Talk:Four Lanes

Four Lanes church

With regard to the stone used for the arches and dressings, does anyone know what wild duck stone is? Jowaninpensans (talk) 21:58, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

Are you quite sure that that is what the source says? DuncanHill (talk) 22:28, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

There is a word "dunstone" which in Cornwall tends to mean a dolerite or quartz-dolerite DuncanHill (talk) 22:31, 18 October 2017 (UTC)

Thanks for that. Could be a typo in the newspaper or could be how it was pronounced in those days. Will check the West Briton. Jowaninpensans (talk) 20:50, 19 October 2017 (UTC)

The Cornubian and Redruth Times and the Royal Cornwall Gazette also have wild duck stone. Description of church is word for word the same as The Cornishman – didn't realise the Victorians had press releases. Jowaninpensans (talk) 21:16, 19 October 2017 (UTC)

An artice in The Cornishman on 7 April 1881 (page 5): Monday was a stormy day and yet a large assembly gathered at Wild Duck to witness the opening of St Andrew's Mission Church by Bishop Benson. In a previous Cornishman it states that the stone for the church was locally sourced, hence Wild Duck stone. Wild Duck is not on the 1:10,000 maps I have access to. Jowaninpensans (talk) 07:22, 20 October 2017 (UTC)

Interesting! I have a placename index of Cornwall produced by the Cornwall Fire Brigade. It is extremely comprehensive, including many names which aren't on the maps, but no "Wild Duck"! DuncanHill (talk) 04:07, 21 October 2017 (UTC)

AHA! The Wild Duck is the Sportsman's Arms at Four Lanes. Loscombe Lane was known as Duck Lane, there was a duckpond on the corner by the Sunday School. See this leaflet Carn Brea Parish Council Parish Trails. DuncanHill (talk) 04:13, 21 October 2017 (UTC)

And that led me to find this, from a PhD thesis "A report from the West Briton dated 3 October 1879 indicates that “Mr Clark, surveyor, Truro has for some time past, been engaged in collecting specimens of building stone from several districts in the county, with a view to guide the architect of the Truro Cathedral in his selection of a suitable material. Among the elvans we noticed specimens from Newham near Truro, Wild Duck near Redruth, Creegbrawse, Seveock, Pentewan, and on the same vein to Grampound station; also from Withiel, near St Columb." You can read the whole thesis here. DuncanHill (talk) 04:22, 21 October 2017 (UTC)

I've also found a mention of "Wild Duck" as a type of elvan in "The Identification of Heritage Quarries Minerals Safeguarding DPD Evidence Report Submission June 2017" by Cornwall Council available here (paragraph 68, page 30) as being used in St Mary's in Truro (that's the church that is part of the cathedral). It says its origin is unknown. Do the maps you have shew any kind of a quarry near the pub or duck pond? DuncanHill (talk) 04:35, 21 October 2017 (UTC)

There is a quarry at SW6862 3863 on Loscombe Lane. Immediately to the north-west is what looks like a two (or three) property terrace. I have a gazetteer as part of a wildlife recording database and if I remember correctly (from 1994) the gazetteer was based on the fire brigade placename index. The maps I have covering Cornwall and the IoS are also in the database. Jowaninpensans (talk) 18:39, 23 October 2017 (UTC)