KILKHAMPTON, a parish in the hundred of
STRATTON, county of CORNWALL, 3 miles (N. by E.)
from Stratton, containing 1024 inhabitants. The living
is a rectory, in the archdeaconry of Cornwall, and diocese
of Exeter, rated in the king's books at £26. 3. llf.
Lord Carteret was patron in 1810. The church, dedicated
to St. James, is remarkable for the singular
richness of its architecture, particularly the south doorway,
which is a beautiful specimen of the Norman style,
exhibiting shafts and bands of zig-zag mouldings, with
the beak-headed ornaments; some other portions of the
fabric are of much later date: it contains an enriched
pulpit, a very ancient font, and several handsome monuments,
the most striking of which is one to the memory
of the renowned warrior Sir Seville Grenville, Earl of
Corbill, and Lord of Thorigny and Grenville, in France
and Normandy, descended in a direct line from Robert,
second son of Rollo, first Duke of Normandy, and slain
in the parliamentary war, at the battle of Lansdown,
July 5th, 1643. One of his ancestors, who came over with
the Conqueror, is said to have founded the church. This
place had anciently a market. There are fairs on Holy
Thursday, the third Thursday following, and on August
28th; the first and last are considerable cattle fairs. It
is stated that the pious Hervey conceived his " Meditations
among the Tombs" at Kilkhampton.