GERMANS (ST.), a borough, market-town, and parish,
in the southern division of the hundred of EAST,
county of CORNWALL, 19 miles (S. by E.) from Launceston,
and 227 (W.S.W.) from London, containing
2404 inhabitants. The town is situated in a beautiful
valley, on the borders of a creek called St. Germans,
formed by the rivers Tidi and Lynher, which, uniting
with the Tamar, fall into the sea: the Tidi becomes
navigable two miles above St. Germans, at a place
called Tiddiford. In the southern part of the parish,
which is bounded by the English channel, there is a
beacon. This place derived its name from St. Germanus,
Bishop of Auxerre, who is supposed to have resided
here during a visit which he made to Cornwall, in the
fifth century. Athelstan having conquered the Cornish
Britons, in the early part of the tenth century, founded
here the see of a bishop, which, in the reign of Canute,
was removed to Crediton, and subsequently to Exeter.
The loss of ecclesiastical authority probably contributed
to the decay of the town, the market, then held
on Sundays, having become very inconsiderable when
the Norman survey was made. Leland mentions it as
a poor fishing town; but he adds, the glory of it stood
by the priory, which was a convent of Augustine canons,
whose revenue at the dissolution amounted to £ 227 4.8.:
its site is occupied by Port Eliot, a modern mansion
belonging to the Earl of St. Germans. The market,
which was altered from Sunday to Friday, has long
been discontinued; but fairs for cattle are held May
28th and August 1st. The town is governed by a portreeve,
chosen annually at the court leet for the manor.
It has returned two representatives to parliament ever
since 1562: the right of election is vested in householders
who have resided twelve months within the
borough: the portreeve is the returning officer. The
patronage belongs to the Earl of St. Germans.
The living is a perpetual curacy, in the peculiar
jurisdiction of the Bishop of Exeter, endowed with
£1200 parliamentary grant, and in the patronage of
the Dean and Canons of Windsor. The church, dedicated
to St. Germanus, consists of the nave and aisles
of the conventual church, with a fine Norman doorway
at the west end, between two low towers; within
it are several monuments of the families of Eliot,
Glanvill, and Scawen, among which is a magnificent
tomb erected in memory of Edward Eliot, uncle of the
first Lord Eliot, with a recumbent statue of the deceased,
and other figures, executed by Rysbrack; and here is
also the monument of Walter Moyle, an eminent writer,
the friend and correspondent of Locke, who died in
1721. Nicholas Honey, in 1657, gave land in this
parish for the support of a schoolmaster, and other
charitable purposes; and here is a parish school, assisted
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G I D 220 G I L
by the benefactions of Lord St. Germans. St. Germans
gives the title of earl to the family of Eliot.