Illogan

Coordinates: 50°15′00″N 5°16′05″W / 50.250°N 5.268°W / 50.250; -5.268

Illogan (pronounced illuggan, Cornish: Egloshalow) is a village and civil parish in west Cornwall, England, UK, two miles (3 km) northwest of Redruth. The population of Illogan was 5,404 at the 2011 census. In the same year the population of the Camborne-Redruth urban area, which also includes Carn Brea, Illogan and several satellite villages, stood at 55,400 making it the largest conurbation in Cornwall. Originally a rural area supporting itself by farming and agriculture, Illogan shared in the general leap into prosperity brought about by the mining boom, which was experienced by the whole Camborne-Redruth area.

History

Antiquities

In 1931 the ruins of a Roman villa at Magor Farm were found and excavated under the guidance of the Royal Institution of Cornwall. The villa was probably the residence of a wealthy Dumnonian who had adopted the Roman lifestyle.

Church

The parish church was dedicated to St Illogan (Ylloganus or Euluganus) and St Edmund; the earliest reliable reference, dated 1235, refers to the Ecclesia of Eglossalau. By 1844, the church had become too small to serve a vastly increasing mining population, so a new church was built to the designs of J. P. St Aubyn. at a cost of £2,875 and came into use on 4 November 1846. The Bell Tower is all that remains of the old church; Trinity House refused to allow its removal as it provided a useful landmark for shipping. The church reopened in 2012 after extensive repairs to the roof.