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Lawhitton

Coordinates: 50°37′01″N 4°19′34″W / 50.617°N 4.326°W / 50.617; -4.326
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Lawhitton
A terrace of cottages in Lawhitton
Lawhitton is located in Cornwall
Lawhitton
Lawhitton
Location within Cornwall
Population301 (Lawhitton Rural parish, 2021)[1]
OS grid referenceSX355824
Civil parish
  • Lawhitton Rural
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLAUNCESTON
Postcode districtPL15
Dialling code01566
PoliceDevon and Cornwall
FireCornwall
AmbulanceSouth Western
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Cornwall
50°37′01″N 4°19′34″W / 50.617°N 4.326°W / 50.617; -4.326

Lawhitton (Cornish: Lannwydhan) is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated two miles (3 km) south-west of Launceston and half-a-mile west of Cornwall's border with Devon at the River Tamar.[2] The village is the main settlement in the civil parish of Lawhitton Rural, which was created in 1894 from the part of the old parish of Lawhitton that lay outside the borough boundaries of Launceston. The border with Devon forms the parish's eastern boundary; to the north, it is bounded by St Thomas by Launceston parish; to the west by Launceston parish; and to the south by Lezant parish. At the 2021 census the population of the parish was 301.

History

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Old Post Office, Lawhitton

At the time of Domesday Book (1086) the manor was held by the bishop and had 11 hides of land and land for 40 ploughs. The lord had land for 2 ploughs with 7 serfs, and 27 villeins and 20 smallholders had land for 29 ploughs. There was 8 acres of meadow, 100 acres of pasture and 10 acres of underwood. The value of the manor was £17 though it had formerly been worth only £8.[3]

Until 1261 the benefice of Lawhitton consisted of a vicarage and a sinecure rectory; they were then combined as a rectory. From then until 1924 there were 60 rectors, of whom probably only 19 were resident.[4] The last of these rectors was Henry Du Boulay who was concurrently Archdeacon of Bodmin from 1892 to 1924[5][6] Du Boulay was ordained in 1864 and died in 1925;[7] he was the son of an earlier rector of Lawhitton.

There is a Cornish cross at Treniffle; it was found built into an old barn at Tregada Farm about 1883 and then placed in her garden by Mrs. Morshead.[8]

Parish church

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Lawhitton church

The parish church of St Michael is in Lawhitton village at SX 355 825; it is of various periods of English Gothic architecture. The plan is unusual and the tower stands in the position of a south transept. The tower is 13th century in date and there is a north aisle. The font is Norman, of the Altarnun type. Features of interest include the Jacobean pulpit, 1665, and two monuments, to R. Bennet (d. 1683) and in Coade stone to Richard Bennet-Coffin (d. 1796).[9]

Bennett-Coffin family

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Arms of Coffin: Azure, three bezants between eight crosses crosslet or.[10] Often shown with varying number of crosses, in which case: Azure semé of crosses crosslet or, three bezants

Richard Bennet (d.1619), a Councillor at Law, built Hexworthy House as his seat within the parish. The Bennet family originated in Sussex and settled at Hexworthy during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603).[11] His son was Col. Robert Bennet (1605–1683) of Hexworthy, a Member of Parliament during the Civil War and a noted commander of the Parliamentarian forces.[11] His descendant Richard Bennett-Coffin (d.1796) was the second son of Edward Bennett of Lawhitton by his wife Honor Coffin (born 1682), 11th daughter of Richard Coffin (1623–1700) of Portledge in the parish of Alwington in North Devon, lord of the manor of Alwington and Sheriff of Devon in 1683.[12] Richard Bennett-Coffin (1715-1796) became heir to the Coffin estates following the death of his childless uncle Richard Coffin (1684–1766). The Coffin family had been established at Alwington since the reign of King Henry II (1154–1189), and remained there in unbroken male succession until 1766.[13] Richard Bennett adopted the name and arms of Coffin in 1767 by Act of Parliament, but died without progeny at Esher in Surrey and was buried at Lawhitton where survives his monument.[14] However, the inscription on this is misleading in its ending: 'Dying without Issue In him ended the Lineal Descent of the Families of BENNETT and COFFIN'. Richard had an elder brother, William Bennett (1712-1788), who had many descendents (see his memorial stone in St Stephen by Saltash church, Saltash, Cornwall).

Richard's heir was Rev. John Pine-Coffin (1735–1824), eldest surviving grandson of Dorothy Coffin (1651–1690), eldest daughter of Richard Coffin (1623–1700), who in 1672 married Edward Pyne (1648–1675) of East Down. Her descendants remained seated at East Down manor house until 1866, the Pyne family having occupied it since the 13th century.[15] The last in the Pine-Coffin family to occupy Portledge manor house was Richard Geoffrey Pine-Coffin (1908–1974).

Governance

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There are two tiers of local government covering Lawhitton, at parish and unitary authority level: Lawhitton Parish Council and Cornwall Council. The parish council meets at the Village Hall.[16]

Administrative history

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Lawhitton was an ancient parish. A relatively small area at the north-western tip of the parish fell within the borough boundaries of Launceston. The Local Government Act 1894 directed that parishes could no longer straddle borough boundaries, and so the old parish of Lawhitton was split into two civil parishes: "Lawhitton Urban" covering the part inside the borough of Launceston and "Lawhitton Rural" covering the part outside the borough. Lawhitton village fell within the Lawhitton Rural parish.[17][18] At the 1891 census (the last before the abolition of the parish), Lawhitton had a population of 361.[19] Lawhitton Urban parish was abolished in 1922, when all the urban parishes within the borough of Launceston were united into a single parish.[20][21]

Lawhitton Rural remains the official name of the civil parish,[22] but its parish council simply calls itself "Lawhitton Parish Council".[16] The ecclesiastical parish is simply called "Lawhitton".[23]

Notable resident

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James Ruse 1759–1837 from the area was aboard the first fleet of convicts into Sydney cove in 1788. He went on to become a celebrated farming pioneer.

References

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  1. ^ "2021 Census Parish Profiles". NOMIS. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 31 March 2025. (To get individual parish data, use the query function on table PP002.)
  2. ^ Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 201 Plymouth & Launceston ISBN 978-0-319-23146-3
  3. ^ Thorn, C. et al., ed. (1979) Cornwall. Chichester: Phillimore; entry 2,9
  4. ^ Cornish Church Guide (1925) Truro: Blackford; pp. 139–40
  5. ^ Prussia Cove houses Archived 26 March 2012 at the Wayback Machine ("Cornwall" is a mistake here)
  6. ^ "Cornwall Record Office; du Boulay". Cornwall Council. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
  7. ^ Brown, H. M. (1976) A Century for Cornwall. Truro: Blackford; p. 89
  8. ^ Langdon, A. G. (1896) Old Cornish Crosses. Truro: Joseph Pollard; p. 186
  9. ^ Pevsner, N. (1970) Cornwall; 2nd ed., rev. by Enid Radcliffe. Penguin; p. 99
  10. ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J.L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.208-11, pedigree of Coffin, p.208 arms given with 9 crosses crosslet. 8 as surviving monument of James Coffin (d.1566) in Monkleigh Church
  11. ^ a b "Hexworthy House – Launceston Then!". Retrieved 16 December 2020.
  12. ^ Vivian, Lt.Col. J. L., (Ed.) The Visitations of the County of Devon: Comprising the Heralds' Visitations of 1531, 1564 & 1620, Exeter, 1895, p.210, pedigree of Coffin
  13. ^ Burke's Genealogical and Heraldic History of the Landed Gentry; 15th edition, ed. Pirie-Gordon, H., London, 1937, p.442, pedigree of "Pine-Coffin of Portledge". 1766, death of Richard Coffin
  14. ^ Vivian, p. 210
  15. ^ Pevsner, p.349
  16. ^ a b "Lawhitton Parish Council". Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  17. ^ "Cornwall Sheet XVII NW, 1907". National Library of Scotland. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  18. ^ "Cornwall Sheet XVII SW, 1907". National Library of Scotland. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  19. ^ "Population statistics Lawhitton through time". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 14 October 2025.
  20. ^ "Launceston Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  21. ^ "Cornwall with Isles of Scilly: Diagram showing administrative boundaries, 1966". National Library of Scotland. Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
  22. ^ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  23. ^ "Church of England parish map". Retrieved 30 September 2025.
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