Morwenstow

• MIs - Shop Methodist Church (locn. SS227148)
• MIs - Woodford Bible Christian Chapel (locn. SS191136)
• MIs - Woodford Wesleyan Chapel (locn. SS218134)
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published Monumental Inscriptions on-line for the Parish Church - 914 entries.

Census information for this parish (1841 - 1901) is held in the Cornwall Record Office. The Cornwall Family History Society offers a census search service for its members.
Specific census information for this parish is available as follows:

• 1841. The 1841 Census of Morwenstow (HO107/151), Enumeration Districts 5 to 7, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1851.
  • The 1851 Census of Morwenstow (HO107/1897), Enumeration Districts 1a, 1b and 1c, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
  • The New Zealand Society of Genealogists have compiled separate surname indexes of the 1851 Census for each Cornish registration district; Morwenstow is listed in Volume 5. The booklets are available in Cornwall at the Cornwall Centre, (formerly known as the Cornish Studies Library), and is also available in the Cornwall FHS Library.
• 1861. The 1861 Census of Morwenstow (RG9/1512), (Enumeration Districts 5 to 7), is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1871. The 1871 Census of Morwenstow (RG10/2214), Enumeration District 5 to 7, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1881. The 1881 Census of Morwenstow (RG11/2269), Enumeration Districts 5 to 7, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.
• 1891. The 1891 Census of Morwenstow (RG12/1796), Enumeration Districts 5 to 7, is available on-line from the Cornwall Online Census project.

• Anglican. The parish church is located in OS Grid Square SS2015, and is dedicated to St Morwenna and St John the Baptist. It was appropriated by Peter Quivil, Bishop of Exeter, who died in 1291, to St John's Hospital at Bridgewater. In a document dated 1296, the church was referred to as an 'old and well-known structure'. Although this is a Norman church, it clearly must have replaced an earlier Saxon structure. It consists of a chancel, nave, and north and south aisles. The chancel is separated from the nave by a richly-carved screen erected in 1575 at the expense of the Kempthorne family. The arcades consist of seven arches, some of which are semi-circular, and others pointed. They are supported on piers and pillars, one of which bears the date 1475. The entrances to the body of the church are via a south porch and a priest's door; the former has a fine Norman doorway. The tower is of two stages and is finished with pinnacles; it had four bells.
• Non-Conformist. The Morwenstow Methodist Church, also known locally as Shop Chapel, is located in the village of Shop. There is a Wesleyan Chapel at Woodford, formerly Bible Christian. Chapels no longer in use: Gooseham Bible Christian (now a private house), Coombe “Tabernacle” Bible Christian (now a Landmark Trust holiday let), Eastcott Bible Christian (now a private house), Woolley Wesleyan  (now a private house).

• LDS Church Records.
  • The LDS Church batch numbers for Morwenstow are: C002132/4, M002133, P002131. These are searchable by surname.
  • The IGI coverage of this parish is 1558 - 1875.
• The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1558 - 1956, Burials 1558 - 1863, Marriages 1558 - 1812, Boyd's Marriage Index 1558 - 1812, Pallott's Marriage Index 1790 - 1812.
• The Cornwall Family History Society have published on-line transcripts of:
  • Pre 1813 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Marriages
  • 1813-37 Burials
• Baptisms.
  • Baptisms 1558 to 1902, and 1676 to 1805 (Bishop's transcripts - with gaps), for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
  • The Cornish Forefathers' Society have published on CD, baptisms 1778 to 1840 for this parish which can be purchased on Parish Chest
• Banns. Banns 1755 to 1806 for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
• Marriages.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Marriages 1558 to 1837, which is available in CD or downloadable .pdf file formats.
  • Phillimore's marriages 1558 to 1812, an index of marriages 1558 to 1901, and Bishop's transcripts of marriages 1676 to 1805 (with gaps), for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).
• Burials.
  • The Cornwall Family History Society have published transcripts of: Parish Burials 1813 to 1837, which is available in Book format.
  • Burials 1559 to 1901, and Bishop's transcripts of burials 1676 to 1804 (with gaps), for this parish are available on-line through the OPC search Facility - (C-PROP).

The parish of Morwenstow is in the Stratton Registration District, and has been since 1st July 1837; there were sub-districts at Kilhampton, Stratton and Week St Mary but these have now been abolished. Parishes within the district are: Jacobstow, Kilkhampton, Launcells, Marhamchurch, Morwenstow, Poughill, Poundstock, St. Gennys, Stratton, Stratton and Bude, Week St. Mary, Whitstone. The Superintendant Registrar can be contacted at: The Parkhouse Centre, Ergue Gaberic Way, Bude, EX23 8LF. Tel: 01288 353209.

• Geograph
• Flickr

• Ask for a calculation of the distance from Morwenstow to another place.

• OPC Assistance.
  • The On-line Parish Clerk (OPC) scheme operates a service to help family historians; the OPC page for this parish is available on-line, from where the OPC can be contacted by email.

The Domesday Settlements of Cornwall, a study undertaken by the Cornwall Branch of the Historical Association, has identified and located settlements listed in the Exeter and Exchequer Domesday Survey of AD 1086. The following places have been identified in Morwenstow ecclesiastical parish:

• Lee (Lega, Lege), Grid Reference 228123.
• Milton (Middeltona, Mideltone), Grid Reference 244144.

• Map of the Stratton Registration District in which the parish lies.

You can see maps centred on OS grid reference SS233145 (Lat/Lon: 50.90319, -4.51449), Morwenstow which are provided by:

• OpenStreetMap
• Google Maps
• StreetMap (Current Ordnance Survey maps)
• Bing (was Multimap)
• Old Maps Online
• National Library of Scotland (Old Ordnance Survey maps)
• Vision of Britain (Click "Historical units & statistics" for administrative areas.)
• English Jurisdictions in 1851 (Unfortunately the LDS have removed the facility to enable us to specify a starting location, you will need to search yourself on their map.)
• Magic (Geographic information) (Click + on map if it doesn't show)
• GeoHack (Links to on-line maps and location specific services.)

• All places within the same township/parish shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby townships/parishes shown on an Openstreetmap map.
• Nearby places shown on an Openstreetmap map.

• Morwenstow Apprenticeship Indentures 1715 - 1797 are available on-line.
• Morwenstow Apprenticeship Indentures 1803 - 1841 are available on-line.
• Apprenticeship Indentures for Morwenstow (1715 - 1841) can also be found in the Cornwall Record Office.

• Morwenstow parish was part of the Stratton Union for Poor Law administration and parish relief.
• Overseers' Accounts (1741 to 1837), Settlement Papers (1721 to 1844) and Bastardy Bonds (1716 to 1819), are available in the Cornwall Record Office.
• Some Bastardy Bonds for this parish can be found on-line.

The parish comprises 8196 acres of land, one acre of water, one acre of tidal water and 242 acres of foreshore.