St. Thomas the Apostle Rural

St Thomas the Apostle Rural is a civil parish in east Cornwall, centered on the village of Tregadillett. The area is predominantly agricultural, with a landscape of farmland and hedgerows. The parish lies to the west of Launceston, and the village of Tregadillett is situated beside the A30 trunk road. The area has a quiet, rural character, shaped by centuries of farming and its historical connection to Launceston. The parish church, St Thomas, stands within Launceston on the site of the former Launceston Priory.

History: The ecclesiastical parish of St Thomas was created in 1726 when the former Launceston Priory church, which had been dissolved in 1539, was established as the parish church. The priory had been founded by the Augustinian canons and was the largest in Cornwall before its dissolution by Henry VIII in 1540. Following the dissolution, the priory church became a chapel of ease and served the area south of the Kensey River. Part of the parish of St Thomas the Apostle was within the borough boundaries of Launceston from the creation of the parish, and this area was known as the hamlet of St Thomas Street. The Local Government Act 1894 directed that civil parishes were no longer allowed to straddle borough boundaries, and so the parish was split into St Thomas Street, St Thomas the Apostle Urban, and St Thomas the Apostle Rural. The urban parishes were abolished in 1922 and united into Launceston. Despite the fragmentation of civil parishes, the ecclesiastical parish remains essentially the same. The parish was historically agricultural, with the economy based on farming and small-scale trade. Today, St Thomas the Apostle Rural remains a distinct rural civil entity, with Tregadillett as its main settlement.