“ PADSTOW, a small seaport and market town in the St Austell parliamentary division of Cornwall, England, on a branch of the London & South Western railway. Pop. of urban district (1901) , 1566. It lies near the north coast, on the west shore, and 2 m. from the mouth of the estuary of the river Camel, a picturesque inlet which from Padstow Bay penetrates 6 m. into the land. The church of St Petrock, with a massive rood stone in the churchyard, is mainly Perpendicular, with an Early English tower. ”

“ From a httle distance only the weather-beaten spire can be seen. A Norman font remains from the older foundation. A monastery formerly stood on the high ground west of Padstow, and according to tradition was founded by St Petrock in the 6th and razed by the Danes in the 10th century. Its site is occupied by Prideaux Place, an Elizabethan mansion, which contains among other valuable pictures Van Dyck’s portrait of Queen Henrietta Maria. Pentine Point shelters Padstow Bay on the north-east, but the approach to the estuary is dangerous during north-westerly gales. ”

“ Some steps towards incorporation were doubtless taken, but it is remarkable that no traces of its municipal character are discoverable in any subsequent records. A prescriptive market is held on Saturdays; two fairs of like nature have disappeared. ”