View source for Week St Mary

{{Short description|Civil parish and village in northeast Cornwall}}
[[File:Week St Mary Church - geograph.org.uk - 210889.jpg|thumb|Week St Mary Church.]]
'''Week St Mary''' ({{langx|kw|Gwigvaria}} (village) or {{lang|kw|Pluw Varia}} (parish))<ref>{{cite web |title=Akademi Kernewek - Henwyn Tyller |url=https://www.akademikernewek.org.uk/place-names |access-date=25 June 2025 |archive-date=29 April 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200429200933/https://www.akademikernewek.org.uk/place-names/ |url-status=live }}</ref> is a village and [[civil parishes in England|civil parish]] in northeast [[Cornwall]], England, United Kingdom. It is situated south of [[Bude]] close to the [[River Tamar]] and the border between Cornwall and [[Devon]] in the [[Hundreds of Cornwall|Hundred]] of Stratton. The parish population at the 2011 census is 657.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/WeekStMary/index.html#Population|title=Parish population 2015|access-date= 15 February 2015}}</ref>

Week St Mary has a 14th–15th century [[parish church]] [[St Mary the Virgin's Church, Week St Mary|dedicated to St Mary the Virgin]] and the tower contains a ring of six bells.<ref>[http://www.weekstmaryvillage.co.uk/ Week St. Mary Village Community Web Site<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref><ref>Pevsner, N. (1970) ''Cornwall'', 2nd ed. Penguin Books</ref> The parish is in the [[diocese of Truro]].

==History==
The manor of Week was recorded in the Domesday Book (1086) as having one hide of land and land for eight ploughs. It was one of twenty-eight manors held by Richard from [[Robert, Count of Mortain]]. There were three ploughs, four serfs, six villeins and ten smallholders.  There were 2 acres of woodland and one square league of pasture. There were forty sheep and twenty-five other beasts. The value of the manor was £1-10 s.<ref>Thorn, C. ''et al.'', ed. (1979) ''Cornwall'' Chichester: Phillimore; entry 5, 3, 18</ref>

Parts of the college founded here by [[Thomasine, Lady Percival|Thomasine Bonaventure]] in 1506 have been converted into a farmhouse.  It is now owned by the [[Landmark Trust]].  The building of the college was overseen by John Dinham of Wortham who remodelled his own house [[Wortham Manor]] at about the same time.  As well as being a school the college was also a chantry and the schoolmaster was required to pray for the souls of the foundress's husbands.  The chantry led to it being dissolved in 1548 though in 1546 it was said to be "a great comfort to all the country there".<ref>''The Landmark Trust Handbook''; 19th ed. Shottesbrooke: the Landmark Trust; p. 36</ref>
[[File:Entrance to the Hospital, St. Mary-Wike, Cornwell. Etching b Wellcome V0014454.jpg|thumb|Entrance to the Hospital, St. Mary-Wike, Cornwell. Etching by J. Hawksworth, 1810, after [[Samuel Prout]]. ]]

The 14th–15th century church was hit by lightning in 1878 throwing one of the basement stones of the pinnacle {{convert|20|ft|m|1|abbr=on}} from the tower.  The stones at the base of the tower are now separated by gaps of {{convert|3|in|cm|1|abbr=on}} to {{convert|4|in|cm|1|abbr=on}}.  The church tower had been hit by lightning on two previous occasions.<ref>{{cite news|title=The Tower of Week St Mary's Church|work=The Cornishman|issue=19|date=21 November 1878|page=7}}</ref>

==Geography==
The parish covers an area of {{convert|6123|acre|km2}} or 9.6 square miles (24.8&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), and had a population of 550, according to the 2001 census,<ref>[http://www.genuki.org.uk:8080/big/eng/Cornwall/WeekStMary/ GENUKI: Week St Mary<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> 657 in 2011.

===Protected areas===
The parish contains two [[Sites of Special Scientific Interest]] (SSSI), both noted for their [[Flora and fauna of Cornwall|biological]] interest. '''Brendonmoor SSSI''', in the east of the civil parish, was notified in 1990<ref>{{cite web|title=Brendonmoor|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1005925.pdf|publisher=[[Natural England]]|access-date=29 October 2011|year=1990}}</ref> and '''Greenamoor SSSI''', also a [[nature reserve]] jointly owned by [[Plantlife]] and [[Cornwall Wildlife Trust]], was designated in 1992.<ref>{{cite web|title=Greenamoor|url=http://www.sssi.naturalengland.org.uk/citation/citation_photo/1006514.pdf|publisher=[[Natural England]]|access-date=1 November 2011|year=1992}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Greena Moor (Creddacott Meadows) Nature Reserve|url=http://www.cornwallwildlifetrust.org.uk/nature_reserves/where_to_find_the_nature_reserves_1/Greena_Moor_nature_reserve.htm|publisher=[[Cornwall Wildlife Trust]]|access-date=1 November 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Greena Moor|url=http://www.plantlife.org.uk/nature_reserves/greena_moor|publisher=[[Plantlife]]|access-date=1 November 2011}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
{{Commons category-inline|Week St Mary}}

{{Cornwall}}
{{North Cornwall CP navigation box}}
{{SSSIs Cornwall biological}}

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{{Use British English|date=November 2020}}

[[Category:Villages in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Civil parishes in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Sites of Special Scientific Interest in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Manors in Cornwall]]