Town Trail: Part 4

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The Godolphins

When the carriages of the Godolphin family pulled into Helston, it’s likely that people in the street would doff their caps. For hundres of years, up to the mid-18th century, the Godolphins grew wealthy on the proceeds of tin and were regarded with deference by the townsfolk.

Distinguished Godolphins included John, Lord High Sheriff of Cornwall in the 15th century; Francis, who in 1595 repelled 200 Spanish marauders who had set fire to the village of Mousehole; and Sidney, who became Lord High Treasurer to Charles II. They followed the traditional life of landed gentry, acting as magistrates and representing Helston in Parliament. The dynasty ended in 1766 with the death of Francis, 2nd Earl of Godolphin.

The family home of Godolphin House, a few miles from Helston, is reported to have had 40 chimneys in 1690 and, for a time, the Angel Hotel was their town house.

The Coinage Hall

Just as farmers took their cattle to market, mine owners would bring their tin to Helston’s Coinage Hall. Until the coinage system was abandoned in 1838, officials at the hall weighed and valued tin which was then auctioned. ‘Coinage’ comes from the French coin for corner, as the quality of tin was assessed by cutting a corner from an ingot.

For the three or four day coinage sessions, which were held twice a year, Helston became a carnival town. At the midsummer coinage in 1595, when 110,000lbs of tin were recorded, you’d have seen quite a spectacle. Carriages everywhere; merchants, some coming as far away as the Mediterranean; wagons creaking under the weight of 31/2 cwt tin block; porters scurrying around; beggars, pedlars and musicians. The inns would be heaving, and you’d have heard cheers ringing out from the cock pit at the back of the Angel Hotel. You may also have seen Sir Francis Godolphin come into town to oversee his tin, embossed with the family’s Dolphin stamp.

Flora Day – a tradition rooted in the distant past

The Furry, or Flora, Dance is perhaps Helston’s greatest claim to fame. It is held annually on May 8th, the Christian feast day of the apparition of St. Michael, Helston’s patron saint, and although the origins of the Furry Dance pre-date Christianity, the early church adopted and then transformed pagan rituals. Ancient Cornish folk would celebrate the triumph of life (spring) over death (winter) in a fertility ritual in woods close to the town. The revellers would dance back in a procession, laden with flowers and sycamore branches. You can see traces of this ceremony in the Hal-an-Tow, on the morning of Flora Day.

Nowadays, the Helston Town Band lead four processional dances throughout the day and thousands thron the streets to cheer them. For the midday principal dance, invited participants wear top hats, tails and dress gowns, and weave in and out of shops, houses and gardens.

The Eton of Cornwall

When Helston Grammar School moved from its location by the Coinage Hall to Wendron Street in 1835, the headmaster was Revd. Derwent Coleridge, son of poet Samual Taylor Coleridge. Charles Kingsley, the famous writer, was a pupil from 1832 to 1836 with his younger brother Hubert, and Coleridge mentions them both in his diary: ‘The elder Kinglsey is … in short, half mad. The younger is a thief and a liar, and a runaway. He stole two silver spoons… took himself off, and was within an ace of getting aboard one of Don Pedro’s recruiting vessels…,’ Hubert died at the age of 14 and is buried in St Michael’s churchyard.

In his memoirs, Charles describes one of the masters at the school, the Revd C A Johns, who inspired his interest in botany during rambles over the Lizard. Johns wrote many books, including A Week at the Lizard.

Bob Fitzsimmons

Born in 1863, Fitzsimmons was the first boxer to be world middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight champion and the only Briton to have achieved this. He was often called Lanky Bob because of his long thin legs clad in padded tights. Fitzsimmons fought against Tom Sharkey in San Francisco in 1896, under the watchful eye of referee Wyatt Earp, the famous deputy marshal of Tombstone Arizona. Earp disqualified Fitzsimmons in round eight for punching below the belt! Fitzsimmons broke both hands during the bout which lost him his heavyweight title, fighting a man 50 pounds heavier. He retired in 1914 and died in Chicago three years later.

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