Description

Boconnoc a parish in Cornwall, on affluents of the river Lerrin, 4 miles from Lostwithiel station on the G.W. R. Post town, Lostwithiel, which is the money order and telegraph office. Acreage, 2065; population of the civil parish, 314; of the ecclesiastical with Broadoak, 599. The manor belonged to the Courtenays, the Carmenowes, and the Mohuns, and was purchased by Governor Pitt, the grandfather of the great Earl of Chatham. The old mansion on it was the headquarters of Prince Maurice, and for a short time the residence of Charles I., who narrowly escaped being shot by an assassin on the grounds. The present mansion was built by Governor Pitt, and improved by Lord Camelford. It was the birthplace of the Earl of Chatham, is now the residence of the Fortescue family, and contains a bust of Lord Chatham, some fine paintings by Kneller, Lely, and Reynolds, and two ebony chairs made out of Queen Elizabeth's cradle. The grounds are the finest in Cornwall, and contain an obelisk, 123 feet high, to the memory of Sir Richard Lyttleton. Lead mines were formerly worked, but were not productive. The living is a rectory, united with the rectory of Broadoak, in the diocese of Truro; net value, £209, with residence, in the gift of the Fortescue family. The church contains some good memorial windows, and was restored in 1873. There is a Wesleyan chapel and one for Bible Christians.