Descriptive Gazetteer Entry for MAKER

MAKER, a decayed ancient village and a parish in St. Germans district, Cornwall. The village stands on the W Side of Plymouth sound, near Cremill ferry, at the NE extremity of Cornwall, 2½ miles S by W of Devonport town and r. station; took its name, by co ruption, from St. Macra; and was once a borough and a market-town. The parish contains also the villages of Inceworth, Milbrook, and Cawsand, each of the two latter of which has a post office under Devonport; and it includes the tything of Vaultersholme, which, prior to Oct. 1 844, was in Devon. Acres, 3,204; of which 740 are water. Real property, £6,266. Pop. in 1851,2,822; in 1861,2,986. Houses, 576. The property is divided among a few. There are two manors; and the one belongs to Lord Clinton, the other to Earl Mount Edgecumbe. The land is peninsulated between Plymouth sound and Whitesand bay, and also projects a minor peninsula between Plymouth sound and the Hamoaze; and it has a hilly contour, and is bounded along the E by picturesque cliffs. The chief hills bear the name of Maker Heights, and rise to an altitude of 402 feet above sea-level. A headland at the N extremity is crowned with the ruin of an ancient chapel, and commands a view of the Cornish coast all the way to the Lizard. Mount Edgecumbe House, the seat of the Earl of Mount Edgecumbe, stands in the peninsula between Plymouth sound and the Hamoaze; occupies a strikingly picturesque site; commands a fine sea-view, through a vista of trees; is a castellated edifice, of the time of Queen Mary; contains some fine family and historical portraits; and has remarkably beautiful and romantic pleasure-grounds, with English, French, and Italian gardens, a Doric conservatory, and numerous features of interest, both natural and artificial. The Blockhouse, a fort of the time of Elizabeth, is in the neighbourhood of the gardens, and adjoins the point of ferry communication with Cremill. Rope-making is carried on at Woodpark; and boat-building, at Middle Anderton. The living is a vicarage in the diocese of Exeter. Value, £223.* Patron, the Crown. The church is ancient and good; has a tower and spire, which serve as a land-mark to mariners; contains several fine monuments to the Edgecumbes and others; and was used, during the French war, as a signal-station communicating with Mount Wise at Devonport. The p. curacy of Milbrook is a separate benefice. There are chapels for Baptists and Wesleyans, a national school, and charities £54.


(John Marius Wilson, Imperial Gazetteer of England and Wales (1870-72))

Linked entities:
Feature Description: "a decayed ancient village and a parish"   (ADL Feature Type: "populated places")
Administrative units: Maker CP/AP       St Germans RegD/PLU       Cornwall AncC
Place: Maker

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