Tonkin, Henry Samuel Boase, originally published in 1838 (page n206). Also downloadable as a pdf.