Page:The Cornwall coast.djvu/383

MORWENSTOW 377 Carmelite friar at Oxford he rose to be bishop, first of Bangor, finally of Hereford. He died in the Carmelite convent at Ludlow, 1474, and was buried at Hereford. Marsland-mouth, the north- ward boundary of Morwenstow parish, is also the boundary between Cornwall and Devon. Its utter loneliness and wildness are in complete contrast to the great southward boundary at the mouth of the Three Rivers. Here at Marsland Devon and Cornwall merge imperceptibly ; the charac- teristics of the one are carried over into the other ; in scenery, people, dialect, no change can be noted. This close community was emphasised, in Hawker's day, by the fact that for the last twenty-five years of his life he held charge of Welcombe parish as well as Morwenstow, Wel- combe (most suitably named) being the first parish in Devon. In his old age, when Dr. Temple was appointed to the diocese of Exeter, the Vicar had some fear that he would be deprived of this additional cure, as Temple was expected to be no friend to Dr. Phillpotts' nominees ; but, somewhat to his surprise, Hawker found that he got on fairly well with the new Bishop, though he detested his theo- logical standpoints. Obviously, the name of Welcombe might be " Well-combe," there being a holy well of St. Nectan here ; but that deriva- tion does not seem to be correct. In the Exeter Domesday Book the parish is given as Walcomba, and probably the name signified Welsh-combe, marking the juncture when Saxonised West Devon passed into " West Wales." The church is three miles' distance from Morwenstow, and Hawker used to ride over every Sunday after- noon for service. On one occasion he forgot to