St Blazey
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 Station Road, St. Blazey | |
  St Blazey Location withinCornwall | |
| Population | 6,932 (Parish, 2021)[1] 6,575 (Built up area, 2021)[2] |
| OS grid reference | SX069548 |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | PAR |
| Postcode district | PL24 |
| Dialling code | 01726 |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Cornwall |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| 50°21′40″N4°42′58″W / 50.361°N 4.716°W /50.361; -4.716 | |
St Blazey orSt Blaise (Cornish:Lanndreth) is a town andcivil parish inCornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish has a short section of coastline ontoSt Austell Bay and includes western parts ofPar within its boundaries, including Par Harbour. The parish also includes rural areas to the north-west of the built up area, including the hamlet ofBodelva and theEden Project, which is located in a former quarry. The western part of the St Blazey built up area is known asSt Blazey Gate. At the2021 census the population of the parish was 6,932 and the population of the built up area as defined by theOffice for National Statistics was 6,575.
Once an important engineering centre for the local mine and railway industries, the parish is now dominated by the Eden Project.
St Blazey is situated 3 miles (4.8 km) east ofSt Austell, 1 mile (1.6 km) west ofTywardreath and 1 mile (1.6 km) north ofPar.[3]
The town takes its name fromSaint Blaise, a 3rd or 4th century martyr fromLesser Armenia, who in Christian tradition is believed to have cured "toothache, sore throats and cattle diseases".[4] The town holds a procession and service on his feast day, 3 February.[5]
Different spellings are used for the placename by different organisations. The spelling "St Blaise" is used for the legal name of thecivil parish and its town council,[6] whereas the spelling "St Blazey" is used by theRoyal Mail in official postal addresses and by theOffice for National Statistics as the name for the built up area.[2]
AnIron Age hillfortPrideaux Castle lies a mile to the north west of the town in the parish ofLuxulyan.[7]
The Biscovey Stone is the shaft of an ancientCeltic cross. It was inscribed, but the text is no longer readable. There are several theories about the stone; one says it dates from around 600 AD to show theSaxon advance into the county, another puts the date at around 900 AD. The head is thought to have been removed during theReformation. The stone served as a gate post near the St Blazey turnpike gate. In 1896 it was moved to St Mary's Church, Biscovey.[7] Arthur Langdon described the stone in 1896: he read the inscription as "+ Alroron Ullici + filius". It was also described byWilliam Borlase in hisAntiquities of Cornwall (1754), pp. 363–64.[8]
The church was built between 1440 and 1445 and is dedicated to Saint Blaise. It replaces an earlier church mentioned in 1294. The parish was administered byTywardreath Priory until the Reformation.[9] The site was originally known by the Cornish names Landrait or Landreath, meaning Church on the Sand.[9] A stone Gothic Latin cross stands in the churchyard but nothing is known about its history.[10]
Until the 16th century the valley below St Blazey was an estuary of theRiver Par and St Blazey was thelowest crossing point on the river.Tin mining up river caused the estuary to silt up and it had become marsh land by the early 19th century. ThePar Canal was built byJoseph Treffry between 1829 and 1835; it forms part of the boundary with the parish ofTywardreath and Par.[9]
The town was once dominated by the local mining industries and their associated transport infrastructure. Historically copper andtin were mined in and around the parish, whilst more recentlychina clay has been the principal commodity mined. "The Par & St Blazey Consols" or "South Prideaux Wood" was a small tin mine just north of the town[11] andPar Consols Mine lies to the south west.[12] The more extensiveFowey Consols mine lies to the east nearTywardreath.
The port ofPar Harbour, which lies within the parish, was developed to ease the transport of these minerals, and initially connected to the mines by thePar Canal. Whilst the port of Par is within the parish, the village ofPar is actually just across theRiver Par, and hence lies in the civil parish of Tywardreath.[3]
The Par Canal was soon replaced by theCornwall Minerals Railway, which had a depot and station in the town, and still exists as part of theAtlantic Coast Line. WhilstSt Blazey depot is still in use,St Blazey station closed to passengers in 1925, and the town is now served byPar station on theCornish Main Line in Par village.[3]
TheEden Project is located within the civil parish, and about a mile and half (2 km) from the centre of the town. The large number of visitors this attracts has led to the development of tourism in the town. Other attractions, such as theTreffry Viaduct and theLuxulyan Valley, are also close by, although actually within the adjoining parish ofLuxulyan.[3]
Primary education is provided by Biscovey Nursery and Infant Community School and Biscovey Junior School.
There are two tiers of local government covering St Blazey, atparish (town) andunitary authority level: St Blaise Town Council andCornwall Council. The town council is based at Alexander Hall on Middleway.[13]
St Blazey was anancient parish in thePowder Hundred of Cornwall.[14][a] By the 16th century, the parish had come to be deemed achapelry of the neighbouring parish of St Austell for ecclesiastical purposes, but was still treated as a separate parish for civil purposes. St Blazey regained its ecclesiastical independence from St Austell in 1844.[15]
The civil parish was abolished in 1934, when its area was absorbed into theurban district of St Austell.[14] The St Austell Urban District was abolished in 1968 to become part of the short-lived borough ofSt Austell with Fowey, which was abolished six years later in 1974 when the area became part of the new borough ofRestormel.[16][17][18] The area of the former borough of St Austell with Fowey became anunparished area as a result of the 1974 reforms. A new civil parish of St Blaise was subsequently created in 1983, with its parish council taking the name St Blaise Town Council. Whereas the pre-1934 civil parish's legal name had been "St Blazey",[19] the new parish created in 1983 adopted the "St Blaise" spelling.[20][21]
Restormel was abolished in 2009. Cornwall County Council then took on district-level functions, making it a unitary authority, and was renamed Cornwall Council.[22][23]
Cornish wrestling tournaments took place in the following locations over the last 200 years:
The town's football team,St Blazey A.F.C., was the first club of England International goalkeeperNigel Martyn.[27]
The town is also home to St Blazey Cricket Club which has two teams. The cricket club is based at the top of Middleway Road. The club most recently won the Roseveare Cup in 2019, with both the first team and second team also gaining promotion from Division 3 & 5 East respectively.
Notable people from the town includeEdward Long, the historian, who was born at Roselyon, in 1734, and educated atLiskeard. It is claimed by some as the birthplace ofRalph Allen,[28] notable architect ofBath, although his christening took place atSt Columb Major.John Rogers, who supported the introduction of theman engine to Cornish mines, was curate here for a time.[29]
Charles Jeffries, aCommissioner inThe Salvation Army, was posted to the town in 1883.
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Civil parishes ofSt Austell and Newquay constituency | ||
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