Foundation of St. Just

[myghaelangof]

Hello, I'm back! At least for now. I've been doing a lot of online research into the Medieval period,
trying to get background information on certain families.
One thing crossed my mind, that must have had an effect on movement and immigration, apart from the mines.

Does anyone know when St.Just was founded as a town. I know in the Doomsday book of 1086 the area was known as Kelynack, as in the manor of.
Also Botaluk/ Botellek etc seems to crop up a lot in historical records, with mining connections, which appear to have 'taken off' circa 1540.
And some old references to what could well be Trevegean.
However, I can't find any reference to the formation of St.Just? I believe the church is 15th century, but might not have been known as
St Just church when first built. (The original church was built circa 5th century). I have tried under Lanust as well. I found one reference to St Just juxta Brea from 1352, which suggests Brea was a bigger place! Not sure there's anything in Brea today apart from that hill.

I don't know where this is taking me, but I've been getting very immersed in 14/1500's history of late. especially with regard to the Arundell and Grey families. (Both very interwined with my Shakerley family). At some stage the Bourchier family of Beningborough Hall, Yorkshire; and London, come in to play as owning Kelynack as well.

Thanks in advance, Mike

[spikeharwood]

John Evans does a weekly write up on parish churches in Facebook groups Cornish Ancestors and Cornish Roots and Branches. This is his intro to St Just
The parish of St Just in Penwith is one of the most westerly in Cornwall, its neighbouring parishes being Pendeen to the north, Sancreed to the east, and St Buryan and Sennen to the south. Its relatively long rugged western boundary is with the storm-tossed Atlantic. The parish church stands on the eastern fringe of the town, and the site as a place of worship has a long and venerable history, although the present building dates essentially from the 15th century.
St Just and St Selevan – the patron of nearby St Levan – were reputed to be two of the children (or possibly grandchildren, depending on which source you prefer!) of King Gerent of Dumnonia, and date from the 5th century A.D. There is no evidence that Just himself ever came to the Penwith peninsula, but his cult clearly did, and there is no reason to doubt that a place of worship was erected in his honour on the present church site. A church was in existence in 1254, when the value of its benefice was assessed at £8, and Richard Beaupré is recorded as rector in 1303. That seems to have been followed by much building (or possibly re-building), resulting in a re-dedication by Bishop Grandisson in 1336. In 1355 Sir John de Beaupré gave the church to Glasney College, together with the church lands of Lafrowda, as a result of which the benefice became a vicarage rather than the previous rectory. The 14th century church is believed to have been cruciform, the two transepts then being replaced by aisles in the 15th century – a period of much church building throughout the country – with the west tower and south porch also being added at that time.

[donne]

I would imagine that the town just coalesced around an original Celtic monastic settlement or perhaps a farming hamlet. According to a small book I have collected (The Churches of Cornwall, by J. Charles Cox, 1912), the church contains a 'rude stone pillar' incised with the Chi-Rho monogram and a Latin inscription NI SELVS IC IACIT (can't make sense of that), which Mr Cox claims cannot be later that the 6th century. Also, built into the wall of the N. aisle is a large portion of knotwork shaft of an Anglo-Saxon cross, which Mr. Cox attributes to the 8th/9th centuries. So there does seem to be a connection of the St. Just site to an early religious institution.

As for mining, hard-rock mining didn't really get going until the 17th century as witnessed by the expansion of towns like Camborne after this time.

[spikeharwood]

"At the back of the north aisle is a short granite pillar thought to date from the 5th or 6th century with the inscription “Selus ic iacet” on one face and the Chi-Rho symbol on the adjoining face, both highlighted with white chalk. Whilst the translation of “Selus lies here” is probably unarguable, the suggestion that it commemorates Selevan (Just’s brother) is not universally accepted, though an interesting theory nevertheless." (John Evans)

[myghaelangof]

Thanks Spike, and Donne for your responses. I appreciate the mention of historical artifacts, and the monastic possibilities (which I may well delve into - wouldn't mind betting it was a Benedictine monastery?). The area was populated back in stone age times, as evidenced by early monoliths, and there is evidence for a church circa (off the top of my head) 600 A.D.

I will have a look at the facebook group of John Evans, and he may have the answer I'm looking for.
Which is: when was the town (or parish) of St. Just founded/ when did St.Just become the centre of focus in the area?

A lot of reference material refers to events being in St.Just, but I suspect the contributors have converted places to the modern day St.Just region for easier placement. For example the manor of Kelynack, now inclusive in St Just parish. I'm guessing founding of the town would have been circa 1500+.

I have found references to German mining engineers generally in Cornwall (which suggests underground to me) in the 1200's, and then a larger influx specific to the St.Just region in the mid-1500's.

Thanks, Mike

[donne]

I wouldn't have thought Benedictines - in the early medieval centuries, apart from the famous Abbey at Canterbury in Kent, their foundations seem to have been mainly in continental Europe. In the far west of Cornwall, I think that a group of missionaries from the Celtic church of Ireland seems more likely. This period also predates the modern parochial system. In Anglo-Saxon Wessex at this time, the church was administered by a minster system in which a central minster church was used as a base for monks/priests to serve a large surrounding area, probably under the patronage and protection of the local landowner.

My point about your search for a foundation date for St. Just is that it probably doesn't have an answer. According to Bernard Deacon's Cornish Resources website at bernarddeacon.com/cornish-towns/st-just/#:~:text=St%20Just%20in%20Penwith%20was,fold%20from%201801%20to%201861 "St Just in Penwith was a churchtown hamlet that began to expand from the 1600s as tin mining took off in West Penwith. Its population then increased three-fold from 1801 to 1861".

I expect you have already found the West Penwith Resources website at west-penwith.org.uk/just3.htm which contains a transcription of Lakes's Parochial History (1868) with the following reference to the Domesday survey of St, Just (as well as other interesting material) - "The manor of Kalinack, Killenick, or Kelynack, supposed to be the Chelenoeh of Domesday, was held in the days of Edward the Confessor by Godric, and contained a hide of land embraced of the adjoining farms, namely, Bosavern, Hendra, Dowran, Letcha, Bosorn, and other tenants."