Mithian (Cornish: Mydhyan)[1] is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about six miles (9.6 km) northeast of Redruth and a mile east of St Agnes.[2]

Mithian
Mithian parish church near Chiverton Cross
Mithian is located in Cornwall
Mithian
Mithian
Location within Cornwall
Unitary authority
Shire county
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townSt Agnes
Postcode districtTR5
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireCornwall
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cornwall
50°18′43″N 5°10′08″W / 50.312°N 5.169°W / 50.312; -5.169

Mithian is in the administrative civil parish of St Agnes (which was in the former Carrick District from 1974 to 2009). The population was 510 in the 2001 census. The village has a primary school, Mithian School, situated west of the village at Barkla Shop[3] and a pub, The Miner's Arms, in the village centre.[4][5]

History edit

By 1824 the main villages, aside from St Agnes, in the St Agnes Parish were Mithian, Stenclose (Stencoose), and Malow (Mawla).[6] The Rose in Vale Country House Hotel was mainly built in 1761 by Thomas Nankivell.

Church history edit

Mithian ecclesiastical parish was created in 1846 from parts of St Agnes, Kea, Perranzabuloe and Kenwyn parishes; previously the village had been enumerated as part of St Agnes and Kenwyn parishes. When created, Mithian parish included the village of Blackwater and so the parish church is over two miles from Mithian. The church, built in 1861, was dedicated to St Peter and rather remotely located north of Chiverton Cross at OS grid reference SW746471. The architect was William White. A reredos and coloured window was added in 1882. The eastern window is to the memory of the Reverend Alfred Lord who officiated in the parish from its beginning to his death in 1880.[7] The original spire and tower became unsafe and were taken down in 1898; a replacement tower with no spire was built in 1928.[8]

The church faced closure in 2008[9] and a planning application was lodged with Cornwall Council to convert the building to residential use. In a local report the Reverend Alan Bashforth said: "The last service took place on Christmas Eve 2006 and although a small but loyal group tried to keep it going, building work costs in the region of £800,000 meant that was not possible. It was not an easy choice to close the church."[10]

 
Mithian School near Barkla Shop

School edit

The Mithian Primary School provides for education of children ages 1 to 11.[11][12][13]

Transport edit

When the first section of the Truro and Newquay Railway was opened in 1903, it passed south of the village. In 1905, extra stations were provided along the line as halts including Mithian Halt railway station.[14] The line closed in February 1963, the first Cornish railway to close under the Beeching axe.[15]

Public house edit

The Miners Arms Public House was constructed in the 17th century and stands in the centre of the village. It saw additions and renovations in the following two centuries. The building exterior is made of granite, killas rubble, brick and elvan. It is roofed in Delabole slate.[4][5][16]

Gallery edit

References edit

  1. ^ Place-names in the Standard Written Form (SWF) Archived 2013-05-15 at the Wayback Machine : List of place-names agreed by the MAGA Signage Panel Archived 2013-05-15 at the Wayback Machine. Cornish Language Partnership.
  2. ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 204 Truro & Falmouth ISBN 978-0-319-23149-4
  3. ^ Main page Mithian School website. Retrieved April 2010.
  4. ^ a b Place ID 26961 Information Britain. Retrieved April 2010.
  5. ^ a b Miners Arms, Mithian Beer In The Evening. Retrieved April 2010.
  6. ^ Samuel Drew. The History of Cornwall: From the Earlist Records and Traditions, to the Present Time. W. Penaluna; 1824 [cited 23 September 2012]. p. 18.
  7. ^ "Mithian Church". The Cornishman. No. 218. 14 September 1882. p. 6.
  8. ^ Mithian. GENUKI. Retrieved April 2010.
  9. ^ "Save Our Churches - Dozens of Historic Buildings to be made redundant." Daily Telegraph; 24 May 2008. Retrieved April 2010.
  10. ^ "Pensioner Offers Help - Church Reopened."[permanent dead link] South West Business. Retrieved April 2010.
  11. ^ Schools for St Agnes, Cornwall. All the Schools. Retrieved 19 September 2012.
  12. ^ St Agnes School. All The Schools. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  13. ^ Prospectus. Mithian School. Retrieved 23 September 2012.
  14. ^ John Vaughan, The Newquay Branch, Oxford Publishing, 1991, ISBN 0-86093-470-5
  15. ^ Lewis Reade, Branch Line Memories; Vol.1. Atlantic Publishers, 1983, ISBN 0-906899-06-0
  16. ^ Miners Arms Public House. English Heritage National Monuments. Retrieved 21 September 2012.

External links edit

  Media related to Mithian at Wikimedia Commons