In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described Morwenstow like this:
MOORWINSTOW, or MORWENSTOW, a parish in Stratton district, Cornwall; on the coast, at the boundary with Devon, 6 miles N NW of Stratton, and 22 NNW of Lannceston r. station. It contains the hamlets of Moorwinstow, Coombe, Crosstown, Eastcot, Gooseham, Woodford, and Woolley; and its Post town is Stratton, Cornwall. ...
Acres, 7,956; of which 30 are water. Real property, £5,176. Pop. in 1851,1,094;.in 1861,868. Houses, 189. The decrease of pop. arose partly from emigration. The property is divided among a few. Lea belonged to Lord Carteret, and Stanbury was the birthplace of Bishop Stanbury of Hereford. Chapel House and Cleave House are chief residences. The coast abounds in high cliffs and magnificent scenery; and the interior is furrowed by deep and finely wooded hollows. A striking example of curved and contorted stratified rocks occurs at Stanbury creek. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £276. Patron, the Bishop of Excter. The church stands near a cliff at Moorwinstow hamlet; includes very interesting portions of Norman architecture, particularly the entrance-doorway and the arcades; has a S aisle and a chancel of 1300, with subsequent additions and alterations; contains an elaborate screen, and costly old monuments of the Kempthornes and the Waddons; and was recently in bad condition. The churchyard con tains some affecting memorials of boat-wreck on the adjacent shores ''T here are a Wesleyan chape1, a national school, and charities, £10. Sir W. Adams, the distinguished oculist, was a native; and the Rev. R. S. Hawker, author of "Echoes from Old Cornwall,'' is vicar.
Morwenstow through time
Morwenstow is now part of North Cornwall district. Click here for graphs and data of how North Cornwall has changed over two centuries. For statistics about Morwenstow itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of Morwenstow in North Cornwall | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/2219
Date accessed: 18th May 2024
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