In 1870-72, John Marius Wilson's Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales described St Keyne like this:
KEYNE (ST.), or St. KEAN, a village and a parish in Liskeard district, Cornwall. The village stands on the river Looe, 2 miles S of Liskeard r. station; has a postoffice under Liskeard; was anciently called Lametton; took its present name from St. Kayne or Keyna, daughter of Brychan, prince of Brecknock; and has a well, of ancient superstitions repute, dedicated to that saint, and celebrated in a ballad of Southey:- "A well there is in the west country, and a clearer one never was seen; There is not a wife in the west country but has heard of the well of St. ...
Keyne. An oak and elm tree stand beside, and behind does an ash tree grow, And a willow fro, the bank above droops in the water below. If the husband at this gifted well shall drink before his wife, A happy. man henceforth is he, for he shall be master for Life." The water is reported to give the mastery for life to whichever party first drinks it, bride or bridegroom; and a quantity of it was, a few years ago, sent in bottles, as a curiosity, to a bazaar at Mount Edgecumbe.—The parish comprises 944 acres. Real property, £990. Pop., 181. Houses, 30. The property is divided among a few. The manor belonged to the Tresilians, the Coplestones, and others; and passed to the Rashleighs. The living is a rectory in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £198.* Patron, the Rev. H.Cory. The church is good.
St Keyne through time
St Keyne is now part of Caradon district. Click here for graphs and data of how Caradon has changed over two centuries. For statistics about St Keyne itself, go to Units and Statistics.
GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth, History of St Keyne, in Caradon and Cornwall | Map and description, A Vision of Britain through Time.
URL: https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/place/3882
Date accessed: 25th April 2024
Not where you were looking for?
Click here for more detailed advice on finding places within A Vision of Britain through Time, and maybe some references to other places called "St Keyne".