Kelly’s Directory 1873

This well known directory gives a snapshot of Crowan in 1873

CROWAN is a township and parish, 4 miles south from Camborne, in the western division of the county, Penwith hundred, Helston union and county court district, rural deanery of Penwith, Cornwall archdeaconry, and Exeter diocese.

The church of Saint Crewena, which was thoroughly restored in 1872, at a cost of upwards of £2,000, is a handsome Gothic building, has chancel, nave, aisles and a tower with 6 bells, and will accommodate about 400: the north aisle contains several monuments to the St. AUBYN family: the cost of restoring the chancel was defrayed by the patron of the living, the Rev. St-Aubyn H. MOLESWORTH-ST. AUBYN: over the chancel is a handsome stained glass window, representing the Ascension, which was given by Mrs. Hender ST. AUBYN, in memory of her husband: also another at the end of the south aisle, representing the Ascension which was given, in memory of his wife, by George Hickman JOHNS Esq., of the Indian Civil service, son of the present vicar.

The earliest register in existence dates from the year 1689. The living is a vicarage, yearly value £470, with residence and 40 acres of glebe land, in the gift of the Rev. St Aubyn Hender MOLESWORTH-ST AUBYN, and held by the Rev. John White JOHNS M.A. of St. Johns College, Cambridge.

There are two schools for boys and girls, capable of accommodating 400 children; also a Sunday School. There are chapels for Wesleyans and Bible Christians. The chief pursuit of the inhabitants is mining. Clowance is the seat of the Rev. St-Aubyn H. MOLESWORTH-ST. AUBYN. The Rev St Aubyn Hender MOLESWORTH-ST AUBYN, who is lord of the manor, and the Duke of LEEDS, are the chief landowners.

The soil is loam; subsoil, principally granite. The chief crops are wheat, barley, oats and roots. The area is 6,437 acres; gross estimated rental, £8.537; rateable value £7,755.10s; and the population in 1861 was 4,131, and in 1871 was 3,464.

PRAZE is a considerable village three-quarters of a mile north, with a yearly fair for cattle, held in October, and a pleasure fair held on the 15th July; there is also a feast held here on the nearest Sunday to Candlemas (2nd February) A mutual improvement society has recently been established here, of which the Rev. John White JOHNS is president.

Letters arrive, through Camborne, at 11.45 a.m.; dispatched at 1.25 p.m. The nearest money order office is at Camborne.