MARKET TOWNS OF CORNWALL (from SDUK Penny Cyclopedia)
St. Columb Major in 1837
St. Columb Major is in the hundred of Pyder, on a rivulet which flows into the sea between Trevose Head and Towan Head, and a little to the right of the main road from London by Launceston and Bodmin to Truro ; 246 miles from London and about 11 from Bodmin.
It is a small place, but pleasantly situated, being on the slope of a hill which commands some interesting prospects. The buildings are ancient, and the town for the most part ill paved.
There is a spacious cross church, the interior of which exhibits some curious specimens of early workmanship and numerous monuments : there was formerly a chantry attached to this church.
There are meeting-houses for the Wesleyan and Calvinist Methodists. There were in ancient times four free chapels in the parish, which is very extensive, comprehending 11,680 acres, or more than 18 square miles. The population in 1831 was 2,790. There is a market on Thursday, and, in the summer, one also on Saturday. The living, a rectory, is of the yearly value of £1,269 with a glebe-house : it is in the diocese of Exeter and archdeaconry of Cornwall.
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