Helston, in the hundred of Kerrier, 274 miles from London, is thus noticed by Leland :— "Heylstonn, alias Hellas, standeth on a hill, a good market-town, having a mayor and privileges, wythin the which there is a court for the coynage of tynne, kept twys yn the year. In the town is both a chapel and a parish (church) and vestegia castelli, and a ryver runnyng under the same vestegia of the castel, issueth towards the south sea, stopped ther, yn the west part, with S. E. wyndes, casting up sandes, maketh a poole, cawld Loo, of an arrow-shot in breadt, and two myles yn cumpas yn the somer. In the wynter, by reason of fluddes, men be constrayned to cut the sandy banke between the mouth of the poole and the sea, by the whych gut the sea floweth and ebbeth ynto the poole. Lo Poole is a two mile in length, and betwixt it and the mayn sea is but a barre of sand, and ons yn three or four yeer, what by the wait of the fresch watier and rage of the sea, it bubketh out, and then the fresch and salt water meeting, maketh a wonderful noise. If this barre be always kept open it would be a good haven up to Hailston." Helston is now one of the most respectable towns in Cornwall; it is built in the form of a cross, forming four streets, and is situated on the side of a hill, which slopes gradually to the little river Cober. The country around Helston is picturesque and fertile, the neighbourhood genteel, and the town the residence of several opulent families.

In the middle of the principal street is the market-house and town-hall, and upon an eminence, on the north side of the town, stands the church, erected within the last 60 years, a handsome building with a lofty tower, forming a fine object from the valley below.

Helston has returned members to parliament ever since the 23rd Edward I. being one of the five ancient boroughs of Cornwall, but was not incorporated until the 27th Elizabeth, who vested its government in a mayor, four aldermen, and 24 assistants. A charter obtained during the present reign, in 1774, defined the corporation to consist of a mayor, five aldermen, a recorder, and the whole body of freemen. The authority of this charter, however, with respect to the return of representatives, was afterwards contested, and disallowed by the House of Commons in favour of the surviving members of the old corporation; and again confirmed in a case where the return was made by one person only, the last of the old corporation; since which the charter of 1774 is the only one recognised. The number of voters is about 36, and, according to the public return, there appears to be 313 houses in the borough, and 2,248 inhabitants.

We cannot omit noticing what is called "The Furry," at Helston; the word, supposed by Mr. Polwhele, to be derived from the old Cornish word fer, a fair or jubilee. On the 8th of May, the morning is ushered in by the music of drums and kettles, and other accompaniments of a song, a great part of which is inserted in Mr. Polwhele's history, where this circumstance is noticed. So strict is the observance of this day, as a general holiday, that should any person be found at work, he is instantly seized, set astride on a pole, and hurried on men's shoulders to the river, where he is sentenced to leap over a wide place, which, if he fail in attempting, he of course leaps into the water.—A small contribution towards the good cheer of the day easily compounds for the leap. About nine o'clock the revellers appear before the grammar-school, and demand a holiday for the schoolboys. After which they collect contributions from house to house. They then fade into the country (fade being an old English word for go,) and, about the middle of the day, return with flowers and oak branches in their hats and caps. From this time they dance, hand in hand, through the streets, to the sound of the riddle, playing a particular tune, running into every house they pass, without opposition. In the afternoon, a select party of the ladies and gentlemen make a progress through the street, and very late in the evening quickly repair to the ballroom. A stranger visiting the town, on the 8th of May, would really think the people mad; so apparently wild and thoughtless is the merriment of the day. There is no doubt of "the Furry" originating in the ancient festival of Flora, on the 1st of May.

On the right of the road, between Marazion and Helston, near the village of Pengerswick, are the remains of an ancient building, called Pengerswick Castle, consisting of a square tower of three stories, a small one annexed, and some ruins of walls.

From the top of the building, to which you ascend by a flight of winding stone steps, the view is very pleasing. The neighbouring farmers make use of the rooms that remain for storing their corn. On one of the pannels of the wainscot of the room, on the ground floor, is the following poetical inscription, under a rude representation of water dropping from a rock, with the title, Perseverance— "What thing is harder than a rock? What softer is than water clear? Yet will the same, with often drop, The hard rock pierce; which doth appear Even so there's nothing so hard to attayne, But may be had with labour and pain." There is a story that this place belonged, in the time of Henry VIII. to one Milliton, who having slain a man privately, purchased the place in the name of his son, and immured himself in a secret chamber in the tower.

On the left, about five miles from Helstone, is Godolphin Park, an estate belonging to the Duke of Leeds. The mansion-house is a handsome quadrangular building, embosomed in wood. It is now fallen to decay, and inhabited only by some farmers, tenants of the Duke.

The manor of Godolphin, formerly was the property of the Godolphin family, who resided here in the time of William the Conqueror. Sir Francis Godolphiu, a descendant of this family, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, employed 900 men daily in the mines in this neighbourhood with very great success. The Godolphin estates are now become the property of the Osborne family. One of the highest hills in this part of the county is called Godolphin, anciently spelt Godalehun, signifying a white eagle.

A Roman work, being the entrenchment of a camp, is to be seen at Bogrens, near Godolphin, in the parish of St. Erth, and various articles, such as coins, patera, and pottery, have been found at different times, identifying its Roman origin.

About four miles from Helston is Men Amber, a pile of stones, the uppermost of which measures eleven feet in length, six in width, and four in thickness. It is called the Great Rock by Carew, "advanced upon some others of a meaner size with so equall a counterpoyse that the push of a finger will move it to and fro, but farther to remove it the united forces of many shoulders are over weak."

About two miles from Helston is Penrose, the seat of John Rogers, Esq. rendered more particularly remarkable by the curious piece of water, called the Loo Pool, mentioned by Leland. This is one of the most considerable lakes in the county, covering a space of ground nearly seven miles in circumference, and formed by a natural operation of the sea, in raising a very thick and high bank of sand and pebbles against the mouth of the river Loo, which consequently impedes its outfall, and occasions it to spread over the valley. When the waters are thus held up, to an extent that interrupts the working of the mills above, the millers present the lord of the manor with two leathern purses, each containing three halfpence, and solicit his permission to open the bar; and this being of course granted, the mayor of Helston employs workmen to cut a passage through the bank, and the . water rushes out with surprising force and impetuosity, affording in the conflict between the waters of the river and the opposing waves of the sea, an extraordinary spectacle.

In a few days, however, the bank of pebbles is again formed as before.

The admirers of landscape scenery will be particularly delighted with the views about the Looe Pool, which are peculiarly fine and picturesque. Rocks, wood, and water, here unite every characteristic excellence, to form a truly pleasing picture.

HELSTON, formerly called Helleston (the “fortress on the marsh”), is a municipal borough, market and union town and head of a county court district, and was formed into an ecclesiastical parish Dec. 5, 1845, from the parish of Wendron; it is situated on the sides of two hills rising from the Loe valley, on the high road from Falmouth to Penzance and on the river Cober, 10 miles south from Camborne, 10 south-west from Penryn, 10 east from Marazion, 13 east from Penzance, 10 south-south-west from Redruth, 17 south-west from Truro, 12 south-west from Falmouth and 318 from London, and is the terminus of a branch of the Great Western railway from Gwinear Road, in the Truro division of the county, western division of the hundred of Kerrier, petty sessional division of Kerrier West, rural deanery of Kerrier, archdeaconry of Cornwall and diocese of Truro. The town is of ancient date and undoubtedly owed its rise and importance to the tin mines around it, which have been extremely productive: it formerly had its castle and defences. Sixteen charters have, from time to time, been granted to it; the earliest now extant being that of King John, granted in 1201, as a confirmation of an earlier one: the charter of King John was confirmed and enlarged by succeeding monarchs, and in 1585 the borough was formally incorporated by Elizabeth ; a new charter was granted in 1774 by George III. and continued in force until modified by the operation of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1835 (5 and 6 Wm. IV. c. 76). The Corporation now consists of mayor, four aldermen and twelve councillors, who act also as the urban sanitary authority. The borough has a commission of the peace. In the reign of Edward I. Helston was made a coinage town, and it also returned two members to Parliament from 1294 until the Reform Act of 1832 reduced the number to one, and in 1885, by the “Redistribution of Seats Act” of that year, the borough was deprived of its independent representation and merged in the county. The river Cober, in its course to the sea, about three miles from Helston, expands into a sheet of water called Loe Pool, a fine lake about 7 miles in circumference, and caused by a sand bank at the mouth of the river, the overflowing of which, in wet seasons, when the lake rose 8 or 10 feet above its usual level, caused serious floods, to relieve which, the mayor and Corporation, according to ancient custom, were wont to solicit permission from the lord of the manor to cut the bar, presenting at the same time a leather purse containing 1 ½d.; the bar being opened, the pent-up waters, rushing out, met the incoming tide, producing a singularly wild and impressive spectacle, but an adit, communicating from the lake to the sea, has been cut through the rock, so that the height of the water in the Loe can be regulated, and it has not been necessary to cut the bar for nearly 24 years. The town is lighted with gas by a company formed in 1820, and supplied with water from local wells and from a reservoir at Tregathenan, Sithney, the property of the Helston and Porthleven Water Co. The town is remarkable for its salubrity, being quite sheltered from the north and east winds : the principal streets form a cross and have a constant flow of water through them arising from springs a considerable distance north-east of the town. In the western part anciently stood a hospital of St. John the Baptist, of which a few remains exist. The church of St. Michael is a large rectangular building of Elvan stone, with granite dressings, erected on the site of an older church in 1763 by Francis, second and last Earl of Godolphin, who died 17th January, 1766, and now consists of chancel and nave with galleries on three sides, south porch and a western tower 96 feet in height, built of granite ashlar, in three stages, and terminating in a quatre-foiled parapet with pinnacles, containing 6 bells, all recast in 1825 from a former peal given by Francis, Earl of Godolphin, in 1767, who was also the donor, in 1763, of the massive chandelier: the handsome reredos of glass mosaic was presented by J. Rogers Pascoe esq. of London, and the font of Beere stone and serpentine by persons who had been baptized in the church: attached to the door of the south porch are brass effigies of a man and his wife and three children, and on the wall above is a brass plate inscribed to Thomas Bovgins, merchant, ob. 1602: there are memorials to the Glynn and Grylls families, 1771—1834; to those of Moore, 1782—1806; Borlase, 1837—43; Trevenen, 1810—38; Pasmore, 1837—62, and others: the stained east window was a bequest by George Simon Borlase, who died 19th March, 1837, and there is a memorial window to Thomas George Davey, who died in South Africa in 1889: the organ was erected in 1868 at a cost of £500: the church was thoroughly restored and reseated in 1883 at a cost of £1,100, and has 900 sittings: in the churchyard is a sun-dial raised on a pillar of granite, with the town arms and the date 1792; an ancient cross is built into the wall at the entrance, and the head of another was placed in 1893 on the grave of the late Frederick Penberthy, opposite the tower door. The register of baptisms and marriages dates from 1599; burials, 1598. The living is a vicarage, net yearly value £275, with residence, in the gift of Queen’s College, Oxford, and held since 1868 by the Rev. Joseph Sidney Tyacke M.A. of Exeter College, Oxford, hon. canon of Truro, proctor in Convocation and surrogate. All Saints’ mission church, adjoining the cemetery, in Meneage street, was erected in 1882, by the Trevenen family, at a cost, inclusive of fittings, of £806, and is a building of stone and granite, consisting of chancel and nave, and will seat 120 persons: there is an entrance from the churchyard into the cemetery. By a very ancient and curious custom prevailing here from time immemorial, the 8th of May in every year is regarded as a general holiday; at an early hour parties are formed, and, headed by bands of music, dance and sing through the principal streets, which are decorated with branches of trees and flowers; this festival is called the “Furry,” and the dance “faddy,” but the origin of these terms is unknown. The Baptist chapel, in Wendron street, is a building in a quasi-Norman style: the Free Methodist chapel, built in 1840, is in Church street, and will seat 500 persons : the Wesleyan chapel, in Coinagehall street, is a building of native granite and Plymouth limestone, erected in 1888—9, a cost, including the site, of £5,000, and will seat nearly 1,000 persons; the Bible Christians’ chapel is in Meneage street. A cemetery of two acres, with a mortuary chapel, situated in Meneage street, was formed in 1875 at a cost of £1,600, and is under the control of a burial board of 9 members. The Town Hall, standing in the centre of the town, where the four principal streets meet, is a building of granite ashlar and contains a guildhall, council chamber and magistrates’ rooms, the lower portion forming a drill hall; in the guildhall hangs a painting of “Christ Derided,” by Lane; in the tympanum of the pediment on the principal front is a clock, and the town arms, carved in Bath stone. The municipal insignia consists of two maces, a mayor’s chain and badge and a corporate seal: the maces, presented to the Corporation in 1777 by Francis, Lord Godolphin, have ebony shafts of the baluster pattern, with rich foot knops or terminals of silver; the mace heads, attached by long enriched hollow joints or sockets, are adorned with scroll and foliaged work, and medallions containing representations of St. Michael encountering the Dragon, with a fortified town in the background ; the heads are finished with circlets and a cresting of fleur-de-lis and crosses, from which spring the open arches of the crowns; the hall marks indicate 1776—7; the mayor’s chain, purchased in 1894 a cost of about £260, is composed of 40 shields connected by double scroll links; the shields were given by members of the Corporation and representatives of old Helston families, each shield being engraved with the monogram and name of the donor; the central badge, presented by Mr. J. Rogers Pascoe, of Woodford, Essex, and formerly of Helston, displays in the centre a representation of the borough seal, elaborately wrought in enamel; below on a ribbon is the name of the town, and at the sides the dates 1201 and 1335, being the years of the earliest charters granted to the borough; the centre link from which the badge depends was given by Mr. F. V. Hill, eleven times mayor of the town: the circular seal bears the same device, with slight differences, as on the medallions, surrounded by a legend: the mayor’s robe is of scarlet, trimmed with sable, and the sergeants-at-mace also wear a special costume. The Passmore-Edwards Science and Art School, erected in 1897, at the expense of J. Passmore-Edwards esq. is a building of local granite and red Elvan, from designs by Messrs. John Symons and Son, builders, of Blackwater: it comprises on the ground floor chemical laboratory, committee, class and assay rooms and other necessary offices, and on the first floor three class rooms convertible into a large lecture hall, modelling and art rooms and a store room. The public buildings, erected in 1888—9, at a cost of £2,000, comprise the Godolphin hall to seat 600 persons, committee, recreation and other rooms, and the old Grammar school is now incorporated and used as a reading room. The County Police station is in Wendron street. The principal support of the town is derived from agriculture and fishery; in former years mining was also a very important industry; the Great Work, Wheal Vor and Godolphin mines being in this district: there is a flour mill, a tannery and two foundries. The meat market, in Church street, is near the Town Hall,

and was erected in 1837—8, from designs by Mr. W. Harris, architect, of Bristol. The market is held on Saturday. Fairs are held on Whitsun Monday, 20th July, 9th September and 28th October. Large cattle markets are held here on the second and last Wednesday in each month. There are twelve parishes on the southern side, to which Helston is the nearest market town. The head quarters of D Company, 1st Volunteer Battalion, Duke of Cornwall’s Light Infantry, is in the Corn Exchange. The Dispensary, in Church street, was established in 1809 for poor persons not in receipt of parochial relief, and is well supported. The poor have the interest of £60 yearly from Penberthy’s charity, which is distributed by the trustees. At the foot of Coinage-hall street, adjoining the bowling green, is a monument erected by subscription to the late Humphrey Millett Grylls esq. in 1834; it is of granite ashlar, with buttresses and four tall octagonal pinnacles, and is surrounded by iron railings. The bowling green, a pleasant spot, commanding a good view of Loe Valley, was formerly the site of a royal castle, of which there are now no traces. In Cross street is the circular head of a cross, with a Maltese cross, in low relief: in the garden of Mrs. Baddeley is another round-headed cross, 4 feet 9 inches high, removed from Gweal Mayow, near Helston, and the carved head of a second, found at Trewane, in St. Kew parish: near Helston, at Trelil, on the Falmouth road, is a well, with stone benches round the interior. Nansloe, the residence of Henry Rogers esq. situated on the banks of the Loe Pool, commands a beautiful view of the pool and the adjacent woods; the grounds extend over 365 acres; the older portion of the house, which the present proprietor has greatly enlarged and improved, dates from about 1730. Penhellis, the residence of F. V. Hill esq. is beautifully situated on the slope of a hill at the north-west end of the town; it has very well laid out grounds, which contain many beautiful specimens of flowering shrubs and a splendid ornithological museum, all the specimens in which were shot in the county, and include a water rail caught by the beak by an oyster at Helford river, near Helston. The principal landowners are Capt. John Peverell Rogers R.A. of Penrose, Porthleven, the Corporation, the Duke of Leeds, Lord Robartes, the Rev. Sir Vyell Donnithorne Vyvyan bart. of Trelowarren, Mawgan, and Henry Rogers esq. The area is 292 acres; rateable value, £9,173; the population in 1891 was 3,198.

Petty Sessions are held at the Guildhall every third Wednesday in the month at 12 noon. The following places are included in the petty sessional division:-Breage, Cury, Germoe, Grade, Gunwalloe, Landewednack, Manaccan, Mawgan-in-Meneage, Mullion, Ruan Major, Ruan Minor, St. Anthony, St. Keveme, St. Martin-in-Meneage, Sithney &i Wendron.

HELSTON UNION

Board day, alternate Saturdays at 11.30 a.m. at the Workhouse, Helston.

The union comprises the following parishes:-St. Anthony-in-Meneage, Breage, Crowan, Cury, Germoe, Grade, Gunwalloe, Helston, St. Keveme, Landewednack, Manaccan, St. Martin, St. Mawgan-in-Meneage, Mullion, Ruan Major, Ruan Minor, Sithney & Wendron. The area of the union is 73,333 acres; rateable value, £88,905; the population in 1891 was 22,117.

The Workhouse, in Meneage street, is a large building of stone with granite dressings, erected in 1858, & will hold 273 persons; William John Trezise, master; Walter Wearne, medical officer; Mrs. Trezise, matron.

PLACES OF WORSHIP, with times of services

St. Michael’s Church, Church street, Rev. Canon Joseph Sidney Tyacke M.A. vicar; Rev. William Lewis B.A. & Rev. Alfred Samuel Cuthbert Harrison B.A. curates; holy communion, 8 a.m. & 1st & 3rd Sundays, 11 a.m.; matins, 11 a.m. & evensong, 6 p.m. ; catechizing, 2nd Sunday, 3.15 p.m.; daily, 10.10 a.m. & 7.15 p.m.

All Saints Mission Church, Meneage street (served from St. Michael’s); holy communion, 1st & 3rd Sundays & all greater festivals, 8 a.m.; Sundays, evensong with sermon, 6 p.m. & Tues. 7.15 p.m.

Baptist, Wendron street, Rev. Matthew Lister Gaunt; 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.30 p.m.

Bible Christian, Meneage street, Rev. David Rowse; 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7 p.m.

United Methodist Free Church, Church st. Rev. Edward Craine & Rev. William H. Kay; 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Thur. 7.15 p.m.

Wesleyan, Coinage-hall street, Rev. Thomas Richards, Rev. Frederick Henry Thomas & Rev. Howard Christopher Morton; 11 a.m. & 6 p.m.; Wed. 7.15 p.m.

SCHOOLS

A School Board of 5 members was formed March 20, 1871; James Hendy, Wendron street, clerk to the board.

National, Church street, erected & endowed in 1828, for 300 children, by Miss E. Trevenen, of Cross street; a new boys’ school was built in 1894, for 173 boys, on a site given by Capt. J. P. Rogers R.A., J.P.; average attendance, 120 boys, 111 girls & 88 infants.

Wesleyan Day, Wendron street (mixed & infants), for 230 children; average attendance, 185 boys & girls & 63 infants.