Talland Church Headstones

Headstone 362

~ Granite ~ Latin cross with three step base, with kerbs.

– Ancestry research – the 1841 & 1851 census shows Nathaniel living with his 2nd wife, Susan, and daughter Margaret, at Bridge End, West Looe. He was a Land Agent and Mayor of the town.

A Charter of Incorporation was granted by Queen Elizabeth I in 1574 and West Looe became a Parliamentary and Municipal Borough, having petitioned “to the dread and terror of the wicked and the reward of the good.” The Corporation consisted of a Mayor and twelve Capital Burgesses who composed the Council, and the Officials consisted of a Recorder, a Town Clerk, a Treasurer, or Cofferer, and two Sergeants-at-Mace. The Corporation, held courts, regulated the quays, the water supply, managed the lands, punished offenders, keeping accounts and receipts for the Churchwardens, Overseers, Waywardens, the Court Leet and the Civil Court. From about the year 1808, the office of Mayor was held in alternate years by Mr Nathaniel Hearle and Mr Isaac Willcocks, and after the death of the latter gentleman, Mr Hearle succeeded to the office, which he held to the date of his death, when the Corporation became extinct.

taken from – West Looe in Stuart Days by A.E.Hurford, Looe, 1930

“The North wall of the nave at Talland church was rebuilt in the ‘Modern Restoration’ of 1848-50, before this time there was just one window, near the transept. This new window was the gift of Nathaniel Hearle of West Looe. It contains some coloured glass, as a border, in each of the three lights. West Looe was a part of Talland at this time, and rejoiced in the possession of a Mayor and Corporation, who had their special seat under this window. It probably consisted of a high, square box, with seats all around it”.

taken from – A Short History and Description of Talland Church by Rev. J Parson, late Vicar of Talland.