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LANYHORN CASTLE AND ITS LOEDS 

 By H. MICHELL WHITLEY, F.G.S., Hon. Sec. 



On a little hillside by a spreading branch, of the river Fal, 

 in the heart of the village of Euan, and sloping towards the 

 southern sun, still exist some slight remains of the feudal castle 

 of the Erchedeknes, which at one time were far more important 

 than at present, as for many years they have served as a quarry 

 for the building of the little village that now stands on the site. 



Whitaker, who was Eector of Euan for many years at the 

 close of the last and commencement of the present century, has 

 left in his MS. notes to Tonkin, now in the possession of the 

 Society, a description of the ruins as they existed about a century 

 ago, and it is the object of this paper to furnish some account of 

 the noble family that once lived here, and to trace the remains 

 of the castle, as far as they can be identified at the present time 

 from a careful examination of the ground aided by Whitaker's 

 MS. 



The early history of the manor is difficult to trace. The 

 Manor of Elerchi, to which Lanyhorn seems to have been 

 attached, was held in the time of King Edward the Confessor, 

 by Merlesuen, and at the time of the Norman Conquest was 

 bestowed by King William on his half-brother the Earl of 

 Moreton ; it is extremely probable that it descended to his son 

 William Earl of Moreton, who for rebellion was deprived of his 

 lands and had to flee from the kingdom. 



The manor thus reverting into the king's hands was no 

 doubt then bestowed on one of his Knights, probably one of the 

 Erchedeknes ; the first mention of the manor and its owner that 

 I can find occurring in 1303, when an inquisition to ascertain the 

 true value of the lands of Thomas le Erchedekne was held at 

 St. Austle, before Grilbert de Knoville, Thomas de la Hyde, who 

 was Sheriff of Cornwall, and a Jury. 



