The Betjeman centre was formerly a railway station on the Wadebridge to Bodmin line which now forms the cycle track way for the Camel Trail. Egloshayle (eglos-church, hayle- estuary,) is a quaint village located on the north side of the River Camel at Wadebridge, and you can be forgiven for thinking that they are one and the same due to the total infill of properties that has left the village slightly undefined. Egloshayle seems to merge into Wadebridge. The 15th Century Church was originally dedicated to St Conan. Egloshayle was one of the main landing places on the Ireland to America route, after sailing up the estuary from Padstow. Egloshayle was the beginning of the overland journey to South Cornwall and the Fowey Estuary. Most visitors just pass by the church but in behind the church lies a beautifully well preserved Cornish village. There is a small Victorian Village Hall, and an even smaller village pub known as ” The Earl of Vincent”. Pretty whitewashed cottages and Cornish slate walls are all part of the villages charm. The door to the West Tower of the church, commemorates John Loveybond. The Vicar who paid for the building of the bridge at Wade in 1468. 320 feet in length, originally with 17 Arches, it is [was] the longest in Cornwall. because of the shifting sand, large bales of wool were sunk for the foundation of the bridge, hence references to the Bridge on Wool, and a reminder of the local source of wealth, sheep at that time. The Bridge has twice been widened. LOVEYBOND, the founder of Wadebridge’s prosperity, is comemorated also by Carvings on the 15th Cen pulpit, the whole church, in fact is grander than most Villages can claim, at the time Egloshayle church was built, EGLOSHAYLE was a trading Port rivalling PADSTOW which is 5 miles down river. trading in Tin, Clay, Wool, Corn and other vegetable crops The Priors of BODMIN had a busy quay here, Ironically, the building of the bridge caused a decline, for the ships could no longer come so far up the river, new quays were built on the seaward side of the bridge, but to no avail, and so the tidal estuary gradually silted up, Egloshayle has gone from Bronze Age Settlement to riverhead port, and decline to a rural village. Church History The parish church comprises a chancel, nave, south aisle (said to be built by Thomas Vyvyan, prior of Bodmin), and a short north aisle or transept. The south arcade has six pointed arches of granite, with monolith pillars of the same material; the transept has two arches of similar character. There are north and south porches, and a priest’s door. The tower, which is 80 feet in height, was built around 1490; it is of three stages, buttressed on the square, and finished with battlements and pinnacles. The church was in existence in 1258, and evidence suggests there was a church here before the Norman conquest of 1066. The 15th Century Church was originally dedicated to St Conan; but is now dedicated to St Petroc. it sits beside the main road but still retains its own distinctive character. The door to the west tower of the church, commemorates John Loveybond, the Vicar who paid for the building of the Bridge at Wade (bridge) in 1468, and because of the shifting sand, large bales of wool were sunk for the foundation of the bridge, hence references to the ‘Bridge on Wool’. Loveybond, is commemorated also by carvings on the 15th century pulpit; the church is grander than that of most villages. There are two other Anglican churches: one at Washaway, which is dedicated to St Conan and was built in 1882. The other, dedicated to St Mary, is in Trevanion Road in Wadebridge. The United Benefice of Egloshayle and St Breock was created in 1984. It comprises these two churches plus their daughter churches of St Conan’s in washaway and St Mary’s in Trevanion Road, Wadebridge. Further information can be sourced at: http://www.genuki.org.uk/big/eng/Cornwall/Egloshayle/index.html

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