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Holy Wells & Saints
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OTHER SITES
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CORNWALL REVIEWS
INDEX and SITE CONTENTS
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©
Copyright Oliver Howes 2018
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Page updated 31 March 2121
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Anglican
Churches
Advent
Church near Tresinney
I was first at Advent
church in 2014, in the course of researching a round walk from St. Breward
to Camelford. Then I passed through Advent churchyard on my way from
Camelford back to St. Breward. On this occasion, in July 2016, I
had been to Lanteglos-by-Camelford in the morning and decided to continue
to Advent, not far away, in the afternoon. Despite the name Advent
church, and therefore the existence of a parish of Advent, there is no
village of that name. The church is quite isolated and reached either
by a footpath across a couple of fields from Trethin, entering the churchyard
by a gate and stile, or by a narrow track from a lane at Tresinney.
As churches go, this may well be Cornwall's least interesting - makes me
wonder why I have bothered to report on it. There is very little
or no atmosphere, there are no carved bench ends, which you get in so many
Cornish churches, no interesting memorials, no good stained glass.
About the only worthwhile features are an attractive window in the south
aisle (see photo), a Norman font, bosses on the wagon roofs, and an apparently
damaged pulpit with panels missing. There is a little interesting
woodwork in the porch roof. Of some interest is the site, the bank
surrounding the churchyard suggesting a very early Christian or even pagan
site.
More Advent church |
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From Valley Truckle
on A39 follow sign Advent
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South window
in Advent church
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More Advent
Church
I revisited Advent Church on the
same July day that I looked at St. Anne's church in Whitstone.
There is little doubt that Whitstone is far and away the more
interesting but, on this occasion, I did find a little more interest in
Advent than before. In the porch I noted a tablet commemorating
Bishop Bill Ind's presence at the completion of restoration in
2005. The aisle ceiling is boarded with carved bosses. The
nave ceiling is a wagon roof, again with carved bosses. The
pulpit is simple, dark oak on a stone base; by it two panels look
as if they may once formed a door of sorts. There is some
acceptable Victorian stained glass. A small carved granite slab
comemorates William MIchael; another remembers Edmund and Anne
Dinham. There are some attractive kneelers, including one of a
bird of paradise. The plain circular font is Norman.
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Advent Church
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Ceiling Boss in Porch
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Advent Pulpit
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Altarnun,
St. Nonna's
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Although I had been
in or through Altarnun on many occasions, including an
Inny Valleys Walk that starts here, and had attended a village
coffee morning some years ago, I realised, to my surprise, that I had never
been inside St. Nonna's Church. So when my friend Bob suggested an
outing to include Altarnun and
a walk on East Moor, I
was happy to join him in February 2017. This is a holy place of some
significance as Nonna, also know as Non, Nonnita
and Nun, was the mother of the patron saint of Wales, St. David.
Sadly, Non's Holy Well, on the edge of Altarnun, is appallingly overgrown;
it is a disgrace that the village does not maintain it. Generally
speaking, I was quite impressed by the interior of the church. There
are good wagon roofs with carved bosses. At each end of the extended
Victorian screen, there is only a remnant of the medieval screen.
There is a rood stair entrance but no stairs. There is a fine font,
one of the best of the so-called Altarnun Fonts, Norman with a bearded
face at each corner. There are, unusually, no memorials. The
church's finest feature is the superb collection of medieval carved bench
ends, 79 in all. Some are entertaining - a Cornish bagpiper,
jesters, violinists, sheep. Moving is a so-called vernicle, a portrait
of Christ on a handkerchief held by an angel. Outside is a good Cornish
Cross with identical obverse and reverse. |
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St. Nonna's
Church
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Altarnun Revisited Altarnun's Bench Ends
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Altarnun Revisited
I
was back in Altarnun in early
August 2019, I was last there in May 2015 when I looked in the
church briefly at the beginning of a long and most enjoyable walk that
took me, by way of Tregirls, up onto Fox Tor on Bodmin Moor. I
have also used Altarnun as a starting point for walks, including an
enoyable Inny Valleys Walk. This time, before enering the
church, I lingered in the porch for the attractive carved roof
bosses. Inside, I was again captivated by what must be one of
Cornwall's very best collections of medieval carved bench ends, 79 in
all, carved over twenty years in the mid-16th century period by Robert Daye. Some of the best examples are below; here are some more examples of my Altarnun favourites.
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Altarnun's Cornish Cross
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Ceiling Boss in Altarnun Porch
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Altarnun's Bodmin type Font
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Altarnun,
St. Nonna's Bench Ends
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Hands and Feet
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Christ on Handkerchief
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Viol Player
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Bagpiper
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St. Nonna and her Holy Well
St. Nonna (or Non,
Nonnita or Nun)
Little is known of
St. Non, mother of David, the Patron Saint of Wales. She was born
around 500AD and was either married to, or seduced by, Sant a local chieftain.
Their issue was David, born in 520. In 527 she left Wales, settled
in Cornwall and died in Brittany. Her relics were held in Cornwall
until the Reformation. Legend tells other stories. One tells
that she married King Caratacus of Cornwall (actually of the Catuvelauni
tribe from eastern Britain and led resistance to the Romans) producing
David. Another makes Sant a Cornish chieftain who seduced her and
as penance founded a monastery at Lezant, 10 miles from Altarnun;
interestingly Lezant (Lann Sans) means the saint’s enclosure. Another
connects Davidstow, 10 miles from Altarnun with the story. Finally,
15th century chronicler William of Worcester claimed David was born at
Altarnun. Non’s best known well is at St. David’s, near the sea.
It is beautifully kept and clearly marked, which is more than may be said
for that at Altarnun, unmarked, degraded, overgrown, presiding over a stagnant
pool. The waters of St. Nonna's well were believed to be a cure for
madness. Lunatics were immersed in it and brought to church for mass.
To find the well, leave the church northwards uphill to a left bend.
Go through a gate and a kissing gate on the right and down to the bottom
of the field. It is at 22434/81542. I would have liked to include
a photo but the site was disgracefully badly overgrown.
August 2020: I have
received an email from Rebecca Sparey-Taylor who has visited Altarnun
recently, She kindly attached a photo showing that the site has been
cleared and the well-house and pool are now accessible. Photo
below.
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Antony, St. James Church, Maryfield
On
a sunny Saturday in mid-August, I decided to look at a few places on
the Torpoint peninsula - Antony, Sheviock, St. John for their churches,
and Torpoint itself for its location n the water and for its
harbour. In the event I was distinctly unimpressed with Torpoint,
though I enjoyed the view across to Devonport Dockyard, and I was
unable to gain entry to the little church at St. John. However
the churches at Antony and Sheviock certainly made up for that.
Despite Pevsner, there is really no such village as Antony, only the
park, garden and great house. The church, along with a few other
buildings, is actually in Maryfield and lies just to the east of Antony
Park. Parts of the church date from its dedication in 1259, other
old parts are the 14th century tower and the 15th century aisles.
Like so many Cornish churches, St. James was heavily restored in the
mid 19th centrury and the overall impression you get reflects that.
There is some good stained glass but the feature that strikes
you most strongly is the colourful decoration of the arches and arcade,
with figures of saints and angels in a very striking frescoe. The
reredos in he chancel is full of coloured marble and the altar when I
saw it was decorated with flowers is small brass pots. The pulpit
is striking, carrying four carved panels of the Evangelists.
There are some fine monuments to the Carew family of nearby Antony
House.
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Maryfield Frescoe
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Maryfield Marble Reredos
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Maryfield Arch
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Biscovey
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This,
rather oddly, is the parish church of the ecclesiastical parish of Par, which
includes St. Blazey and Tywardreath;
it's a big parish and a small church.
On a sunny Saturday in early October I had a busy time visiting churches
in the St. Austell/Par area. Major visit
was Holy Trinity in St. Austell itself but I also enjoyed All Saints in
Pentewan, St. Levan's in Higher Porthpean and, described here, St. Mary the
Virgin in Biscovey. The location of St.
Mary the Virgin is a surprise, high above a large circular car park on the
north side of the A390 St. Austell to Lostwithiel Road. There are 32 steps to climb from car park
to churchyard but the effort is well worth it. The first thing to note, in the angle between
the external walls of the chancel and south aisle, is the tall remains of a
Cornish Cross, sadly minus its head. This
is a noteworthy church in at least one respect:
It was built in 1848, the very first work of highly respected architect
G E Street. The tower and spire are unusual
for Cornwall, effectively a double broach spire with tiny dormers. Once inside, the high ceiling gives a feeling
of spaciousness. The nave roof, of tie
beam and crown post, is echoed in the aisle roof. The chancel has three stained glass windows
to south, three to east, and a colourful altar cloth. The aisle chapel has a ceiling in blue and
gold. The simple pulpit is of stone
with blue carpeted stairs. There is an
ornate brass lectern and a plain litany desk.
A banner is of Virgin and Child.
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Biscovey Church
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Chancel of Biscovey Church
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Blisland,
the Church of St. Protus and St. Hyacinth
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Blisland
is an attractive small village set just below the western edge of Bodmin
Moor. Most unusually the village centres around a large green,
something you would have associated more with English shire counties than
with Cornwall. Although there are some weekend homes here, there
is quite a feeling of community in Blisland. Fund raising has seen
a new primary school built and now the lost village stores and post office
have been replaced by a new shop combining the two plus doctor's surgery,
internet café and more. The pub on the green has a good reputation
for its real ales. Architecture is typical of Bodmin Moor villages
and even some new homes are granite faced. Highlight of Blisland
is its church with the odd dedication to Saints Protus and Hyacinth;
despite the latter's name, the two were apparently brothers. Outside,
the church is typically Cornish with its squat tower and same height nave
and aisle. Walk in and you might well be in a pre-Reformation church,
faced as you are by a colourful rood screen, complete with rood, and chancel
and chapel each with an elaborate reredos. All this was part of an
1894 restoration. There is a handsome Jacobean pulpit and the uneven
roof timbers have carved bosses. The Blisland Inn is a pleasant and
welcoming village local, open all day. We were very glad of its refreshments
on a circular variation on a Camel
Trail walk.
For a little more sophistication, eat at the
Old Inn at St. Breward. |
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St. Protus
& St. Hyacinth, Blisland
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Parking by village green near church. More Blisland
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More Blisland, the Church of St. Protus and St. Hyacinth
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I had already been through Blisland on several previous occasions, the first
occasion on which I spent any time there was in February 2007. Then I took several photographs of the
village and of the church exterior. In
April 2016 i looked inside the church and took just a couple of photos. It was not until January 2018 that I took a
proper look inside the church, having read Pevsner so that I had a fair idea of
what I was looking at. From the outside
the Church of Saints Protus and Hyacinth (a strange dedication) is a standard
Cornish church, but differs a little from the Cornish norm. From the road you see a standard three stage
tower with a stair turret serving as a buttress. But behind that tower is a
south transept, next to it the entrance porch.
Pay attention to the roof of the porch before entering the church: it is barrel shaped with carved cross struts
and carved bosses. Unusually, several of
the bosses are human faces; I wonder
whether they were of parishioners of the time.
The original Norman church was cruciform but has lost one of its
arms. The interior is remarkable and
unlike any other Cornish church that I know, except, to a lesser extent, Little
Petherick. the extent of its colourful decoration suggesting rather a Catholic
church. Ceilings are Cornish enough,
barrel vaulted with carved bosses. But the
rood screen, which extends across all three bays, is probably the finest
example in Cornwall; pity it is a
pastiche, rather than an original. For
all that, its design, completed by F C Eden in 1896, is strikingly colourful
and beautiful. The High Altar is in the
Italian Renaissance style with an attractive altar cloth and a striking gilded
reredos. Unusually there are two fonts,
a circular Norman one of Polyphant stone and an octagonal one of the 15th
century; the latter has an elaborate
wooden cover. The pulpit is in the style of Grinling Gibbons. Stained glass in the
chancel is by Sir Ninian Comper. There
is a Cornish Wheel Cross in the graveyard;
another stands at the western end of the attractive green and yet
another on the road south to the A30. |
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Porch Ceiling Boss
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The Elaborate and Colourful Rood Screen
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Nicely Carved Pulpit
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Bodmin, St.
Petroc's Church
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The first Christian
foundation in Bodmin was that of
St. Guron around 500 AD; his well is under the little granite
building by the west end. St. Petroc came from Wales in around 530
AD, founded churches in Cornwall and Brittany, took over St. Guron's cell
in Bodmin and is considered father of the Cornish church. Padstow,
where he founded his first settlement, is named for him - St. Petroc's
holy place. The greatest treasure in Bodmin’s church is Saint Petroc's
reliquary casket, made around 1170. His remains have had a chequered
history; moved from Padstow in the 10th century, they were stolen
by French monks but returned in the elaborate ivory and gold casket, now
on display behind glass in the church. The casket was lost, rediscovered,
put on display in 1957, then lost again only to turn up on a Yorkshire
moor. Enter by a handsome porch, above it two priest’s rooms.
Within the church are some unusual features; an impressive
carved Norman font, a lantern cross, 16th century painted panels, the fine
Vivian tomb and an unusual lectern, apparently made from old benchends.
To the north east of the church are the ruins of the chantry chapel of
St. Thomas a’Becket. Once the county town of Cornwall, now superseded
by Truro, Bodmin is the terminus of the Bodmin & Wenford steam railway.
See also St.Petroc's church
in Padstow - More St. Petroc's |
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St. Petroc's
Church, East End
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No parking outside
but ample nearby. |
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More St. Petroc's
Bodmin
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St. Thomas
a'Becket Chantry Chapel
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Stained Glass
Window
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Very Cornish detail of War
Memorial
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Breage and Sithney
I
visited Breage, on the Marazion and Penzance road in mid-May
2017 to add to my
collection of Cornish Crosses by finding one in Breage. As it turned out, the first one I found
wasn't in Breage but on the Helston to Marazion road, on the corner of a
lane, opposite the car park of Trevena garden centre. Having photographed the cross, I continued on
to Breage where there was indeed a Cornish Cross in the churchyard,
near the porch. The church, as so
often in Cornwall, stands on a lann, a high mound, suggesting an older pre-Christian
site. On Shute Hill, leading up to the
church, there are attractive cottages;
beyond the church is the Queens Arms Inn. The church itself consists of nave, two
aisles and a three-stage tower. The lych
gate opposite the pub lacks roof and coffin rest but does have a coffen
stile. Inside, the nave is impressive
and the chancel is approached beneath an elaborate rood screen, complete with
rood, beyond it an elaborate reredos. On
north and south walls are several
wall-paintings. An inscribed "Roman"
stone stands in a corner of the south aisle.
A carved stone, possibly part of a headstone, inscribed in Latin, stands beneath a window.
Sithney's church was closed (and in 2018) so no report yet.
More images of Breage Church
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More Images of St. Breaca's Church, Breage
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the same day in mid-December 2018 that I visited nearby St. Germoc's Church, I
revisited St. Breaca's church. First
thing to notice, before entering the church, is the Cornish Wheel-Head Cross on
the right near the porch. Although there
was a Norman church here in the 12th century, what exists now is essentially a
rebuilding of the 15th century but restored by Victorians. The interior consists of nave and two aisles
with a south transept. The aisles both
have typical Cornish wagon roofs. Some
of the finest work in the church is a consequence of 19th century restoration
by Rev. Ernest Geldart and E H Sedding:
a full width rood screen, complete with rood, and a vast full width
reredos. In one corner there is what is
known as the Roman Stone, bearing an inscription to the usurper emperor Marcus
Cassianus Posthumus. In the south aisle chapel a small 14th century stone
sculpture represents the crucifixion.
There is some good Victorian stained glass and some medieval fragments
in the east window of the south chapel.
In the Godolphin Chapel three helmets bear wooden replicas of dolphins,
the family symbol. The altar is most unusual,
of a pale stone with red rosettes and a table of (I think) serpentine. Finally, the big reason why you should visit
St. Breaca's church: the amazing frescoes. As you enter, you are facing the largest and
most impressive; through an archway you
can see, around the north door, two large and surprisingly well preserved
figures, on the left St. Christopher carrying the infant Jesus, on the right Christ of the Trades.
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Breage Cornish Cross by Porch
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Breage Frescoes on the North Wall
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Breage Inscribed Stone
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Bude's Churches
At
the end of November 2017 I revisited both Bude and nearby Marhamchurch. I was in Bude primarily to look around St.
Michael's Church, which stands above the Falcon Inn on the south side of the
Bude Canal. While there I also took a
look at the large former Methodist Chapel in Flexbury on the north side of Bude
Golf Course. The dark, forbidding chapel
is all boarded up and looks thoroughly abandoned. It stands forlorn on the corner of Flexbury
Park and Flexbury Park Road, at the very southern end of Flexbury. St. Michael's Church, just up the hill past
the Falcon Hotel is another matter entirely.
It stands in a large sloping graveyard.
Pevsner, in 1970, dismissed it as "unimportant" but I feel
that he under-rated it badly and, indeed Peter Beacham, in the 2014 Pevsner, is
quite complimentary. Designed by George
Wightwick and started in 1834, it is of warm, yellow Trerice stone. Inside, the elaborately carved font in a
two-bay Baptistery is on a base of Polyphant stone. Unusually there are prayer desks, decorated
with biblical scenes and exhortations to prayer. A colourful rood stands high, balanced on
two gilt angels. in a wall niche, St.
George slays the Dragon. Outside, the
path to the porch is decorated with patterns of coloured pebbles. What a contrast to the dour and forbidding former Methodist Church, now locked and shuttered.
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St. Michael's, Bude
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Flexbury Methodist Church |
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Buryan, St. Buriana
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I
visited Buryan in mid-February 2018 on an outing which also included St. Levan,
the church high above the cliffs of Porth Chapel. Buryan is a substantial village with a store
and a pub, the St. Buryan Inn, where I enjoyed a coffee on my visit. The church stands within a raised circular
enclosure, usually signifying a pre-Christian site. Legends surrounding the founder of the
original church on this site tell us that the 6th century saint was buried here
after perishing while kidnapped by a local king, despite the attempts by St.
Piran, patron saint of Cornwall's tin miners,
to save her. I was there not only
to look inside the church but also to photograph the two Cornish crosses, both
up on substantial plinths, one inside the churchyard, one outside. A third stands at the roadside to the south
of the village. On the way into the
church, note the wooden porch ceiling, very typically Cornish. Unusually for Cornwall, St. Buriana's is mostly
of one period, the Perpendicular Gothic.
Its impressive scale is due to its origins as a collegiate church,
founded by English King Athelstan in the 10th century, refounded in 1238 by
Bishop Brewer of Exeter. The church is
similar in plan to St. Petroc's in Bodmin, with nave, two aisles and a tower
with stair turret. The interior is high,
spacious and light. Roofs are Cornish wagon
roofs. The superb restored elaborately
carved rood screen stretches the full width of the church. Furnishing includes a fine 16th century font,
a 20th century altar and reredos by E H Sedding. A litany desk is fashioned from medieval
bench ends. Unusually there are
misericords in the choir. A 13th century
monument to Clarice de Bolleit bears an inscription in Norman French. Stained glass is by Alexander Gibbs and Ward
& Hughes. A superb church, not to be missed.
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St. Buryan Church & Daffs
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Cornish Cross
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The Central Screen
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Calstock, St. Andrews
| I
revisited Calstock in early February 2018, after seeing St. Dominica's
Church. I had hoped to look inside St.
Andrew's Church, half a mile up the hill from Calstock itself; sadly, like too many Cornish churches, it was
locked though I now understand that was exceptional and that the church is
normally open daily from 10 to 4. I was
back at St. Andrew's church on a bright, sunny Saturday towards the end of
April 2018. I saw the wall paintings,
high on the nave arcade but, sadly, did not get to see inside the locked
Edgcumbe Chapel; so comments on it here are
from Pevsner. Though the church was
consecrated in 1290, nothing visible is of that date. However, much is of the 15th century but was
subject to a major restoration by St. Aubyn in 1886-8; he was responsible for the wagon roofs, tiled
floors, pews, pulpit and font. There is
the usual plaque of the Royal Arms on one wall but, unusually, those of George
IV. Remains of a wall painting over the
arches of the nave arcade were uncovered in 1867, sadly so deteriorated that
only the most romantic would detect St. George on his horse. Rood stairs and loft opening are still in
place but the rood screen is long gone. On
an interior wall of the tower is a Bell-ringers board, reminiscent of that in
St. Endellion church. Below the pulpit
are two brass plaques, commemorating the children of Sir Salusbury Trelawney
and Sir William Lewis Salusbury Trelawney.
The Edgcumbe Chapel is accessed through a door in the north wall of the
Sanctuary. It is normally kept locked,
the caretaker has the key; it contains
monuments commemorating Piers Edgcumbe, died 1666, and Jemima Countess of
Sandwich, wife of the first Earl who was responsible for bringing Charles II
from Holland at the Restoration in 1660.
In the extensive graveyard are a number of attractive monuments; When i was here in February
there was a good display of daffs. In
late April there were swathes of primroses and some early bluebells. See my Towns and Villages page for more on Calstock village. |
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Church House, lych gate & church tower
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St. Andrews Calstock from the south-east
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Camborne, St. Meriadoc
In
early November 2018 I did a round of some of the churches in Camborne, Pool and
Redruth (CPR). All that I tried to visit
were closed: The main church, St. Meriadoc on Church
Street, St. Stephen in Treleigh, St. Andrew in Clinton Road, Redruth and St.
John's, Trevenson in Pool. I had already
visited St. Euny in Redruth Churchtown and posted a description of it. I had, in fact, previously been in St.
Meriadoc back in 2016 when there was a Christmas Tree Festival. So I feel able to post a description
now. The church, very much in the centre
of town, dates mostly from the 15th and 16th centuries but was restored and
enlarged during the latter part of the 19th century by J P St. Aubyn (who
else!). It consists of nave and two
similar aisles. The chancel, surprisingly,
was only added in the mid-16th century, unusually late for Cornwall; its side walls are made up of early 17th
century carved bench ends. The mid-16th
century pulpit carries the Tudor coat of arms.
The arch-braced collar-truss roofs have been restored. The altar slab is most unusual being 10th
century and originally in Chapel Ia in Troon.
The tripartite reredos is of fine Sienna marble. Stained glass is mostly of the 20th
century. There is a fine collection of
monuments to local families including the Pendarves. In the churchyard are a regular Cornish Cross
and a wheel-head cross. Built into the
exterior east wall of the south aisle is a cross head and inside the south door
is a cross slab. By
the western wall of
the churchyard are three small iron commemorative crosses and a
memorial plaque to the towns greatest son, Richard Trevithick.
Later, I was able to make an appointment to see and photograph insie
the church in November 2018.
More Images of St. Meriadoc's Church, Camborne
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Cornish Cross
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St. Meriadoc's Church, Camborne
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Wheel-head Cross
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More Images of St. Meriadoc's Church, Camborne
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St. Meriadoc's Altar and Reredos
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St.Meriadoc's Pulpit
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Camelford, St. Thomas Church
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is not the most obvious church to spot but, once you know where it is, it is
one of the easiest to visit. Entering
Camelford from the south on the A39, turn left into the car park just as you
begin to climb to the exit from the town.
As you turn into the car park St. Thomas Church is just above you on
your right. Easy access, free
parking. The church is small, low and
quite ordinary looking. Surprises await
you inside. The north wall is nicely
arcaded in grey granite. The slate
floored chancel is light and airy. The
nave has a fine Cornish wagon roof, the bosses all carved to individual different designs
and coloured and gilded most attractively.
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Unusual Ceiling Boss
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St. Thomas Camelford
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Elaborate Ceiling Boss
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Carbis Bay, St. Anta and All Saints
Modern, of little interest, closed when I was there.
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Cardinham, St.
Meubred
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At the far south-western
corner of Bodmin Moor,
Cardinham's church is dedicated to St. Meubred, an Irish priest killed
in Rome but said to be buried at Cardinham. In the churchyard are
two fine Cornish crosses, the older of the 8th century. Inside,
elaborately carved bench ends look as if they may have been part of a rood screen
demolished at the Reformation. There is also a handsome Tudor dark
oak chest. Cardinham Castle was built by William the Conqueror's
half-brother Robert de Mortain (he also built Launceston Castle).
Of this only skeletal earthworks survive; they are on private property
and it is probably not worth trying to gain access to such a minor site.
A mile to the north, on St. Bellarmin's Tor, are what are claimed
to be the remains of a small chapel; a Bodmin
Moor walk includes it as well as Glynn Valley China Clay Works. |
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St. Meubred's
Church
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St. Meubred
Cardinham revisited |
Ancient Cornish
Cross
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Carved Bench
End
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Cardinham, St. Meubred Revisited
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I had been back in
Cardinham in December 2014 and January 2015, researching walks for my Walks
Inland page, but on each occasion I had only been passing through
in the course of the walk. In July 2016 I decided to return to Cardinham
to take a really good look around the church. I was glad that I did
as this is really quite an impressive church, consisting of nave, two aisles
and a three stage tower topped by crocketed pinnacles. As you approach,
note the sundial on the porch, on it the names of the churchwardens of
the time. Porch and aisles have wagon roofs, the north aisle having
elaborately carved roof bosses. As you enter, you are faced by the
expected Royal coat of arms but, unexectedly, carved in wood. There
are good bench ends, mostly of the 15th and 16th centuries;
one bears the Wills family coat of arms. There is also a carved lectern.
Two windows carry stained glass, though none of it ancient. Unusually
there are two fonts, the larger Norman, the smaller slimmer one Georgian.
In the churchyard there are two Cornish crosses. One, above the entrance
steps, is a small cross head on a tall unrelated shaft. The other,
near the porch, is unusual in having inscription and carvings on the shaft
faces. Apparently there are inscribed stones, one in the churchyard,
one built into a cart shed, south of the church. I missed these and
may have to retun to find them. |
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Elaborate roof
bosses in the north aisle
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Signed from A38, immediately S of A 30 at Carminow Cross |
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Charlestown, St. Pauls
| I
used to love Charlestown but feel that since Square Sail have owned the
village and harbour things have changed for the worse: parking is expensive (£2.50 for the first
hour), toilets are charged though, to be fair, they now are in most
places. However, in February 2018 I was
not in Charlestown to see the village, rather to take a look at St. Pauls
Church, on the northern limits of the village.
Unlike almost all Cornish churches, St. Pauls is not medieval but
Victorian. Dating from 1851, it is the
work of Christopher Eales, who was also responsible for the market halls and
town halls in Truro and St. Austell. The
style is Early English. It consists of
nave, two aisles, north porch and a tower heightened in reconstituted
stone. Inside is convincingly early
Gothic. The tall nave has clerestories
and the aisles are tall and narrow. A
granite altar stands on a Delabole slate base.
A wrought iron chancel screen is topped by a rood beam with impressive
rood figures. There is some good stained
glass from the latter part of the 19th century.
The nave ceiling, with its curved woodin arches is quite striking. The octagonal font carries small shields,
apparently un-inscribed. On a stone
base, with stone steps, the wooden pulpit is nicely carved with biblical
figures. On a wall, a metal plate may be
of Newlyn copper. The altar carries
elaborate brass candlesticks.
Altogether, a very much more interesting church than I had expected. |
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St. Pauls Church
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Copper Plaque
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Reredos and Rood |
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Church Cove on the Lizard, St. Winwaloe's
| Follow a lane off
the main Helston to Lizard road,
through Gunwalloe, past the excellent Halzephron Inn and down to the coast,
and you will come to Church Cove, set below Mullion Golf Course.
There the little church of St. Winwaloe is tucked into the foot of the
dunes. Winwaloe was born in Brittany of Cornish parents in
the sixth century. The present church is mostly in the perpendicular
gothic style. Inside are two earlier fonts and tiny rood stairs are
still in place. Two inner doors are painted with the figures of eight
of the apostles. Beyond the south porch a tower looks defensive but
is really a detached bell-tower. By the porch is a figure of St.
Winwaloe. In one corner of the churchyard is a Cornish cross.
There is car parking nearby. Other Winwaloe locations include St. Winnow,
Towednack and Poundstock. |
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St. Winwaloe's
tucked into lovely Church Cove
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The detached
Bell Tower
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Colan, St. Colanus
| I
had been in Colan before, back in August 2016, but the church was locked up on
that occasion. I took a chance in
January 2018 and, perhaps because there had been a christening that morning,
the church was open. This is a small
church in a fairly remote location and you have to wonder where the congregation
comes from. It is also a delightful
church; its construction began in 1276
and much of what you see is essentially of around that time. The first things you notice are beside the
porch: a crude Cornish Four-hole Cross,
brought from a nearby hedge, and two boot-scrapers, not quit a pair. Near the tower is the base of another cross. On the way in note the roof of the porch, a wagon
roof with carved bosses. Inside, there
is some good stained glass, remains of a rood screen incorporated in the altar,
a low-relief slate monument to William Glannel, and several brasses. In the chancel are a couple of good wooden
chairs and the font is octagonal and covered with carved panels. The attractive wooden pulpit is nicely
carved.
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Stained glass in the nave
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The porch roof with carved bosses
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Constantine, St. Constantine
|
This
substantial church, consisting of nave, two aisles, tower and porch, stands on
an eminence a couple of miles north of the Helford River, with long views to
Goonhilly Downs. Little remains of the
original 12th century church as it was largely rebuilt in the 15th and early
16th centuries with an additional north chapel known as the Bosahan Aisle for
the local family of that name. Among the
furnishings are a small section of rood screen with floral carving, a chest
with some fine finely carved 16th century panels and an elaborately carved pulpit. There are some brasses, of the Gerveys and
Pendarves families. A wall monument is
to Jane Penticost, with another to William Nichols. In the graveyard on the south-east side is a
low Cornish Cross. On the north-west
side are remains of two cross shafts. A
much better Cornish Cross is to be found at Trevease Farm, 2 1/2 miles to the north-west.
Also on the north side of the churchyard is a Church Room of around 1700.
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Rood stairs
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Constantine Church
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Elaborately carved pulpit
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Cornelly, St. Cornelius Church
On
the same day in late March 2018 that I looked at churches in Tregony and
Kenwyn, I paid a visit to the tiny church at Cornelly, tucked away off a quiet
lane near Tregony. Normally this is
locked tight but information from the flower ladies in Tregony told me that St.
Cornelius church would be open for Easter flower arranging. So it was and lovely the flowers were,
too. Like so many churches in Cornwall,
this one, high on a raised mound, is probably on a pre-Christian site. First thing you notice is the oddly small
tower, partly 13th century, pinnacled and leaning away from its church. Inside, the church was beautifully decorated
with Easter flower arrangements. Other
than the lovely flowers, the most noticeable features were the wagon roofs and the
hexagonal wooden pulpit, its panels bearing crudely painted coats-of-arms,
presumably of local families including early patrons, the Gregors. The octagonal font is late medieval but
surprisingly rustic for that period. The
altar is unusual and seems to be constructed of Delabole slate. Notable monuments include one to Jane Reeves
and another to Elizabeth Gregor. A panel
on the wall portrays the church's patron saint, Cornelius. Do note the unusual altar pictured below and the pulpit panel featuring, I think, martlets.
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Unusual Altar
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Cornelly Church
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Pulpit Panel
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Coverack, St. Peter's
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An
unusual church for Cornwall, where most churches are of the late Norman or
medieval periods. St. Peter's, which
stands on high ground not far from the sea, is Victorian in date, being built
in 1885, but really not Victorian in character, having much more of a 20th
century air to it. A small lych gate
leads into the sloping graveyard, from which there are lovely sea views, in one
direction to Lowland Point, in the other to Coverack's little harbour. Notable in the interior are the font, lectern
and pulpit, all of polished red and green serpentine from the Poltesco quarry
on the Lizard. Good 20th century stained
glass by Clayton & Bell. By the path
up to the church I noticed a small metal teddy bear holding a vase.
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St. Peter's Coverack
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Serpentine Pulpit
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View to Lowland Point
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Crantock, St. Carantoc Church
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Crantock
is a pleasant little village to the south of Newquay; I have described
and pictured it on my Towns and Villages page. Its 14th and 15th century church, dedicated
to St. Carantoc stands on an ancient holy site: this was a monastic site in Saxon times and a church stood here as early
as 1086. As I approached the church,
past the Old Albion Inn and Lychgate Cottage and through the lych gate into the
churchyard, the first thing I noticed was a plethora of memorial crosses; to my disappointment, there was not a single
old Cornish Cross among them. The next
thing I noticed was a crucifixion scene set into the gable of the south
transept, more usual, I would have thought, in a Catholic church than an
Anglican. Inside, you would swear you
were in an original medieval church; you
would be paying a compliment to the skill and artistry of architect J H Sedding
who restored the church at the turn of the 19th century. Most striking feature of the interior is the
rood screen and rood, behind and above them the striking chancel and colourful ceiling. The seating in the quire is finely carved as
is the pulpit and carved bench ends are also notable. The font is in the Norman style but probably
of the 15th century. On the wall of the south
transept is a painted wooden panel, probably 17th century Dutch and depicting
Abraham. Most stained glass is
early 20th century but in the sacristy there are fragments of medieval
glass.
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St. Carantoc's Church
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The Rood Screen
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Creed,
St. Crida and St. Andrew
I visited Creed church
a couple of times in June 2016, the first on my own just to see the church,
the second with Jane for a garden opening day at Creed
House. I have a particular personal interest in Creed because
my father's cousin Bertie - the Rev. A.E. Coulbeck - was rector there from
1947 to 1950, before he moved on to St. Just in Roseland. His home
was the Rectory, now known just as Creed House. Oddly, while you
might expect that tiny Creed, a mile south of Grampound,
would be no more than an adjunct to it, it is Creed
which is the original settlement, with the major church, while Grampound's
church is no more then a Chapel of Ease. There is very little to
Creed, just the handsome airy church, the big house, Creed House, and its
lodge east of the church, Creed Farm, one of it's barns now converted to
a dwelling, and a small but handsome old square barn with tallet steps
abutting the churchyard. Creed House has a pleasant garden with fine
specimen trees. I had always known that my father's cousin Bertie
had, as Rev. A. E. Coulbeck, been rector of St. Just
in Roseland.
In 2016 it came as a surprise to me that he
had previously been rector here and that Creed House had been his
rectory.
Notable figures linked with Creed were William Gregory, discoverer
of
titanium, and Parliamentarian John Hampden representing Creed and
Grampound
in the time of Charles I and
Cromwell.
Creed Revisited
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| From A390 in Grampound,
follow small sign R for 1 mile |
St. Andrew's,
Creed
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Creed,
St. Crida and St. Andrew - revisited
| I
had been to Creed on several previous occasions, first in 2006 for an NGS Open
Gardens day for the garden at Creed House, once the rectory when my father's
cousin Bertie Coulbeck was rector there before he moved on to St. Just in
Roseland. and then in 2016 for a first view of the interior of the church. This occasion was in late September 2018 on a
Saturday when I also visited the churches in Grampound, Ladock and Probus. Pevsner clearly likes this church, devoting
almost a whole page to it. I like it
greatly, too. You approach through
wrought iron gates and face the east end.
Much enlarged and altered since its Norman origins St. Crida's now
consists of Nave, South Aisle. porch and three-stage tower. The first thing that strikes you is the
unexpected richness of the 16th century porch with its variety of
stonework. Inside, the church is light,
spacious and airy. There are wagon
roofs, that of the south aisle 15th century, that of the nave late 19th
century, part of the late Victorian restoration by J P St. Aubyn. Glazing is largely plain but there are traces
of medieval glass in the windows of the south aisle. A piscina in the north transept has a
fragment of a medieval fresco above it.
The 13th century font is of blue Catacleuse stone. A little of the rood screen remains and has
elaborate tracery. A chest tomb of 1589
has a slate top commemorating Thomas and Margaret Denys; it incorporates a coat of arms. A marble wall monument with a Latin
inscription remembers Roberto Quarme.
The elaborately carved pulpit is probably Victorian. At the west end is a catafalque (coffin
cart), something I have not seen in another church. The unusual simple modern altar is dedicated
to farmers and fishermen.
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Creed Catafalque
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Creed Pulpit
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Creed Screen made of Bench Ends
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Crowan, St.
Crewenna's
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Crowan is an attractive
little village with buildings speaking of its former importance as the
St. Aubyn family's 'churchtown'. Victorian gothic Church House, presumably
the former rectory, is now divided in two. Coverack House (that might
be a new name) is handsomely Georgian with a plain porch. Down the
hill towards Praze is an attractive converted mill building, still complete
with its waterwheel. St. Crewenna is thought to have come from Ireland,
possibly with St. Breaca (of Breage) but nothing is known of him/her.
Crowan village (as a 'chuchtown') was once the focus of the great Clowance
estate of the St. Aubyn family. The family have departed for St.
Michael's Mount (as Lords St. Levan) and Pencarrow
(as the Molesworth-St. Aubyns). Clowance itself is a now a timeshare,
country club and golf club. From the outside the (probably) 14th
century church looked rather dull when I visited it on a Land's End Trail
walk from Beacon to Clowance. The interest is in the memorials to
the St. Aubyns inside. Earliest is the remnant of brasses of around
1420. Most elaborate is that of 1772 to Sir John St. Aubyn by sculptor
Joseph Wilton. I liked the delightful collage tapestry telling the
story of the village and neighbouring estate villages such as the mining
settlement of Praze-an-Beeble. |
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Crowan, St.
Crewenna's church
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Crowan is signed
off B3303 Camborne-Helston More St. Crewenna
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Crowan, More St.
Crewenna's Church
| In
early April 2019 I again headed down west, this time first to visit Holy
Trinity at Penponds, then to take another look at St. Crewenna's Chuch in
Crowan. I was last there in May 2017
but, before that, the first time I saw Crowan was when walking the Land's End
Trail, helping Robert Preston to update the route details, way back in August
2008. Then, my route took me through the
Clowance estate; this time I drove from
Penponds by way of Praze-an-Beeble.
There is more to the church than suggested by my original report
above. The first thing I discovered that
I had omitted is the Cornish Cross in the churchyard; also a nice little weather-worn cross on the
porch roof. Inside, this time, I noted
the pier capitals, angels holding shields.
And I noted the figures on the base of the otherwise rather plain font:
lions passant. I also noticed the surprising amount of stained
glass, some of it by Heaton, Butler and Bayne.
This time I also noticed a surprising number of attractive embroidered
kneelers, one with robin and snowdrops, another reminding me of canal boats
with a castle and roses. I took a good
number of photographs on this visit:
here are three of them.
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Cornish Cross Head
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St. Aubyn Memorial
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Lion Passant on Font Base
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Cubert, St. Cubert's Church
| Cubert
lies a mile or so south of Crantock, to the south of the Gannel Estuary that
defines the southern boundary of Newquay.
St. Cubert's church is to the south of the main street, Holywell Road,
at the eastern end of the village. It
stands in a large, but largely empty, graveyard, raised above the surrounding
land, an example of the typical Cornish lann;
a roofless lych gate leads up to the churchyard, in which there are some good
table tombs. Look back from inside the
lych gate and you will see a cottage with a round cloam oven projecting from
it. The first thing about the church
itself to take your eye is the, unusual for Cornwall, broach spire, rising
directly from the body of the tower.
Next thing to notice, before you enter the church, is the Cornish
Crosshead by the porch; it stands on the
top of an originally unconnected granite upright. Inside, the church consists of nave, south
aisle and north transept. The north
transept is particularly striking, the columns of its arched entrance of blue
Catacleuse stone (an Elvan stone).
Inside the north transept is the font, also made of Catacleuse stone,
with a central pillar and four slim supporting pillars in the Bodmin style, and
a wooden font cover in the shape of four transepts and a tower. The pulpit is made up from medieval bench
ends. The chancel ceiling has carved
wooden bosses. Other features to note are
carved capitals to some pillars, a St. Cubert banner and the glass figure of a
soldier with rifle and bayonet.
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Cubert Cornish Cross
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St. Cubert's Church
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Catacleuse columns
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Cury, St. Gunwalloe's Church
| Leaving
the Helston to Lizard Town road, Cury is halfway to delightful Poldhu
Cove. There is not much to the
village: thirty or forty houses, a
primary school, St. Gunwalloe's church, a Methodist chapel, a football ground
and allotments. I was there primarily to
see and to photograph a tall Cornish Cross in the churchyard. You cannot miss it, standing tall beside the
steps up to the mound that the church, as so often in Cornwall, stands on. While outside, look also at the two-stage
tower with its stair turret. Entering
the church, I was struck immediately by the porch where, under a wagon roof, is
an elaborate decorated Norman doorway.
Inside the church, what strikes you most are the ceilings:
the nave has a sort of Cornish hammer-beam, the aisle a panelled wagon
roof with carved bosses. There is a
small south transept, connected to the chancel by a squint. Above is the exit to a missing rood
loft. An elaborate font stands on
pillars of the local serpentine. Pevsner
describes it as "a variety of the Bodmin type". A Christ figure stands in a window opening. |
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Cury Cornish Cross
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Cury Church
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Cury Church Nave & Chancel Ceiling
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Devoran, St. John
| A
charming village, tucked quietly away from the busy Truro to Falmouth road,
Devoran's present belies its past. Now a quiet and beautiful creek-side
village, boasting a fair number of small-boat sailors, Devoran was once a very busy
commercial port, shipping copper ore from mines on the Great Flat Lode around
Redruth, linked by the horse drawn Redruth and Chacewater Railway, now part of
a Coast to Coast trail. When you see how the creek has
silted up - ironically with mine spoil - it is hard to imagine how any cargo
boats ever got as far as Devoran - let alone Bissoe further upstream. St. John's Church was built in 1855-7; it is
by J L Pearson, architect of Truro Cathedral.
The style is restrained Early English, the first of the Gothic
styles. Unusually the chancel is in the
form of a semi-circular apse with lancet windows. Inside, the chancel is notable for its blue windows
and ceiling. The white Caen stone pulpit
has gothic niches containing holy figures.
The white font is of three octagonal stages. There are simple pine pews. Stained glass is mostly grisaille. In the village, the Old Quay Inn has
an enjoyable local atmosphere; food is fairly ambitious in the
gastro-pub style. We have eaten there on several occasions and have always
liked it. If there is no space in the pub's small car park, you should be
able to park by the village hall at the start of Quay
Street. |
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The Chancel Apse
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St. John's Church
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Caen Stone Pulpit
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Downderry, St. Nicholas Church
| On
a soaking wet late November Saturday in 2018 I had an outing down south-east. I went to Millbrook first where I had hoped
to look inside All Saints Church.
Unfortunately it was firmly locked so I had to content myself with
exterior photos, the church looking very gloomy and foreboding on such a dark
and rainy day. Millbrook is quite an
interesting village, centred as it is around a large lake. It has quite a history, having once had a
fishing fleet, a tide mill, a gunpowder factory, a ropewalk, lime kilns, boat
building and a large brewery. I took
some dull photos but shall revisit in better weather. From Millbrook I continued west to Downderry, on the
south coast just east of Seaton. There I
not only found the church open but, outside, it had a banner proclaiming its
opening and inviting me in. From the
outside, St. Nicholas church, built in 1883-4 by J P St. Aubyn, is unusual,
having at its east end a semi-circular apse.
Inside there is only a nave, no aisles.
Pevsner has few words about it, indeed only one - "dull". That view may be encouraged by the fact that
there are no pews, only simple chairs.
The pulpit is simple and made up of quite nicely carved bench ends. There is a good litany desk and chair and a
quite attractive small organ, its pipes exposed. There is quite a good collection of varied
stained glass but the most striking feature is the gilded reredos panels. |
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Downderry St. Nicholas on a wet November day
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Downderry St. NIcholas, simple interior
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Duloe, St. Cuby & St. Leonard
| Unusually, this entry
appears on three different pages: here under churches but also on my antiquities page and
my towns and villages page. The reason
is that, for such a small village, there is so much variety of interest.
The form of the church, while not unique to Cornwall, is most unusual.
It consists of nave, north aisle, south transept and a strange leaning
tower attached to the south transpept. The tower was once taller
but the top stage was replaced by a pyramidal roof in the 19th century.
It leans northwards at a sharper angle than the Leaning Tower of Pisa;
fortunately the rest of the church holds it up. Inside, behind an
elaborate parclose screen, bearing names of past rectors and vicars, and possibly made from the former rood screen, the
chancel was built as the Colshull family chapel and contains Sir
John Colshull's tomb, his recumbent effigy on it, and several elaborate
slate memorials. The rood loft may be gone but the stair and loft
doors remain. About 600 yards south of the church, alongside the
road to Looe, is St. Cuby's Holy Well. What is claimed to be his
original font was moved from the well site and now stands in the church.
A few yards north of the church a sign directs you to Duloe Stone Circle,
a small circle of 8 stones, believed by some once to have enclosed a cairn. There is a storyboard. |
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| Duloe is on B3254,
about 4 miles south of A38 at Liskeard |
Note the Leaning
Tower of Duloe
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Egloskerry, St. Keria's Church
| I
chose an interesting day, at the end of August 2018, to visit Egloskerry's
church. When I had been there in July
the church was still being restored following a fire which, happily, mostly did
only smoke damage. By happy coincidence
my August visit coincided with Egloskerry's "Church Mouse" day. In addition to my usual photos of the
interior of the church itself, I also took some thirty or more photos of mouse tableaux,
most really quite amusing. I think my
favourites were two life-size (human life-size, that is) tableaux, one of a
mouse-vicar in his pulpit, the other of a bride and groom. I gathered from the small attribution cards
by each tableau that most of the village must have contributed to the
show. As to the church itself, the first
thing to note is the height of the churchyard above the road, almost certainly
suggested an Iron Age lann. The church's origins are in Norman times,
evidenced by the north wall and south transept.
An unusual feature, and probably of that date, is the tympanum over the
blocked north door with a dragon snapping its own tail. The nave has a most attractive wagon roof
with carved, but not painted, ceiling bosses.
The simple font has cable decoration round the rim. The church was heavily restored in 1887 and
stained glass dates from that time.
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Egloskerry Tympanum
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Egloskerry Church
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Mouse Couple
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Falmouth
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At
the 2011 census Falmouth's population (excluding Penryn) was around 24,000,
making it Cornwall's third largest town after Camborne/Redruth and St. Austell
and marginally larger than the county town, Truro. It is reputed to have the world's third
largest natural harbour, though here is some dispute about that. Appropriately for a largish town there are
several churches of various denominations. Anglican churches predominate: King Charles the Martyr on Church Street in
the heart of town; All Saints on
Killigrew Street; St. Michael on
Stratton Terrace, on lengthy North Parade leading to Greenbank. Churches of other denominations are: Falmouth Methodist Church on Killigrew
Street; the United Reform Church on
Berkeley Vale, off The Moor, Falmouth's central square; the Catholic St. Mary Immaculate on Killigrew
Street; and the Central Spiritualist
Church on Quarry Hill off The Moor.
There was once a synagogue on Smithick Hill; the building still stands but has not been in
use as a place of worship since 1879. This
and the following items are preliminary and will be amended and/or amplified
when I have been to Falmouth to take photographs.
King Charles Martyr All Saints St. MIchaels
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Falmouth, King Charles the Martyr Church - Images to follow| Probably the only ancient building on the whole length of Market Street, Church Street and the first part of Arwennack Street, the Church of King Charles the Martyr was completed in 1663 by Falmouth man Sir Peter Killiigrew, soon after the Restoration, and commemorates the new King's executed father. The tiny west tower was added around 1684 with the top stage and pinnacles being added in 1800. You will see no other church interior in Cornwall like this one. The late 17th century interior has been modified several times, most notably by E H Sedding in 1898. The original length and width of the nave was 66 feet, oddly the length of a cricket wicket. It is separated into nave and aisles by tall granite columns with plaster Ionic capitals. The
windows hark back to an earlier age: two tiers of Cornish
Perpendicular. The chancel, originally of 1684, was replaced in
1813, lengthening the church by about one-third. The
Venetian East window has full Ionic details. Pevsner believes
that Galleries inserted in 1686, 1695 and 1702 somewhat spoil the
former simplicity of the interior. In the late 19th century Sedding added side chapels to the chancel and and
a south organ chamber. He removed the north and south galleries
and rebuilt the west gallery. He also completely re-roofed and re-ceiled
the church. The north porch is by William White. The PULPIT
incorporates 16th and 17th century German carvings. The central
part of the base of the SCREEN is from St. Paul, Penzance where it
served as a communion rail. The CREDENCE TABLE dates from 1759 and bears the Killigrew
arms. The hexagonal FONT bears similar carved detail to this.
There is a good collection of stained glass; most interesting is
that in the south aisle designed by C. Archley with interesting
Cornish iconography and inscription. An interesting collection of
monuments includes a standing mourning woman by an urn, against a dark
obelisk.
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Falmouth, All Saints Church -- Images to follow
Opening informatiom 01326 313374
Parish Priest: Canon Bill Stuart-White Tel: 01326 219246 Email: wstuartwhite@gmail.com
| All
Saints is by architect J D Sedding, dates from 1890 and was considered by the
architect to be among his finest work.
John Betjeman's described it as "almost a triumph." The exterior is impressive, the east and west
sides featuring a multiplicity of lancet windows and buttresses. Pevsner describes the interior as profoundly
satisfying, admiring the "spacious and lofty nave of almost cathedral-like
proportions." Arcades of tall piers
separate the nave from north and south aisles.
Fittings at the east end, of fine quality, are by Sedding; they include an elaborate stone and alabaster
reredos, above it painted panels by local man Pownall. The latter was also responsible for the north
transept window, a vivid depiction of St. John the Baptist, and the striking
1912 stained glass east window, a celebratory depiction of the Apocalypse. There is attractive "cobweb"
glazing to the aisle windows. The tower
window is by Clayton & Bell, 1893.
The 1947 Lady Chapel altar was the work of Violet Pinwell. |
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Falmouth, St. Michael's Church - Images to follow| Built 1827 by R. Crout. Described by Pevsner as "a simple Commissioners' church in Tudor Gothic with a curious castellated (crenellated) facade with embattled octagonal turrets and corbelled central turret towards the water." (the church faces the Penryn River) Very simple interior with open-well staircase to panel-fronted gallery on unfluted columns. The stained glass east window is of 1904 by Fouracre
and Son. The attached Parish Hall of 1926 ought to be a
harmonious addition but, unfortunately, is of ugly large concrete
blocks. |
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Feock, Saint Feoc's Church
I
had previously been in Feock on a couple of occasions. In July 2007 I took a
couple of church exterior photos, one of the Cornish Cross and several photos
of nearby Loe Beach and Pill Creek. In
September 2016 I took a lot of photos of the village and of the exterior of the
church, the steeply sloping graveyard, the detached bell tower, the two lych
gates and the Cornish Cross near the porch.
However, on neither occasion did I venture inside the church. I eventually did so in late July 2018, on an
outing that also including Kea and Old Kea.
As for Feock church, once inside the porch the first thing you notice is
that there is a kind of small inner porch with glass doors leading into the
church proper. The church, originally
dating from the mid 13th century, was enlarged in 1840 then much rebuilt from
1875 by the inevitable J P St. Aubyn.
The first thing you notice when you enter is a reproduction 1576 map of
Cornwall, hanging on the north wall.
Most striking feature of the interior of the church, however, is St.
Aubyn's chancel with its series of entertainingly painted roof beams. To be fair that is essentially colourful
entertainment. What are truly important
are the font, the pulpit and the very Victorian reredos. There is some good stained glass, the east
window unexpectedly by William de Morgan, better known as a tile designer. Perhaps the most impressive piece of
furnishing is the pulpit, made of four 16th century Flemish Renaissance panels
bearing biblical scenes. But my personal
favourite is the late Norman font of blue Catacleuse stone and finely decorated
with symmetrical and floral designs.
More images of St. Feock's Church
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Feock Church from the road
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Feock Cornish Cross
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Feock's Detached Bell Tower
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More Images of Saint Feoc's Church
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Feock Pulpit
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Feock Reredos
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Feock Font
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Flushing,
St. Peter's
In
March 2017 I visited Mylor Churchtown, where I had not previously been
inside the church, so steeply and beautifully situated above the marina.
On the way there I had been first to St. Gluvias at Penryn, which was closed,
and St. Peter's at Flushing.
St. Peter's is situated at the top of the hill down to the water.
Opposite, from the top of a steep drive down to a house called Little Flushing,
there is a good view down to the water and across to Falmouth. This
Anglican church is highly unusual for Cornwall, dating from 1842, a time
when so many Methodist churches were beng built. The interior (photo
below right) is also unusual, with its queen-post roof and a model yacht
- appropriate for Flushing - suspended from it. You might think there
had been an older church on this site, witness the unexpected presence
of a Cornish Cross in the churchyard. However, the cross was found
in a farm building at Porloe in 1891 and moved to this churchyard.
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St. Peter's
Flushing
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Churchyard Cornish Cross
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The Unusual Interior
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Forrabury near Boscastle, St. Symphorian's Church
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I
first encountered St. Symphorian's church - the same dedication as that in Veryan
- in the course of the same round walk during which I first saw Minster
Church. That was in January 2008. I didn't go inside it then; my interest then was only in photographing
its Cornish Cross, situated to the south of the churchyard. However, I eventually revisited St.
Symphorian's in July 2018 and took some interior photographs. Before going in the church I walked through
the gate in the top left-hand corner of the churchyard. You should make a point of doing this for the
views. Most striking is the view to the
Coastguard look-out on Willapark, the headland to the south of Boscastle. Sitting just inland from Willapark and
lying between the church and that headland is the high ground of Forrabury
Stitches. The Stitches are evidence of a medieval way of farming. This series of fields is divided into 42
"stitch-meal" plots of farmland, a method
of crop rotation that dates back to Celtic times still exists and is one of the
best three surviving examples of stitches being farmed in Britain today. The church of Saint Symphorian was subject of a
major restoration in 1868, resulting in an additional north aisle with heavy
classical columns. The Pulpit,
Credence Table and Altar all incorporate old bench ends. The pulpit is of geometrical design and
features a terrier and two rabbits in a barrow, an ape on a stool, and two
swans. One wonders what other treasures
existed on old bench ends, sold off to local farms and houses. A priest's chair is of unusually elaborate
design. The cup-shaped font is Norman
with criss-cross diagonal decoration.
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Forrabury Church
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Forrabury Cornish Cross
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Forrabury Pulpit
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Fowey
| The
church stands at the southern end of the town, not far from Town Quay. Behind and above it is Place, the ancestral
home of the Treffry family, perhaps best known these days for the great viaduct
and aqueduct over the Luxulyan Valley. St. Fimbarrus is described by Pevsner as
"in the first rank of the county's
churches but in most stylistic aspects very untypical of Cornwall". The first notable feature of the church is
the large porch with, unusually, east and west entrances. the latter presumably
because it allowed direct access for the Treffrys from Place. The interior is likened by Pevsner
to both Brittany and Lostwithiel. Most
striking inside is the sheer height and continuous length of nave and
chancel. The south aisle roof is very
un-Cornish but the fine Cornish wagon roof of the nave and chancel is supported
by angels and decorated with bosses and shields of benefactors. A major restoration was undertaken in 1876 by
J P St. Aubyn and roofs of nave chancel and south aisle were extensively
repaired in 1932-4, mostly using original medieval timbers. The Norman font is of blue Cataclause
stone. The fine carved oak pulpit dates
from 1601. Stained glass is late
Victorian, including nine clerestory windows.
Fine monuments are largely of the local Treffry and Rashleigh families
and include a large grave slab with three Treffry brothers in armour. In the north aisle a large marble chest
monument of 1624 commemorates John Rashleigh, dressed in ruff and beret. Brasses, set in the floor near the pulpit, commemorate
Rashleighs and others. More 15th century
brasses, on the sill of the east window in the south aisle remember more
Treffrys, including Thomas and Elizabeth who defended Place in the 1457 uprising at the end of the Hundred Years War.
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Catacleuse Stone Font
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St.Fimbarrus, Fowey
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Carved Pulpit
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Germoe, St. Germoc's Church
| In
mid-December 2018 I had an outing down west.
First I visited Porthleven, for the charming Victorian St. Bartholemew's
Church. I know Porthleven well but had
not previously been in the church. Next
I visited St. Breaca's Church in Breage, the church with the finest collection
of frescoes in Cornwall. Finally, just a
couple of miles west of Breage, I spent some time in Germoe (the 'G' is hard). Appropriately enough, since their churches
are not far apart, Germoc and Breaca were brother and sister, Celtic saints
reputed to have arrived from Ireland in the 5th century. Not having read my Pevsner before reaching
Germoe, I was pleasantly surprised by what I found there, helped by a useful
sign by the churchyard gate. The church
stands at the centre of the little village, a tiny stream crossing a grassy
area in front of it. Following the sign,
I first took a look at St. Germoc's Holy Well.
It has an interesting modern cover, installed in 1977 to commemorate the
Queen's Silver Jubilee, and a small information plaque. I then followed the other sign to find
"St. Germoc's Chair" at the eastern end of the churchyard, built into
the churchyard wall. According
to the respected antiquarian John Leland the structure was a shrine covering
the bones of St Germoc. However, no
trace of Germoc's or anybody else's bones were found under the structure. The most striking external feature of the church
is the tower, with two gargoyles high on each face. A surprising amount of the fabric of the
church is early, predating the 15th century. On the roof above the chancel arch is a pretty Victorian bell-cote. Inside, the nave ceiling is in a mix of
styles; the chancel ceiling is of the
Cornish wagon type. The altar is of
local granite, the reredos being of coloured patterned tiles. The font is one of Cornwall's oldest,
eleventh century with an irregular bowl and worn faces at the corners. At the west end of the nave is a 12trh
century font bowl with cable moulding. The
oak pulpit has a simple carved frieze. There
are 18th century texts on wall-mounted boards.
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St. Germoc's Church
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St. Germoc's Chair |
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Gerrans
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I have a particular
affection for this corner of Cornwall, the Roseland Peninsula. It
is where I spent family holidays as a teenager, it is where I met Jane and the
church is where Jane's older son, Jeremy, married his Mimi. At the
bottom of a long, steep hill is Portscatho with a small harbour at the
southern end of the sweep of Gerrans Bay. It has to be said that it
is not a very prepossessing church, though the octagonal spire is unusual
for Cornwall. For me, the greatest attraction was the Cornish Cross
near the porch; restored in the 19th century it had apparently
previously formed part of the coping of the churchyard wall.. A fire
in 1848 meant that less early and original work remains than I would like.
For instance, there are only a few carved bench ends, one bearing the
device of Catherine of Aragon. There is an attaractive square Norman
font, standing on a fat central pillar with four slim surrounding shafts.
There are few monuments though that to Edward Hobbs, of 1718, is described
by Pevsner as carrying two allegorical figures "in garments as chastely
undetailed as if they were of 1820". On the south wall, a slate tablet
lists all Rectors of Gerrans since 1260. It is suggested that the
name Gerrans derives from a saint of that name; it is more
likely that it relates to King Gereint of Dumnonia, for whom Dingerein
Castle at Curgurrel is named. |
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Note the, for
Cornwall, unusual spire
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Gerrans and Portscatho
are signed from A3078 to St. Mawes |
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Golant, St. Sampson
| I encountered the
church of St. Sampson, perched high on a hill above its village of Golant
on the River Fowey,
while walking the Saints Way in
June 2006. St. Sampson became Abbot of Caldey Island near Tenby in
Wales and was ordained Bishop by St. Dubricius. Soon after, an angelic
vision told him to cross the sea. Above the River Fowey he founded
a small monastic settlement by a well. Travelling on to Brittany
he became Bishop of Dol. He was said to give sight to the blind,
heal lepers and cast out devils. His holy well is just to the left
of the porch which itself may originally have been a chapel for the well.
Rebuilt in 1509, the
church has a fairly unprepossing exterior: nave and aisle,
stubby tower and small porch. Inside are two handsome wagon roofs
and a small amount of original stained glass, some depicting St. Sampson
and St. Anthony. Sadly, unlike so many Cornish churches, there are
no original bench ends. Happily, some were re-used to create the
present pulpit and an elaborate chair, not unlike a minor bishop's throne.
Beneath one window, a slate slab remembers Edmund Constable - 'Short
blaze of life, meteor of pride, essayed to live but liked it not and died'.
Legend has it that
King Mark
and Queen Yseult worshipped at St. Sampson's. The south gate is marked with their names. |
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St. Sampson's Church, high above Golant village
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The holy well is to the left of the porch |
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Gorran Churchtown, St.
Goranus,
In mid-May 2016 I
had an outing to the south coast. My main purpose was to take photos of
Mevagissey harbour with the tide in and sun out, something I have failed
to do more than once before. I failed yet again: the
tide was in but the sun refused to appear. In Gorran Churchtown I
was able to park in the large car park of the Barley Sheaf Inn (see below),
not far from the church. I spent some time in both churchyard and
church. As you can see from the photo, the churchyard is a mass of
wikdflowers in Spring. In the forecourt, before the lych gate, is
the village war memorial and the truncated shaft of what appears to be
an old Cornish Cross. The church is dedicated to St. Goranus;
He is said to have come first to Bodmin from South Wales. Meeting
with St. Petroc, he was persuaded to cede Bodmin to Petroc and made his
way south. Beyond the porch is a massive barrel shaped vault, with
the legend Resurgemus WSG 1813. Whoever WSG was, I don't think he
has yet risen again. The present church, a rebuilding of a Norman one,
is mainly of the 14th and 15th centuries and consists of nave, two aisles,
tower and Lady Chapel. The tower once bore a spire, actng as a daymark
for seamen. Notable early features include 53 carved bench ends,
a carved pew, the Norman font of around 1180, and a replica of a 1510 brass.
Attractive woodwork is 20th century as is the carved pulpit.
Round
walk from Portmellon includes Gorran Churchtown. |
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More images of St. Goranus Church
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Gorran's churchyard
is colourful in Spring
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Inn (May 2018) re-opened recently after a complete interior makeover, owned now
by descendants of the original owner. The menu is extensive, perhaps
a bit gastro-pub for some but they do excellent fish and chips and a good range of lunchtime
sandwiches. |
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More Images of St.
Goranus, Gorran Churchtown
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St. Goranus Font Cover
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St. Goranus Bench Ends
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St. Goranus Ceiling Boss
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Grampound, St. Naunter's Church
| There
are two Grampounds, Grampound Road on a north-south country lane and Grampound
village on the A390, halfway between Truro and St. Austell. At first sight it appears to be a one street village,
climbing a gentle hill from the infant River Fal. However, there is more development along side
streets than on the main road itself. Near
the river crossing is the Primary School, behind it a Community Centre, Village
Shop and Playing Field. Opposite, Mill
Lane leads to the disused Town Mill, once operated by a leat off the River
Fal. On the main toad, halfway up the
hill is the Dolphin Inn, where I have stopped for coffee. Just past the pub is the present focal point
of the village, the village hall and church, outside them the remains of a tall
(presumably) market cross, its head missing.
The village hall is handsome small building with a slate hung clock
tower. The adjacent church is surprisingly
small. Built in 1421 as a chapel of ease
to the far larger and more important St. Crida's in nearby Creed, St. Naunter's
was in ruins by around 1820. It was
rebuilt in 1869 and has an unexpectedly lofty interior and good 19th century
fixtures and fittings. The chancel is
most attractive with intricate reredos and colourful altar
cloth. Roof corbels are angel
figures. There is some pleasant stained
glass. More images of St. Naunter's Grampound
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Carved Angel
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Grampound Church and Town Hall
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Grampound Pulpit
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St. Naunter's Nave
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St. Naunter's Chancel |
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Gulval, St. Gulval's Church
| On
the same late December 2018 day that I visited St. Elwyn's Church in Hayle I took
the opportunity to re-visit St. Gulval's Church in Gulval, just north-east of Penzance. To my surprise the church was firmly
locked; it had been open when I was
there on New Year's Eve in 2016. So at
least I have some interior photos from that 2016 visit, which I can use in this
entry. The church is approached from two
directions; from the east by a broad
flight of steps; from the south by a
lych gate, bearing a couple of increasingly illegible inscriptions. The first thing to note, before entering the
church is the collection of artefacts just to the left of the porch. There you will find an inscribed stone, an
upside-down cross shaft and an eroded lantern cross-head. The oldest unaltered part of the church is the
three stage tower of 1440. The body of
the church was originally of the 13th century but much altered and restored in Victorian
times by J P St. Aubyn; it consists of
nave, south aisle and north transept. The ceilings are conventional, except for the chancel's which is both
elaborately and colourfully panelled. Beyond
a relatively crude chancel screen an unusual wooden altar bears the arms of,
presumably, the Kymiels and the St. Aubyns, as also does the font. Stained glass is Victorian. The pulpit is of carved wood on a marble
base, behind it carved panelling. Bench
ends include both old and new. |
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Lantern Cross Head
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Gulval, St. Gulval's Church
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Colourful Chancel Ceiling
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Gwennap, St. Wennapa's Church
| You
might expect Gwennap Church and Gwennap Pit to be located adjacent to one
another. You would be wrong: The pit, a collapsed mine shaft where John
Wesley is claimed to have preached to 30,000, is in Busveal village. Gwennap village is a couple of miles away to
the south-east, a little way off the Redruth to Falmouth road. I had
been to Gwennap previously, in November 2015, but had been unable to gain
access to the interior of the church. I
revisited in August 2018 and was delighted to find the church open. I parked in the large car park outside the
gate to the graveyard and walked up to the church. It is a surprisingly long way and, oddly, you
go through a lych gate halfway up the slope.
St. Wenappa's is thought to be of Norman origin but what you see now is
largely 15th century but incorporating some 13th century parts. Like so many Cornish churches it was heavily
restored in the late 19th century by J P St. Aubyn. To the right of the porch is a small Cornish
Cross. Inside, the church consists of
nave and north and south aisles. There
is a variety of stained glass, some box pews, and an attractive modern font,
perhaps of Elvan stone, on a simple Norman base. There are some interesting monuments: a slate tablet over the north door is by
Neville Northey Burnard of Altarnun; and
there are some good monuments of the 1840s to the Williams family. Above the church, to its north-east, is a
remarkable detached bell-tower, rebuilt in the 15th century and possibly of
Norman origin. When I was there in
August 2018, parked in the car park by the entrance was an open-topped
"wedding car", a Nissan Figaro of 1970, complete with its ribbons. |
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Gwennap Church
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Detatched Bell Tower
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Fine small Cornish Cross
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Gwinear
| I visited Gwinear
church in early April 2017, on a sunny Saturday when I also got to see
Gwithian
Church and Phillack Church, all in a relatively
small area to the east of Hayle.
Gwinear's church is slightly confusing architecturally in that, from the
east, is appears to have nave and three isles; in fact the
third aisle is a chapel, the abbreviated Arundell Aisle, dedicated to a local family.
Slightly srprisingly for a Cornish church, there at first appear to be
no bench ends. In fact there are but not on the ends of pews.
Instead these have been utilised to construct the pulpit, lectern and kneeling
desk. Part of the 15th century screen survives, of very dark oak
and looking not unlike the face of a Jacobean chest. In the south
aisle is an attractive modern subsidiary altar. The early 18th century
font is deliberately designed to look Norman, with unusual carvings, including
a figure, a hand and a face. The capital of one of the arcade columns
exibits a carving of what is said to be a deer but looks more like a rabbit.
On the window sill near the font is an unexpected Cornish Cross Head.
More Cornish Crosses may bee seen in the churchyard, one short cross, one
taller cross and a cross head rather hidden in the grass at the east end
of the church. So I was pleasantly surprised to find, altogether
four Cornish Crosses or Crossheads. |
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Short Cornish
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Gwinear Church
from the South-east
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Tall Cornish
Cross
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Gwithian
| I revisited Gwithian
on a sunny Saturday in Aporil 2017, a day when I also visited Gwinear
and Phillack. I was pleased to find all open. This, though medieval in appearance is later in date.
Nor is it Gwithian's original church. As with St.Piran's
church on Piran Sands, there was an early Christian Oratory in
the dunes. This was excavated in the 19th century but again left
to nature and has disappeared beneath the sand. The present church
was built in 1866 and incorporates parts of the earlier structure.
There is an unusual square font, on pillars of blue (perhaps Catacleuse)
stone, with carvings of a snake, a rosette and a cross inset. There
is little else of special note but there is a very fine collection of embroidered
kneelers. Just up the road is the last remaining thatched chapel
in Cornwall. A deed of 1771 names John Wesley as 'Protector of the Religious
Society.'. The present chapel built in 1810. The Society ceased
in 1995, but the chapel was rescued from dereliction in 1999 and
reopened for worship. There is a display of documents and photographs.
The chapel is open Easter to October; occasional Sunday evening services
are held. |
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Thatched Methodist
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Gwithian Church
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Cornish
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Hannett near Boscastle, St. Juliot Church
| I had been to St.
Juliot church several years ago but only briefly. Wanting to report
on its Thomas Hardy connection, I included it in a Valency
Valley round walk from Boscastle
in June 2008. In 1870, the year Hardy came to St. Juliot, he was
not yet a published writer but was practising as an architect. The
church was in disrepair and he was to make preparations for its restoration.
At the Rectory he met Emma Gifford, the rector's sister-in-law and fell
in love with her. They married in 1874. Hardy's sojourn at
St. Juliot was the inspiration for A Pair of Blue Eyes and Poems
of 1912-13. St. Juliot church is attractive enough from
the outside but, despite retention of the south porch and the south aisle
(now the nave), despite re-use of original material and despite careful
selection of new materials, the inside disappoints, just another
Victorian over-restoration. All that interests inside is the Hardy
connection: a memorial tablet to him and another, which he
himself designed, to Emma; two of his drawings, one of her
watercolours; and a superb engraved glass window by Simon
Whistler. The window depicts Hardy's journey to Cornwall, the church,
Beeny Cliff and waterfalls in the Valency Valley. There are four
Cornish crosses in the churchyard and coffin rests on the stile up from
the field. |
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Whistler Window
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St. Juliot Church
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Cornish Cross by Gate
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Hayle, St. Elwyn's Church
| On
the same late December 2018 day that I was unable to re-visit the interior of
Gulval Church I was able to see the interior of St. Elwyn's in Hayle. The church stands in an elevated position
above Hayle Terrace, the main road through Hayle. It was one of the last works of J H Sedding,
completed in 1888. Pevsner says
"its strong verticality and satisfying massing bestow an architectural
benediction on the whole town".
Because it is surrounded by other buildings, the most satisfying overall
view is to be had from the other side of Copperhouse Pool. The stone comes in a variety of colours and
shades of brown and green. A hexagonal
tower at the north-east corner terminates in a stubby spire and features a tall
stair turret. Inside, with its nave and
two aisles, has a lofty and spacious feeling.
A little surprisingly, much interior stonework has been painted white but
that does rather add to the feeling of spaciousness.
The chancel is striking for its fenestration: two pairs of three lights topped by a large
roundel. Alongside it, on its north side,
stairs lead up to an open musicians gallery, overlooking the chancel. The altar is cloth covered, behind it a
colourful but primitive reredos. The
font is in the Norman style and of Polyphant stone. There is a god variety of stained glass, some
in lancets, some rectangular. |
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St. Elwyn's Tower, Stair Turret
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St. Elwyn's Reredos
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St. Elwyn's Font
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Helland, St. Helena's Church
| On
the day in January 2018 when I revisited Blisland Church I also saw inside
Helland Church for the first time;
normally the church is locked but I was able to borrow the key. The church was originally cruciform, a south
aisle added in the 16th century and a north transept in the 17th century. However, it was substantially rebuilt, like
so many Cornish churches, by J P St. Aubyn in the late 19th century. Before entering the church, do look back at charming Churchtown Cottages, alongside which is an attractive, but roofless,
lych gate, unusually with a pair of white-painted metal gates. The church consists of tower, nave, south
aisle and a north transept. I assume
that this was always a relatively poor parish as there is not much inside of
much interest. The font has a 13th
century bowl on a later stem. There are
fragments of medieval glass in the east window of the south aisle. Of more interest, really, is early 15th
century Helland Bridge over the River Allen, some attractive buildings nearby,
including the old Mill House, and Paul Jackson's Pottery in Riversmead on the
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Helland Font
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Helland Altar & Reredos
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Helston, St. Michael's Church
| I
had seen St. Michael's Church previously, but only to photograph the exterior,
so my visit to view the interior in January 2019 was my first. St. Michael's is highly unusual for a Cornish
church, not medieval but largely Georgian.
The reason for this was not a matter of taste but was the result of
lightning which in 1727 virtually destroyed the whole church, leaving only a 15th
century gable cross intact. Rebuilding
was completed in 1761 by architect Thomas Edwards, who was also responsible for
a couple of great country houses, Trelowarren and Trewithen. Restoration and extension of the Edwards
church which was completed in 1838 by George Wightwick included the chancel,
north chapel and south porch. Pevsner
describes the result as "a typical classical mid-Georgian town
church" and, while it is so different from the usual medieval Cornish
church, I enjoyed it for what it is. There
are two entrances to the churchyard: the
one nearest the (often inadequate) parking offers an easy but roundabout route
to the church entrance; the other, up
steep steps from Church Street, takes you more directly to the porch, unusually
shaped, two storey in height with a large window in the upper storey. The generous proportions of the porch are
echoed inside the rectangular aisleless nave with its high strap-work
ceiling. At the west end is a gallery
with bench seating. Stained glass in the
East window of the chancel depicts the annual Helston Floral Dance. Priest's Chair and Litany Desk are of
elaborately carved (I presume) light oak.
In the North Chapel are 1602 brasses to the Bougins family. An unusual font, on a elaborate base, is of Beer
stone with a Serpentine shaft. A marble memorial commemorates George Simon
Borlase, probably of the famouse West Penwith family. Over the south door is a Transfiguration of painted enamel. In the churchyard,
near the porch, is a new marble memorial to local man Henry Trengrouse who
invented the "Rocket" life-saving apparatus, precursor of the breeches
buoy. There are unusual churchyard memorials
of cast iron (one commemorates just "Harry") and, on a Penberthy
grave, a stone Cornish Cross has been fixed.
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Trengrouse Memorial
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St.Michael's Church Gallery
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Herodsfoot, All Saints Church
| I
visited this small early Victorian church in late April 2018. Oddly, the church and the former rectory are
up a steep hill well above the village with nothing else nearby. Views from the churchyard are to the former
mining village nestling below and across to densely wooded hills. The church, completed by John Hayward in 1850
is in the Early English Gothic style, a firm favourite of Victorian
architects. So impressed was John
Betjeman by the architecture that he was convinced it was actually by G E
Street. As you enter, note the colourful door with its elaborate ironwork and
gothic stone arch surround. Internally
the church is essentially simple. The
chancel is at a higher level than the nave and reached by four steps. There is a two-centred chancel arch. The font is 14th century and believed to be
from St. Winnow; its cover is
Victorian. The pulpit is of simple white
stone; the lectern is of elaborately
carved oak. Stained glass was redesigned
in 2007.
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Herodsfoot Lectern
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Herodsfoot Church
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Herodsfoot Glass
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Hessenford, St. Anne's Church
| In
early May 2018, I headed east to visit Herodsfoot. Feeling peckish I first continued along A38 as
far as the Trerulefoot roundabout, where I indulged myself with Kernow Mill's
early bargain two bacon rolls for £4, before heading for Hessenford. Had I not stopped at Kernow Mill, I would not
have taken the lane by Bake Lane End and would have missed an impressive
roadside Cornish Cross, shown neither on OS108 nor on Cornwall Council's
Mapping Website. A church, St. Anne's
Chapel, had been founded in Hessenford in the 15th century but this was closed
in the Reformation in 1539. A new church
was built in 1833 and extended in 1855.
Architect was the ubiquitous J P St. Aubyn and the church is very much
in his simple Early English Gothic style. The boot scrapers outside the porch
are also clearly his. Inside is fairly simple: nave and two aisles with a
raised chancel. Choir stalls are of
oak. Behind the cloth covered altar is a
reredos with mosaic inlay. Stained glass
is by St. Aubyn's favourites, Clayton & Bell. The pulpit is of Caen stone and alabaster and
features four carved figures in recessed arches and small columns of serpentine. The lectern is of carved oak with a carved
statue of St. Joseph.
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Bake Lane End Cornish Cross
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Hessenford Church
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Illogan, St. Illogan
At
the end of August 2017 I was in Illogan, which lies to the north of the A30,
halfway between it and the coast at Portreath.
To the south, the mass of Carn Brea is topped by the Basset
Monument. I had previously only passed
through Illogan, on my way either to the sea at Portreath or on walks from
Portreath on the trail that runs through Tehidy Woods. On this occasion, however, I was there to
visit the parish church of St. Illogan.
I forgot that Saturday is wedding day so I had to kill some time by an
expedition to the church at Chacewater which was of little interest except for
its external stair turret. At Illogan
church I looked for a Cornish Cross; I
failed to find it as I had expected it to the south of the church when it
actually lies to the north. I returned a week later and found it. What also stands to the north of the church
is the intact tower of the previous (now demolished) church. The present church has no tower, just nave
and two aisles. This was a church of the
mining and banking Basset family and their monuments and memorials are
everywhere, starting with a massive sarcophagus in the graveyard and continuing
with handsome wall monuments to John Basset and his wife Frances, for whom
several mines around the Great Flat Lode Trail are named. Also noteworthy is the Bodmin type font, standing on four
columns and with heads at each corner.
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Illogan Cornish Cross
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St. Illogan's Church
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Illogan Font
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Jacobstow, St. James Church
| Towards
the end of January 2019 I headed to the far North of Cornwall to visit
a trio of churches new to me - St. James Jacobstow, St. Marwenne Marhamchurch and St. Andrew
Stratton. First port of call was
Jacobstow, where Frankie Franklyn had kindly arranged for the church to be
open. I had been to Jacobstow
previously, in May 2017, but had taken few photos then. This time I must have photographed just about
everything in and out of the church, delightfully situated in a hollow in its
own little Churchtown. When I was there
snowdrops proliferated in the south-east corner of the churchyard and daffodils
were almost ready to bloom. The striking
late 15th century three stage tower has octagonal turrets and crocketed
pinnacles. You enter the south porch to
be greeted by a slate floor and a substantial door with en empty statue niche
above it. The body of the church is
probably late 14th or early 15th century and consists of nave and north and
south aisles. The chancel was rebuilt in
1886 by Otho Peter of Launceston and complements the light and dignified
interior. The nave ceiling is of closely
spaced curved wooden rafters; the aisle
ceilings are of the Cornish wagon type. In
the quire simple wooden benches face each other across a tiled floor. The chancel floor is tiled, patterned and
colourful. There are two altars; the High Altar is an Elizabethan communion
table, the chancel chapel has a stone table with consecration crosses. Either side of the chancel east window are paintings,
probably of the late 19th or early 20th century. On the east wall of the chancel is a good slate
memorial to Susannah and Mary Clerk. The
north door dates from the 15th century.
The font is Norman and is a good example of the Altarnun type with a
face at each corner. The pulpit stands
on a white stone base and is made up from 16th century bench ends. A list of rectors begins in 1270.
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Jacobstow Church, morning sunlight
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Jacobstow Porch
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Jacobstow elaborate carved Pulpit
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Kea, All Hallows Church
| All
Hallows Kea stands in a wooded part of the Killiow estate, like Old Kea not far
from Playing Place but on the other side of the A39 Truro to Falmouth Road and
signed from it, as is Old Kea. This is a
very un-Cornish looking church, completed in 1897 by architect G H Fellowes
Prynne. The impression is very much of
an Arts and Crafts church, albeit in the Perpendicular Gothic style. Stone used is a creamy Killas with block size
varying. Unexpectedly the porch is
timber framed on a stone plinth. The
equally unexpected hexagonal spire is particularly striking. When I was at All Hallows, on the last
Saturday of July 2018, the church was being prepared for a wedding but I was in
time for a good look round and, as always, many photographs. I was pleased that the sun was shining so I
was able to get some worthwhile exterior photos. The interior (I quote Pevsner) "is especially handsome, of generous and
spacious proportions with a wide nave, narrow north and south aisles with lean-to
roofs and walls .... of dressed killas stone, red Paignton sandstone and yellow
Ham Hill stone." The Norman font is
notable, the four shafts topped by heads and the sides decorated with the tree
of life, a cross and a heraldic lion passant.
The altar has paintings by Prynne of angels, seraphim and the Lamb of
God. Fine stained glass in the Chancel
window is to a Prynne design. A Poor Box
dates from 1739.
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Kea Spire
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All Hallows Kea Interior
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The Norman Font
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Kenwyn, St. Keyne's Church
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Kenwyn
is on the northern outskirts of Truro and its church of St. Keyne is the mother
church of the city. High above Truro,
from the south side of the church there are views of the city, including
viaduct, cathedral and river. I visited
primarily to see St. Keyne's Holy Well, something of a disappointment since Elfin
Safety has provided a metal cover through which you cannot see the water
below. Originally consecrated in 1259,
the church has undergone numerous extensions and alterations, most particularly in
the 15th, 16th and 19th centuries. The
church is approached by a lych gate under Church House which may date from the
14th century and may once have been a schoolroom. The church consists of Nave, South Aisle and Chapel. Chancel and aisle roofs are of
the Cornish wagon variety. There is some
good 19th century stained glass, some by Alexander Gibbs. As you approach the church you pass first, on
a bank above you, a four sided tomb stone, then a war memorial and, next to
that the Holy Well. Outside the
south-east corner of the church a 1769 chest tomb is that of Agnes Jenney. To the NE of the church is the 1869 headstone
of Joseph Emidy, a freed slave who became the first black African composer in
England. Also to the NE is a pinnacle
which was the top of the spire of St. Mary's church, now part of Truro
Cathedral.
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Kenwyn aisle ceiling
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Kenwyn lych gate & church tower
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St. Keyne's holy well
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Kilkhampton, St.
James
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Once you get
north
of Camelford, although still in Cornwall for more than 25 miles, the
Anglo-Saxon
rather than Celtic place names might make you think you were in
England. The coastline with its soaring cliffs would tell you
otherwise; so would the churches, od which St. James Kilkhampton
is a fine example.
Intriguingly, although almost all the church dates from the late 15th and
early 16th centuries, you enter through a Norman doorway at least 300 years
older. Inside, the thing that takes your eye is the remarkabe woodwork
of the pews - and their age. Until the Reformation in the 16th century
there was no seating in churches. The pews that you see here are
almost all the original seating (a few are Victorian replicas), made soon
after the Reformation. As in so many Cornish churches they are elaborately
carved, 157 separate carved pieces altogether! Some are religious,
like the one on the right, some heraldic, commemorating local families
like the Grenvilles and the Thynnes, some are of animals, of fish and of
the tools of trade. The font is an oddity; it carries the Grenville
arms the right way up but the initials of the contemporary Grenvilles,
Roger and Margaret, upside down! It is also worth following the lane,
just north of the church, west for a mile to find the earthworks of a Norman
'motte and bailey' castle.
See also Kilkhampton
village. |
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St. James,
Kilkhampton
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More St. James Kilkhampton
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'Judas' Bench
End
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More St. James, Kilkhampton
| On
the final Saturday in January 2019 I visited yet two more churches in the far north
of Cornwall, St. James in Kilkhampton and St. Marwenna's in Morwenstow. I had previously been through Kilkhampton on
many occasions and had visited the church briefly in 2016. On this occasion I spent some time in the
church and took a good number of photos.
I have little to add to the above piece about the church but I did note
particularly the impressive full width rood screen, complete with rood, and the
unusual stone altar with linenfold panelling behind and a gilded reredos
above. There is a large plasterwork
Royal Arms; confusingly Pevsner says it
is the arms of Charles I but there is a "G" in the top left
corner, suggesting George I. Attractive stained glass windows
in the north aisle are late nineteenth century, mostly by Clayton and Bell; below one is a figure of a horseman. |
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The superb Norman Porch
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Central Screen & Rood
| A few of the 157 medieval bench ends
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Ladock, Church of St. Ladoca
| Driving
through Ladock on the way to Truro you see only part of it, a village hall, the
Falmouth Arms pub and a tiny post office and shop on a large car park. Pevsner devotes more than a page to St.
Ladoca's church, up a steep path from the main part of the village on the former
A39, and part of a small group including Ladock House (the former rectory) and the
School. Just inside the churchyard is a
tall War Memorial to your left. Ahead of
you is the porch, to its left a tall three stage tower. The door from the porch into the church is
quite striking, its four-centred arch surround set into rough stonework. Over the door is a primitive face. Inside the church consists of nave and south
aisle. Both have conventional Cornish
wagon roofs. The church was restored
1864 by G F Street; he embellished the chancel with an elaborate roof and an
east window with shafts of polished serpentine.
The altar has three painted panels.
A parclose screen is very Gothic.
The font is of sharply carved blue Catacleuse stone. The rood screen survives across nave and
aisle. There are no medieval bench ends
in place but a few were used to make up the lectern. The stained glass is some of the finest in
Cornwall after St. Neot and is the best of Morris & Co's work in Cornwall.
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Ladock Church from the south-east
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Ladock Church Pulpit
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Catacleuse Stone Font
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Landewednack Church near Lizard Town
Landewednack
Church Cove, which OS103 abbreviates to Church Cove, even though the cove is
another half-mile down hill to the east, is just to the east of Lizard Town. I shall call it Landewednack; its church is St. Winwaloe's. And Church Cove is not to be confused with
Gunwalloe Church Cove on the Lizard's west coast. Here the buildings in the cove make a
delightful grouping: the old Fish Cellars, an attached Roundhouse,
the former Winch House and the old Lifeboat House. It must have been difficult enough to launch
cove boats from here, the lifeboat must have been almost impossible. All these buildings are now holiday or second
homes. Up the hill is the village and
church. The village is attractive with
several thatched cottages and a barn with an octagonal extension. As at Gunwalloe, the church is dedicated to
St. Winwaloe. He was also known as
Wednack and a church at Towednack near St. Ives is also dedicated to him, as is
one at Poundstock near Bude. Seen from
the upper entrance gate the tiny church, with its variegated stone is most
attractive. As at Cury, the possibly
13th century church porch is remarkable, like a small chapel with an elaborate doorway. Inside are attractive barrel-vaulted
ceilings, a font and lectern both using serpentine stone, a badly worn carving
of two men holding a shield, colourful organ pipes, a probable cross base built
into a wall, a priest's chair tucked into a squint, and a 15th century font,
its donor's name inscribed on it.
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Landewednack Church
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The ribbed nave ceiling
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The Serpentine pulpit
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Landrake, St. Michaels Church
As
you head towards Saltash and Devon along the A38 the elegant 100 foot
tower of Landrake church appears on a hill straight ahead of you; however, you have to continue and turn right
into the village further on. Parking is
not easy but you should be able to find a space near the church. St. Michael's is built of the local greenish Tarten
Down stone. As with so many Cornish
churches, construction was of many periods, mainly 14th to 16th century. The oldest part is the largely Norman south
doorway. A major restoration took place
in 1877. Ceilings are striking, all in
the Cornish "wagon" style. Between
the south transept and the chancel, note a squint and the remains of rood
stairs. The Norman font is of the
Altarnun type, faces on the four corners and rosettes between. Stained glass in the chancel is by Jones and
Willis and Fouracre and Watson. A small
inset brass of 1509 commemorates Edward Courtenay, related to the Earls
of Devon. There are several slate wall
memorials; finest is to Nicholas Mills and his wife. The attractive carved pulpit is of a white
stone. An elaborate reredos bears
saintly figures. A squint to the chancel also has part of the staircase that led up to the now vanished rood.
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Landrake church tower
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Landrake carved stone pulpit
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Landrake modern glass
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Laneast
Church
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Encountered whilst
walking the Inny
Valleys Trail, Laneast (2 miles north of Altarnun)
is another of those churches about which I have been able to find out very
little. Even the name Laneast is the subject of dispute although
I would take it to mean the enclosure or church of Justus or St. Justus.
Outside are a roofless lych gate with filled-in coffen stile and a handsome
four-hole cross by the porch. The porch has a fine wagon roof with
carved bosses and a handsome doorway. The church was restored in
Victorian times but not ruined as so many were by such restoration.
Inside there is a good collection of medieval carved bench ends, some in
poor condition, an intriguing Norman font with corbel heads at each corner,
and some fragments of rare medieval glass in the east window. There
is a carved screen and altar rail and some fine box pews in the south
aisle chapel. Inside the door, to your left, is an early carved alms
box. The 16th century pulpit was preached from by John Wesley on
at least 6 occasions. Note the black marble plaque on the north wall
of the nave commemorating internationally admired Cambridge University
astronomer John Couch Adams, discoverer of the planet Neptune. John
Betjeman greatly liked this church; I understand why, it is charming. |
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A carved bench
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More images of Laneast Church
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The Norman
font
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Laneast
Church, more images
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| Laneast Cornish Cross |
Green Man Bench End |
Colourful Owl Kneeler; another is of pheasants |
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Lanhydrock, St. Hydroc's Church
| I
must have been in the Lanhydrock Estate on dozens of occasions, mostly walking
and dog walking with Jane. We have been
around the house - both above and below stairs - have walked in the woodland
and along the Fowey River, and have been around the gardens. However, until the very beginning of June
2019, I had never been in the church. A
serious omission, since I found it quite unexpectedly interesting. There was a chapel of Bodmin Priory here by
1299 but the present church dates from the mid 15th century. It was, however, much restored in the 1880s by
George Vialls of London. The three stage
tower is noticeably offset from the nave.
Pevsner thinks that the restoration of the 1880s may well have amounted
to a virtual re-building. Ceilings are
all of the Cornish Wagon type, including that over the chancel. Mosaic floor is of the 1880s by Burke and
Co. Of the same period are the font and
pulpit and a striking alabaster reredos of the Last Supper. Staained glass in the chancel east window is
by Clayton and Bell, responsible for so much stained glass in Cornish churches. The unpainted Royal Arms is unusual in that
it is of 1621 of James I. Of the several
memorials, perhaps the most noteworthy is that 1689 of Lady Essex Specot, identified
by Pevsner as of local Cornish workmanship.
Outside, notice the tall Cornish Cross; not in original position or condition, it was
re-erected here in the early 1800s. |
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Carminow Coat of Arms
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Lanivet
Church near Bodmin
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I found Lanivet church
when walking the Saints Way.
Its dedication is odd. The church's own guide leaflet suggests the
dedication is to St. Nivet, daughter of Welsh King Brychan, or to St. Nevet,
a Breton. On the other hand the Church of England officially declares
it dedicated to St. Ia, who gave her name to St. Ives. Sadly the
church is also a something of a disappointment; a handsome,
typically Cornish, 15th century church in the Decorated style, ruined by
over improvement by the Victorians, who scraped many frescoes and removed
original stained glass. The reason to visit Lanivet church is the
wonderful collection of stonework dotted around inside and out. By
the porch is a 10th century 'hogback' tomb slab. Behind the church
are a 13th century four-hole Cornish cross and a 10th century wheel cross.
Inside the church are some fascinating memorials. One from the 5th
or 6th century commemorates 'Annicu'. A portrait tomb slab in the
vestry to a Courtney (perhaps related to the Earls of Devon) dates from
1560; another Courtney was added to it in 1632, surely not the brother
the guide leaflet claims. A nearby tomb slab features gilded angels.
Pulpit and reredos are both Victorian but attractive. St. Benet's Abbey
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5/6th century
Annicu stone
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Courtney memorial
slab
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Lanivet near Bodmin, St. Benet's Abbey - St. Benet's Web Site
| I
was unsure how to classify St. Benet's but, since it does B&B, I
felt that "house open to the public" was best. However, hedging my
bets, I have also included it on my "Holy Sites & Churches" page. I
have passed St. Benet's a thousand times on the way to Bugle, St.
Austell and
the south coast. Recently I read
that there is a Cornish Cross in the front garden so, on my way back from a
visit the St. Pauls Church in Charlestown, I called in at St. Benet's, just off
the road near Lanivet. It is now a Bed
& Breakfast (see above for link to St. Benet's web
site), with nine en-suite rooms, run by J.J. and his wife. St. Benet's has had a mixed history. It was founded as a chapel in 1411, at that
time used as a retreat for lepers - a lazar house - but dissolved by Henry VIII in 1549. What you see here is relatively minor remains
comprising gatehouse and domestic range.
The detached and degraded tower behind is all that remains of the
chapel; between it and the back of the
house are the remains of a well. It was
owned in the 16th century by the Courtneys of Tremere, related to the Earls of
Devon; their monuments are in Lanivet
Church. After it was purchased in 1855 by
the rector, Rev. W. Phillips Flamank, St. Benet's had a considerable makeover
so that it now appears to be a sort of Regency Gothick. As you face the house, the left hand end was
the gatehouse of the original establishment and retains its octagonal stair turret. What is now a three light window was once the
carriage archway. Above is an oriel
window with what appear to be atatue niches to each side. In the garden to the front of the house is
what I had gone there to see, a small round-headed Cornish Cross, believed to
be of the 13th century or earlier, which has been attached to a more modern
shaft. |
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Chapel Tower
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St. Benet's
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Cornish Cross
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Lanner, Christchurch
| I
was passing through Lanner on my way to Gwennap when, on a whim, I followed a
sign pointing right to "churches."
I had no great expectations but was pleasantly surprised, after passing
a Methodist Chapel, to find white-painted Christchurch towards the top of the
hill, next to it a parish hall. In the churchyard in front of the church what
took my eye was the unexpected pair of Cornish Crosses. The church itself dates from
1840 and is by the well known early Victorian architect George Wightwick. Inside the church is well proportioned with a
shallow chancel and a 3-bay aisle, a later addition of 1883. The only old thing of notice inside the
church is an delightful font with an angelic figure on each face. To my surprise, Pevsner says that this 19th
century font was originally in St. Dunstan's, Fleet Street in London.
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Christchurch, Lanner
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1 of 2 Cornish Crosses
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Lanner Angel Font
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Lanlivery, St. Bryvyta's Church
| I
was first in Lanlivery in 2006 when I passed through when walking the Saints Way from Padstow to Fowey. On that occasion I was walking a section,
linking the two southbound routes, between Lanlivery and Luxulyan. I stopped for food at the Crown Inn. On that occasion I did not visit St.
Bryvyta's church though I did photograph St. Bryvyta's Holy Well by Churchtown
Farm. In mid-August 2018 I decided to do
a little research to the west of Lostwithiel and visited the churches in both
Luxulyan and Lanlivery. I started in the
latter with a coffee in the Crown Inn then walked across the road to take a
look inside the church of St. Bryvyta (or Brevita or Brivet). As you approach, the first thing you notice
about the church is its tower, almost 100 feet tall. Consisting of Nave, Chancel, South Aisle,
Porch and Tower, St. Bryvyta's is mostly of the 15th century but incorporates
some 13th century work. Noteworthy
features inside include wagon roofs, several good 17th and 18th century
monuments, several fragments of blue medieval glass in the east window, an octagonal
font with simple decoration, an ancient carved slate tomb slab. The wooden pulpit stands on a granite base
and bears carved coats of arms. A wall
tablet remembers Thomas Hawkey who died in the United States in 1873. In the porch a tablet commemorates Charlotte
Atherton, wife of Robert Atherton, vicar of Ratcliffe. Why is a vicar of a Leicestershire or
Nottinghamshire village associated with a rural Cornwall church? In the churchyard are a table tomb and
several slate gravestones. When I was
there, in the quire was an exhibition of wood carvings. The pub opposite, the Crown, is a nice place
but menu and prices are more restaurant than pub. |
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South Aisle Ceiling
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Lanlivery Church from the east
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Carved oak pulpit
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Lansallos, St. Ildierna's Church
At the beginning of
September 2016 I had an outing to the other side of the Fowey
River from Fowey. I
took the Bodinnick Ferry across the Fowey and followed tiny lanes past
Pont to Lanteglos-by-Fowey. There I
took interior photos before continuing to Lansallos. There is a National
Trust car park back up the hill but, as I was visiting the church, I chose
to use the small parking area by the gate to the churchyard. It was
a very wet day so I failed to get any good exterior photos and, after photographing
a Cornish Cross head and separate shaft in the churchyard, I concentrated
instead on the interior. A Celtic church on this site was dedicated
to Saint Salwys; the present church, of tower, nave, aisle
and chapel, was dedicated to St.Ildierna in 1321 though the present fabric
is clearly of the Decorated period. The porch has a superb wooden
roof with carved bosses and inside the church are fine wagon roofs, again
with carved bosses. There is also as fine a collection of carved
bench ends as you will find almost anywhere and carved bench backs, too.
The pulpit, on a stone base, has carved panels. On a wall is an excellent
slate memorial of 1579 to Margaret Smith. Relics, including a Celtic font, a bell,
a chest and stone carvings are at the end of the aisle. Appallingly,
the church was subject of an arson attack in 2005; happily,
only the organ suffered severe damage. More Images
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| From a turning from B3359 a little NW of Pelynt |
Note the carved
bench ends and bench back
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More Images of St. Ildierna Lansallos
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St. Ildierna Lansallos, Chancel Ceiling
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St. Ildierna Lansallos, Celtic Font
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Return to St. Ildierna's Church, Lansallos
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Lanteglos-by-Camelford. St. Julitta,
 |
In November 2008 Jane
and I were invited to join the Camel Ramblers on their AGM Day at Juliot's
Well Holiday Park between Camelford and Lanteglos. An enjoyable day
began with a walk that took in Lanteglos and Castle Goff. It was
a pretty wet day and time pressed so we didn't linger anywhere on the way.
There seemed to be a lot of interest in the area so, a few days later,
I returned in sun to take a closer look at Lanteglos Church and Castle
Goff, and to find St. Julitta's Well. I was delighted
that I did because the interest was immense. The church at Lanteglos
(church in the valley) is dedicated to St. Julitta, yet another of the
saintly offspring of prolific Welsh King Brychan. The nave, south
aisle and tower are largely late 15th century, in the Perpendicular Gothic
style, though there are some traces of the Norman church. The interior
was ruined by Victorian 'restoration' but there are some early glass
fragments and an attractively carved pulpit. The big attraction outside
is the collection of Cornish crosses near the porch and a memorial pillar
whose inscription translates as 'Elsneth and Cencreth wrought this family
pillar for Aelwyne's soul and for themselves.' St. Julitta's
holy well is in the grounds of nearby Juliot's Well Holiday Park.
The former rectory is now the Lanteglos Hotel. |
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St. Julitta's
granite, silver in sun
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Ask at holiday park for well directions
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Lanteglos-by-Fowey, St. Wyllow,
 |
Encountered on a walk
around Fowey and Polruan, St. Wyllow's is a delight. Daphne du Maurier
thought so, too, and married Boy Browning here in 1932. Located between
Bodinnick and Polruan, it is hidden high in a valley. The only nearby
habitation is Churchtown Farm. The brass on the left commemorates
Thomas Mohun, 15th century lord of the manor. The former Mohun pew
is now a panel in the south aisle. Bench ends are quite superb, among
Cornwall's finest (and that is saying somehing). I particularly
like this one on the right portraying an eel and two fish. Outside
the south porch is an unusual 'lantern' cross; nearby is the stump
of another. Whilst you may like to visit by car we much prefer to
visit St. Wyllow's in the course of an enjoyable Fowey
and Polruan walk, which we have done several times and which also
offers superb views of Fowey and
the Fowey River,
and the chance to see fascinating Pont Pill.
I was back in Lanteglos
in early September 2016 on my way to a first visit to Lansallos
church. Although there is no car park as such at St. Wyllow, there
is room for several cars outside Churhtown Farm opposite. On this
visit I noticed in the church: 5 coats of arms on carved wooden panelling,
a tomb lacking its recumbent figure, two statues in wall niches, the redundant
rood stair, a carved pulpit, a nice wooden font cover and a fine deudarn
chest. I also admired the fine choir stalls and an entertaining painted
heraldic shield. |
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Mohun Brass
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Fish Bench
End
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Launceston, St.
Mary Magdalene's Church
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With so grand a church
at its heart, you would expect that the present Launceston town would be
the original settlement. However, the name Launceston is a corruption
of Lan Stephan, still applied to the earlier settlement on the north side
of the valley of the River Kensey - and the suburb's church, dedicated
to St. Stephen, is itself quite grand - but too often closed. Of St. Mary Magdalene's
church in modern Launceston, the exterior is the significant part;
only the 15th century painted pulpit truly stands out inside. Rebuilt in
the early 16th century the exterior is a monument to the great skills of
Cornish stone carvers. Nothing is more difficult to work than granite,
yet the whole is covered in elaborate decoration, the south porch most
of all; motifs include quatrefoils, flowers, Latin mottoes,
the arms of Sir Henry Trecarrel and his wife, the Duke of Cornwall's feathers,
figures of St. George and the dragon, of St. Martin of Tours and a figure
of Mary Magdalene carved not in stone but terracotta. A church well
worth seeing, most of all for its superb exterior. |
The off-axis tower is earlier than the body of the church
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Launceston St. Mary Magdalene revisited - interior
|
Review
of Launceston Town
Review
of Launceston Castle
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Launceston, St.
Mary Magdalene's Church - the interior
| Jane
and I had originally visited Launceston's major church way back in 2011 when
there was a quilting exhibition on in the nave.
It was possible to see only relatively little of the church then,
although I remember being particularly impressed by the very colourful and highly
decorated pulpit, probably pre-Reformation and one of the oldest interior
furnishings. I revisited in August 2018
and spent some time in the church and took a good number of photos. One thing that surprised me was that, in such
a large church in a major town, the ceilings were not vaulted but were Cornish
Wagon roofs throughout. The next thing to strike me was the proliferation of
carved bench ends, late Victorian but none the worse for that. On the north wall, near the organ, are the small
stone kneeling figures of Granville Pyper and Richard Wise. On one wall is a brass to a lady, who if I
interpret the writing correctly, died age 65 having borne 41 children!!! In a chapel I saw a display of
vestments; whether permanent or
temporary I know not. An altar in the
south aisle is painted with biblical scenes.
The Rood screen and Parclose screens are finely carved in Art Nouveau
style with flowers, fish and animals. The font is of the early 20th century but has as its base an original
Norman font; the cover is Victorian and
tall and elaborately carved. Stained
glass is all of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. On the reredos in the chancel is a striking
and colourful alabaster figure of the Transfiguration of Christ, in the style
of Fra. Angelico. The carved Royal Arms
is strongly painted and gilded.
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Launceston Pulpit
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Launceston Carved Bench Ends
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Launceston Pyper Memorial
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Lelant, St.
Uny
| I had walked past
St. Uny previously when on the coast path between Hayle and St. Ives.
On this occaion in early June 2006 I was walking the first stage of St.
Michael's Way, from Lelant or St.
Ives to St. Michaels Mount,
which actually begins at the church. So I decided I should start
by looking in and around the church. St. Uny, also known as St. Euny,
was one of those peripatetic holy men of Cornwall about whom nothing is
known except the various dedications to him, in this case including the
mother church of the parish of Redruth.
Oddly, while the church is dedicated to Uny, the parish name may be taken
from an earlier holy man named Anta. The present chuch dates mostly
from the 15th century, though there is one original Norman arch to the
Lady Chapel. Like churches at Perran Sands
and
St. Enodoc, St. Uny suffered regular inundation
by drifting sand. Inside there is not a great deal of historic interest
except for a couple of 17th century slate memorial slabs, a (probably)
Norman font and rood stairs, not removed in restorations. The real
interest is outside where there are several ancient Cornish crosses and
the most wonderful views, taking in Hayle Sands, Godrevy Light and Hayle
Harbour. Entertainingly, there is also a golf course which
comes right up to the churchyard. |
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| Some parking
on the road outside. More Lelant |
The church
of St. Uny Lelant
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St. Uny, Lelant
In January 2017 I
had an expedition down west. First I went to see Towednack
church, closed when I was there recently but happily open this time.
Then I continued to Lelant where a little research in Langdon had suggested
the existence of several Cornish
Crosses. I checked on Cornwall Council's excellent Mapping
Website and was able to confirm that I should find crosses in the
churchyard of St.Uny Lelant, in the
large cemetery and even on the main street. Previously I had only
been in Lelant when on the Cornish
Coast Path between Hayle
and St. Ives. On that occasion
I had taken the path between the church and its separate cemetery and not
lingered at the church. On this occasion I stopped in the town first
where, opposite the Badger Inn (formerly the Praed Arms) a Cornish Cross
had been built into the wall next to Cross Cottage. There is now
a War Memorial on the site but it looks as if the cross head is mounted
on top of the memorial. In the cemetery I found 3 crosses;
in the churchyard I found a further 2. The church is delightfully
situated, next to a golf course and overlooking Hayle and the Hayle
Estuary. Of interest in the church are 2 ancient slate memorials,
an octagonal font, panelling from a medieval screen and a good reredos. More images
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A374 St. Ives to Badger Inn and forward to Lelant
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Lelant Church
- another view
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More
St. Uny, Lelant Images
|
I was back at St. Uny, Lelant in late September 2018 and thought to add a few more notes and images. In
medieval times Lelant was a seaport of more importance than St. Ives and the
Church of St. Uny was the mother church of St. Ives. While it is hard to imagine Lelant's former
importance, there are few churches in a more attractive setting than St. Uny
Lelant, not to be confused with St. Euny, Redruth's parish church. The church stands on a large grassy plot, woodland to its south, a view over the
Hayle estuary, looking as far as Godrevy Light, to its north--east. Within meadow and woodland, to the south
of the church are three Cornish Crosses, a fact nicely echoed by one of the
kneelers inside, picturing a Cornish cross.
There are three more of these crosses in the graveyard, to the west of
the church. A hedge and a path, heading
for the Coast Path, separate churchyard from the graveyard. You enter the church through a fine
porch; inside are nave and north and
south aisles. Extensive restoration was
carried out by J D Sedding in 1872-3.
Roofs are fine, that of the south aisle being original and richly
decorated. Sadly there are no original
bench ends; these disappeared in
Sedding's restoration. The unusual
octagonal font, supported on nine slim supporting shafts, was found in a
farmyard and restored to the church in 1889.
Slate monuments on a wall near the font commemorate William Praed and
family, 1620, and Stephen Pawley, 1635.
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Lelant Cornish Cross
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View from Lelant Churchyard
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St. Uny Lelant Cornish Cross Kneeler
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Lesnewth
|
After revisiting St. Juliot's church with its Thomas Hardy associations, I went on to
nearby Lesnewth. The name is a corruption of Lys Noweth or New Court. The village is but a hamlet with church, Old Rectory, Coach House, two farms and a few cottages. What I hadn't expected was to find a
large Cornish Cross, its head a nicely cut wheel-cross. The church consists of three stage,
pinnacled tower, nave, chancel and a vestry in the form of a double south
transept. In the nave there are reported to be stained glass
roundels (2003) by Caroline Henderson. I
only noticed one, that of a bird on a twig, crosses on a hill in the
background. On a wall an entertaining
board records a grant from the "Incorporated Society for Building Churches". Elsewhere a slate memorial slab of 1680
carries an elaborate coat of arms. Pevsner
says that in the porch are a Cornish wheel-head cross and a C13 grave slab with an incised foliated cross. I returned to check but I am afraid Pevsner is mistaken.
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Cornish Cross
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Lesnewth Church
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South Transept, one half of
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Lewannick
| Lewannick is a fairly
ordinary, but not uninteresting, little village, happily bypassed by the
busy A30, just off the eastern fringes of Bodmin Moor. It has several
buldings of interest including a house calling itself Lewannick Manor,
but originally the Rectory; next to it a house calling itself
Priory House; a former Police House, in that use from 1871
to 1950; and a pub named Archer Arms for the former local
landowners. The church stands on an elevated site, presumably with an earlier
non-Christian history. It consists of nave, aisles, porch and three-stage
tower. The porch roof has some interesting carved bosses, including
the one below right, and an old font stands there, too. The
most important feature is the two inscribed stones, one in the church inscribed
in ogham as well as regular script, the other south in the churchyard.
There is an elaborately carved pulpit and the Norman font carries carvings
of a labyrinth and two pentagrams. There is an unusual carved stone
reredos and the altar is covered with a colourful cloth. A metal
wall plaque carries figues of a lion and what looks like a Roman soldier. |
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Ogham Stone
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Lewannick Church
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Carved Porch
Roof Boss
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Linkinhorne, Stoke Climsland and Lezant
|
At the very
end of December 2017 I made a trip down east to the general area between
Launceston and Callington in order to take a look at the churches in
Linkinhorne, Stoke Climsland and Lezant.
I had been in the first two of these villages back in May 2007 when
walking the Cornish section of the Land's End Trail heading west from the River
Tamar at Horsebridge to Land's End. On
this occasion I had gone to visit the churches in each village.
At Linkinhorne, the churchyard and path
down to the church had suffered from December gales. Trees were down but had been chain-sawed back
to give access to the church. I was
pleased to see that the Cornish Cross by the lych-gate, the first Cornish Cross
I ever saw, was still there and undamaged.
Last time I was here I didn't look in the church but on this occasion I
spent some time inside. Before entering,
I noticed an old sundial on the tower wall by the porch. The other side of the porch is what appears
to be a mass grave with four wheel crosses on it. Inside the porch the handsome doorway
contains a door bound with iron straps. Inside
the church the south and north aisles
both have white wagon roofs with carved bosses. The nave has a wooden wagon roof. In the blue-ceilinged chancel are a handsome altar table,
and a good priest's chair and lectern with seat (litany desk)). The granite font stands on a granite base and
pillars. The woodwork of the pulpit and
its stairs are both nicely carved.
Oldest, and most interesting, is the pillar on the south wall bearing a
fresco.
I think the Church House Inn, opposite, has re=opened (mostly evenings) and appears
to have received some good reviews, and I was glad to see that it no longer
appears to be for sale.
Next I took
a look around Stoke Climsland. I parked by the green and walked down past
the village hall and attractive post office to take a look at the church. As at Linkinhorne, the interior of the porch
is striking with a fine slate tombstone dedicated to one Thomas Calvert who
died in 1781. Again, as at Linkinhorne,
the very Cornish ceilings in the south aisle and chancel catch one's eye with their
blue panels and carved bosses.
Finally, I
paid a visit to the church in Lezant.
This one is a little unusual in that it
stands on a raised site, some 6 feet higher than the surrounding road. The very first thing to catch one's eye is
the lych gate where, remarkably the side walls are of linen-fold panelling, perhaps
previously in the church but more likely from a local grand house. The porch has a wagon roof with carved bosses
and this is repeated by ceilings inside the church.
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Stoke Climsland Chancel Ceiling
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Linkinhorne Cross
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Lezant Lych Gate Linenfold Panelling
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Liskeard, St. Martin's Church
|
In
early March 2019 I headed down east again, this time to visit St. Lalluwy's
church in Menheniot village and St. Martin's church in the major town of Liskeard The most striking feature of
St. Martin's is the way it stands out on its hill, south of the town centre. The next thing that strikes you is how ugly
the church is on the outside, its dark stone repelling rather than
enticing. Before entering do first look
for the two Cornich Crosses in the churchyard:
one you pass on your way from the south lych gate to the church entrance
in a two-storey height porch, the other is in the graveyard on the south east
side of the church. What I missed was
the Consecration Crosses on the outer waslls of the north and south aisles,
apparently unique in Cornwall. Except
for services the church is normally locked tight so I was fortunate to arrive
at the same time as a churchwarden, who not only allowed me in but also provided
some helpful information, including the fact that St. Martin's is Cornwall's
second largest parish church after St. Petroc's in Bodmin. The interior has a lofty and airy feel though
the chancel, separated by a chancel arch, is lower than the nave. With one exception, the east window, all chancel
windows are original Perpendicular. A
fragment of medieval glass is displayed in a niche in the south aisle. The plain font is probably 16th century; its cover, probably Victorian, is very
elaborate. In the chancel both altar and
reredos are elaborate, the latter quite colourful. A royal coat of arms is of George II. The elaborate organ, its pipes colourful, is
topped by a trumpeter. A nicely carved
lectern stands by the quire parclose screen.
The octagonal pulpit, made in 1646 by Peter Short, is beautifully carved.
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Churchyard Cornish Cross
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St. Martin's Church, Liskeard
| Liskeard Reredos
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Little
Petherick, St. Petroc's
 |
I'm usually more-or-less
in agreement with most of Pevsner's judgements. Not this time though.
Pevsner is quite scathing about its Victorian faux-medieval qualities.
I, on the other hand, find Little Petherick church a delight, both outside
and in. It's a pity about its situation; coming to it
for the first time from the Wadebridge direction, by the time you see the
church you are probably too late to pull into the village hall car park.
Coming from Padstow, you are so busy looking for traffic approaching the
bridge that you probably don't even spot the church. A great pity
because it is a delight and well worth an extended visit. Attractive
from the outside, with its tower,.porch, nave, aisle and small south chapel, it is the
inside which really impresses. Most striking are the two colourful
and highly detailed rood screens. Altar, reredos and stained glass
in a south window also impress and there are some fine carved bench ends
- one topped by a pheasant - good memorials and an unusually simple clock.
A colourful royal coat of arms is set into the floor and a slate wall plaque
lists rectors and patrons of "St. Petroc Minor of Nansfounteyn, Little
Petherick" Despite Pevsner, I believe thet Little Petherick church
is well worth going out of your way for. Or, if you are walking the
Saints Way, it is handily right alongside the first stage from Padstow. |
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St. Petroc's Church, Little Petherick
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The church is ln a hollow on
A389 Wadebridge to Padstow |
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Looe, St.Martin-by-Looe and Morval
| The
town of Looe has no Anglican church of its own.
Instead there are two a little way north of the town, St. Martin about a
quarter mile north, Morval a mile or so further. St.
Martin's church is dedicated to St. Keyne and St. Martin. The south gate is simple but attractive. The doorway from the porch is late Norman
zig-zag. The church is probably basically
13th century and the tower 14th and 15th.
Inside, the unusual font is decorated with a tree of life. Altar rails are probably early 17th century
as is the parclose screen. Monuments
include a tomb chest of 1590 and a wall
tablet of 1667 to Walter Langdon and his wife.
There are some carved bench ends, probably Victorian; original bench ends seem to have been used in
making one screen, the other elaborately carved screen is presumably
Victorian. There is some William Morris
glass. In the graveyard is a Cornish
Cross of dubious authenticity. Morval
church is dedicated to St. Wenna. Seen
from the road it is low but most attractive, standing, as does the house to
which it belonged, in a small landscaped park and with rhododendrons in the
churchyard. Inside is an octagonal 13th
century font, a seventeenth century alms box and a 1637 monument to Walter Coode. More Looe, St. Martin and Morval.
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Morval Churchyard Cross
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Morval Church
| St. Martin Porch Doorway
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More Looe, St. Martin and Morval
|
The town of Looe has no Anglican church of its own. Instead there are two a little way north of
the town, St. Martin about a quarter miles north, Morval a mile or so
further. St. Martin church is dedicated to St. Keyne
and St. Martin. The south gate is simple
but attractive. The doorway from the porch is late Norman zig-zag. The church is probably 13th century and the
tower 14th and 15th. Inside, the unusual font is decorated with a tree of life. Altar rails are probably early 17th century
as is the parclose screen. Monuments
include a tomb chest of 1590 and a wall
tablet of 1667 to Walter Langdon and his wife.
There are some carved bench ends, probably Victorian; original bench ends seem to have been used in
making one screen, another elaborate carved screen is presumably Victorian. There is some William Morris glass. In the graveyard is a Cornish Cross of
dubious authenticity. Morval church is dedicated to St. Wenna. Seen from the road it is low but most
attractive, standing, as does the house, in a small landscape park and with
rhododendrons in the churchyard. Inside
is an octagonal 13th century font, a seventeenth century alms box and a 1637 monument to Walter Coode.
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St. Martin Screen
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St. Martin Porch
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Morval Church
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Ludgvan, St. Ludgvan & St. Paul
|
I first encountered Ludgvan's church only in passing in 2006. My mid-year project was walking St. Michael's
Way from Lelant to Marazion and St. Michael's Mount. I must confess that, at that time, I had not
yet developed an interest in Cornwall's churches so I passed by, lingering only
for a photograph of what I then wrongly thought was Ludgvan's only Cornish
Cross. I eventually returned at the very
end of August 2019 for a thorough look at the church and first discovered that
there were, in fact, three crosses. After
the crosses, the first thing to note is the porch. This has an unusual four-light window in its
east side and a wagon roof with carved wooden bosses. Apart from the porch and the tower, there is
little that is original as the church was heavily restored in 1912 by H J
Wadling, an associate of J. P. St. Aubyn.
The result is an unexpectedly severe interior. The font is a 19th century copy of a Norman
design. There are monuments and
memorials to John South and family, 1636;
to Christopher Borlase, 1749; to
antiquarian William Borlase who was rector here 1720 to 1772; and to the parents of Sir Humphrey Davy who
invented the miner's safety lamp. Quire
stalls are surprisingly colourfully decorated.
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Ludgvan Church
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The Colourful Quire Stalls
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C19 Copy of Norman Font
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Luxulyan, St. Ciricius & St. Julitta Church
|
As
with Lanlivery, I was first in Luxulyan in 2006 when I passed through when
walking the Saints Way from Padstow
to Fowey. On that occasion I was walking
a section, linking the two alternative southbound routes, between Lanlivery and
Luxulyan. Passing the church, I noted a
fine Cornish Cross on the wall by the lych gate. Also in the churchyard is an ancient sundial. I revisited Luxulyan in August 2018, this
time to view and photograph the interior of the church. Luxulyan's church certainly existed in the
mid 12th century, as a chapel of Lanlivery, and was rebuilt in the 15th and
16th centuries. The first thing of note
is the porch, unusually elaborate for Cornwall, with a traceried,
tunnel-vaulted ceiling. The north aand
south aisles retain their original wagon roofs with carved bosses. Noted Cornish architect Silvanus Trevail
worked on the church early in the 20th century.
The chancel screen is by him and the stained glass of the east window is
his memorial. The font is Norman, of the
Bodmin type and boldly carved with heads at each corner. Fine monuments include that (1728) to vicar
Joseph Carveth. The pulpit, wood over
granite, is carved with coats of arms.
There is an elaborate carved screen above the internal entrance to the
tower. Two 17th century chairs stand in
the chancel. The altar has some nice
carved woodwork. A marble wall memorial
is to members of the local Rashleigh family.
An odd figure holding a shield is set into a granite wall. Nearby, you can enjoy a lovely walk in the
Luxulyan Valley. Park
at Pont's Mill,
walk up the valley on a well made track following the Par River, and
passing on your left Mid Cornwall China Clay Dries, to the Treffry
Viaduct. Go under it and climb the steep path on your right to
reach the beginning of the viaduct. Then follow the former tramway
south, past Carmears Waterwheel, back down to Ponts Mill.
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Luxulyan Cornish Cross
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Luxulyan Church
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Luxulyan Pulpit Panels
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Mabe
The Mabe in question is
Mabe Burnthouse, a couple of miles from Falmouth. Oddly Mabe
Church is almost a far from Mabe as Mabe is from Falmouth.
Approached from a big car park down a long driveway and through a large
lych-gate, the church overlooks Argol Lake, one of a pair of
reservoirs. The church consists of a three stage tower, a nave
and two aisles. Near the porch are two surprises, neither shown
on OS103. First is a fairly massive 8-foot tall standing stone,
second is a fine example of a small Cornish Cross.
Disappointingly, when I was there the church was locked, so I must
again rely on Pevsner who found much to admitre here, particularly the
fine porch , its doorways having cable decoration and repeated lily
motifs. Inside, either side of a modern reredos are fragments of
a 15th century alabaster altar.
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Mabe Church
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Mabe Cornish Cross
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Madron,
St. Maddern
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Madron lies a little
to the north of Penzance, just
off the road to Bosullow Common, Lanyon
Quoit, Men-an-Tol
and Nine Maidens Common.
As you drive through you are hard put to decide where to park but, if you
head for the church and school, there is ample parking. There is
more here than just an impressive church, within the churchyard are two
impressive memorials - a great mausoleum to Rose Price and a globe-bestriding
statue with an unreadable dedication - and two Cornish
Crosses (there are two others nearby). Inside, the roofs
have carved wooden bosses, there are two attractive screens and the south
chapel has an alabaster plaque of saints and some ancient bench ends topped
by beasts. High on a wall is the "Nelson Banner", carried in the
procession that celebrated Nelson's victory at Trafalgar. In addition
to the two Cornish crosses in the churchyard, there are two others nearby,
one in a field to the south of the church at 45436/31503, the other on
a lane near Madron Well and Chapel, at about 44512/32541. Well and
Chapel are worth visiting, the former a spring identified by trees adorned
with strips of cloth, interceding for family or friends, the latter
substantial but roofless. Both sites are cared for by the admirable
Cornwall
Heritage Trust. Nearby is the National Trust's lovely Trengwainton
Garden. |
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Lych gate and
tower of Madron Church
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Signed
from the Heamoor roundabout on the Penzance by-pass |
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Maker and the Rame Peninsula
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In
July 2017 I had an outing to the Rame Peninsula in far south-east
Cornwall. My purpose was to visit churches
in five villages altogether: Antony, St.
John, Sheviock, Maker and Rame. I found
the churches in Antony and St. John closed but found plenty of interest in the
other three. Maker church stands isolated, except for a lodge cottage, high
above Mount Edgcumbe Park. It is a
substantial building with pinnacled tower, nave, two aisles and an additional
Edgcumbe family chapel attached to the south aisle. Ceilings are of the Cornish "wagon"
type; the nave one being quite elaborate.
The Norman font was originally at St. Merryn (I wonder how it came here). Best of the Edgcumbe monuments is that of
1752 to Richard Lord Edgcumbe. In the nearby former Maker Barracks a
Nissen hut houses the excellent Canteen restaurant; we have enjoyed meals there on many
occasions. There is ample parking near
Maker church and access to the vast Mount Edgcumbe Estate, where we have
enjoyed many good walks and the occasional meal in the Edgcumbe Arms, the
Orangery or the cafe by the house. Rame church is a little less
isolated; nearby are the Old Rectory and
Rame Barton and Penmillard farms. The
church is built of rough slatey stone and, unusually for Cornwall, has a broach
spire. An Ashton memorial dates from
1677. Screen and wooden pulpit are well
carved. A rood, relatively unusual for
Cornwall, stands atop the screen. Not
far away, at the furthest point the Rame Peninsula, a small Norman chapel
stands on a 330 foot point with superb views in both directions. Sheviock church is in the middle of the village, opposite it the
Rectory. Much of the building is of the
13th and 14th centuries but, unfortunately the tower has been grey plastered.
Inside, tombs of a knight and a lady, probably of the Courtenay family, are
late 14th century, A brass cross commemorates Alphonse Charles de Morel. There are some fairly elaborate carved bench
ends.
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The rood in Rame church
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Maker pulpit
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Sheviock church bench ends
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Manaccan, St. Manacca's Church
| Although
the Lizard is the best part of an hour and a half's journey from Wadebridge I
decided it was high time I visited and reported on several churches down
there. I was in Manaccan and St. Anthony
in mid February 2019. In addition to these
I propose to report on Mawgan in Meneage and St. Martin-in-Meneage. An odd word "Meneage", it means
"Monk's land" so would have been the property of a monastic
settlement. Manaccan is a pleasant small
village on a hill not far from the eastern end of Gillan Creek. At one time the village had pub, shop and
post office. All closed in 2014 but, in
a remarkable show of co-operation, the villagers got together to save and
re-open the pub. After some more ups and
downs, the New Inn is open again and is a pleasant spot, serving good food; on an adjacent wall are mounting steps. A couple of hundred yards away is St.
Manacca's church. The first thing you
notice is a fig tree growing out of the west end of the south wall, believed to
be 250 years old and surely unique in Cornwall.
The next thing you notice is the unusual south doorway, essentially
Norman although the arch above has been remodelled. Inside is a plain font, believed by Pevsner
to be a late-medieval copy of a Norman original. Stained glass appears medieval but is late
Victorian. A simple pulpit may be 20th
century. In the chancel two chairs are
made from 15th century timber, taken from the former rood screen. A surprise is the carved and colourful
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Shield ceiling boss
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Flying insect ceiling boss
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Terrier ceiling boss
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Marhamchurch, St. Marwenna's Church
| Towards
the end of January 2019 I headed to the far North of Cornwall to visit three
churches - St. James Jacobstow, St. Marwenna Marhamchurch and St. Andrew
Stratton. Second port of call was
Marhamchurch. I had been in the village
before, when walking a route from Bude, via the canal and Helebridge, to Dexbeer,
Burmsdon and Tamar Lakes, but I had not previously been inside the church. Some Norman work survives but the greater
part of the church is of the 14th and 15th centuries. The south porch has a typical Cornish roof
with some carving; its floor is made of
squares of small upright slates, reminiscent of Lutyens. The
door, of studded vertical planks, with massive iron hinges, is unusual and very
sturdy. Inside, the impressive nave has
a 19th century Cornish wagon roof, while the north aisle roof is mostly of the
15th and 16th centuries. The seating in
the quire, though probably Victorian, is attractively carved. The font is believed to be a late 19th
century re-cutting of a Norman original.
The pulpit dates from the 17th century.
In the chancel is a small Cornish Cross, probably an early
original. An unusual brass memorial to
Maria Scott Maskell is set into a worn stone slab. There is quite a lot of attractive stained
glass. mostly of the mid-19th to early 20th century. Below the chancel step are four 17th century
slate memorial slabs. There are no Cornish Crosses in the churchyard, much to my
disappointment. |
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Marhamchurch, St. Marwenna's
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Chancel Ceiling
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Brass Memorial
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Mawgan-in-Meneage, St. Mawgan's Church
| On
a sunny Saturday in late February I headed down to the Lizard peninsula to take
a close look at a couple of churches, that of St. Mawgan in Mawgan-in-Meneage
and that of St. Martin-in-Meneage. The
Daffodil Festival had been held over for an extra week at St. Mawgan; delightful as it was I had hoped for a clear
un-daffodilled view of the interior of the church, so I shall have to visit
again at a later date. At St. Martin I
had a pleasant surprise: I had assumed that,
remotely situated, the church would be locked and I was just planning on
exterior photos. However, while I was
eating my soup and sandwich before leaving, who should arrive but a lady
churchwarden, so I was able to take my photographs inside as well. (See separate entry) St.Mawgan's church is in a fairly isolated
position away from the main part of the village. The extensive graveyard, raised as it is, suggests a lann and includes an
impressive raised chest tomb. The
three-stage tower is of the 15th century but the body of the church is mostly
13th century and consists of nave, north aisle and north and south transepts,
the latter linked to the chancel by a squint.
There are Cornish wagon roofs to porch, nave, north transept and north
aisle, the latter richly carved. There
are two fonts in the south transept, one circular, the other hexagonal. In the south transept is a fine recessed tomb
with the marble figures of Sir Roger Carminow and his wife. There are several good monuments to members
of the Vyell family, also memorialised at St. Breock. In the north aisle the
wagon roof is supported by angels and has a variety of carved bosses. The lectern is a delight, of red and green
serpentine, found only on the Lizard. Stained glass is Victorian.
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Mawgan-in-Meneage Carminowe Monument |
Serpentine Lectern |
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Mawnan, Mawnan Smith, Budock & Constantine
| In
early June 2017 I made a couple of expeditions down to the other side of
Falmouth. I was actually looking for a
memorial stained glass window by Glenn Carter, commemorating someone named
Steve. Jane's sister, who spotted the
item in a newspaper, thought it was in Mawnan
Smith church. This is a Victorian
church just off the road to Mawnan.
Although there was some passable Victorian glass, the Glenn Carter
window was not there. I wonder
where? Except for an odd little bell
tower at the west end, the church was otherwise of little interest. On to Mawnan,
where the first
thing to take your notice is the lych gate, complete with coffin rest and a
Cornish inscription which translates as "It is good for me to draw nigh
unto God". The next thing to strike me was
the lovely view from the south side of the churchyard over the mouth of the
Helford River to Nare Head. Inside is a 15th century octagonal Font, a
17th century Alms Box and part of a 15th century Screen. There is a Cornish Cross in the
churchyard. I was in the area on a
couple of occasions and also visited churches at Budock and Constantine. At Budock
there are three Cornish Crosses and some interesting tomb markers. There are, unusually, two lych gates; the rear one has collections of primitive
lawn mowers and watering cans. The church at Constantine has panelling from a
former screen, a simple font and a finely carved pulpit. Rood stairs are still in place.
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Mawnan
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Mawnan Smith
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Budock
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Constantine
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Menheniot, St. Lalluwy's Church
In
early March 2019 I headed down east again, this time to visit St. Lalluwy's
church in Menheniot village and St. Martin's church in the major town of
Liskeard. I only discovered Menheniot [the name means Hyniet's land according to
Craig Weatherhill, St. Neot's place according to Julyan Holmes - take your
choice] towards the end of April 2016. Jane wanted to see an exhibition
of Norman Hartnell's designs and materials, being held in the church. I
drove her there and quite liked the look of the village so, a week later, I had an
outing to explore the village. However this item is about the church,
unusual for Cornwall in that it boasts a spire.
The church was restored in 1866 by J P St. Aubyn and further restored by
G H Fellowes Prynne in 1922.
Perpendicular windows are mostly of
the 15th and 16th centuries. There is
good stained glass but, to my mind, the outstanding glass is the engraved
glass, depicting a Cornish Cross and grains of wheat, by David Pearce, set in the south wall of the south aisle. The pulpit is from 1891 by the noted Harry
Hems of Exeter and is of intricately carved dark wood. Set in the floor, at the base of the pulpit,
is a beautifully engraved brass inscription of 1386 to Sir Ralph Carmynow and
there are several monuments to members of the Trelawney family, below one of
which are a pair of handsome chairs. Seating
in the quire is a carved delight. A large
black marble slab has superb lettering
and remembers Augustine Question (that's what it says!). The
font is simple, square with a central pillar, four columns supporting it and with
a carved Victorian cover.
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Menheniot Etched Glass
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Menheniot Linenfold Panelling
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Merther and Eglosmerther
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These tiny
hamlets lie to the east of the Tresillian River, not very far from Truro. It is very strange countryside with almost none of
the narrow lanes actually going anywhere of any consequence, most simply ending
at one of several rivers, Fal, Truro and Tresillian. The names of these two places are a little
odd. Merther, in both old Cornish and Welsh, means Martyr, so
Eglosmerther is the church (or perhaps burial place) of a martyr. But who was the martyr? Perhaps St. Cohan to whom the ruined church
is dedicated From 1620 the manor of Merther has been part
of what is now the vast estate of the Boscawens, Lords Falmouth, the Tregothnan
Estate. The ruined church at Merther (oddly,
there is no church at Eglosmerther, only a Methodist chapel) was dedicated to
St Cohan or Coan; it is said that he was
martyred but I can find no trace of him.
In 1904 a new church was built at Tresillian Bridge and the 12th century
Pentewan stone font, the 17th-century polygonal oak pulpit, the bells and the statue of St. Anthony were moved
there. St. Cohan's at Merther became a
mortuary chapel but fell into disuse and gradually deteriorated; now only the
tower and some walls are substantially intact.
Apparently the old church bells were melted down in 1970 and made into 2
new bells for St Clement church, just over the Tresillian River. To the east of Merther church, in a field called
St Coan (grid reference SW866448), is the
site of St Cohan's Chapel and well. The chapel was destroyed in about 1750 and
by 1860 the last stones removed. Eglosmerther is a Grade II listed
farm building on the site of a former manor house, recorded as being held in 1311 by
the Reskymers. It is now a farm, and the
farmhouse including the courtyard wall, was a rebuilding in 1806–8 of an
earlier house.
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Merther Church Tower
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Eglosmerther Chapel
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Merther Lane Cornish Cross
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Mevagissey, St. Peters
Mevagissey
is a village of two distinct parts. The
picturesque harbour is surrounded by attractive cottages on one side, by
commerce on a second with restaurants, cafes and shops, and on the third by
buildings relating to the surprisingly large fishing fleet. Behind the harbour is a narrow through
street. Leading off it are largely residential streets, some of them steep and
narrow. Church Hill heads steeply
north-west up to St. Peter's Church, an awkward spot for worshippers with a
steep climb and little or no parking. I
thought traffic wardens up here unlikely so I parked on a yellow line by the
most convenient entrance to the churchyard. At some point the tower collapsed; it was rebuilt with, for Cornwall, un unusual
saddleback roof. The west wall has a
blocked doorway with a tympanum bearing the figure of (I think) a horse. Inside is a handsome pulpit, carved with
different scenes on each face, an elaborate memorial to Otwell Hill with
recumbent figures in relief, another simpler in slate to the Dart family with
10 kneeling figures. There is also a
nicely carved Norman stone font. To judge by the bootscraper outside the porch,
the church was probably restored by J P St. Aubyn in the 19th century. All in all, I felt that St. Peter's, Mevagissey was of sufficient
interest to justify a steep walk up the hill.
If interested, you may be able to park by the harbour; there is ample parking
elsewhere.
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Mevagissey Church Tower
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Horse Tympanum over door
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ElaboratelyCarved Pulpit
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Michaelstow, St. Michael's Church
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On the same Saturday in mid-February that I re-visited St. Endelienta's
church, I also visited St. Michael's at Michaelstow. I had been there before but only to
photograph the Cornish Cross and Holy Well in the churchyard. On this occasion I was there to see the
inside of the church, which consists of nave, north and south aisles, tower and
porch and dates in part from the 13th century.
You approach St. Michael's up steep steps from an ample parking area,
through either side of a double lych gate and past a very tall Cornish wheel
cross. Off to your right is an uncared
for Holy Well. You enter the porch to a
handsome door surround and a roof with carved bosses on the timbers. Inside, nave and aisles have standard Cornish
wagon roofs. The plain 15th century font
stands on a Norman base. The
exceptionally good benches and bench ends were rescued from St. Tudy
church. The pulpit, with Gothic carving,
stands on a stone base. The Royal Arms
are of 1727 and are presumably of George II.
There are fragments of medieval stained glass, some good Arts and Crafts
glass and a banner of St. Michael. Slate
monuments stand against the west wall, one obscured by a radiator. A small stone cross stands on a window
sill.
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Michaelstow Cornish Cross
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Michaelstow Altar and Reredos
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Carved Bench End
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Minster near Boscastle
| I
first encountered Minster Church quite unexpectedly. I had parked in Boscastle and was walking up
the Valency Valley, following the river on my right. After about a mile I saw a bridge over the
river and a path heading up through dense woodland. I decided to see where it went and, after a
few hundred steep yards through Peters Wood, found myself emerging through a
gate on to a lane with Minster Church tucked below me. At that time I didn't look into the church as
I had decided to follow the lane to Forrabury church, across the Stitches, an ancient systerm of small fields, and back
to Boscastle on the Coast Path. However, I mreturned later for a look inside the church. The
exterior of the church, tucked into the hillside below its graveyard, is
unusual in one particular: its tower
which boasts a saddleback roof. Such
roofs were common in Anglo-Saxon times, suggesting that this church might be older
than we think. In fact Pevsner thinks
there may have been a small very early monastery here. As so often with Cornish churches,
restoration was carried out in the second half of the 19th century by J P St.
Aubyn. Inside, there are two 13th century
windows, a simple Norman font, a good collection of slate memorial slabs, a
rood over the chancel entrance, a fairly plain oak pulpit, a carved and pierced
lectern, remnants of an elaborately carved screen, some elaborate marble
wall memorials, a 1602 memorial brass to Hender Robarts, and a collection of flower patterned kneelers.
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Minster Church in woodland
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Hender Robarts 1602 Brass
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Litany Desk Panel
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Morvah, St. Morveth
| This
little church, in the tiny village of Morvah, beyond Zennor on the West Penwith
peninsula, which I visited in May 2018, is probably the least interesting of
all the Cornish churches I have researched so far. The tower dates from the 14th century but the
body of the church was rebuilt in 1828, so just pre-Victorian. The approach is attractive, up three steps
and through a pair of iron gates to a green outer porch door. Inside, the nave is simple and pews are
unornamented with no carved bench ends. The
ceiling is a simple ribbed barrel vault.
The octagonal font is unusual with painted decoration on its shaft. The pulpit is simple oak with no
decoration. The altar is of local stone
with an incised cross. The reredos has
three simple panels with a fretted top rail.
Window glass is also simple with centre panels carrying a cross
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Entrance gates, Morvah church
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The plain oak pulpit
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The painted font
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Morwenstow,
St. John the Baptist and St. Morwenna
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Morwenstow's church,
dedicated to St. John the Baptist and to its putative founder St. Morwenna,
possibly a daughter of Welsh King Brychan, is unusual in more ways than
one. It must be just about Cornwall's least accessible church, a
full five miles from the nearest road of any significance and in the county's
most northerly parish. Of Norman origin (though there must have been
an earlier church here), although restored in Victorian times, it retains
a fair amount of Norman work, notably in the porch and the north arcade.
And finally, for 40 years from 1834, it had as its vicar the remarkable
Robert Stephen Hawker, poet
and free spirit, who was responsible for much of the restoration of the
church and who chose to bury shipwrecked sailors, of whom there were many
in these dangerous seas, in his churchyard rather than, as was the custom at that time,
on the shore where they were washed up.
Hawker also wrote the Cornish anthem, Trelawny, Song of the Western Men. Worth noting inside
the church are the unusual and very early Norman font, the screen and rood
which Hawker restored, and a degraded wall painting believed to represent
St. Morwenna. Outside, look at the lych gate and its adjacent lych
house, at the figurehead of the Caledonia (original in the church) and, in early spring,
the most amazing display of daffodils. And do walk to the cliff,
turn left and seek out Hawker's Hut, where Parson Hawker wrote his
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Morwenstow
church in the evening sun
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Churchyard
at daffodil time, see Morwenstow village |
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Mullion, St. Melina's
| I
visited Mullion towards the end of March 2018 in order to look around St.
Melina's church, which stands towards the northern edge of this large village
on the western side of the Lizard peninsula.
There is a donation car park fairly close by and a pub, the Old Inn,
almost opposite. The sturdy tower of the
church is striking, built of a mix of granite and serpentine blocks. Otherwise the church consists of porch, nave
and two aisles. The porch is worth
attention with its Cornish wagon roof, studded door and three stage door
surround. Inside are 15th century wagon
roofs, an impressive three part rood screen incorporating some of the original
screen, complete with rood, an Elizabethan lectern carved with two female
figures, a 13th century hexagonal font with simple decoration, and elaborate
royal coat of arms of Charles II. There
are several monuments, though none of great significance. All this is fine but the reason for visiting
St. Melina's is to see one of the best collections of 16th century carved bench
ends in Cornwall - and that's saying something.
In the churchyard, several crosses include the head of an octagonal
section medieval cross. From Mullion I
went on to Perranuthnoe, a couple of miles south-east of Marazion. |
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Carved Lectern
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Mullion, St. Melina's Church
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Medieval Bench End
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Mylor
There
are two quite separate villages, Mylor Bridge, where you will find All
Saints Church, and Mylor Churchtown, sometimes known as Mylor
Harbour. Mylor Bridge village is of little interest; its All Saints Church of no great significance but worth a short visit if on the way to Mylor Churchtown.
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Mylor Bridge, All Saints Church
On
our way from Peranarworthal to Mylor Churchtown Jane and I called in at
otherwise uninteresting Mylor Bridge to take a look at All Saints Church. We thought we were out of luck, finding the
church locked, but almost immediately a very helpful churchwarden, who lives
across the road, spotted us and dashed over to unlock the church. Thank you, churchwarden. The exterior is of little interest, dull stonework
with far too much mortar. At the west
end there is a small bellcote in the gable.
However the interior proved to be
quite unexpectedly interesting. Above an
unusual arch-braced roof, the ceiling is painted blue, something I have
otherwise only encountered a couple of times elsewhere, most notably at St.
Peter's, Newlyn and St.Probus in Probus. The feeling is much
more of a Methodist chapel with a gallery at one end and chairs rather than
pews. A circle of chairs is presumably
used for parish meetings. Stained glass
behind the altar is simple and geometrically patterned.
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All Saints, Mylor Bridge
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The unexpected interior
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Mylor
Churchtown
To many this is just
Mylor Yacht Harbour, a major yachting and watersports centre where Mylor
Creek joins Carrick Roads. With yacht club, large marina, extensive
moorings, renowned boatyard and bars and restaurants, that’s understandable.
As a result of the Harbour’s success property prices are among Cornwall’s
highest and large houses spread along Mylor Creek. However, for others,
this is Mylor Churchtown and the main interest is the church of St. Mylor.
One of Cornwall’s oldest holy sites, the first church is said to have been
founded before AD411 when St. Mylor was martyred here. A charming
church, set in a steeply sloping churchyard, there are two Norman doorways
but the body of the church is essentially of 13th and 15th centuries.
There are remains of a 15th century painted rood screen, an Elizabethan
pulpit and a puzzling priest’s chair, reputed to have come from nearby
Glasney College, closed when Henry VIII dissolved the monasteries, of 1000
year old Irish bog oak with Norse carving and Tudor panelling. The
churchyard, lych gate at the top, small iron gate on the quay, is most
enjoyable, Steeply sloping, it contains a free standing bell tower,
St. Mylor’s holy well, a Cornish Cross that, if the whole shaft were visible,
would stand 17’ 6” high, fine wild flowers, and ancient tombstones, one
commemorating the 200 who died when Queen
was wrecked on Trefusis
Point.
Mylor Village -Walk
from Churchtown |
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More on Mylor Churchtown = St. Melor's Church
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Mylor Church: note the yacht masts behind
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Mylor Churchtown, more images of St. Melor's Church
In late August 2018 Jane and I
had a most enjoyable outing down Falmouth way. First, at the
invitation of churchwarden Paul Stuart, we had a look at the
interior of St. Piran's Perranarworthal, normally closed except for
services. Then we stopped in Mylor Bridge to take a look at the
interior of All Saint's Church, again courtesy of an obliging
churchwarden. We then spent some time in St. Melor's Church, set
above Mylor Harbour. Finally we enjoyed an excellent light lunch
in Mylor Cafe where, if you spend more than £5, you may get your car
park fee refunded. I was quite taken with the interior of St.
Melor's with its elaborate screen, elaborately carved pulpit and a
series of ceiling bosses which rate no mention in Pevsner; they reminded me of the far more comprehensive collection in St. Nectan's, slao reviewed on this page.
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Elaborately Carved Pulpit
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St. Melor's Chancel and Screen
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One of several Ceiling Bosses
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Newlyn, St. Peters
| I
was quite surprised by this church, associating Newlyn essentially with the
fishing industry and its associated trades. If you walk up The Coombe, cross the third little bridge over the tiny
Coombe River, there in front of you is St. Peters. What I was looking for, a Cornish Cross head
formerly in Trereife Park,, was straight in front of me by the south wall. The church is on a relatively grand scale for
a small harbour town. It dates from 1859-66
and is very much in the Victorian style of its time. I had really only gone there to photograph
the Cornish cross head but was sufficiently
impressed by the exterior to take a good look around inside. I was glad I did because the interior was
quite a surprise. It is predominantly
blue, with blue pews in the nave, a blue chancel ceiling and a blue ceiling in
the transept where the organ is. The
font has an attractive cover, topped by a dove.
The chancel is striking with a reredos of the Last Supper and a
crucifixion on a baldachino canopy over altar and reredos. A niche
in the south wall has a charming small Madonna and Child statue. The granite pulpit is adorned with serpentine
pillars. There is some good stained
glass. |
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St. Peters Church, Newlyn
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Cornish Cross Head
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The Blue Nave |
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Newquay, St. Michaels
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When
I tried to visit St. Michaels, Newquay, towards the end of January 1918, I was
thwarted. It was closed. I should have realised that, in a town like
Newquay, it was not reasonable to expect a church to be open all the time,
particularly as it had been the subject of an arson attack on 29th June
1993. So I emailed the church and
received a very prompt reply from Canon Jem Thorold with details of opening
days and times. I shall return there for
a good look around. In the meantime I
quote briefly from the new 2014 Pevsner. "1909-11
by Sir Ninian Comper, one of Cornwall's finest churches and the twentieth century's
most significant architectural contribution to Newquay. The whole
interior bestows a cool, calm, assured character".
I returned in June 2018, having checked that the church would be open
and was able to take photographs of the interior. Some of these
appear in the item below.
Go to more photos of the interior of St. Michael's Church
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St. Michael's, Newquay from the south-west
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On the corner of St. Michael's Road and Marcus Hill
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Newquay, St. Michaels - interior photos
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St. Michael's Font
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St. Michael's Nave
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East Window
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Newquay, New Creation Centre
| In
mid-March 2018 Jane and I visited Newquay together. Secondary purpose was to lunch at the
Headland Hotel's excellent Terrace Restaurant, where we enjoyed a good
lunch overlooking Fistral Beach - and made a booking for Jane's 80th
celebrations in May. Primary purpose was
to visit the Parish Church of St. Michael but yet again it was closed, despite
being supposed to be open on Wednesday mornings. However we made up for that by visiting the
Newquay Christian Centre on Seymour Avenue.
This is an Elim ‘Foursquare
Gospel Alliance’ church, part of the Elim Pentecostal Church. This proved to be very different from the
usual Anglican church: we were greeted
by a friendly, informative but in no way pushy lady and were immediately
offered coffee and cakes. The church has
a very open and welcoming feeling. The
first two things to strike us were the lovely collection of fabrics on the
seats and the striking blueness of the chancel.
Then, looking around, we were very much taken by the contemporary
stained glass which included a watermill and a carpenter's tools. The barrel-vaulted wooden ceiling is notable, too, very
Cornish in style. Seating in the foyer
features colourful cushions. A charming,
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Colourful seating
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New Creation Centre
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Colourful glass |
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North Hill, St. Terney's Church
In the middle of March 2019 I visited two churches in the vicinity of Bobmin Moor: St. Clair's in St. Cleer and
St. Terney's in North Hill, some 6 miles north-west of
Launceston. Although we didn't visit the church at the
time, Jane and I have pleasant memories of a tough Mark Camp walk we
did from North Hill in 2004, taking in the (then) wobbly bridge over
the River Lynher, North Hill itself and Hawkstor Downs, returning by a
lower route including Castick Farm. Pevsner describes St.
Terney's as "one of Cornwall's most enjoyable churches"
and I have no dispute with that. From a grassy car park, a short
walk leads to the west end of the church and its impressive three-stage
battlemented tower with crocketed pinnacles. Unusually, there is
a large gothic window in the west face of the tower. Head round
to the south side of the church and you are faced with a charming, if
somewhat tattered, sundial. Inside, the porch has a surprisingly
elaborate wagon roof with carved bosses. Inside the
church,
dating mostly from the 15th century, it is airy and spacious. The
roof theme continues with wagon roofs to nave and aisles. The
fine chancel roof, also wagon in style, is ribbed and painted;
below are paintings of a miner and a fisherman. The floor is
colourfully tiled. There is an Easter Sepulchre in the north wall
of the chancel. Communion rails date from 1685. Slightly
surprisingly, there are few carved bench ends. A 1621 brass
commemorates Leonard Yeo. A surprisingly simple altar has behind
it a marble reredos. A window in the north wall has three small
colourful panels. The pulpit features linenfold paneling.
An elaborate and impressive wall memorial is dedicated to members of
the Spoure family of local Trebartha.
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Spoure Memorial
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St. Terney's Church Tower
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Carved Bench Ends
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North Petherwin, St.Paternus Church
| I
visited North Petherwin, oddly quite some distance from South Petherwin, at the
very beginning of June 2018, on the same day that I looked at Landrake and St.
Erney churches. Away from the main
village, the church is in its own churchtown a little way north with only
Beaumont Court and a couple of farms and their cottages nearby. The church stands out, both tall and on high
ground. There are surprises: the first is to discover a small Cornish
Cross above the door in the porch; the
second is to discover inside a Norman north aisle, complete with its massive
piers; the third is to find clerestory
windows, most unusual for Cornwall, above the piers. Despite
the Norman north aisle, the overall appearance of the church is of the 15th
century Perpendicular period. Both aisle
and chancel ceilings are wood panelled, that of the chancel having a band of
blue and gold panels over the east window.
The lower part of the screen survives as two pairs of panels. There are a few carved bench ends. Stained glass is Victorian. There
is a brass of 1621 to Leonard Yeo and
incised slate wall memorials to Dorothy Killigrew (the name better
known for its Falmouth connection) and to members of the Pedlar
family. The font has a decorated Norman
base and a crude later octagonal bowl.
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North Petherwin church
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Remains of the medieval screen
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Cross in porch
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North Tamerton, St. Denis Church
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I
didn't actually mean to visit North Tamerton on an outing to St. Anne's Church
at Whitstone in the north of Cornwall towards the end of June 2018. However a missed turning found me there and I
was delighted at the result of my mistake.
At first I thought I would not get to see the inside of the church. It was locked but a notice referred me to a
key-holder and I was able to enter. Before
I did I looked at the tower where, most unusually, I saw that the plinth is
decorated with a band of simple but varied carvings. Near the porch is what I thought to be the
base of a missing Cornish Cross. The
church is essentially 15th century but much embellished inside in the latter
half of the 19th century. There is a good wagon roof, with carved
bosses, to the chancel. The 12th century font is a simple circular
bowl. Near it are two wall memorials,
one to Walter Robins, dated 1706.
Somehow I managed to miss a small brass, mentioned by Pevsner, to
Leonard Loves of nearby Ogbeare Hall. There
is some attractive 20th century stained glass.
Imagine my pleasure, on entering, to discover that, quite unexpectedly,
the church was full of late-medieval carved bench-ends, including some good
ones in the quire. To the left of the churchyard as you enter is
attractive 16th or 17th century Church House.
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North Tamerton Church
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North Tamerton Font
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Bench End
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Old Kea Church
| Of
the original Old Church of
St. Kea all that survives is a tall ivy-clad tower. Close by it
is the Mission Churh of St. Kea, dating from 1862 but enlarged in
1869. Pevsner describes it as "a charming little essay in simple
Gothic". It incorporates some material from the old
building. I have looked at the parish concil's website and I hope
they won't mind if I quote from their description. "Kea and the
ferry or ford passage across the Truro river at Malpas (‘Le Mal Pas’ –
‘the bad passage’) also features in the famous legend of Tristan and
Iseult as told by the 12th century poet Béroul, though inspired by
Celtic legend. A Cornish knight Tristan falls in love with an Irish
princess Iseult whose husband, King Mark, lives at Blancheland
(possibly Goodern) in Kea. This tale predates and most likely
influenced the Arthurian tale of Lancelot and Guinevere."
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More Images of Old Kea
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The tiny Victorian
church at Old Kea
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More Images of Old Kea
Church
I revisited Old Kea in late July
2018. It is a very pleasant and quite isolated spot. I was
there to take a few more photos and include some of these below.
The interior of the church is quite unusual with regular nave and tiny
chancel, a seating area, I guess for church meetings, and some unusual
modern stained glass.
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Cornish Cross Shaft
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Nave of Old Kea Mission Church
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Stained Glass
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Back to Old Kea
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Otterham, Jacobstow & Treneglos
| I
visited Otterham and Jacobstow, in the north of Cornwall, in late May 2017,
mainly for their churches. Otterham's
has a part Norman tower, was heavily restored in 1889, and offered little
interest to Pevsner. However, I found more interest in it than did he. Apart from
the tower it consists of just nave and south aisle. The chancel ceiling is attractive, with wagon
roof and carved bosses. A priest's chair
has carved decoration; on one wall there
is a fine slate memorial tomb cover; on
another is a carved wood war memorial.
Jacobstow church lies in a hollow at the bottom a hill. Opposite is an attractive row of fairly
modern cottages. Outside is a Cornish
Cross of indeterminate age. Inside is a
Norman font with heads at the corners, a carved wood pulpit on a stone plinth
and a plain slab of granite for an altar.
Treneglos is a few miles to the south-east of Otterham and lies north of
the A395 Camelford to Kennards House road.
It is a tiny hamlet, consisting of little more than a church and a
couple of farms. I was unable to gain
access to the Victorian church but liked the older porch. It has a wagon roof with carved wooden bosses
and an intriguing tympanum over the inside door: two lions, facing one another, separated by a
tree. Pevsner reports that inside is a
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Otterham Church
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Treneglos Porch Ceiling
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Jacobstow Church
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Padstow. St.Petroc,
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It had surprised me
to realise that, although I had been in Padstow
on so many occasions, usually in the course of a walk, I had never actually
been inside St. Petroc's Church. Walks had included one of our favourites,
bus to Trebetherick, walk down to Daymer Bay, visit St.
Enodoc Church, continue on golf course or dunes to Rock, ferry
to Padstow and bus back home to Wadebridge. Another much enjoyed
had been a round walk
by Stepper Point and Trevone. Jane and I had also visited Prideaux
Place, Padstow's 'big house'. So in November 2016 I parked in the
big Link Road car park and walked down the path to the church through a
hailstorm, the results seen in the photo on the left. Initial interest
was in the churchyard, an early Cornish Cross near the south porch and
a massive cross base and part of a shaft by the south-east gate. There
is also a Cornish Cross in the grounds of nearby Prideaux
Place. St. Petroc's, almost entirely 15th century, consists
of nave and two aisles and a substantial tower. Inside the church
at the west end is another, rather unusual, cross head and a fine 14th
century font of blue Cataclews stone, carvings of three apostles on each
face. The nave has a wagon roof with carved bosses and angel supporters.
There are several fine Prideaux Brune memorials. Along the norrth
wall are carved "Stations of the Cross". Petroc was a Welshman,
educated in Ireland. Arriving in Cornwall, he founded a monastery
on the Camel - Petroc Stow, Petroc's holy place. Later he
founded churches in Little Petherick,
Bodmin,
Wales and Brittany. |
Autumnal
scene in the graveyard, hail on the ground
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Park in the top
Link Road car park and walk down (signed) |
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Paul
| Paul tends to be ignored by visitors, inland as it is
from well known destinations such as Penzance,
Newlyn
and Mousehole. The first
three things that strike you are the roofless lych gate, the Cornish Cross
head to the left of it and the memorial to Dolly Pentreath of Mousehole
who died in 1777 and was believed to be the last person to speak Cornish
as a first language. Inside there is a reasonable amount of interest.
The font is unusual with octagonal base and square bowl supported by four
slim pillars. The octagonal pulpit is unusual, too, entirely of carved
stone and supported on slim stone pillars. Box pews are unexpected
though disappointingly there are no carved bench ends. However the
lectern is quite striking with its carved wood and angel finials.
The screen between chancel and aisle is unusual, its centrepiece depicting
the 1595 Spanish raid on Penzance, Mousehole and Paul. There is an
elaborate memorial to Captain Stephen Hutchens and another to Lieutenant
General Robyns. Opposite is a large car park, at one end of it the
Kings Arms where we enjoyed coffee. A path off the car park leads
to the former graveyard, now a pleasant spot with views to Mount's Bay
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Paul Cornish
Cross
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Paul Church
and its roofless Lych Gate
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Dolly Pentreath
Memorial
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Pendeen, St. John the Baptist
| Towards
the end of March 2019 I headed down to the far west, to the Penwith Peninsula
beyond St. Ives, to visit my next church as I work my way alphabetically
through Pevsner. This church is
something of a surprise in more ways than one.
You tend to expect the church to be the focal point of a village. And you expect Cornish Anglican churches to
be of the 12th to 16th centuries. Not so
here; St. John Baptist dates from 1851
and was the brainchild of Rev. Robert Aitken, who designed it and enlisted the aid
of his parishioners to build it, the previous wooden church having burned
down. Because the village was already
built up there was no room for the church at its centre so a new road was built
heading towards Trewellard Common and the church was built at its end, Aitken's
vicarage next to it. The church wall is
highly unusual and was likened by Betjeman to a "Toy Fort". There is an extensive graveyard at the far
left corner of which is a small but distinct Cornish Cross. The church is in a cruciform plan with the
crenellated tower on its northwest side.
The exterior is in the Early English style with tall lancet windows and
a steeply pitched roof. The interior has
an airy and lofty feel. The chancel arch
is narrow and pointed and leads to a chancel with tall lancet windows, some of
their stained glass inset with original Flemish roundels. The tall pointed theme is continued in the
organ housing. Pews are essentially
simple with no traditional carved bench ends though the litany desk is a little
more elaborate as is the traditional looking carved pulpit. There is some attractive and colourful tiling
in the chancel and some nicely worked altar kneelers. Most unusually the altar rail posts are of
serpentine from the Lizard Peninsula. By
no means an exceptional church but, nonetheless, a pleasant place to visit with
ample parking.
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Carved Bird Font Cover
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Pendeen, St. John Baptist Church
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Serpentine Post
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Penponds, Holy Trinity
| Holy
Trinity was built in 1854 to a design by J P St. Aubyn. The architect may have been born in Powick in
Worcestershire but was of the Cornish St. Aubyn family, Lords St. Levan and
owners of St. Michaels Mount. John
Betjeman, the great expert on Victorian buildings and particularly churches,
described Holy Trinity as "a gem", a surprising thing for Betjeman to
say as he was usuially a fierce critic of St. Aubyn's work. Betjeman's description was "a complete period piece of High Church good
taste". My puzzlement at this
unexpected praise of St. Aubyn seemed to me good enough reason for a visit.
The church is normally closed but I was able to visit on a "free
coffee" morning in early April 2019.
Perhaps the reason for Betjeman's favourable view is that the church was
apparently extensively refitted by Canon Carah between 1896 and 1935. In style it is Early English with simple
lancet windows with trefoil heads. Betjeman
noted that there is much in the way of gilding, marble and rich
furnishings. An entertaining collection
of bench ends, described by Betjeman as "spirited," feature biblical figures and are by Hunt of
Plymouth and a dado is by local man William Mitchell of Penponds. The aumbry incorporates a fragment of
medieval bench end. Early 20th century
stained glass is by Clayton and Bell.
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Pulpit Triptych
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Penponds, Holy Trinity Church
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Carved Bench End
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Pentewan, All Saints Church
Once,
but no longer, a small fishing port, at the mouth of the St. Austell River, Pentewan
came to handle cargoes of tin, stone, sand and grain. A proper harbour was
constructed in 1744 and it was the first port to handle the local china clay. However, when the
Rashleighs built their new port at nearby Charlestown in 1801, Pentewan's Hawkins family owners struggled to
keep Pentewan open, eventually closing. The harbour remains intact and still
has its sea-lock in place but access to the sea is blocked by sand build-up. Remains of industrial
buildings moulder to the south of the harbour. Substantial houses and
cottages line the main street. Walk up Pentewan Hill and follow the coast
path sign to find the colonial looking Terrace and a Georgian church. From
the exterior, I had expected much of the church but was more than a little disappointed. All Saints is distinctly unambitious inside,
witness the lack of benches, replaced by chairs. There are two rather ordinary Jesus
paintings, one walking on water. The
altar cloth is rather featureless. The
square font is simple but no worse for that.
Modern stained glass is quite attractive and there are some good
kneelers, particularly the badger and the entwined fish. The pulpit is unusual and attractive.
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Pentewan Pulpit
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Pentewan, All Saints Church
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Pentewan Font
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Perranarworthal, St. Piran's Church
| Perranarworthal,
what little there is of it, lies on the main road from Truro to Falmouth. Most notable feature along the main road is
the former Perran Foundry, now (2021) being converted to fairly expensive
housing. The foundry was owned by the
ship-owning Fox family of Falmouth. It
operated from 1791 to 1879, produced high quality large machinery, mostly related
to the mining industry. Acquired by the
Williams family of Scorrier, it was immediately closed, presumably to stifle
competition. The site, all Grade II
lsited, is now being converted and further developed as expensive housing. Perrenarworthal church is tucked away at the
eastern extremity of the village, next to Churchtown Farm. It is Victorian, by J P St. Aubyn who,
although of a notable Cornish family, was born in Worcestershire. He designed houses and churches mostly in
Devon and Cornwall but also in Surrey and Yorkshire. His design for Truro Cathedral failed to be
adopted. St. Piran's church is in an
attractive setting, surrounded by trees and shrubs. Near the porch is what appears to be a
Cornish Cross, but of indeterminate age.
Pevsner describes the church as "indifferent". I am unable to contradict him as St. Piran's,
like too many Cornish churches, was
closed when I was there. However, I got in touch with the vicsr,
who kindly arranged for the church to be open for me to visit. So
see St. Piran's revisited
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Perranarworthal Church
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Cornish Cross
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Perranarworthal, St. Piran's Church Revisited
| You
pass through Perranarworthal on the busy A39 between Truro and Falmouth. You may notice the expensive housing
development at the old Perran Foundry site.
What you don't realise is that the original settlement is up the hill to
the west of the road. I had previously
been to try to see inside St. Piran's church - and had failed. At last, in mid-August 2018, I was able to
see inside the church, thanks to the kind help and co-operation of churchwarden
Paul Stuart. Jane and I met Paul at St. Piran's and he showed us around
and told us some of the church's history. The tower is of the 16th
century but the body of the church was rebuilt by J P St. Aubyn in late Victorian
times; Pevsner calls it
"indifferent". The nave has a rather
unusually vaulted ceiling with a lot of exposed woodwork. There is an attractive litany desk and a fine
altar cloth. The royal coat of arms
hangs on a wall. An octagonal font is
simple. Two attractive chairs stand in
the chancel. There are several stained
glass windows of no especial merit. A
small wooden pulpit stands on a stone plinth.
To my mind the most attractive feature is a hanging which refers to St.
Piran as Patron Saint of Tin Miners.
Thereby hangs a tale. Piran is
supposed to have discovered tin when his fire melted the tin in a rock. A nice tale but Cornish tin dates from the
Bronze Age; Piran was 6th century. He
certainly came to Cornwall from Ireland, allegedly floating across on a
stone. He founded a church on Perran
Sands near Perranporth and remains of his oratory have recently been excavated. Another hanging is of Mary and the infant
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Perranarworthal Banner
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Perranarworthal Altar Cloth
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Stained Glass
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Perranuthnoe, St. Piran & St. Michael
| I
had previously only known Perranuthnoe from passing through on the coast path,
between Marazion and Porthleven, and from a round walk that Jane and I did from
Porth-en-Alls near Prussia Cove. On this
occasion, in late March 2018, I was there to visit St. Piran's church which
stands high above the rest of the village but, surprisingly, with no view of
the sea. First thing I noticed as I
entered the churchyard, perched above the lane, was a modern Cornish
cross-head, set against a low wall and surrounded by daffodils. Next thing to catch my attention was a large
funerary urn to the right of the porch.
Best feature of the little church is the chancel where, beneath the
wagon roof, a late 19th century reconstruction by J P St. Aubyn (who else?) was
later enriched in the early 20th century.
Chancel screen, choir stalls, altar, reredos and altar rails all have
fine woodwork. There is some good late
Victorian stained glass. However, to my
mind the most interesting feature requires one to look up to see a few carved,
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Perranuthnoe Ceiling Boss
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Perranuthnoe Chancel
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Perranuthnoe Ceiling Boss |
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Perranzabuloe, St.
Piran's
| This is effectively
the fourth church of St. Piran in the Perranporth area. A chapel,
probably built by St. Piran himself in the late 5th century, on Penhale
Sands above Perranporth beach, was replaced in the following century by
a small oratory. Sometime around 1250, encroaching sand led to abandonment
and a new church was built further inland and higher up. The oratory
was lost under the sand, excavated in 1843, protected by a concrete shell
in 1910 and reburied in 1980. The new church was itself lost to the
sand in 1804 - it was re-excavated in 2005 - and yet another church was then built
further inland at Perranzabuloe (meaning Piran in the sands,
odd since there are no sands here). From the outside you would think
you were looking, not at an early 19th century church, but at a genuinely
medieval one. Perhaps the builders were constrained by re-using a
lot of material from the church on the sands. Anyway, the result
is very much in the perpendicular style. Inside is tall, light and
airy with a few features from the old church - a 15th century granite font,
rood screen panels, bench ends and a couple of worn slate memorial slabs.
You may wonder at the enormous graveyard, but it serves the whole of Perranporth.
It is a pity that the church is only open for a few hours each Wednesday
in summer only. |
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Piran & Piran church archaelogical dig |
St. Piran's
church seen from the lych gate
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I revisited Perraenzbuloe in August 2017, on my way to see the church and some Cornish Crosses at the nearby hamlet of St. Allen.
My purpose was to take some interior photographs. By
happenstance, I was also able to add to my ever expanding portfolio of
Cornish Crosses. No cross is shown, on OS 104, nor is one mentioned in Pevsner, but there is indeed a small one, on the left soon after entering the churchyard.
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Phillack
| In early February
2017 I had a busy Saturday, visiting not only Phillack but also Gwithian
and Gwinear, all essentially for their churches.
Phillack is one of those places which it is easy to miss, sandwiched as
it is between Hayle's Copperhouse
Pool and the dunes of Hayle and Riviere Towans and the Cornish Coast Path.
However, it is a community in its own right.with church, village hall,
pub and Spar shop. The pub is the gruesomely named the Bucket of
Blood. Legend has it that, in smuggling days, a brutally murdered
customs officer was discovered at the bottom of the pub's well. My
purpose in Phillack was to look around the church and see the two Cornish
Crosses and the inscribed stone in the churchyard, where I also spotted
a tombstone to the delightfully named Constance Everett Faithfull.
Inside the church there is little of note though I liked the modern lectern,
the delicate chancel screen and the colourful reredos. |
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Phillack Church
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Inscribed Stone
& Cross
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Cornish Cross
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Philleigh, St. Fili's Church
| Situated
halfway between the Tregony to St. Mawes road and King Harry Ferry across the
River Fal, Philleigh is an attractive small village boasting a "big
house," The Glebe, a striking mid 18th century rectory, standing
four-square at the end of its curving driveway and seen through gateless gate
posts; a popular pub, the Roseland Inn; and the 13th century church of St. Philleigh
(or Fili) at the end of a longish tree and shrub lined driveway. Interesting cottages include Court Cottage,
The Round Cottage and The Old Forge. St.
Fili's church (or, if you prefer, St. Philleigh's church) was originally of the
13th century but has a 14th century tower;
and the body of the church was extensively restored in 1867 by the Reverend C W
Carlyon who was also responsible for St. Anthony-in-Roseland and St.
Just-in-Roseland. The door to the body
of the church is 13th century and windows vary from original 15th and 16th
century to 19th century of the Victorian restoration period. 19th century roofs are arch braced and have
dog-tooth moulding to the trusses. The
font is octagonal, its sides with arcading.
Painted on the tower screen are the royal arms of George III, dated
1735. In the chancel, the fairly simple
reredos is of 1915. There is some simple
stained glass; below it window sills
have biblical tableaux. There is a very
good collection of kneelers, my favourite is the colourful pheasant. Unmentioned by Pevsner, to my surprise, is
the comprehensive collection of decorative wall plates, where wall joins
roof. These take the form of shields
with real or imagined coats-of-arms.
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Philleigh Heraldic Shield
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Philleigh, St. Fili's Church
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Philleigh Heraldic Shield
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Pillaton, St. Odulph's Church
| At
the very beginning of March 2019 I headed down east, beyond Liskeard to visit a
couple of fairly remote churches in Pillaton and Quethiock. St. Odulph is an unfamiliar name but odolphie.com suggests It is probably
fair to assume that the name derives from St Odulph also Odolphus. He was
an Augustinian canon born in Oirschot, North Brabant, in what is now the Netherlands, became a missionary and
followed St Boniface in bringing Christianity to the Frisians. He died in 855AD
and his saint’s day is June 2nd.
Pillaton is most easily approached from the A338 near St. Mellion. The church stands next to a pub, the delightfully
named Weary Friar. St. Odulph's consists of tower, porch, nave,
north aisle, chancel and south transept.
The first thing you notice, even before entering the church, is the fine
wagon roof of the porch. The doorway to
the body of the church is probably Tudor;
beside it stands a small slate cross.
Inside, the most noticeable feature is in the south transept, where rood
stair openings remain in place. Wagon
roofs in the north aisle and south transept are of the 15th century; nave and chancel roofs are replacements from 1878. Unusually there are two boards carrying the
Royal Arms, one dated 1663 of Charles II, the other dated 1729 of George
III. Oddly there are monuments to the
Tillies of Pentillie, though that is some miles away, on the banks of the River
Tamar. Stained glass is mostly late 19th
century. An octagonal pulpit stands on
an octagonal shaft. a hexagonal pulpit
stands on a light granite base; the
adjacent eagle lectern is of a similar medium oak. The chancel is worth lingering over; its wagon roof has a variety of carved and
gilded bosses and its floor has good tiling.
I enjoyed coffee in the Weary Friar.
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Pillaton Chancel Ceiling
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Pillaton Church of St. Odolph
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The Weary Friar Inn
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Polruan, St. Saviours Church
| Although
I had been in Polruan on several occasions in my Coast Path walking days, I had
not only never been inside St. Saviours Church, I had never seen it and didn't
even know where it was. When I went to
visit it in late February 2018, it took me some while to find it and, lacking
any convenient car park, I parked in the forecourt of the next door Institute,
happily causing no inconvenience. St.
Saviours is a late Victorian church by W. Smith of Truro, considered of so
little consequence that the original 1951 Pevsner made no mention of it. However, Peter Beacham's 2014 revision does
include it. Of red brick, it stands high
above Fore Street but is best seen from the lawns behind it on the west
side. I have to agree with Beacham's
derscription ..... "spacious, dignified interior, wide and
lofty". Four windows are by Kempe,
the two circular windows by William Morris's company. I particularly liked two
of the windows, one a modern version of a rose window, the other a simple
wavescape.
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St. Saviours Banner
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St. Saviours Church, Polruan
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Wavescape Window
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Porthpean, Higher Porthpean, St. Levan's Church
This is an unusual and
attractive small church, in the centre of the little village of Higher
Porthpean. Built in 1884 by J Reeves for Lady Graves-Sawle of
nearby Penrice, its front is quite unexpected, an arcade bearing coats
of arms, presumably including those of the Graves-Sawles, and a
bell-cote above. I know of no other church in Cornwall with a
similar arched loggia for its west front. It's on a pretty tight
site, the lane on the south side running down steeply to Lower
Porthpean and St. Austell Bay. The interior is of local Pentewan
stone, un-plastered, colourful and attractive and nicely sets off the
three-light east wndow by Clayton and Bell. No pews, instead
chairs. The altar is simple; when I was there flowers stood
on the altar-cloth. A reredos is of Devon marble. The font
at first looks simple but on closer inspection is quite complex,
incorporating seven different bands of shaping. A St. Levan's
Sunday School banner hangs on one wall.
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Higher Porthpean Church, the Chancel
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Porthilly,
St.
Michaels Church
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Jane remembers this
little church at Porthilly from her early days when she was raised in nearby
Trebetherick. I have been here on several occasions in the course
of walks but June 2016 was the first time I had lingered and been inside
the church, which is one of three in St. Minver Parish, the others being
St.
Enodoc and St. Minver itself.. The situation is a delight
best appreciated when the tide is in on the Camel Estuary and the view
to Rock is dottted with small sailing boats. Across the broad Camel
Estuary is the bustling tourist town of Padstow. A ferry runs
there from Rock. The first thing you notice as you approach the porch
from the lych gate is a truncated four-hole Cornish Cross;
this was apparently brought here from the mother church at St. Minver.
Then look up at the tower to see an unusual - for Cornwall - saddleback
roof. Inside are an unusual simple bowl font, the framework of a
rood screen, an early 16th century linenfold panelled pulpit and a nicely
decorated slate memorial to William Rouncevall, A window is etched
with a memorial to Marian Chilcott Miller. The tiny village has a
couple of attractive houses and an art gallery featuring the work of Jethro
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St. Michael,
Porthilly
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More about St. Michael's Porthilly
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Porthilly,
more about St.
Michaels Church
It
is hard to imagine a more idyllic
setting than that of St. Michael's Church at Porthilly near Rock, especially at high tide. It stands at the water's edge with views over
the Camel Estuary to Padstow and Rock.
To some the one blot on the landscape is the pair of buildings currently
(July 2019) being erected by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay. Ignore them and concentrate on the setting of
the little church and on its unusual and attractive interior. Though first, leaving the car park, do note
the construction of the wooden gate towards the church featuring, as it does. a
Cornish Cross. Then note the lych gate
with its coffin rest not inside the gate but before it. Then note the stumpy Cornish Cross opposite
the church porch, its head surely once on a much taller base. Note also the small cross on top of the gable
of the two storey porch. Inside, in
addition to the expected stained glass there is one window of etched
glass. The church has been here since
the 12th century when it was a chapel of St. Menefreda's in St. MInver. A notable interior feature is the wagon roofs,
most especially that of the chancel with its carved bosses. There is a very fine wall mounted slate
memorial to William Rouncenall, nearby a much simpler one to Helen Profitt. Rather nicely, another wall mounted slate
commemorates the gift of the new 2012 Delabole slate floor by Elizabeth Mary
Slade. In a corner, alongside the simple
screen, is a tall dark oak pulpit, decorated with linenfold panelling.
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Porthilly Cornish Cross Head
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St. Michael's Porthilly Nave
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St. Michael's Font
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Porthleven, St. Bartholemew's Church
| On
a fairly sunny day in mid-December I headed down west to visit three churches:
St. Germoc's in Germoe for its Holy Well and St. Germoc's Chair, St.
Breaca's in Breague for its remarkable collection of frescoes, and St.
Bartholemew's in the harbour town of Porthleven for its slightly unusual
Victorian layout. St. Bartholemew's is located
behind and above the main car park and looks out over town and harbour. You might think that being Victorian, it
would be of no great interest. However,
it is well worth taking a look at this 1842 church by Sampson Kempthorne,
restored in 1891 by H Fellowes Prynne who added the baptistery. The church is unusual in that both east and
west ends finish with a semi-circular apse, the east end the baptistery with a
massive granite font, the west end the chancel.
There is a certain Norman Revival feeling to the church, so many
openings are round-arched. There is also
a strong Anglo-Catholic feeling, notably from the images of the Stations of the Cross around the
walls. It is a pity that there are no
pews, only chairs, but the colourful tiled floor, similar to the
baptistery, tends to keep one's eyes off
the chairs. There is no Rood Screen but
the Rood, in the form of an anchor, is both unusual and appropriate to a
fishing port. The low finely-wrought-iron
chancel screen is unusual and attractive.
The altar is simple, behind it a reredos with figures in each of three
round-headed arches. There is a
rectangular Lady Chapel where an oak pew has carving representing fishing and
farming interests. The pulpit is highly
unusual, a stone base carries the wrought-iron pulpit which has brass stencils
of fish, starfish and anchors. A figure
of Christ depicts him as carpenter, with mallet and chisel. Altogether an unusual and enjoyable Victorian
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Porthleven's unusual Pulpit
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St. Bartholemew's
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Porthleven Altar Rail
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Portloe, All Saints Church
At the very end of September 2019 I visited little All Saints Church in Portloe on my way to the church of St. Symphorian
in Veryan. This is not a church of any great significance, except
in so far as it offers a welcome to all, not just those of its Anglican
denomination. It was built around 1890 and is topped by an open
octagonal bell-cote. Driving through, you could miss it as it
just part of a row of homes on the hill out towards Veryan. In so
far as All Saints has any style, it is vaguely late-Victorian Gothic, a
little surprising as the building was originally constucted as a
lifeboat house, despite being so far from the little harbour.
Reordering of the church has made it extremely flexible and it is very
much the centre of this small community. During the summer cream
teas are provided (from 2.30ish) every Tuesday. In winter a "Soup
Lunch" is held on the 1st Monday of the month.
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All Saints Portloe Interior
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All Saints, Portloe
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Portloe Font
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Poughill, St. Olaf's Church
Poughill - pronounced Puffle -
is tucked away on a quiet lane, leading to Northcott Mouth, on the
north side of Bude. It is a steep village and the lane is narrow
but, fortunately, there is a good sized car park below the
church. There are some attractive cottages, particularly Church
Cottage and St. Olaf's Cottage. St. Olaf's Church, dedicated to
the Norwegian King and Martyr, stands on a knoll, perhaps suggestive of
an ancient site. The oak tower door has an impressive
surround. The porch, in it a slate memorial in Latin, has an
ancient studded oak door. Inside, wagon roofs have carved
bosses. The frescoes of St. Christopher are a remarkable survival:
whitewashed at the Reformation, they were only rediscovered in
1894. The elaborately carved pulpit is unusual for its open
fretwork. A wall plaque commemorates Sir Goldsworthy Gurney,
Wadebridge doctor, builder of Bude Castle and inventor of a steam road
carriage. His limelight illuminated the House of Parliament for 60 years. As at Kilkhampton,
there is a fine collection of early bench ends. The attractive looking
Preston Gate Inn, which also calls itself a cafe, is open 11 to
11 daily and does interesting sounding food lunchtime and
evening. There is fish and chips on Friday and roasts on
Sunday.
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Poughill Carved Pulpit
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Poughill Church from the south-east
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Poughill Fresco
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Poundstock, St. Winwaloe's Church
| Less than half-a-mile
from the busy A39, the so-called Atlantic Highway, Poundstock is a remarkable
little hamlet. A lane loops through it from the A39 but otherwise
goes nowhere. Yet this was once an important place, mentioned in
Domesday Book but in existence as a manor for long before that. Even
if you include nearby Trekinnard and Bangors the population is tiny yet
the impressive church, set in a lovely sloping churchyard, might seem to
belong to a much larger village than this. The church as it is today
dates largely from the fifteenth century, though there are scant Norman
remains. It is dedicated to St. Winwaloe; can this really
be the same Winwaloe as on the Lizard, at Towednack and at St. Germans?
Confusingly, a nearby well is dedicated to St. Neot, as in Bodmin Moor.
There are some treasures inside:
a late Norman font, an octagonal
Jacobean pulpit, a panel from the original rood screen, a 16th century
chest, parts of a wall painting, saved and exhibited against the north
wall, and some early inscribed slate tomb slabs. Sadly there are
very few bench ends but there is an interesting bench in the
chancel.
Perhaps the greatest treasure of all is at the south end of the
graveyard,
a restored late medieval gildhouse (church hall), the only example in
Cornwall.
In the churchyard are more early inscribed slate tomb slabs. St
Neot’s Well is off a track that heads NNW to Great Wanson. Up
the lane to Bangors is a large free car park.
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Poundstock Pulpit
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Poundstock Guildhouse & Church
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Poundstock Bench Ends
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Probus, St. Probus & St. Grace
| The heart of Probus village is quite attractive, with a wide sloping triangular area at
its centre, perhaps formerly a market place.
Around the triangle, and up the road towards Trewithen, are a farm shop, a
fish and chip shop, a couple of restaurants and the excellent Hawkins Arms pub,
named for the family that acquired the nearby Trewithen estate in 1715. This is an impressive church; one's first view of it is of its 3-stage 125
foot tower, tastefully decorated and the tallest in Cornwall. Pevsner's view of St. Probus is that it is
more Somerset - particularly North Petherton - than Cornwall in style and I
have to agree. The nave and two aisles
of the interior are spacious. The
interior was restored by G E Street in 1849-51 and the chancel was elaborately
embellished in 1886-8 by J P St. Aubyn, its
ceiling decorated in blue, red and gold.
The altar slab has five consecration crosses. A Norman piscina in the sanctuary has zig-zag
decoration. The reredos is by J P St.
Aubyn. The rood screen, though by St.
Aubyn, incorporates 16th century bench ends, which also feature in the parclose
screen, the choir stalls and the tower
screen; what a pity that restoration had
to effectively obliterate medieval bench ends from their original siruation.
Stained glass is late Victorian and early 20th century. Monuments and memorials include a 1514 brass
to the Wulvendon family. The pulpit is
well carved and, unusually, includes a trio of figures. The hexagonal font is deeply carved. In the churchyard, a 1914 monument to the Hawkins family features kneeling pall-bearers at the four
corners.
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Colourful Chancel Ceiling
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Probus Church from the south-east
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Probus Font
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Quethiock, St. Hugo
| This
does seem to be an oddly named village, but less oddly when you understand that
it is a variation on "coit" and therefore means wood or woodland, not
that there is much woodland here these days.
According to Genuki, the name was originally Gwydhek and, in its present
form, is pronounced "Gwithick".
I was there, in mid-September 2017, essentially to see the Cornish
Cross, a tall wheel-headed cross in three sections, probably medieval rather
than earlier. In the event I was
very pleasantly surprised by the church interior which retains some early
features. Behind the altar is an
elaborate and colourful reredos. The
nave and aisle ceilings are wagon roofed with carved bosses; the chancel ceiling is wonderfully patterned
and coloured. Most unusually the rood
stairs are still in place, though the loft and screen are long gone. In the chapel in the south transept a number of brasses are displayed, the
oldest, to Roger Kyngdon, of 1471.
Another brass is to Johann Rooke Fletcher. The quire pew has an elaborately carved back,
scenes including the crucifixion. I also
visited Pillaton and Tideford, the latter so often mispronounced as spelt but
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Quethiock Cornish Cross
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Quethiock Church
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Quethiock Church Chancel Ceiling
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Rame - See "Maker & the Rame Peninsula"
Redruth Churchtown, St.Euny,
We first saw St. Euny
Church, from a distance, when we were doing a short walk on Carn Brea hill
above Camborne and Redruth. Later, when we walked the full Great
Flat Lode trail, we detoured to take a look at the church.
At that time the church was closed and the tower hidden by scaffolding
during a major restoration. But we found the whole place both atmospheric
and unusual and promised to return. We did so in May 2005 when St.
Euny's church was holding its annual Flower Festival.
This a remarkable
place in many ways. The original church was founded in the 6th century
by Irish monk St. Euny (see also St. Uny, Lelant).
Nothing remains of that and the oldest part is now the restored Tudor tower.
Inside is a complete and unexpected Georgian interior, light and airy,
its windows more than a little reminiscent of those in mine engine houses.
But it is the churchyard
that really takes your interest. St. Euny was the miners' church
and the churchyard is filled with their tombs, all of granite, each carved
with just a family name. Michell was clearly a prominent mining family
as several tombs bear their name. The lych gate has a massive coffin
rest. Mine accidents would often kill more than one and the rest
was to support two coffins waiting to be borne into the church. |
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St. Euny's
church, Tudor tower, Georgian body
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Ruan Lanihorne, St. Rumon's Church
Towards
the end of September 2017 I headed down to the Roseland to pay visits to three
churches, at Philleigh, Ruan Lanihorne and Lamorran. My memories of Ruan Lanihorne [not to be
confused with Ruan High Lanes on the St. Mawes road, or with the many Ruans on
the Lizard] are of an early meeting there with Jane and of lunching there with
her at the attractive and excellent King's Head. On this occasion I just had a coffee in the
King's Head before taking a look at the church.
Almost opposite the pub, and a bit below, is St. Rumon's church, mostly 14th
century, with a tower of the late 17th century.
Pevsner suggests that the font is 14th century, its cover made of wall
plates of a previous roof. The pulpit is
made of old bench ends and dates from around 1530. A
monument of a praying priest is 13th century.
Two wall-mounted boards carry the Ten Commandments. Where the ceiling springs from the nave wall
there are several painted shields, one noting the restoration of 1866, others
with unfamiliar coats of arms. When
I
was there a tapestry was on display, depicting "Historical
Ruan." I was there again in mid-May 2019, taking the
opportunity for a visit while Jane was lunching at the Roseland Inn at
Phllleigh with her old school friends. It was the first time I
had been inside the church and I had two surprises: the first to
see such a collection of painted shields around the church at wall
plate height, the second to discover later that Pevsner makes no
mention of them.
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Ruan Lanihorne Church
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The squint
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13th century carved stone priest
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Ruan Lanihorne Shields
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Pembroke College, Oxford
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Corpus Christi College, Cambridge
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Jesus College, Cambridge
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Saltash, St. Stephen's Church
To
open, I can do no better, in describing this somewhat unusual church, than to
quote Pevsner - "A large and ambitious church with a stately tower standing in a
most unusual position N of the W end of the nave and facing the W end of an
obviously later N aisle". The church, set
in a grassy but largely empty churchyard, dates from the middle of the 13th century
but the present building is largely of the 15th and 16th centuries, much
restored, as is the case with so many Cornish churches, in late Victorian
times. The tower is impressive as is the
interior when you enter the church through a massive oak door. Nave and both aisles are high ceilinged with
typically Cornish wagon roofs with an abundance of carved and painted
bosses. The reredos, by Harry Hems of
Exeter is elaborate and colourfully painted.
There are five early 20th century stained glass windows in the north
aisle, some quite striking. In the
chancel, monuments to the Hitchens family are painted in pastel colours. The Norman font is of the Bodmin type with
a central pillar and four slim outside pillars topped with carved heads. Pews have been removed from the rear of the
church; those that remain are probably
Victorian and of no particular merit. A
much eroded lantern cross stands in the churchyard immediately south-east of
the church. Now go to St. Nicholas & St. Faith, Saltash
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St. Stephen's Church
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Modern Glass
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Hitchens Monument
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Saltash, St. Nicholas and St. Faith
When
I revisited Saltash to explore the waterfront,
I was pleasantly surprised to find the church open and a lady preparing it for
a later funeral. So I took my chance to
have a good lock inside. As the church
is in the centre of town, I would have expected it to be Saltash's main
church. However that honour goes to the
mother church, a mile away in the former village of St. Stephen, now swallowed
by Saltash. St. Nicholas and St. Faith
occupies a central position, next to the Guildhall. It was originally just a chapel of ease to
the area's main church, St. Stephen, a mile away in what was once the separate
village of St. Stephen. Despite that, its
origins are Norman and much Norman work remains. The interior, with its Cornish wagon roofs,
has a lofty feel. There is a South
Transept, unusually for Cornwall, connected by a squint to a chapel. There are openings where the rood stairs were
and the rood itself remains in place at the entrance to the chancel. The font appears to be Norman and the pulpit
has some linen-fold panelling. The altar
has three carved panels. Stained glass
is of the late 19th and early 20th century, much restored following war
damage. A simple litany desk is probably
Victorian. There is a fine memorial to
three Drew brothers, drowned at sea and there is a simple but attractive hanging on the organ case. Now go to St. Stephen's, Saltash
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The Rood
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St. Nicholas & St. Faith, Saltash
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Linenfold Panelled Pulpit
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Sancreed, St. Sancredus Church
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I have been
in Sancreed, way down west in West Penwith, almost to Land's End, on four
occasions. The first was in July 2006,
the second in March 2008 then, after a gap of more than nine years, I was back
there in October 2017 and again in April 2018.
In 2006, in search only of antiquities, I had ignored the village and
had been to Sancreed Beacon and Caer Bran.
In 2008 I had concentrated on the church itself and the nearby Holy Well
and Baptistery Chapel. In October 2017,
the church was closed for renovation so I again concentrated on the Cornish
Crosses, one of the finest church collections in Cornwall: I counted five in all, including one on the
graveyard hedge to the road and one on the wall by the main steps. According to Pevsner the church of Saint Sancredus is largely
of the 15th century. It consists of
nave, south aisle, north transept and short pinnacled tower. The porch has an original wagon roof. Inside are rood stairs, remains of the lower
part of a rood screen with amusing carvings, and a 15th century font of the St.
Ives type with four angels holding shields. The nave and chancel ceilings are particularly fine, the woodwork carved and
fretted. The original reredos, a
Nativity scene, is now on the north wall of the chancel. Some notable artists are buried in the
churchyard, including Stanhope Alexander Forbes, Elizabeth Adela Forbes and
Thomas Cooper Gotch. When I was there in
April 2018 the graveyard was covered in primroses; that was the occasion when I took the interior photos. A little way up the road, a holy well and
baptistery are marked by a modern Cornish Cross.
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Elaborate Chancel Ceiling
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Sancreed Church at primrose time
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Carved Wood Pulpit
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Sennen, St. Sennen's Church
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Most
people, when they think of Sennen, will think rather of Sennen Cove, the
surfimg settlement on the beach on the lovely curve of Whitesand Bay. Attractive though that may be, and I have
passed through it many times walking the Coast Path towards Land's End, now my
interest is in the village on the road heading there. There is very little to Sennen village except
for a few speed bumps, a few houses, the First
and Last pub and the small parish church of St. Sennen, the most westerly
in England. I say small but there is
more to it than at first appears: nave,
north transept, chancel, south aisle and, of course, tower. The church dates from mid 15th century and
earlier. It was restored in 1867 by the
ubiquitous J P St. Aubyn. The internal
fittings are a mix of old and relatively new.
The small font, with its Victorian cover, bears the date of 1442. Chancel pew ends are topped by carved
angels. The 1920s oak pulpit carries carvings
of biblical figures and, according to Pevsner, fish, crabs and lobsters, but I
didn't spot them. Stained glass is from
1878-9 by Clayton & Bell. In the
churchyard are two Cornish Crosses, a tall one overlooking the road and a
cross-head by the entrance steps to the churchyard. In
the porch is an entertaining welcome message;
don't miss it.
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Sennen Cornish Cross
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Sennen Carved Oak Pulpit
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Sennen Angel Pew End
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Sheviock, Church of the Blessed Virgin Mary
In mid-August 2019 I headed way
down east to the Torpoint peninsula, across the broad Tamar from
Devonport. I took a look at Torpoint itself but was singularly
unimprerssed. My main port of call was to be Antony for St. James
Church, Maryfield but I also took the opportunity to see the church of
the Blessed Virgin Mary in Sheviock. The majority of Cornish
village churches were largely built or rebuilt in the 15th century. That in
Sheviock is unusual in that much of the fabric is of the late 13th and
early 14th centuries. It is also unusual in that the tower is
narrow compared to the nave, and that it has a "broach" spire, starting
from a square base but developing into octagonal form. In the
15th century a north transept was converted to a north aisle. In
the south transept are funeral recesses; a knight and a lady of
about 1375 lie on plain tomb chests, Sir Edward Courtney(1371), presumably related to the Courtney Earls of Devon, and his
wife Emmeline, daughter of the local great family, the Dawnays.
On the north wall is another tomb chest bearing another knight of
similar date. There are three plain sedilia and piscinas in the
chancel and south transept. The Minton tiles in the chancel floor
date from an 1850 restoration by G E Street. Slate tablets of the Lord's
Prayer and the Creed are in the north aisle. There is an
elaborately decorated triple panel pew back and a particularly fine
collection of bench ends. There are good 19th century stained glass windows.
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Sheviock Church
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Wesley Window
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Effigy of Lady Emmeline Courtney
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St. Agnes
I
had hoped to have an entry on St. Agnes church by now but unfortunately
the church is not always open and when I was in the village in early
April 2018 it was closed. I emailed Tony Hocking - there's a good
Cornish name - and now have contact details for churchwarden
Becky. I shall be in touch with her and, when I have been able to
visit, will produce a report. In the meantime, here are some
exterior images.
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St. Agnes Church
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Cornish Cross
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Ancient Tap
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St. Allen
On the same day that I re-visited
Perranzabuloe church I made a first visit to St. Allen church on a
minor road off the A30 near Zelah. My choice of route from the
A30 was fortuitous as I found a good Cornish Cross halfway between
Trevalso and Rosemerryn. St. Allen itself consists of little more
than the Church and Old Rectory so it was something of a surprise to
find a large car park by the church; perhaps a large congregation
comes by car. The most striking feature is the tower with a tall
stair turret rising above it. Inside, both nave and aisle have
stained glass windows and wooden wagon roofs. Although there are
no carved bench ends, one pew has a fine carved wooden back. I
quote here from the Cornwall Historic Churches Trust:
"There are three granite medieval crosses in the churchyard. One,
a wayside cross, was found buried in the churchyard, close to the east
end of the church in 1882 when the grave of Mary Morris, the
incumbent's wife, was being dug. It was re-erected in 1912 at the
south east corner of the church, near where it was discovered. A
tall "wheel-head" cross, also formerly buried, now stands near the
porch following its discovery in 1930. Both these crosses are
thought to have been concealed at the Reformation and have survived
well." In August 2017, when I visited, thre was lovely flower
display, standing by a figure wth a staff; is it St. Allen or St.
Christopher?
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St. Allen Tall Cross
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St. Allen Church
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St.Allen Short Cross
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St. Allen Tower and Porch
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Inscribed Pillar
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Aisle Ceiling
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St. Anthony-in-Meneage
| Visited
on the same day in February 2019 as St. Manacaa's church in Manaccan, this is
an unusually situated church, only a
spit of shingle with boats parked on it separating the church from Gillan Creek
and just a few cottages near it. The
church was originally 13th century but only parts of the nave and transept now date
from that time. To my delight, before
even entering the church, I spotted a Cornish Cross, rather damaged. I found a lot to like within the church. There are fine wagon roofs with simple carved
bosses. The font is circular, of the
15th century and has shield-carrying angels.
In the chancel chapel a reredos of the Last Supper is said to be from
Lord Byron's Newstead Abbey. In a niche
in the transept is an unusual relief carving of the Last Supper. Unexpectedly, the pulpit is 20th century
by Violet Pinwell, one of three Devon sisters.
Stained glass is mostly late Victorian.
The Royal Arms are unusually inscribed "GUL IV Rex" for James 4th. The lectern is a carved wooden eagle. Rood stairs are still in place but,
disappointingly no rood screen. A carved
wooden chest has a front of three panels.
There is a good collection of kneelers;
my favourite carried a lamb and flag within a sunburst. |
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Elaborately Decorated Font
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St. Anthony-in-Meneage Church
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St. Anthony Pulpit
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St. Austell, Holy
Trinity
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St. Austell is probably
nobody's favourite Cornish town, particularly since the advent of the much
maligned White River shopping development in the town centre. However,
the centre of the old town has its attractions, particularly the little
enclave surrounding Holy Trinity church, an enclave that includes the old
market hall and several atractive pubs. The church is especially
handsome on the outside so it is a pity that one's view of it is partly
obscured by trees. The tower, essentially 15th century and typically
Cornish but of the type sometimes known as a 'Somerset' tower, is handsomely
pinnacled but its finest feature is the superb carvings that decorate its
four faces: the Trinity, four apostles, the Annunciation and
the Risen Christ. The porch, too, has elaborate carvings:
angels and carved shields. The interior, earlier than the tower,
was over-restored (as so often) by Street in 1872, and disappoints though
there are handsome wagon roofs. There is a Norman font and a Norman
piscina. Sadly there are only a very few original bench ends though
what may be the original delicate lace-like rood screen survives under
the tower arch. There is an urn monument to Joseph Sawle (see Menacuddle
Well) by Isbell; could this be Digory Isbell,
stonemason of Trewint, cottage maintained as a museum to
John Wesley?
More images of Holy Trinity, St. Austell |
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The very Cornish
tower of Holy Trinity
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St. Austell, Holy
Trinity - More Images
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Holy Trinity Banner
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A Panel of Holy Trinity Reredos
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Bench End
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St. Blazey, St. Blaise Church
| I
had tried on several occasions in the past to see inside St. Blaise Church but
without success. Eventually, I discovered from its web site that it is open only from April to September. One might be discouraged from trying to visit
St. Blaise by the apparent lack of obvious parking but there is, in fact, room
for the priest and one or two others to park.
So I visited in late June 2019.
From the road, high above you on its probable lann site, the church appears somewhat unprepossessing. Appearances deceive as inside it is lofty and
spacious, consisting of nave and south aisle.
Dating originally from around 1440, the church has been extensively
restored in 1839 and again in 1897 by the ubiquitous E H Sedding. The overall style, as you might expect, is
Perpendicular. The three-stage tower has
an odd little figure, probably of a bishop, set into the second stage of its
south face. The body of the church
consists of nave, south aisle and north aisle.
Inside are wagon roofs with carved ribs.
The porch is unusual for having two small stained glass windows by E R
Suffling. Monuments include a wall slate
of 1701 with the figure of Father Time and an elaborate wall monument to Henry
Scobell and his wife, dated 1727. The Lady Chapel has an unusual and attractive carved wooden altar. The pulpit appears to have dark marble sides
above a narrow plinth and stone steps. There are several attractive hangings and a
monument to several generations of the Carlyon family of nearby Tregrehan. |
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Marble pulpit
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St. Blaise Church
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Scobell Monument
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St. Breock village, St. Breoca's
Church
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That this tiny hamlet
has such an impressive church may be because it was once in the important
episcopal manor of Pawton, as part of the domain of the Bishops of Exeter, and was the mother church of Wadebridge.
Outside is odd; the porch should normally be on the south side but this is
tucked close into the hill so the porch is on the north side. Inside
are the expected wagon roofs and some handsome memorials;
best is the beautiful Vyell tomb of 1598, dismantled and displayed on the
wall of St. Michael's Chapel. Other interesting memorials include
brasses and slates and the 13th century tomb of a priest, perhaps the first
at this church which was completed in 1259. I visited in March 2007,
on my way home from exploring some of the antiquities
on St. Breock Downs.
The church was dedicated in 1259, its high altar dedicated in
1318, but replaced by one with a transparent alabaster reredos by E H
Sedding in 1908. Stained glass in the south chancel chapel
depicts, among other scenes, the Feeding of The Five Thousand and the
Wedding at Canaa in Galilee. Brasses commemorate the Tredeneck
family. Large slate monuments are to the Prideaux-Brune family of
Padstow. A delightful hexagonal font is of blue Catacleuse
stone. The churchyard is full of 18th and 19th century slate
headstones to the important families of Wadebridge.
More Images of St. Breock Church
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The north side
of St. Breock Church
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Lane
from Tollgate roundabout on A39 at Wadebridge |
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More Images of St. Breock
Church - and even more images
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Stained Glass
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The Organ in St. Breock Church
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Even More Images of St. Breock
Church
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St. Breock Stained Glass
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Vyell Memorial
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Queen Anne's Arms
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St.Breward, St.
Brueredus,
| St.
Breward is a village of many parts,
including Mount Pleasant, Row, Hill, Rylands and, its most northerly,
Churchtown. Churchtown is the main
centre with the excellent Old Inn pub, the village stores, village hall and,
not surprisingly, the church. Dedicated
to St. Branwalader or Brueredus, the church
stands at the highest part of the village and can be visible for miles, as I
have discovered during Bodmin Moor walks.
Some claim St. Breward to be the highest village in Cornwall
but, at a
little over 700 feet, it is way below Minions at 1000 feet; more
likely the claim should be to have the highest church in Cornwall. The church
is dedicated to St Branwalader, recorded in the 12th century by his original Latin
name of Sancti Brewveredi de Hamatethi - Hamatethy Down is just north of St.
Breward. It appears to date from Norman
times with an arcade of massive, typically Norman, piers. There is a fine wagon roof in the south
aisle, other roofs were replaced in 1865 by J. P. St. Aubyn, who over-restored
so many Cornish churches. There are some
fine memorials, some in slate, but the highlight is the display of carved and
painted bench ends, happily retained by St. Aubyn. In the porch note the handsome door surround
and the wagon roof with carved bosses.
In the lower part of the churchyard, across the lane, is a fine restored
Cornish wheel-head cross. |
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St.
Breward Church from the south-east
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Painted bench end
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St. Buryan, St. Burian's
Church
| St. Burian, said to
have been the daughter of an Irish king, is thought to have landed in St.
Ives in the early 6th century and founded a chapel here on the site of
the church which now bears her name. In the 10th century, this was
made a collegiate church by English King Athelstan, and granted sanctuary
rights by him. This might support the tradition that the village
of St. Buryan was at one time something of a convict colony.
St. Burian's church
stands on a mound, a suggestion of antiquity, and is larger than you might
expect of a small village - but the population is far smaller than in its
mining heyday. The present church is largely 15th and 16th century
and has some outstanding features. Inside is a beautiful carved screen,
still painted in its original colours of red, green and gold. Although
partly destroyed in the reformation, what remains is impressive. An unusually
shaped early font is of Ludgvan granite, carved with figures of three angels.
In the chancel are two pairs of oak miserere stalls. Under the tower
a tomb slab to the wife of a Norman knight dates from 1119. Outside,
the porch, as at St. Just-in-Penwith, matches the tower, battlemented and
pinnacled. In the churchyard is an ancient cross head. Another
is outside the churchyard, near a great mounting-block. |
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Visited during
a St. Buryan figure-of-eight walk
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Note the cross head and mounting block
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St. Cleer, St. Clair's Church
| I
first saw St. Cleer church in 2011 in the course of a round walk south from
Minions which included Trethevy Quoit and King Doniert's Stones. I had not been back there again until I
visited in mid-March 2019. I parked in
the public car park (handy free toilets) to the north side of the church and
entered the churchyard from the north-west corner. The three-stage tower is exceptionally fine
and topped with conical pinnacles. On
heading round to the south porch, the first thing I noticed was a small Cornish
Cross to the left of the porch. Then,
propped against the left-hand side of the porch, a slate bearing a welcome
message. The porch itself has a wagon
roof and a substantial double door to the body of the church. Much of the church is of the 14th and 15th
centuries, though the north arcade may be late 13th century. Unusually the north arcade is of green
Polyphant stone. There is a squint
between the north aisle and the chancel.
The fine chancel arch is of the late 19th century with a wooden arch and a wagon roof with angel corbels;
this was part of an early 20th century restoration by H Fellowes
Prynne. Also the result of Prynne's
restoration are the altar front, reredos, rood and parclose screens, the choir
stalls and bench ends. The elaborately
decorated 1896 pulpit is by Harry Hems of Exeter. A large Royal Arms is dated 1708. Stained glass is mostly early 20th century,
much of it by Clayton and Bell. Facing
you as you enter is a fine massive slate chest tomb of Robert Langford, of 1624. There are some handsome
buildings opposite the north-west corner of the churchyard, the Vicarage and a
County Police Station of 1859.
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Cornish Cross by Porch
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St. Cleer, St. Clair's Church
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Connock Memorial
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St.
Clement near Truro - See below for St. Clement revisited
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Less than two miles
from the heart of Truro, St. Clement
might be another world entirely. Reached by a quiet and narrow lane,
it nestles above the tidal Tresillian
River, its wooded banks a haunt of herons. Jane and I revisited
after more than thirty years and, for the first time, took a close look
at the church. The delightful churchyard is entered through an unusual
lych gate, rooms above it and a filled-in coffen stile, like a great granite
cattle grid, beneath your feet. The churchyard, itself part of a
wildlife project, is full of ancient tomb stones with sentimental inscriptions.
Near the south porch is a remarkable survival, an eleven foot high granite
pillar, twice used as a 6th century memorial, re-cut as a Celtic Cross
and later used as a gate-post. Inside is a pulpit of green serpentine,
a 14th century font and a rather touching marble memorial to Samuel Thomas.
An easy one mile, sometimes muddy, walk down-river brings you to the village
of Malpas and its Heron Inn. A pleasant, but less often muddy, walk
up-river brings you to Tresillian village just east of Truro. A walk
uphill and across fields brings you to Boscawen Park on the Truro River
just on the south side of Truro city centre. There is a small amount
of parking at the creek below the church. |
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St. Clement
and the Tresillian River from above
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Round walk from Boscawen Park includes Malpas and St. Clement. |
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St. Clement revisited
I was back in St. Clement in
early 2019 at a time when the village's annual flower festival was
taking place in the church. On this occasion I took the
opportunity to spend time in the church and take a good number of
photographs, The first thing that struck me was the number of
stained glass windows. Pevsner explains their significance..."a
rare and striking set of enamel-painted windows, by Revd Clement
Carlyon, in lively geometric patterns with heraldic motifs". The
font looked interesting but was too bedecked with flowers to be able to
see the detail. On the other hand, the pulpit was fully visible
and is extremely unusual, square, constructed entirely of serpentine
and dating from 1870. I was also struck by two marble wall
memorials, one to William Carpenter, the other to John Vivian of
Pencalenick.
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St. Clement Decorated Font
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St. Clement Tower & Lych Gate
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St. Clementine Serpentine Pulpit
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St. Clether
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I had been to St. Clether, on the
periphery of Bodmin Moor, back in 2007 but, on that occasion, had been
interested not in the church but rather in St. Clederus Chapel and
Holy Well, and Cornish Crosses at Basill, just below the village. Simon
Jenkins, in his England's Thousand Best Churches, mentions St. Clether but only
to disparage the church and praise the chapel and holy well. I think him
a little harsh on what is a pleasant but unexceptional church, actually quite
handsome from the outside, with its nave, south aisle, porch and three stage crenellated tower. St. Clederus Church is the first thing you come
to on the right as you descend the hill from the north. Close to it is the
Sunday School and the former Vicarage is across the road. A wheelchair ramp leads from the car park to
the gate to the churchyard. You enter the porch by a waist-high red-painted
divided gate. Inside, massive pillars separate the south aisle from the
nave, their capitals fairly crudely carved. Pews are quite handsome but
lack bench ends. There are box pews (not many left in Cornwall) in
the south aisle and its chapel. The font is quite simple compared with
many Cornish churches but clearly early. An unusual pulpit incorporates a
lectern, an unexpected arrangement, possibly Victorian. From the church
it is a walk of 500 yards or so over rough Moorland to St. Clederus
Chapel and Holy Well
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St. Clether
Church
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St. Clether, more images of the church
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I've seen this delightfully misspelled sign elsewhere
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St. Cether's charming box pew |
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St. Columb
Major
| In early August 2016
I had an expedition to the St. Columb area in order to take a look around
three churches. My first port of call was Porth Reservoir, something
of a disappointment because it lacks scenic quality and, unlike Tamar Lakes
and Sibleyback Reservoir, has no facilities. Next I headed for the
hamlet of Colan where, despite a notice in the church porch saying it was
open, the door was firmly locked and I could find no-one to ask for a key.
So I went on next to St. Columb Minor (see below). Success here:
the interestingly sited church was open. Finally, St. Columb Major,
where the church is very Cornish with its three stage tower, nave and two
aisles. Oddly the churchyard is entered by either of two lych gates,
only yards apart. In one are a stump of what may have been a Cornish Cross
set in an early cross base and a recent WWII memorial bench. Beside
the porch is an early Cornish Cross. Inside, note particularly the
rood screen complete with rood, the carved chancel roof over a fine reredos,
and adjacent in the south aisle chapel a colourful reredos bearing coats
of arms. There are some good carved bench ends, and a fine carved
pulpit and lectern. The font is unusual; seven-sided with a face on each side.
When I was there the porch entrance had been decorated with a garland of
flowers for a wedding. |
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More imags of St. Columb Major Church
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Church, Lych Gate and War Memorial
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St. Columb Major's Septagonal Font
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St. Columb Major's Elaborately Carved Pulpit
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St.
Columb Minor (& Colan)
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My early August expedition
to the St. Columb area took me first to the hamlet of Colan then, on my
way to St. Columb Major,
I decided
to go first to St. Columb Minor. Disappointingly, despite a
notice
in the porch saying that Colan church was open, it was firmly
locked.
There was no-one in the nearby houses who I could ask for a key.
I returned on another occasion and happily then found Colan church
open. St. Columb Minor is very close by so I carried on to
it.
The church stands on a prominent mound, probably a pre-Christian site
and
overlooks the Farmers Arms - perhaps an opportunity for thirsting after
righteousness. I didn't have the time to try the pub but do have
a look at its web
site; (persist, t does work) there are several good bargains to be had. The
church is approached by either of two flights of steps, one of them quite
steep. It has nave and two aisles and a tall four stage pinnacled
tower. The interior of the porch is striking with its Gothic door
and door arch. Inside is not very impressive, sadly there are no
ancient bench ends, but a nice pulpit has linenfold panelling and there
is an attractive tall carved lectern. There is also a nice modern
stained glass window, commemorating Bill and Betty Rodgers. |
St. Columb Minor Church
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Signed off A3059,
Trekenning Roundabout (on A39) to Newquay |
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St. Dennis
Driving along
the
A30, past Goss Moor to the west of Bodmin, if you look south towards
china
clay country, you will see a hill topped by a tight circle of deciduous
trees, a church tower protruding above them. This is St. Dennis
church,
oddly well north of the village of St. Dennis, one of the largest of
the china
clay villages. In July 2008 I had finished a walk from Goss Moor
and decided to take a look at the church. A very rural route took
me through Tregoss, Enniscsaven, Gothers and Carne to climb the hill to
the church. The church itself is said to be of little interest,
restored
after
a recent fire - and locked anyway. What is special about it is
that
it is said to stand within an iron age hill fort. It is a very
strange
site. The churchyard is surrounded by a massive stone wall, 10
feet
high in places and up to 6 feet wide. Another wall creates a
courtyard
to its south. Inside the wall the land on the north and west
sides
is higher than the wall, yet the church is set down in a hollow.
Trees completely surround it. Some suggest that the wall follows
the course of the hill fort wall. If so, why is the land inside
higher?
And if it was a hill fort, why so small. Perhaps it was an
outlier
of Castle-an-Dinas, clearly visible 3 miles to the north. Rather
entertainingly, as with St. Juliot church, you can approach the
churchyard by a massive stile
from the field to the west. When I visited in 2016, views from
the site were
panoramic.
St. Dennis revisited 2018
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| St. Dennis is signed
from the A30 at Indian Queens |
Trees and a
massive stone wall surround the church.
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St. Dennis Revisited August 2018
| I
have been to St. Dennis Church, well separated from its parent village, on
several occasions, first in July 2016, when I approached on foot from Goss Moor
and entered the site by a stile into the iron-age hill fort and its
woodland. The second occasion was in
December of the same year when, from below, I could hardly see the site in the
clouds. On both of those occasions I
took plenty of photos but was unable to obtain access to the church which, due
to its remote site, is normally kept locked.
Happily, when I went to St. Dennis Church in mid-August 2018, it was a
case of third time lucky. Lucky because
a wedding service was nearing its end and before long a vast white limousine pulled
away with the happy couple. I headed
into the church to be sure to be inside before it was locked. Inside I found the vicar, Revd. Paul Arthur,
and enjoyed an informative chat with him.
He is convinced that the ancient font, outside the porch, is Saxon; Pevsner categorises it as fifteenth
century. I would like to think Revd.
Arthur has the right of it. The church
has had a chequered history. A 15th
century church was rebuilt, as so many were in Victorian times, in 1847
though the original tower remains. The north aisle had to be rebuilt after a fire in 1986. The
interior is of relatively little interest, resembling, if anything, more a Methodist
chapel than an Anglican church. Priests
chair, priest's pew and pulpit are all of oak and simple in design. Stained glass is quite attractive. The unusual altar frontispiece has the
appearance of marquetry. Unexpectedly, the Royal Arms are of Queen Anne dated 1711. Alongside the
path to the porch is a fine Cornish Cross, its best face away from you, so walk
on the grass to see it best. |
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Fine Cornish Cross
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St. Dennis's Colourful Altar
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Queen Anne's Coat of Arms
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St. Dominic, St. Dominica's
|
At
the very beginning of February 2018 I chose a fine Friday to head down east
towards the Tamar, for most
of its length the boundary between Cornwall and Devon, to pay a visit to Halton Quay, the place where
in 689AD Irish Saints Indract and his sister Dominica landed. A white Chapel commemorates the Saints. Nearby is a former lime kiln. Half-a-mile north east, near
Greenbank, is their Holy well.
St.Dominic's Church is about 1 1/2 miles NNE. I took photos of river, chapel and lime kiln
before moving on to St. Dominica's Church. The first thing you notice
is the unusual three-stage tower, its second stage somewhat recessed. Inside are nave and two aisles, all with
Cornish wagon roofs, that of the chancel painted blue with small gold
symbols. The Victorian Quire pews have
nicely carved decoration. The organ case
has twelve panels, depicting saints.
Behind the organ are the arms of the Clarke and Brendon families and the
tomb of Sir Anthony Rous and his son.
There is an attractive Victorian carved pulpit. On one wall is a small part of the
original medieval rood screen, perhaps torn down in the
"Reformation", perhaps a victim of Victorian restoration. There are a couple of restrained Victorian
bench ends.
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About 3 miles ESE of Callington
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Effigies of Sir Anthony Rous and his son
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St. Endellion, St. Endellienta's Church
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In August 2006 I planned
a walk from Chapel Amble, almost to the north coast and back, for the express
purpose of getting to see Roscarrock, an ancient manor near Port
Isaac that had featured as Ross Poldark's home in the first TV Poldark
series. By happy coincidence, I called in to St. Endellion church,
too, to discover there a Roscarrock chapel and a memorial to the long-departed
Roscarrocks. My walk proved not only longer than expected - I lost
my way on the return - but included even more interest in some historic
stones at Long Cross. As so often with Cornish churches,
there is dispute about this church's origins. One authority will
tell you that it was founded by St. Endellienta, another by St. Delian
and only later dedicated to Endellienta, one of the many holy offspring
of Welsh King Brychan. Be that as it may, a summer music festival
has brought fame to the church and a renowned string quartet has been named
for it. Inside there are some good bench ends (on new pews, well done St. Endellion), a fine
slate memorial to the Roscarrocks, a rhyme about bell-ringing (the bells
are famous) and, most importantly, what is probably the base of what was
once the shrine of St. Endellienta. If you find yourself in need of refreshment,
try the excellent nearby Trevathan Farm Shop - they grow superb
strawberries and serve good value food. |
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St. Endellion
Church
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B3314 from Wadebridge. St. Endellion revisited
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St. Endellion revisited
When
I looked to see when I first visited the church at St. Endellion, I was amazed
to discover that it was the better part of 13 years ago, in August 2006. So I made haste to revisit in mid-February
2019 - and added a visit to St. Michael's Church at Michaelstow, not far
away. St. Endelient's church is unusual
for Cornwall in that it is a collegiate church: originally staffed by four
prebendaries, it became a collegiate church in 1928. [A collegiate church is one where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college
of canons, a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised
as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a dean or
provost.] Although
John Betjeman's local church was St. Enodoc, he said his favourite was St. Endelient's
and there are signs of his interest in the church: a plaque remembers him as
poet laureate and a nearby carved and colourfully painted angel bears a shield
commemorating him. Before entering the
body of the church linger a while in the porch:
angels support the ceiling timbers which bear carved bosses. Inside, the 15th century church consists of
nave, two aisles and chancel. The light
and airy interior has fine Cornish wagon roofs.
The tiny font, of two different stones, is Norman. A Gothic altar is of carved and polished Catacleuse stone. A 15th century tomb chest in the
south aisle is of polished Catacleuse stone.
There are some fine late medieval bench ends; on one the arms of Roscarrock impale those of
Grenville, both local North Cornwall families.
In the north aisle there is a sixteenth century "ledger" stone
with a cross in relief. In the belfry
there are images of bell ringers together with ringers' rhymes. There are 17th century chairs in the chancel
and a 17th century bench in the south aisle.
The pulpit is unusual, with turned balusters and an ancient bench end
worked into it. When I was there, the
graveyard was alive with the sound of grass strimmers, eight yellow-jacketed
men working away. Good sized
car park at the east end of the church.
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Porch Ceiling Boss
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Catacleuse Stone Chest Tomb
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St. Endellienta Banner |
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St. Enoder
| On the first Saturday
in December 2016, having a couple of hours for a research outing, I took
just a 20 minute run from home to the almost non-existent hamlet of St.
Enoder, just off the A30 near Penhale (Kingsley) Services. There
must once have been another settlement to St. Enoder, as the full title
of this one is St. Enoder Churchtown. All it consists of is
the church, the former rectory, now a private home, and two farms, Glebe
and Hendra. Glebe Farm would have been church land, Hendra means
The Old Farm or Home Farm. The church being somewhat isolated, I
had thought it might be locked but was pleasantly surprised to find it
open. I was even more pleasantly surprised to find, just through
the gate, a good small Cornish Cross, surprisingly not shown on the OS
map, though most crosses are. The interior is nothing special though
the barrel-vaulted ceilings are good. The carved screen is presumably
Victorian, There are 8 original bench ends, one now part incorporated
into the lower part of the screen. A simple circular bowl stone font
with four small carved heads is believed to be Norman, the oldest thing
in the church. The attractive carved pulit, on a stone base, is probably
Victorian. An unusual lectern is on a carved wood base. The
altar is also unusual, with an arcaded front. An elaborate wrought
iron oil heater stands near the font. There are a couple of elaborate
carved slate memorial slabs, one in the porch. |
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| Leave A30 at Penhale,
take Truro turn, R before bridge. |
St. Enoder
church in the late October sun
|
| LANDS END TRAIL:
Back
in 2009 I helped Robert Preston re-research the Lands
End Trail. Stage 9 from Mitchell to Tregonetha passes though
St. Enoder. |
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St. Erme, St. Hermes Church
| A
little surprisingly this is not the only Cornish church dedicated to St.
Hermes; this one is a few miles north of
Truro, the other is a few miles south of Padstow. According to Pevsner the church is set in an
oval lann. It has to be said that while I could see it
as oval, from the entrance gate I could see little evidence of the ground being
raised as you expect with a lann. Be that as it may, I found it to be an interesting
church and, oddly, one which seems larger and more spacious inside than you expect
from the outside. St. Hermes stands in a
large but empty churchyard - gravestones are lined up along the perimeter. As you enter the churchyard, you are
immediately struck by the impressive tower, three story with crenellated parapet
and crocketed pinnacles and a north-east stair turret. A wooden door in the east face of the tower
has a carved stone head above the voussoir. The church dates from the 15th
century but was heavily remodelled in 1819/20 by John Foulston, with further
work by E H Sedding in 1908. The body of
the church consists of nave and north and south aisles. Barrel- vaulted roofs are of the 15th and
16th centuries with roof ribs, purlins and roof-bosses. The wooden wall-plate carries carving. The circular font is Norman with unusual
ornamentation, foliage scroll and four lily motifs, which Pevsner thinks was
the prototype for Bodmin and St. Austell.
Royal Arms are of George IV, dated 1827, and are painted on a metal
sheet. Stained glass in the east window
is of Christ's Call to the Fishermen, by Mary Lowndes in Arts and Crafts
style. A fine brass is to Robert
Trencreek, his wife and children. |
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St. Erme Trencreek Brass
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Fishermen Stained Glass
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St. Erme Pulpit
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St. Erney, St. Terney's Church
| There
is very little to St. Erney, a hamlet on the way to almost nowhere, just a
couple of farms, a few cottages, including an attractive row and, surprisingly.
an active Anglican church and a former Methodist Chapel and its adjacent Sunday
School, the latter two now converted to homes.
Pevsner has very little to say about the church: he notes that it was first
mentioned in 1269, probably as a chapelry to Landrake church. Like so many Cornish churches, it was
restored in Victorian times. I would
have liked to be able to comment on the interior but, regrettably, the church
was locked when I was there in early June 2018. |
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St. Erney Church
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Former Methodist Chapel
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St. Erney House, opposite the church |
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St. Erth
 |
Walking the second
stage of the Land's End Trail,
I finished up in St. Erth and was pleasantly surprised to find a delightful
church. According to the church guide, St Erth (or Erc or Ercus)
was Irish, a brother of St. Ia and St.
Uny
and a close friend of St. Patrick. Tradition has it that
he is buried beneath the church. Outside, St. Erth church is
conventionally
Cornish with its three-stage pinnacled tower, same height nave and
aisles, and decorated and perpendicular windows. Inside is quite
a surprise. Wooden barrel vaulted roofs have elaborate bosses
and,
at the chancel end, painted decoration. Corbels carry carved
stone
heads and two carved angels look out of dormer windows. The
Trewinnard
Chapel, in the south aisle, is colourful with painted roof and bosses,
a gilded altar and reredos and a beautifully carved screen. The
chancel,
too, is colourful with more roof decoration, painted carved oak reredos
and a good stained glass window. The surprise is that all this
elaboration
is late Victorian and Edwardian. There are associations with Harveys
of Hayle;
it was here that Richard Trevithick married John
Harvey's daughter Jane. There are two Cornish crosses in the
churchyard,
one close to the porch, the other incorporated in a grave. A most
unusual cross stands in the square in the village, its head rectangular
but not in lantern form.
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St. Erth church across the little Hayle
River
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St. Erth Revisited
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| After my Land's End
Trail walk that finished in St. Erth, I read the guide book and realised
that I had missed a lot in the graveyard. So I returned a week later
in December 2007, when also visiting Cape
Cornwall and Towednack Church.
The graveyard is large and well stocked with graves. Most significant
are those of the Harvey family (of Harvey's of Hayle) and of the related
Trevithick family. Richard Trevithick married John Harvey's daughter
Jane; it is a shame that he is not here but in an unmarked
grave in Dartford, Kent. By the south-east corner of the church is
a handsome chest tomb. There are two Cornish crosses, one near the
south-east corner of the church, another topping a tomb to the north side
of the church. There are also a couple of cast iron crosses, marking
(I think) graves of children. |
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St. Erth Revisited
I
visited St. Erth on the last Saturday in September 2018 but found the church
locked. I had to satisfy myself with
photographs in the churchyard and village.
An email then elicited details of a key-holder, George Lawry. I rang George who very kindly gave up his
Saturday morning the following week, not only to open the church but also to
give me a good guided tour, pointing out things I would have missed such as the
single clerestory window in the nave.
The most striking feature of the church is the Trewinnard Chapel in the
South Aisle: Trewinnard Manor is south
of St. Erth. The tower is of the early
15th century and the porch of the late 15th century but the body of the church
was rebuilt by J D Sedding 1873-4. Restoration
continued into the early 20th century and included the Trewinnard Chapel,
described by John Betjeman as "one of the first really sensitive
restorations in Britain." Dormer
windows (I only spotted one) were inserted into the roof to add light. Unusually, Sedding used green Polyphant stone,
from the far east of Cornwall, in the walls.
His bench ends echo the late medieval bench ends found in so many
Cornish churches. The chancel has an
elaborately and colourfully decorated ceiling, as has the Trewinnard
Chapel; it also features a finely
decorated and gilded altar and a reredos of 1903. In the Trewinnard Chapel are tapestry copies
of those in Trewinnard Manor. The square
font is Norman. Painted Royal Arms are
of George I. Among the late 19th/early
20th century stained glass, note the south window of the Trewinnard Chapel
which shows Bishop Benson with a model of Truro Cathedral. Pevsner refers to a pre-Norman churchyard
cross in the west corner of the south aisle;
I think he may have mistaken a papier-mâché copy for the real thing, one of which may be seen in the churchyard.
Trewinnard Manor, near St. Erth, is known for its association with
four families, the Trewinnards, the Mohuns, the Hawkins and the family
of Sir John and Lady Nott, the present owners.
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St. Erth Church South Aisle Ceiling
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St. Erth Church seen from the east
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St. Erth Cornish Cross
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St. Ervan
| I visited St. Ervan
church on a warm and sunny July Saturday when I also managed to include
the churches at St. Issey and St. Merryn and the work of the remarkable
self-proclaimed bard, Ed Prynn, whose small garden has the most remarkable
collection of standing stones, known to many locally as Prynnhenge.
St. Ervan is a tiny settlement, just a farm, converted farm buildings and
a former school house. The road peters out at the church but a track
continues downhill to a ford and footbridge leading to what looks like
a former mill building. The church is nicely set below a small green.
It is dedicated, rather oddly, to St. Hermes, not the winged messenger
of the gods but a Greek martyr. From the green the church looks even tinier than it
really is, set below the level of the lych gate. It consists of a
massive stubby tower, rebuilt in 1935 of reinforced concrete, porch, small
nave and two transepts. There is an unusulally large number of slate
memorials. . Usually so many would have been relegated to the graveyard:
one is a delight, of a medieval gentlemen in balloon trousers. The
porch door, its surround of local blue Cataclews stone, has a carving of
an angel with two raucous birds. I visited in July 2016. I
hope to revisit to explore down by the little river before too long. |
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More images of St. Ervan
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Tiny, secluded
St. Ervan church with unusual tower
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More Images of St. Ervan
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St. Ervan Door from Porch
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St. Ervan Font
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St. Ervan Pulpit
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St. Eval
| St.
Uvulus church stands quite isolated, on the fringe of a former Bomber Command
airfield and not far from the sea. Normally
there would also be at least a small churchtown but this was demolished when
the airfield was constructed. The
settlement of St. Eval is some distance away and consists of military housing
and, of all things, underground bunkers.
The exterior of the church is quite conventional. A prominent three-stage tower once acted as a
landmark before Trevose Head lighthouse was constructed; it is banded with local blue Catacleuse
stone, which makes it unusual and striking.
The same stone is also used to good effect in window surrounds and in
the porch. The exterior may be
conventional, the interior is less so, thanks to its connections with the RAF. Conventional features in the interior are the
plain Norman cup-shaped front, with its RAF cover, the octagonal pulpit of 1688,
the base of a rood screen with traceried panels, and a good set of carved bench
ends with, in some instances, original bench backs. The pulpit of 1688 is finely carved but on an
overly plain base. The south aisle
arcading is in an odd mix of styles and
includes a 15th century carved capital in Catacleuse stone. Modern stained glass (1989) by Crear McCartney
commemorates the RAF; striking colours
set off an RAF symbol surrounded by a crown of thorns. Two walls carry carved and painted RAF
badges. In the Lady Chapel a stained glass
windows bears RAF symbolism. While in
the Lady Chapel, do look up, otherwise you will miss a fine collection of
carved ceiling bosses. One wall carries
painted Royal Arms but without the clear indication of which king. Outside, before entering the churchyard gate,
do note the WWII was memorial.
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The RAF font cover
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St. Eval church from the east
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A wall covered with RAF badges
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St. Ewe
| This
church, in the attractive small village of St. Ewe, not far from St. Austell
and Mevagissey, is relatively early for Cornwall, at least in part:
the tower, spire and south aisle all being of the 13th and 14th
centuries. I visited while Jane was
enjoying coffee with an old friend at Grigg's Country Store at Sticker, just
three miles away. After my St. Ewe visit
I joined Jane for lunch at Griggs: good food and excellent value. I had been in St. Ewe village previously, to
lunch at the excellent Crown Inn, to photograph the market cross, unusual for
Cornwall, and to photograph a Cornish Cross on top of a scraggy hedge near the
village. On this occasion, in mid-June
2018, I concentrated on the church, where there is plenty of available parking. The church, approached through wrought iron
gates - or over a coffen stile - is relatively unimpressive from the
outside, except for its striking tower, topped by a dark-stone hexagonal broach
spire, very striking and most unusual for Cornwall. The porch has an attractive Cornish wagon
roof. Inside, the south aisle roof is,
according to Pevsner, a reconstruction of the19th century with bosses imported
from St. Keyne. Finest feature of the
church is the rood screen, three elaborate open-work carved panels each side of
an equally elaborate central door. The
coving at the top of the screen is elaborately carved with animals, birds and
even a naked boy. The 19th century
pulpit is made of late medieval bench ends.
The circular font is supported by a central pillar and four narrow
pillars around its edge, each topped by a crude head. There is some stained glass, including two
lights set back in an attractive early window surround. The several monuments include a fine 1737 one
to William Mohun (a good old Norman name, encountered also at Lanteglos by Fowey). The donation box is most unusual, a small
Yale safe with a complex combination lock.
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St. Ewe Church spire
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Colourful kneelers in St. Ewe Church
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St. Ewe Church font
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St. Gennys
|
I
was last in St. Gennys way back in 2009, when I was walking the complete
Cornish Coast Path from the Devon border in the north at Welcombe Mouth to the
Tamar ferry crossing at Cremyl opposite Plymouth. At that time I didn't look inside the little
church. This time, in mid June 2018, I
had a churches day, revisiting Lesnewth and St. Juliot and looking inside St.
Gennys for the first time. St. Gennys is
just to the north of Crackington Haven but where the latter usually bustles, St.
Gennys is a tranquil spot and consists only of the church, Churchtown Farm,
Churchtown Cottages, and the former School House, now holiday apartments. If you follow the National Trust sign to the
Coast Path you soon come to Pencannow Point, from whose high and vertical cliff
there are fine views to Crackington Haven below and on to towering Cambeak
Point with its folded rock strata. St.
Gennys Church is tucked away in a small valley, its neighbour the old School
House. A filled-in coffen stile leads
through a wrought iron gate next to a post box and in to the churchyard. Immediately ahead of you is what may have
been the base of a Cornish Cross. The
earliest part of the church, the lower two stages of the tower, and the walls
of the chancel, are from Norman times;
the tower is topped by striking crocketed pinnacles. Notable features inside include a 12th century font, a fine altar cloth, slate wall memorials, an
interesting, possibly medieval, chest, a simple pulpit on a stone base, remains
of altar rails and some 20th century stained glass.
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St. Gennys Church Entrance
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St. Gennys Church Tower
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St. Gennys Church Pulpit |
| After
my visit, I re-read my Pevsner and realised I had missed a reference to
bench ends being made into a "Litany Desk." I returned the
following weekend and there was the Litany Desk in the chancel.
It is indeed made of old wood, as is a small nearby shelf, but only one
of the uprights seems to be a former bench end. |
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St. Germans
| Seen from the grounds
of Port Eliot House, as it is in the
photo to the right, this is an impressive looking church. Its vast
west doorway has elaborate Norman stone carving, much more than just the
usual simple Norman chevron moulding. The twin western towers are
striking, not least because they are so different. The southern is a
simple square tower but the northern is octagonal. Ths view from
the west is promising but the interior disappoints. Enter through
the oddly situated porch and you are in a dull cavernous space filled,
sadly for Cornwall, not with pews with elaborately carved bench ends but
with rows of chairs! And, oddly, the south aisle is wider than the
nave! There is almost no woodwork of note, except for a free standing
ancient choir stall with a misericord remembering a man named Dando, punished
for hunting on a Sunday. The font is interesting but badly worn,
The pulpit, unusually for Cornwall, is of stone and pleasantly carved.
There are some striking monuments, most notably the Rysbrack monument to
Edward Eliot and a charming wall monment to the first Earl of St. Germans.
The impressive east window is by Burne Jones, one of the finest in Cornwall
after St. Neot. The village,
in several parts, is worth exploring. |
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| By B3249 near Tideford; from Trerulefoot by A374. |
The west front
seen from Port Eliot grounds
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St. Hilary Churchtown
|
Shortly before Christmas 2017, after
visiting Newlyn for St. Peters Church I went on to St. Hilary Churchtown for
the church there. It could be easy to
miss; St. Hilary village is on the B3280
road from Marazion to Leedstown but you have to continue a short way to Higher
Downs and turn there for St.Hilary Churchtown and its remarkable and most
unusual church. The church consists of
nave, south aisle, south transept and porch and, most unusually for Cornwall, a
broach spire. Pevsner describes it as
"of uncommon interest and arresting atmosphere". The delightful, art-filled interior is thanks
to Father Bernard Walke, vicar from 1913 to 1936. He developed a close association with the
famed Newlyn School of Artists and commissioned its members to create an original and
colourful interior. In the churchyard, a Cornish Cross incorporates a wheel-head and a Christ figure.
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Cornish Cross
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Paintings in the Chancel
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Painted Pulpit
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St. Issey
 |
I visited St.Issey
church on a warm and sunny July Saturday, a day when I also managed to
visit the churches at St. Merryn and St. Ervan and the remarkable garden
of self-proclaimed bard, Ed Prynn, who has erected Prynnhenge
in the small garden of his bungalow not far from St. Issey. St. Issey
is a fairly large village by Cornish standards with a population of around
1000. Its name, a reference to St. Isa or Idi, one of the many evangelising
daughters of Welsh King Brychan, was originally Egloscrug, the church on
the barrow. Behind the church, the attractive school building has
a camel weathervane. Opposite the church is the Ring o'Bells Inn.
When I was in St. Issey in July 2016 I was delighted to spot a short parade
of steam powered vehicles on their way to the Padstow Festival. St..Issey church was largely rebult in 1891; happily, many good
internal features were retained. The aisle arches are unusual, colourfully
inscribed with biblical sayings. The font carries lightly carved
decoration. The fine reredos is 14th century and of the local blue
Cataclews stone; Pevsner suggests that it was originally part
of a tomb chest. The Ring O'Bells dates from the 17th century and
retains original features. The owner has a smallholding nearby,
where he rears livestock and grows produce to serve in his restaurant. |
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The school
and church in St. Issey
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On A389
Wadebridge - Padstow. Church car park. |
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St. Ives, St. Ia's
Church
 |
As so often in Cornwall,
this church commemorates an Irish saint, this one reputedly arriving sailing
on a leaf. From the east end, standing on the harbour wall, you appear
to be looking at an unique church - of a nave and three equal-height aisles.
It is only when you move to the south side that you discover that this
is indeed the standard Cornish plan of nave and two equal-height aisles.
The fourth gable, on the south side, is actually that of a small Lady Chapel.
Built, unusually in granite country, of a local sandstone, this is a most
handsome church. It is all of a period - 1410 to 1426 - except for
the slightly later Lady Chapel and porch. The impressive tower rises
to some 90 feet.
Inside are typically
Cornish wagon roofs, decorated with bosses and angels, fine carved stonework,
a pulpit faced with re-used carved bench ends, and choir stalls carved
with local scenes. The rood loft has gone but the rood stairs are
still in place by the Lady Chapel, in which is a Barbara Hepworth Madonna
and Child, commemorating her son, in front of it steel candlesticks
which she designed. Also inside, rather surprisingly, a notice reads
'Some people will tell you that at the Reformation the Church of England
ceased to be Catholic and became Protestant. Do not believe it.'
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St. Ia's from the Remembrance Garden
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More on St. Ia's Church
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More on St. Ia's Church
New report following a visit at the end of May 2018
On
the same day that I visited uninteresting Morvah church I also took a look at St.
Ia's church in St. Ives, a totally different, and rather grand, kettle of fish,
its tall tower visible from many parts of town.
Do walk around the outside first to admire the four east gables - nave, two aisles and a Trenwith
family chapel - each slightly
different, and to note the unusual Cornish Cross on the south side. Remarkably, this church was once merely a
"chapel of ease" to St. Uny, Lelant.
Inside, note the roofs, all wagon roofs in the Cornish style. The chancel roof is the finest with a network
appearance with richly carved bosses;
below it is a fine rood. A panelled
aisle ceiling is supported by two regal figures. A little unexpectedly in so grand a church,
there are a number of good bench ends and a couple of benches bear figures of
saints with angelic shield-bearers. The
altar is of local stone and the reredos is illuminated. The pulpit is of dark oak, deeply
carved. The unusual granite font has
a carved base, hexagonal column and bowl with strap-work and heads at the four
corners. A "Madonna and Child"
sculpture by Barbara Hepworth remembers her son Paul. Stained glass in the chancel is by C E
Kempe. Fragments of a 1463 brass are to
Oto Trenwyth. A low screen is made of
old bench ends. |
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St. Ia's, the four east gable ends
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Pulpit
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Rood and chancel ceiling
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St.
Just-in-Penwith Church
 |
Much of the early
history of the Celtic Church is lost in the mists of time but, if the guide
book on sale in the church is to be believed, this must be one of the earliest
Christian sites in Cornwall. St. Just himself seems to have been
Prince Iestyn, one of the sons of of Gereint, a 5th century Cornish King
of Dumnonia (Devon and Cornwall). And this is said to be the site of his church or cell.
Whatever the truth of that, St. Just
is certainly a very early Christian location to judge by some of the inscribed
stones with Chi-Rho symbols found locally, one of which, the late 5th century
Selus
stone is on display in the church.
The church is typically
Cornish, with nave, south aisle, substantial tower and an impressive pinnacled
porch. It is no surprise that it is built of the local granite.
It dates partly from 1334 with later additions and alterations of the 14th
and 15th centuries. In addition to the Selus stone, other
things worth looking out for inside the church include the remains of the
rood stairs (the rood loft and screen are long gone), and a 9th century
Hiberno Romanesque carved stone, once part of a cross. But the real
treasure is the pair of 15th century frescos on the north wall, one of
Christ
of the Trades, the other of St. George and the Dragon.
What a crying shame that, in the 19th century restoration, walls were otherwise
insensitively scraped bare. |
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South aisle
and impressive pinnacled porch
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By B3306 scenic
coast road from St. Ives |
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St.
Just-in-Roseland Church
 |
I must confess a special
interest in the church at St. Just-in-Roseland. For twenty years
my father's cousin Bertie was rector of the parish of St. Just with St. Mawes. As
children we enjoyed family summer holidays staying with Bertie and Marjorie
at the rectory, just across the road from the church (it's now the Old
Rectory and a private home). Jane knows it well too, having lived
just a few miles away at Gerrans. The church has a long history,
reputed to have been founded by St. Anthony in the 6th century on a spot
said to have been visited by tin merchant Joseph of Arimathea and his nephew
Jesus! Remarkably, although the Celtic Church submitted to the rule
of Rome in 664 AD, St. Just remained Celtic until the middle of the 10th
century. The church is attractive from the outside but is disappointing
inside, having been over-restored in the 19th century. The real attraction
is the location, deep in a wooded valley with the waters of a little creek
lapping the churchyard walls below the lower lych gate - unusually there
are two lych gates - and the sub-tropical garden planted in the sloping
churchyard by an enterprising Victorian rector. The churchyard is
sufficiently steep that from the upper lych gate you are looking over the
church tower. The church is easy to find; a sign on the road
to St. Mawes points to St. Just
Church and Bar - perhaps an illustration of the saying about thirsting after righteousness? |
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Church tower
seen through upper lych gate
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More St. Just-in-Roseland
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More St.
Just-in-Roseland Church
In
late August 2019 I revisited
St. Just in Roseland, primarily for the church. However, I also
discovered that things had changed since I was last there.
Opposite the little car park above the churchyard is now a fairly
classy cafe-cum-tearoom called Mrs. V's after owner Vanessa
Vercoe. Open daily from 10 to 5, it serves primarily lunches and
cream teas. Above it is a large new car park. It has indoor,
outdoor and undercover outdoor seating. We enjoyed a good but
fairly expensive smoked salmon and cream cheese sandwich. Then
Jane and I split up. We had brought two dogs with us, Jane's
usual borrowed Collie, Meg, and artist neighbour Tony's spaniel
Poppy. While I had a walk around the lovely churchyard garden and
went into the church for a thorough look around and photographs, Jane
and the dogs walked the two miles into St. Mawes, where we met up
again. Although I had long known St. Just, ever since staying
with the then Rector, my father's cousin Bertie, way back in 1957, I
had never previusly had a good look around inside the church, having
preferred to enjoy the wonderful churchyard garden, created by famed
Cornish gardener, John Treseder. I would like to think that it is
his descendant who has a nursery on the road from Bodmin to
Bugle. Inside the church, the most noticeable feature is the
series of biblical texts all around the wall-plate. To a fair
extent, the interior is the creation of the Rev. C. W. Carlyon, who
restored the church in 1872, including the biblical texts. Much
of
the interior is actually by the hand of Carlyon, including pulpit, pews
and clergy seat. The charming roof bosses are not old; they
were designed by John Phillips and carved by Charles Moore in
1990. The octagonal font is 15th century. A painted panel
of the Lords's Prayer by the south door dates from 1693. A brass
on the east wall of the aisle shows a priest in choir cope and probably
dates from 1505. Reading all this in Pevsner, before my visit,
added to my interest and enjoyment.
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Jane, Meg & Poppy at St. Just
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St. Just Church Pulpit
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Colourful Dove Roof Boss
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St. Keverne
When I walked from
St.
Keverne village to Porthoustock
and Porthallow in
November 2005, I made a point of being back in time to have a good look
at this fascinating church. The first thing to strike you is that
it is probably built on an older pagan site, raised as it is on a platform
higher than the surrounding village. Steps lead you up through a
massive lych gate, still complete with its coffin rest. The big perpendicular
windows suggest the 15th century but inside tells a different story.
Here is a round headed arch to the north door and a lancet window to its
left, both of the 11th or 12th century. Between the two is a medieval
wall painting of St. Christopher, patron saint of travellers.
Furnishing is a mixed
bag. Many early bench-ends were retained when the church was refurbished
in the 1930s; mostly they represent the Passion but some commemorate
local families. The small but handsome carved pulpit is Jacobean.
Memorials include a brass plate remembering a Titanic victim and
another the Primrose, wrecked on the nearby Manacles rocks in 1809. The
east window commemorates the hundred or more who lost their lives on the
Manacles in the Mohegan in 1898. Half are buried in a mass
grave outside the north door. My information is from the excellent
guide leaflet.
More images
of St. Keverne |
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| Reached by B3293,
off A3083 Helston to Lizard Town |
St. Keverne
church - gothic windows, spire, palms
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More
Images of St. Keverne
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Detail of the
Rood Screen
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Churchyard
looks towards Falmouth
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The elaborate
Carved Stone Font
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St. Kew, St. James and St. Kewa's Church
| The
first thing you notice about St. Kew is the charming juxtaposition of St. James
Church and the excellent New Inn; surely
yet another illustration of the saying about thirsting after righteousness. St.
Kew is the 'churchtown' of an extensive but little populated parish in North
Cornwall. Now of little importance, except for its church and excellent
eponymous hostelry, in medieval times it was a centre of some importance.
The names of its relatively few buildings bear witness to this former
importance. The church of St. James the Great - an unusual dedication -
is believed once to have been the site of a Celtic monastery and indeed is
apparently mentioned as early as the 6th century. Consisting of nave, two
aisles and a tall three stage tower, it is noteworthy for its three wagon
roofs, its stained glass (much admired by Pevsner), its original rood stairs,
its much later elaborate rood screen, its elaborately carved font. There
is a handsome pulpit, remains of a lantern cross and an unusual stone carved in
Latin and Ogham scripts. Outside is a tall but damaged Celtic Cross and
elaborate triple bank of steps up from the road. Adjacent is the admired
St. Kew Inn, itself probably originally of the 15th century; an elaborate evening menu is counter-balanced by simpler lunchtime
snacks. Southeast is the large former vicarage. Other
interesting buildings include The Barton, Barton Farm and The Grange. |
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St. Kew Carved Angel at Wall Plate
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St. Kew Elaborate Pulpit
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St. Kew Lantern Cross
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St. Keyne
Reached by winding lanes from Liskeard, if you continue beyond St. Keyne you come to Duloe.
There is not much to St. Keyne but on the south-east side is the Church
of St. Keyne. It stands on a mound (lann), raised well above the
road suggesting, as so often in Cornwall, a pre-Christian site.
Opposite the church is the "Little Old School House" oriiginally, to
judge by its tallet steps, a barn of some sort. South-east of the
church is St. Keyne's Holy Well, which Pevsner describes as "the most famous of English holy wells."
A little way beyond that is the Well House Hotel. Surprisingly,
for an hotel with an AA 3 rosette restaurant, it seems to have no
web site though it may just be a wedding venue these days (2017),
having been bought by a German company a few years ago. On
earlier visits I had found the church closed and it was only at the end
of April 2018 that I finally found it open. Like a number of
Cornish churches, what you think you see is not necessarily what you
actually see. St. Keyne is an example:
apparently medieval gothic, it is really largely a rebuilding by noted
Victorian architect J P St. Aubyn; only the 15th century tower is
largely untouched. The roof dates from St. Aubyn's time with
scissored trusses with cambered collars with arch-bracing (I quote
Pevsner). There are some fine slate memorials, notably to John
Edgcumbe and John Hicks. The plain octagonel font is of the 15th
century. The pulpit, unusually, is three-sided. Stained
glass is of the early 20th century. The altar, unusually, was
decorated with flowers when I saw it.
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Little Old
School House, once a barn
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St. Keyne Church
stands on a mound
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St. Keyne's Holy
Well
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St. Levan
in West Penwith
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Jane and I had seen
St. Levan church before in 2004 when we had done a round walk from Porthcurno
to Gwennap Head and back. In July 2008 I had time to spare in West
Penwith after checking out a problem on the Land's
End Trail. So I parked in St. Levan to take a closer look
at the church, to visit St. Levan's Well and Baptistry on the cliffs above
Porth Chapel and to get some photos at Porthgwarra. What I found
proved to be an interesting church with a fascinating churchyard.
The church is largely 15th century but with an older tower. Inside
are an ancient holy water stoup in the porch; carved roof
bosses and a Norman font in the south aisle and rood stairs in the south
wall; the rood screen is not original. Outside are two
ancient cross heads and a handsome tall carved Cornish cross;
and the St. Levan Stone, split in two and said to have been venerated in
pre-Christian times. Most remarkable are the two lych gates.
Both have seats and coffin rests, neither has a roof; both
have coffen stiles, the top one open to prevent animals straying from the
field above. If you leave by the lower lych gate and take the path
to Porth Chapel, a popular family beach, you will encounter St.
Levan's Well and Baptistry, just above the beach. |
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The upper lych
gate leads to a path to Porthcurno
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There is parking
(small charge in season) just above the church |
| Notable modern features
within the church are a granite and bronze low-relief, by local artist
Judy Reed, of St. Levan blessing three sea bream (he was a keen
fisherman) and modern carved commemorative bench ends, nicely continuing
the Cornish tradition. The ancient bench ends in the church include
one of two fish, presumably bream, one with a hook in its mouth, presumably
caught by St. Levan. |
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St. Mabyn
| I
have been in St. Mabyn on several occasions:
in the course of walks, solo and with Jane; for lunch on several occasions at the
excellent St. Mabyn Inn; and to
photograph the church in September 2016 and in April 2019. Before entering, do look out for the Cornish Cross
at the eastern end of the churchyard. The plan of this largely 15th and 16th century church is typically Cornish with
nave, two aisles and a three stage pinnacled tower. As you enter, you are
greeted (or, at least, I was) by a colourful St. Mabena banner where you might
expect St. Christopher. Inside are three fine wagon roofs with carved
bosses. Rood stairs remain intact though, of course, the rood loft is
long gone. The font, which Pevsner suggests is of Purbeck stone, dates
from Norman times. Sadly, chairs have replaced the pews so, in this instance
no chance of any carved bench ends, though the choir stalls are attractive. The Norman font is of Purbeck stone. An attractive pulpit may be of Portland
stone. A credence table has a 16th
century panel which Pevsner suggests is from an earlier pulpit, though the
church's website disagrees. The east
window, though Victorian, is in 16th century style and there are fragments of
medieval glass in the aisle windows. |
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St. Mabyn Choir Stalls
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Cornish Cross
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St. Mabyn Stained Glass
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St. Martin-in-Meneage
| On
a sunny Saturday in late February I headed down to the Lizard peninsula to take
a close look at a couple of churches, that of St. Mawgan in Mawgan-in-Meneage
and that of St. Martin-in-Meneage. St.
Martin's church is south of the village but at St. Martin I had a pleasant
surprise: I knew that, remotely
situated, the church would be locked and I was just planning on exterior
photos. However, while I was sitting
there enjoying my soup and sandwich before leaving, who should arrive but a lady
churchwarden, so I was able to take my photographs inside as well. The tower is original, of the 15th century,
but the rest of the church was rebuilt after a fire in 1830; note the use of serpentine blocks in the
external walls. As the church is
essentially a simple rectangle it feels more like a Methodist chapel of the
period. Entrance is through an unusual
blue door in the tower. One font is
perhaps the oldest thing about St. Martins, while the other is Norman with corner shafts and
foliate decoration.
Pews are simple unornamented benches, relieved by a few colourful
kneelers. There are a couple of
attractive hangings, one of the Lord's Prayer, the other a pictorial of the
village by local schoolchildren. In the
churchyard I noticed a white camellia and a sundial minus its gnomon. |
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St. Martin Tower Door
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St. Martin Old Font
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St. Martin Hanging
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St. Mawes
| There
is really no parking here so you will need to park in town - quay or main car
park - and walk up very steep Church Hill to visit St. Mawes Church. This small church was built in the early 19th
century (and rebuilt in 1881) as a chapel of ease to the main church in St.
Just in Roseland. It is in the Early English style and is topped by a
slate-hung bell-cote. Inside, the roof
is arch-braced, springing from granite corbels.
Grisaille stained glass is by Powell and Sons and F W Skeat; two other stained glass windows illustrate the story of St.
Maw. The unusual font is hexagonal with
quatrefoil carving. Four steps lead up
to a pulpit of only two sides. There are
some attractive kneelers. One gets the
impression that, despite the wealth of St. Mawes village, this is a poor church
of but minor importance. |
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St. Maw sails for Armorica
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St. Mawes Church Spire
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St. Maw instructs his disciples
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St. Mawgan (or Mawgan-in-Pydar), St. Mawgan's Church
|
I
first encountered St. Mawgan (technically Mawgan-in-Pydar, Pydar being one of
the old "hundreds" of Cornwall, county divisions dating back to Saxon
times) back in February 2006, when Jane and I tried the Falcon Inn, recommended
by friends. We liked the Falcon but,
even more, we were taken with the charming village of St. Mawgan. Since then I have been back on many
occasions, most particularly in 2016 and 2017, when I was there with the
camera, photographing village, church and Cornish Crosses. I have also done a couple of good coastal round
walks from there. When visiting the
church, do look carefully around the churchyard for the several Cornish Crosses: in addition to those in the churchyard, there is another in the grounds of
adjacent Lanherne Convent church. The Church of
St. Mawgan stands below Lanherne House, at the top of a sloping churchyard, and
is approached through a slate roofed stone lych gate. The church dates from the 13th century with
additions in the 15th and 16th centuries and restoration in 1861 by William
Butterfield. It is a substantial church,
consisting of nave and chancel, north and south transepts and aisles to nave
and chancel. The three-stage tower is
unusual in that it is not, as is normal, at the west end but rather to the
south of the south transept. It has a
stair turret to its north-east corner. The south chancel aisle is of local Catacleuse
stone. All ceilings are of the later
19th century, the ribs of the chancel ceiling being decorated in delicate
polychrome. The font is 12th century, of
the Bodmin type with a circular bowl on four columns of Devon marble. The rood screen remains in place but crosses
just the nave with no sign of rood or rood stairs. A parclose screen, like the rood screen, is
by Butterfield. The altar table in the
south chancel aisle has open cusped panels.
In a corner by the chancel is a shield topped by a bishop's mitre. In
the floor at the east end of the chancel aisle are 15th and 16th century
brasses of the Arundell family of Lanherne.
Late 19th century stained glass is by Clayton and Bell; that of the early 20th century by Percy Bacon. There are some good monuments of the 17th and
18th centuries. An excellent collection
of bench ends appears to be of the Tudor period.
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St. Mawgan Church & Lych Gate
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Bishop's Arms
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The Rood Screen
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Mawgan-in-Meneage, St. Mawgan's Church
On a sunny Saturday in late
February I headed down to the Lizard peninsula to take a close look at
two churches, that of St. Mawgan in Mawgan-in-Meneage and that of St. Martin-in-Meneage.
The daffodil festival.had been held over for an extra week at St.
Mawgan; delightful as it was, I had hoped for a clear
un-daffodilled view of the interior of the church, so I shall have to
visit again at a later date. At. St. Martin I had a pleasant
surprise. I expected that, remotely situated, the church would be
locked and I was just planning on exterior photos. However, while
I was enjoying my soup and sandwich before leaving, who should arrive
but a lady churchwarden so I was able to take my photographs inside as
well. St.Mawgan's church is in a fairly isolated position away
from the main part of the village. The extensive graveyard,
raised as ir is, suggests a lann.
The three stage tower is of the 15th century but thwe body of the
church is mostly 13th century and conssts ofnave, north aisle and north
and south transepts, the latter linked to the chancel by a
squint. There are Cornich wagon roofs to the porvh, nave, north
transept and north aisle, the latter richly carved. There are two
fonts in the south transept, one circular, the other hexagonal.
In the south rtansept is a fine recesed tomb with the marble figures of
Sir Roger Carminow and his wife. There are several good monuments
to members of the Vyell family. In the north aisle the wagon roof
the wagon roof is supported by angels and has a variety of carved
bosses. The lectern is a delight, of red and green serpentine,
found only on The Lizard. Stained glass is late Victorian.
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Porch Angel Roof Support
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Mawgan-in-Meneage Carminowe Monument
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Serpentine Lectern
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St. Mellion, Landrake, Landulph & Botus Fleming
| In
late August 2017 I had another expedition to the south-east, this time
primarily to St. Mellion - but not to the famous golf course. I was there to visit four churches,
St.Mellion, Landrake, Landulph and Botus Fleming. The first two were open, the latter two
closed, so it was a half successful expedition.
At Landulph and Botus Fleming I merely took exterior photographs, including a
nice porch sundial. At Landulph, I found an interesting
farmhouse and barn named, if the letterbox is to be believed, Four Shilling Park. At Botus Fleming there was alos a crude wall
memorial to "M Brown 1734". St.
Mellion church is largely of the 14th century and consists of Nave, Aisle,
South Transept housing the Coryton Chapel and a three-stage tower. The Coryton Chapel has many fine and
elaborate monuments, including a brass of 1551.
The Corytons are local landowners at Pentillie. The pulpit is Jacobean. The font
cover is topped by a brass eagle. The
nave has a wagon roof with carved bosses.
Landrake church, with its 100
foot tower, on top of a hill can be seen from miles. Inside I found wagon roofs, a Norman font
like that at Altarnun, and a brass of 1509 to Edward Cowtney, Lord of Wootton
in Landrake. The nave ceiling has carved and coloured
bosses similar to those at St. Nectan's.
At Botus Fleming there is a
rustic sundial on the porch and, on a wall near it a crude memorial to "M
Brown 1734". |
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St. Mellion Church
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Landrake Church ceiling boss
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Landulph Church
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St. Merryn
| This is really quite
an impressive church for a small village. I visited it on a warm,
sunny Saturday in July 2016, on a day when I also managed to visit the
churches at St. Issey and St. Ervan and even managed to include Prynnhenge,
the remarkable small garden of the remarkable self-proclaimed bard, Ed
Prynn. Oddly, the church is not in St. Merryn itself but in Treveglos,
a quarter mile east of the village. Parts are Norman or medieval
but the greater part of the church dates from the 15th century. Although
long, the roofline is relatively low so the massive tower rather dwarfs
it. As in so many Cornish churches, there are stocks in the porch.
As you enter, you face an elaborate, but smaller than often, Royal coat
of arms. Above you are wagon roofs. As you can see from the photo
on the right, the decorated font is of the local blue Cataclews stone,
as are the piers dividing the aisle from the nave. There is a nicely
carved, though not old, pew in the choir. In the chancel is a colourful
and elaborate reredos. A window in the chapel carries an engraved
memorial to Group Captain Bertram Barthold. Opposite the church is
the Cornish Arms, part of the Rick Stein Empire which dominates nearby
Padstow. |
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| B3276 Padstow-Newquay road. Car park. |
The font is
of local blue Cataclews stone
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St. Mewan
This
is not a church of any great significance.
I include it only because it is not far from another church which I have
included in my descriptions, that at St. Stephen--in-Brannel, a few miles west
of St. Austell. St. Mewan is just to the
north of the A390 road from St. Austell to Grampound and Truro, on a minor road
that leads to Trewoon. I visited St.
Stephen and St. Mewan on a dull, drizzly Friday in mid-June 2019. Normally,
my church visits are on a Saturday
but St. Stephen's regular opening day is Friday, so I thought I had
little choice; as it turned out, St. Stephen's was closed then
but I was able to arrange with very helpful priest, Emma Childs, for a
visit on Saturday the following week. The
church stands within a raised lann, within it a small graveyard, a tall
WWII memorial, and a seat, similar to one I have seen in Saltash,
acting as a WWI memorial. The first thing to notice about St.
Mewan is
its tower. This was originally intended
to be impressively tall but, in the event. was not continued above the second
stage though, unusually, it is topped by a low pyramidal roof. The body of the church was begun in the 12th
century and was originally intended to be cruciform but was extensively rebuilt, and then restored, in the 19th century.
Original parts include part of the nave wall and the chancel
windows. The octagonal font is late 14th century but stands on a Norman base; a tiny early font stands near it.
In the chancel, the piscina is 13th century. Unexpected
are the litany desks in the quire , their ends topped with figures of
Saints Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The pulpit, presumably
Victorian, has carved decoration. Stained glass is of the late
19th
century. The reredos behind the altar carries four
small shields, which I could not identify. What, at first glance,
appears to be royal arms, is in fact a memorial to Sr Francis
Layland-Barratt and dates from the mid 20th century.
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Leyland-Barratt Arms
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St.Mewan Church on its raised lann
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St. Mewan Litany Desk
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St. Michael Caerhays
| It
seems quite odd that St. Michaels Caerhays Church should be all of a mile (by
road) from Caerhays Castle, on whose estate it stands. However, the part Norman church long predates
the early 19th century 'Castle', a Gothick mansion, overlooking the sea, begun
in 1808 by John Nash for John Bettesworth-Trevanion. The church consists of three-stage
crenellated tower, nave, truncated south aisle and north transept. Pevsner thinks the 16th century south aisle was
probably built as a chantry chapel for the Trevanions of Caerhays Castle in the
early 16th century. St. Michael was
restored in 1864 and again in 1883 by the ubiquitous J P St. Aubyn. Almost all the stained glass windows were
designed by Revd. William Willimott, rector here from 1852 to 1878. He also designed the attractive mosaic
reredos, the parclose screens and probably the commandment tablets. The circular font, decorated with foliage, is
Norman. The pulpit is simple Victorian
dark oak on a light stone plinth.
Monuments are a 1769 one of William Trevanion and a 1819 one of
Charlotte Trevanion, which Pevsner finds the most attractive item in
the church. A life-size statue in naval uniform is of
Captain George Bettesworth, related to the Bettesworth-Trevanions of Caerhays Castle,
who died in 1808. There are a couple of
attractive early bench ends; I wonder
what happened to the rest?
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Bettesworth Statue
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St. Michael's Church, Caerhays
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Caerhays Bench End
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St. Nectans
| I visited
St. Nectan's Chapel, not far from Boconnoc, in early July 2017, essentialy in search of a
Cornish Cross that I had spotted on OS 107.
It is a couple of miles east of Lostwithiel, tucked away up a dead end
lane, south of the A390 road to Liskeard. I visited in search of a Cornish Cross but
found much more of interest. In fact
there are two crosses, one in the churchyard, to the right as you enter, the
other is built into a stile at the south east corner of the churchyard. Oddly, assuming the second is really a
Cornish Cross, the stone is square in shape.
The chapel itself is odd, having a truncated tower, topped by a small
bellcote, damaged in the Civil War in the Battle of Braddock. The porch has a wagon roof with carved wooden
bosses. Inside is a simple font and a
piscina carrying two primitive faces.
The great surprise is that all along the junction of wall and ceiling is
a series of (I presume) wooden bosses, carved and painted and depicting the
oddest things. They include a hand, a
foot, dice, a ladder and a bag of money.
A little surprisingly Pevsner, who is usually very comprehensive, makes
no mention of these bosses; could they
be later than 1952? They are, however, mentioned on Historic England's web site,
described as "instruments of the Passion in shields on arcade plate". |
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Cornish Cross
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St. Nectan's Church
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Ceiling Boss
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St.
Michael Penkevil
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I visited St. Michael
Penkevil church in early April 2017. I had twice previously passed
it, but not stopped to investigate, after visiting the garden at Tregothnan,
which you leave past the church. Though on a public road the church
is part of the Boscawen family's private estate, reached by a turning by
Tresillian
Church.. The Boscawens, now Lords Falmouth, originate from West Penwith,
near Lamorna, where the ancestral home still nears the name of Boscawen
Farm. The churchyard is raised high above the road, causing one to
wonder whether this might have been a pre-Christian site. Unusually
the church, its stair-turretted tower and porch are all buttressed, making
it appear older than its 19th century rebuilding. Again unusually,
there is no lych gate. Inside the porch is part of an old font.
Inside the church are a carved font, a fine partly marble pulpit and an
eagle lectern. There are two flamboyantly detailed reredoses, that
in the south transept dating from around 1300. There are some monuments
to members of the Boscawen family including one to Admiral Boscawen, designed
by Robert Adam and sculpted by Rysbrack. Brasses include John Trembras,
rector of the parish, died 1515, and others of the 15th to 17th centuries.
There are attractive cottages to the south-east of the church, and the
former village pump stands on the green. |
St. Michael
Penkevil, note the odd stair turret
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From A390 St. Austell - Truro, bear L after Tresillian church |
| Revd Canon Dr Lynda
Barley, Canon Pastor of Truro Cathedral and Priest-in-charge of Tresillian
and St Michael Penkivel, points out to me the appropriateness of adjacent
memorials in St. Michael Penkevil. A window in the south wall contains
a modern depiction of the Widow of Nain story in the gospels, about the
son raised from the dead by Jesus. It is deliberately adjacent to the memorial
to Lord Falmouth’s older brother who was killed in the second world war. |
| THE NAME: Here
is an oddity. It may be spelled Penkevil but was once
Penkivel
and is mostly still pronounced that way. |
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The
Three Churches of St. Minver Parish
On
a hot late August Sunday we did a walk to take a look at the three churches
in St. Minver Parish on the Camel estuary. This is Jane's home territory;
she was raised in Trebetherick and Rock
in the parish. We parked above Daymer Bay, walked across St. Enodoc
golf course to St. Enodoc church and the Jesus
Well, down through Rock to the Camel estuary for pasties at the Rock Inn,
across the beach to St. Michael Porthilly, through pasture land to St.
Menefreda's in St. Minver, and by Roserrow golf course back to Daymer Bay.
You could do this by car for the churches, or as an eight mile walk, using
OS Explorer sheet 106. Refreshments in Rock; Fourways
Inn in St. Minver was poor (2013 believed much improved); the clubhouse
at Roserrow (now The Point at Polzeath) serves excellent good value food.
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St. Enodoc Church
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The Jesus Well
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St. Michael
Porthilly
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St. Menefreda's
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| Stranded within a
golf course above Daymer Bay, the tiny church stands on a site holy since
the 6th century. The church, with its stubby twisted spire, had to
be dug out from sand-dunes in 1863; its steep churchyard is now protected
by tall tamarisks. Poet Laureate John Betjeman is buried here.
The lych gate retains its coffin rest. |
The Well is also stranded
in the golf course. Legend has it that St. Enodoc baptised converts
here in the 6th century, when he had a monastic cell on the site of the
church. Why it is called the Jesus Well is another question. I guess
this is one of the places that tin-trader Joseph of Arimathea is supposed
to have brought the young Jesus. |
Location makes this
charming little 14th century church, above a sandy beach on the Camel estuary.
It once belonged to Bodmin Priory to which the adjacent farmhouses belonged.
Notable inside are the wagon roof, Norman font and slate memorial to the
Rounseualls. Outside, near the entrance, is a 6th century Celtic
cross. |
This church is in
St. Minver Highlands and is mostly 15th century. Features include
carved oak bench ends, a slate memorial to the Stone family and a board
carrying a 'letter' from Charles I. |
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St. Minver,
St. Menefreda's
| Although I have driven
through St. Minver many a time on the way to Rock I visited St.Menefreda's
church in the little village of St. Minver near Rock for the first time
in June 2016. The first thing that strikes you as you approach the
village is the spire of the church. That is unusual enough for Cornwall
but the nature of the spire is even more unusual, described by Pevsner
as "octagonal with plain broaches at the corners and tall narrow gabled
dormers in the sides between". The appoach to the lych gate is
along an attractive terrace of cottages (photo right). On a bank
beyond the porch is a very simple Cornish Cross. The church consists
of nave and two aisles, the north one quite narrow. The rood screen,
oddly, is set into the tower arch. The floor is of coloured tiles.
There are fine mid 16th century carved bench ends, 16th century communions
rails, and an octagonal 15th century font with tracery panels. There
is some rich stained glass and a nice 1517 brass to Roger Opy. A
board dated 1783 has painted figures of bellringers and a rhyme about
them. There are some attractive cottages in the village, particularly
on the road to Rock and the one down to the Old Vicarage. The Fourways
Inn is a pleasant pub with an ambitious menu of mainly local produce but
doesn't appear to do lunchtime bar food. |
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More St. Menefreda's in St. Minver
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Pretty cottages
on the approach to the Lych Gate
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St. Minver, more St. Menefreda's in
St. Minver
|
I
had last been in St. Minver to visit St.Menefreda's Church in November
2016. In early July 2019, as I was
visiting tiny St. Michael's Church at Porthilly, I decided to take another look
at St. Menefreda's Church. I was very
glad I did as I had quite forgotten about the fine collection of early carved
bench ends there and the handsome pew back made of seven bench ends. However, perhaps the most noteworthy feature
of this church is the spire, unusually for Cornwall a broach spire and with a
touch of a lean to it, though nothing like the lean and twist of St. Mary and
All Saints in Chesterfield in Derbyshire.
I hope the photo below gives an idea of how the spire looks, though my
close proximity to it meant that the crookedness was somewhat exaggerated. On this visit I was particularly struck by
the carved medieval bench ends, by my count 44 of them. One is topped by what may be an eagle of
perhaps a mythical bird. Against the
west wall is a highly ornamental Norman capital, found in 1927. The letter from King Charles II is remarkably
well preserved on its wooden board. There
are wall-mounted marble memorials to members of the Sandys family. Another is to John Darrell of Trewornan. Rood stairs are long gone but there remains
the rood loft opening but no corresponding stair opening.
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Cornish Cross in Churchyard
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St. Menefreda's Crooked Spire
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Carved Bench End
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St.
Anietus Church at St. Neot
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St.
Neot is a charming village on the southern edge of Bodmin
Moor, well worth visiting for itself and its church. The
origins of St. Anietus - his name was later corrupted to St. Neot - are
not known. He may have been either Cornish or Saxon and some claim
his remains may be found at St. Neot's, Huntingdonshire. Whatever
the truth of that, his church, on the edge of Bodmin Moor, should not be
missed. It stands on a small eminence above the London Inn, its two
churchyard gates of wrought iron. By the south porch stand four Cornish
Crosses, including the tall shaft of what must have been one of the finest.
Inside, barrel vaulted roofs have carved bosses and all is light and airy.
It would be a fine church without its glass; with the glass
it is unmissable. Dating from around 1530, much is original, that
which was restored in 1830 was well done. Scenes from the bible include
the Creation, the Flood and the Last Supper. Noah's Ark, rather appropriately
for maritime Cornwall, appears as a three-masted sailing ship! There
is also a window of heraldic shields and others to the glory of the local
gentry. This is surely the finest medieval glass to be found in Cornwall
and, save for Fairford in Gloucestershire, may well be the finest in any
parish church in Britain.
St. Neot Flower Festival 2017.
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St. Anietus
Church
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St. Neot is just
ten minutes from Golitha
Falls |
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St. Neot Church Flower Festival 2017
We
are very fond of St. Neot village and especially of its church with its
superb stained glass. So when we learned that there was to be a
flower festival in the church at the end of August 2017 we jumped at
the chance of going. There was a small charge (for charity) to
enter the church but it was well worth it for the superb and
imaginative arrangements, including a circular flower carpet.
Refreshments included some surprisingly good Cornish Pasties. We
walked round the rest of the village, too, including what most people
will have missed, the now well-established Comumity Garden in the
valley below the village. The statue of St. Neot is there, with a
fawn and a fish, his symbols.
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Colourful phone box
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St. Neot Statue
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Church Flowers
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St. Newlyn East, St. Newlina's Church
| This
is one of the many churches in Cornwall built on an older religious site, a
raised area known as a lann. The church is best approached from the south,
through a lych gate and along a path lined with old tombstones. As you enter the prominent south porch you
notice two things. Above the doorway is
a small and colourful statue, presumably St. Newlina. To the left of the doorway to the body of the
church is another door, looking as if it leads to (presumably now non-existent)
stairs. As with so many Cornish
churches, St. Newlina's is of Norman origins and some Norman work remains. The present church is mostly of the 13th to
16th centuries but had a major make-over by J D Sedding in 1883. Sedding's work includes some fine carved
woodwork and new roofs over the nave, chancel and south aisle, using the
original ceiling bosses. The roof of the
north transept is original. The rood
screen is also the work of Sedding and includes an elaborate rood loft into which
he incorporated traceried panels from the original screen in his parclose
screen. The font is Norman, of the Bodmin
type, angel faces at each corner but the columns replaced with columns of
serpentine from The Lizard. 16th century bench ends are capped with heraldic lions and leopards, a
device found in a few other Cornish churches.
Pevsner reports a much eroded Lantern Head Cornish Cross near the
font; I failed to spot it. The Royal Arms are of Charles I and are of
brightly painted and gilded plasterwork.
Some nice kneelers include a musical one with trombone, a heavy horse,
and a strange Cornish Coat of Arms with the 15 bezants, a crown, two white
feathers, two Cornish Choughs and the Dutch name "Homout".
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Newlyn East Church
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Double Bench End
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Highly decorated Chancel Ceiling
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St. Teath, St. Tetha's Church
| St. Tetha's Church lies almost
directly across the road from the excellent White Hart Inn in St.
Teath. To the right is the entrance to the graveyard, by its gate
a tall Cornish Cross. To the left steps lead up to a handsome lych
gate. The church lies to the left of the path, a
stair turret on the north face of its tower. I had driven through
St. Teath on a number of occasions, most particularly when heading for
the general area of Trebarwith and Trewarmet, on one occasion when preparing an item on Prince of
Wales Engine House, on others when doing round walks from Jeffrey's Pit, one taking in Delabole
Quarry, another including well known Trebarwith
Strand. On this occasion my expedition was first to revisit St. Tudy to have a detailed look around its church, then to explore St.
Teath. This is a slightly difficult village; a narrow road
winds through it with little in the way of pavement and there is little
parking unless you can justify using the White Hart Inn's vast car
park. The obvious focus of the village is the church but there
are also some attractive cottages up lanes to the south of the
church. Opposite the pub a small square is dominated by a clock
tower; behind it is the church on a raised circular site,
probably of pre-historic significance. The church is dedicated to
St. Tetha, though to be one of the twenty four daughters of fecund Welsh King
Brychan. The church consists of nave, two aisles and a three
stage tower. Inside are handsome roofs with carved bosses, a
carved pulpit
bearing a coat of arms, carved choir stall fronts, some good bench ends
and a font that appears to be of blue Catacleuse stone. A former
church hall,
on the edge of the churchyard, now operates as a snooker hall.
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Stithians
| I
visited Stithians in early September 2017 and was fortunate in having a warm
and sunny day which gave me the chance to take some good photographs. I had not previously been in Stithians
village though I had been to Stithians Lake on several occasions, including one
when Jane and I walked the full circuit of the lake, and a couple of occasions
when I had stopped there to eat my sandwiches.
The only particularly interesting part of the village is the very
northern end where the church is. I had gone
there primarily for the Cornish Crosses, one in the churchyard, another in the
grounds of the Old Rectory opposite. The
church itself is of no special interest.
Of standard constructions it has tower, nave and two aisles. Monuments include a handsome wall one to
William Trewin. There is a conventional octagonal
font with an interesting and elaborate wooden cover. The unusual altar cloth features a map of the
parish. Stithians is probably best known
for its annual agricultural show.
Stithians Lake, a reservoir, is home to minor water sports including
wind-surfing, canoeing and paddle boarding;
a cafe is open there in season.
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Unusual Memorial
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Stithians Church
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Old Rectory Cornish Cross
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St. Stephen-in-Brannel
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St. Stephen, more of a small town than a village is, perhaps, most
notable for having a major car dealer, Hawkins, which is Cornwall's largest Peugeot
dealer. It is also notable for being
the former centre of the chinastone industry, related to the china clay
industry further north. Indeed, back in 2016
I spent an interesting day exploring the chinastone mills, set in hilly
woodland. On the same day, I tried to
visit the church but it was closed and I had to content myself with
photographing its Cornish Crosses. Brief
research told me that the church is open on Fridays so I made the trip there on
a Friday in mid-June 2019. Unfotunately
it turned out to be closed again but an email to priest Emma Childs secured
me an appointment to meet a helpful churchwarden in the church. The
basis of
the present church is 15th century but it is evident from the fine 12th
century
south doorway that the church's origins were Norman. Major restorations, as with so many Cornish
churches took place in the mid and late 19th century. The plan is of chancel and north and south
aisles. The interior is spacious. Stained glass includes a charming east window
by George Cooper Abbs with scenes from local agriculture and the china clay industry. Choir stalls and prayer desks are 19th
century Gothic with with stencilled decoration, reflecting the designs of screens to north and
south. The font is late Norman of the
Bodmin type, figures at the corners, between them trees of life and
animals. The communion rail is early
17th century. In the churchyard is a
Cornish Cross, plus the base of what may have been another.
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St. Stephen Church
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Stained Glass Window
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Hitchens Memorial
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Stratton near Bude, St. Andrews Church
| Of
the three churches that I visited on a Saturday towards the end of January 2019,
St. Andrew's in Stratton, set on a hilltop away from the centre of town, was,
to my surprise, by far the most interesting.
But first, may I quote Pevsner on Stratton village. "A medieval settlement that became a
substantial market town and administrative centre, flourishing until the end of
the 19th century when the arrival of the railway in 1898 fuelled the rapid rise
of Bude as a seaside resort. Stratton's gentle
decline in the 20th century has ensured the survival of its charming, coherent
character, its narrow little streets (some
one way) climbing up the hill to the church". The Church of St. Andrew stands on the top
side of a triangle which, from the names, appears one to have contained a
couple of pubs. Despite Stratton's now
relatively diminutive size, St. Andrew's is the mother church of Bude. Unusually, one of the materials used in its
construction was honey-coloured Ham Hill stone, imported from Stoke sub Hamdon
in Somerset. Roofs throughout are of the
Cornish Wagon type. The north aisle
dates from the 14th century but was largely rebuilt in the 19th century at
which time much restoration was carried out.
The screen is perhaps the most striking feature, extending the full
width of the church and the work of E H Sedding, completed in 1913; its rood and rood stair are still in
place. There is a fine collection of
bench ends, though Pevsner thinks little of them. The font is simple and circular with an
elaborate, presumably Victorian, cover.
The pulpit is 17th century with panels consisting of simple arches. There is a good collection of stained glass
including work by Morris & Co and Burne-Jones. A pictorial altar cloth is (I think) of the
three wise men (or is it of the three kings?);
behind is wooden panelling, above a five-arched reredos. Pevsner says that the large Royal Arms is of
Charles I but looks to me to be of George I.
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The "Clink" Door
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Stratton St.Andrew Rood Screen
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Bench End
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St.
Swithin, Launcells near Strattton,
| I visited Launcells,
tucked away apparently in the middle of nowhere, when on my way to Tamar
Lakes for a walk there and on the Bude Canal. Launcells, as a settlement,
is almost non-existent, just the church, a farm and a cottage. The
church of St. Swithin, dating mostly from the 15th and 16th centuries,
is set on a bank above one of the arms of the little River Neet.
By the river is St. Swithin's holy well. Typically Cornish, the church
has a nave, one aisle and tower of granite, one aisle of Polyphant stone.
The tower has four crocketed pinnacles. Inside are three high wagon
roofs with carved timbers. There is a Victorian Gothick reredos below
the east window. Some flooring is of Barnstaple encaustic tiles,
decorated with lions and, of all things, what appear to be pelicans.
But the woodwork is what takes the eye, even more so than in most Cornish
churches. In the north aisle are a Georgian pulpit, tester and box
pews. The south aisle has Jacobean screens, perhaps part of a former
family pew - and a monument of an armoured Sir John Chamond. Pride
of place goes to the superb Tudor bench ends, each panel an allegory for
a bible story. A spade represents Christ the gardener. Two
footprints on a rock represent the Ascension. Launcells is signed
from the Stratton to Holsworthy road. Ample parking but please heed a warning
not to take the vicar's space. |
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| The church is usually
open from about 10 a.m. |
Launcells church,
on a bank above the river
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St. Tudy
 |
St.
Tudy is a most attractive village which Jane and I first encountered
in July 2006 when the village held an open gardens day. There were
some superb gardens shown, some of them out of the village proper, and
we particularly enjoyed those at Brideswell, Cavalier Cottage and Garlands
House. On this occasion, in mid-September 2016, earlier in the day
I had visited St. Teath and
St.
Kew; later I spent time in
St.
Mabyn. On one fringe of St. Tudy churchyard is a building
which has had many uses;
it's present name derives from its
days as the village lock-up - The Clink. I have to admit to not
being
very keen on St. Tudy church which, after the attractiveness of the
village,
is really something of a disappointment. In the churchyard there
is no ancient Cornish Cross and inside the church, unlike most Cornish
churches, there are no carved bench ends. The porch, with its
carved
roof bosses, promises more than the interior can fulfill, although
there
are more carved roof bosses in the south aisle. On the positive
side,
there is a good Norman font, elaborate Stockton and Nicholl memorials, some fine
slate memorials and a hog-back stone tomb cover, it's shape suggesting
possible Viking origin. However I have to conclude that, in this
instance, it is definitely the village which scores over the
church. More images of St. Tudy Church
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St. Tudy church
in the village centre
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More Images of St. Tudy
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St. Tudy Nicholl Memorial
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Ceiling Boss
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Resurgam Hatchment
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St. Veep
I
had always wanted to visit this strangely named place and to look around its
church. I took the opportunity to do so
on a sunny Saturday in mid-December 2017, on my way to revisit
Lanteglos-by-Fowey and Lansallos. I also
called in briefly to Polruan to find a Cornish Cross halfway up the hill on
Fore Street. I have no explanation for
the name St. Veep since the church is dedicated not to Veep but to Saints
Ciricus and Juletta. Originally founded
by Montacute Priory in 1269, nothing remains of that original church. The present church was founded in 1336 though
only the tower is likely to be of that period.
St. Veep stands within a circular lann
and consists of crenellated tower, nave and south aisle. The first thing to strike you when entering is
the elaborate porch roof with carved wall plates and decorative ceiling
bosses. One might then expect elaborate
Cornish ceilings inside but one is disappointed. What is notable. and unusual, is the tower
screen; its upper sections are panelled
and decorated rather as if they were sixteenth century windows. There is a good slate floor, some of it of
grave slabs. Pews are good and some have
older, medieval, bench ends grafted on to them.
The altar is of marble with consecration crosses. The 17th century pulpit has intricate
carvings, including cross keys and a swan.
Monuments include two worn late 16th century slates commemorating the Courtenay
brothers. More St. Veep
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St. Veep church
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Ancient bench ends in St. Veep church |
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More St. Veep Church
On the late July Saturday when I
re-visited St. Winnow church I also took the opportunity to re-visit
that in St. Veep. On this occasion first I lingered in the porch
and admired the finely carved decoration of the wall-plate, to be found
inside the church as well.. Inside I noted the heavily moulded
capitals of the arcade pillars. Somehow, on my previous visit to
St. Veep, I managed to miss the fact that there is a squint between the
north chancel aisle and the chancel. This time I had no trouble
finding it but I was more than a little puzzled that a couple of jugs
had been placed in it;
surely the point of a squint was for the people to be able to peer
through to see the priest. A most unusual thing that I spotted this
time is that there are two royal coats of arms on the walls - that of
Charles I and that of George I. Another thing that surprised me
was the colourfully painted altar slab. I also noticed a slate
memorial to Sir Nicholas Courteney, surely of the Devon family. I
was also taken by the unusual font, rather hour-glass shaped
and with carved decoration on each of its faces.
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Charles I Royal Arms
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Decorated Hourglass Font
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George I Royal Arms
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St. Wenn
and Withiel
|
I visited the little
villages of St. Wenn and Withiel in late September 2016. Neither
has pub, shop or post office though St. Wenn does have a primary school.
I have to say that, apart from Withiel's colourful organ and St. Wenn's
lych gate, the churches are probably Cornwall's least interesting.
The most striking feature at Withiel is that the church sits up on a great
mound, suggesting pre-historic occupation. Oddly St. Wenn's church
sits below the summit of the hill. Withiel has carved roof bosses
and an eye-catching colourful organ. St. Wenn has a good medieval
font.
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The lych gate at St. Wenn
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South Aisle of Withiel Church
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St. Wenn Revisited
|
Pevsner's current entry for St. Wenna's church is quite brief, less
than half a page. One might therefore
expect a church of little interest. I
didn't find that to be the case but instead found plenty to enjoy. There is a large free village car park a
couple of hundred yards north-east of the church; best to use this and approach the church by
road, passing the school on your left and then taking a small gate into the
churchyard. The tower is less prominent
than it once was. Originally of three
stages, the top stage was lost in a partial collapse in 1825. On your way round to the south porch, pause
on the south side of the tower to admire some of its detail, including the
finely detailed west window over the striking (unused) west doorway. Do note the sundial, not in its usual place over
the doorway of the porch but on the west face of the tower; dated 1855, it bears the inscription "Ye
know not when." A lot has happened
to the church since it was built. The
chancel was rebuilt in 1825 and a major restoration was completed in 1889 by J
P St. Aubyn (who else?). Compared to Cornwall's grander churches the
scale here is relatively intimate. At
the east end, the chancel has 19th century decoration, including a reredos of
the Last Supper. Glass in the east
window is by Powell & Sons and is a striking grisaille with the figure of
the Good Shepherd at its centre. The
font is possibly of the 12th century, of the Bodmin type with zig-zag
decoration, standing on a plain central shaft and supported by four narrow
shafts, each topped by a carved head. Rather
surprisingly, some fine decorative panels, bearing the Lord's Prayer and the
Creed, are hidden away in the vestry. The
Lady Chapel is maintained as a Children's Corner and there are a couple of
attractive modern hangings.
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Good Shepherd Window
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Lord's Prayer & Creed Tiling
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1855 Sundial on Tower Wall
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St. Winnow
| I
was first in St. Winnow with Jane in May 2004.
Later I returned in the course of a round walk from Lerryn that took in
St. Winnow and the Ethy Estate. On
neither occasion did I venture inside the church. However, I was back there in late July 2018
on a sunny Saturday when the church was being decked out for a wedding. The setting is a delight; the churchyard runs down to the banks of the
Fowey River, a little north of its confluence with the River Lerryn. Although there are no ancient Cornish Crosses
in the churchyard, there is a good collection of more recent elaborate crosses,
commemorating members of the Vivian family.
Inside there are very Cornish wagon roofs to the porch, nave and south
aisle; the latter has an elaborately
carved wall-plate. There is some nice
colourful tiling to the chancel floor.
The altar table is Jacobean, the pulpit is of later that century. Perhaps the most important feature of the
interior is the medieval rood screen complete with rood, a relatively rare survival, restored in
1907. In the south-east window there is
important 15th century stained glass.
The east window is of the same period.
The font, with an encircling inscription, carries smiling angels holding
hands. Despite all this
magnificence, the highlight for me was the superb collection of 16th century carved
bench ends, some of Cornwall's best. More St. Winnow
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St.Winnow Church
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Pulpit
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Rood and Chancel Ceiling
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More St. Winnow
I revisited St. Winnow in late July 2019, on a day when I also took another look at the church at St. Veep.
Once again I was especially struck by the superb collection of bench
ends, so I add a couple of photos of some of the most interesting, as
well as one of the lovely font. Bench end motifs include a man
drinking from a flagon, a wheel over a jug and a sailing ship.
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Decorated Font
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Bench End
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Bench End
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Bench End
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South Hill, St. Sampson's Church
| An
unusual dedication, this; there are only
two St. Sampson's in Cornwall, the other at Golant, north of Fowey, overlooking
the Fowey River. South Hill lies about a mile south-east of
Linkinhorne on the road to Callington.
It consists of little more than a couple of farms, a few cottages and
the church. After entering the
churchyard through an ordinary but attractive iron gate (no lych gate here)
look to your left to see a tall stone of no little significance, a Romano-British
pillar, its Latin inscription reading "Cumregni/Fili Mauci"
translating as "Cumregnus, son of Maucus." An early church by Cornish standards, St.
Sampson's was re-dedicated in 1333. The
usual Victorian restoration was by J D Sedding in 1872. The church consists of a buttressed
three-stage tower with carved heads on its west door, a porch, south aisle and
nave. The porch dates from the 15th
century and has a wagon roof with attractive carved bosses. Inside, the church feels lofty and
spacious. Chancel and south aisle also have
wagon roofs. There are good stained
glass windows and a couple of less common plain etched glass; the stained glass
east window in the chancel, of the Decorated period, is particularly fine. The archway to the north transept (the
Manaton Chapel) ia quite striking. The
Norman font is of the St. Austell type, with corner faces, trees of life and
animal carving. There is some nice tile
work on the chancel floor.
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South Hill Inscribed Stone
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Angel Carrying Shield with Cross
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South Hill Pulpit
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South Petherwin and Lawhitton
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At the
beginning of January 2018 I made another trip to the Launceston area, this time
primarily to visit the village of South Petherwin and to take a good look at
its church. On the way I made a detour
to Lawhitton, to the south-east of
Launceston. It was a bit of a wasted
journey as the church was firmly locked.
However I did note one unusual feature;
attached to the east side of the three-stage tower was a stair turret,
itself in an unexpected three stages of square turret. Next, in South
Petherwin, I found car parking for the church and village hall. The latter is quite entertaining, built of
corrugated iron, painted green, and with a nice name plaque, probably designed
by local children. The church is quite
impressive, standing high on a raised enclosure, not uncommon in Cornwall and possibly
of pre-Christian origin. Most
unusually, the entrance to the church is by a north porch. The first thing you notice, before entering, is
a short massive pillar to the right of the porch; Pevsner explains this as a relic of the
Norman church that stood here previously.
Several things took my eye inside.
Wooden ceilings are barrel-vaulted with ribs and carved bosses. The octagonal Jacobean (1631) pulpit is carved
with fine linen-fold panelling. The
lectern has somewhat similar panelling. Elaborate
bench-ends carry figures of angels. The
altar table is decorated with panels of embroidered flowers. An octagonal Norman font stands on a central
column, surrounded by narrower columns.
A chair in the chancel appears to be of early date. A wall monument to Ambrosius Manaton de
Trecarrel is somewhat degraded but appears to date from 1651. There are rood stairs but both openings are
blocked by later wooden doors.
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S. Petherwin pulpit
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South Petherwin ribbed ceiling
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Lawhitton Church
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Stithians
| I
visited Stithians in early September 2017 and was fortunate in having a warm
and sunny day which gave me the chance to take some good photographs. I had not previously been in Stithians
village though I had been to Stithians Lake on several occasions, including one
when Jane and I walked the full circuit of the lake, and a couple of occasions
when I had stopped there to eat my sandwiches.
The only particularly interesting part of the village is the very
northern end where the church is. I was
there primarily for the Cornish Crosses, one in the churchyard, another in the
grounds of the Old Rectory opposite. The
church itself is of no special interest.
Of standard constructions it has tower, nave and two aisles. Monuments include a handsome wall one to
William Trewin. There is a conventional octagonal
font with an interesting and elaborate wooden cover. The unusual altar cloth features a map of the
parish. Stithians is probably best known
for its annual agricultural show.
Stithians Lake, a reservoir, is home to minor water sports including
wind-surfing, canoeing and paddle boarding;
a cafe is open there in season. |
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A Memorial
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Stithians Church and War Memorial
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Rectory Garden Cornish Cross
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Talland, St. Tallanus Church
I shall be visiting Talland later, when the church has reopened to the public.
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Temple
Church (St. Catherine's) on Bodmin Moor
In late March 2006
I had just finished a tiring Copper Trail
walk on Bodmin Moor. Heading
home on the A30 highway, an impulse made me detour briefly to drive through
Temple village. Once it was on an ancient route across Bodmin Moor
but it has long been a backwater. I revisted in early April, after
another walk, this time on East Moor. In the 12th century it was
a place of some significance, boasting a small settlement and church built
by the crusading Knights Templar (what on earth were they doing in Cornwall!).
The Templars held the right to conduct marriages without licence or banns.
As a result dubious marriages were made and the church acquired such a
reputation that locals would say of a woman of ill repute "send her to
Temple Moors", the ultimate ostracism. After Parliament passed the
Marriage Act in 1753, the church saw little use and became ruinous.
Sadly, rather than restoration, the Victorians pulled it down and built
a new church. I say sadly because it would be wonderful to have a
round Templar church in Cornwall. The saving grace is that stone
from the old church was re-used and stones bearing degraded figures and
crosses have been incorporated into wall of the outbuilding to the south
side of the church.
More images of Temple Church
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Temple church
in a sheltered hollow below the village
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More Images of Temple
Church (St. Catherine's) on Bodmin Moor
I revisited Temple Church in
early August 2019. This time I was delighted to find
it open so I was able to take some interior photos. The church is
essentially very simple and its best feature is its stained glass much
of which relates to the founders of the church, the Kights Templar and
their successors here, the Knights Hospitaller.
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Tintagel, St.
Materiana
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The two best things
about
Tintagel are the climb to
the top of the 'Island' in search of King
Arthur and the parish church of St. Materiana, both well away from
the tawdry bustle of the tourist-trap village. Its siting is odd,
stranded on a clifftop to the west of the town; a whole early
settlement must have gone missing here. Inside, a simple Norman granite
font stands on a most unusual plinth of small upright slates set in a checker
pattern, almost as if architect Sir Edwin Lutyens had designed it as part
of one of his unusual garden paths. Wood work in the church is unusual;
the reredos appears to be made of old bench ends which carry carvings of
the Passion and of local coats of arms. From the clifftop beyond
the church you get a view of The Island on which Tintagel
Castle stands. As you walk or drive along Church Hill on
the way to St. Materiana's church, you pass Tintagel Vicarage, the tiny
Fontevrault Chapel, converted from a barn, in its gatehouse, a dovecot
in its garden. If you do drive, there are parking spaces close to
the church. You can approach Tintagel Castle along the cliff from
the church.
More images of St. Materiana, Tintagel
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St. Materiana's
church in the late evening sun
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For Tintagel village, do
read my current review
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More Images of St.
Materiana, Tintagel
In mid-August 2019 Jane and I
revisited Tintagel, partly for a view of the new bridge linking
mainland and island, partly for me to take some new photographs in /st.
Materiana's Church. The following are my choice of the new
images.
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Screen & Chancel, St. Materiana
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Panel made uip of old Bench Ends
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Towednack near St. Ives, St.
Winwaloe's Church
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I really only went
to see the little church at Towednack because it was used as the location
for the wedding of Francis and Elizabeth in the BBC Poldark
series. I discovered that it is well worth seeing in its own right.
Hidden up a narrow lane, off a narrow country road, roughly between Trendrine
Hill and Rosewall Hill, it is a delight with one most unusual feature for Cornwall:
its stumpy two-stage tower carries no pinnacles. The present church
seems to date from 12th to 16th centuries but the site, a raised one, is
almost certainly far earlier than that and might even be a pre-Christian
one. The Winwaloe connection is an interesting one. Apparently
he was a 6th century Breton hermit, and is also known by two diminutives,
Winnow and Wednack, so there may well be connections with St.
Winnow near Fowey, Gunwalloe Church Cove
and Landewednack Church Cove on the Lizard and Poundstock
Church near Bude. Inside is simple and charming, wagon-roofed, the
aisle divided from the nave by a fine arcade. The chancel arch, of
around 1400 is said to be unique in Cornwall. Two unusual features
are a rough granite altar, bearing five carved crosses, and the font, the
bowl of which is dated 1720, the base being an upturned Norman font.
Outside the porch are remains of two Cornish crosses; in the
graveyard is a primitive table tomb. I was delighted to see this
lovely little church and can understand why it was used for Poldark. |
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Towednack's
charming little church
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Tinners
Way passes through here More notes and images
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More Notes and Images of St.
Winwaloe's Church, Towednack
| The
very first time I saw St. Winwaloe's Church in Towednack was when I was walking
a round trail from St. Ives to Lands End and back. This took me out on a lowland route known as
the Zennor Churchway and back over
the central spine of West Penwith hills on a high level route known as The Old St. Ives Road. On that occasion I crossed a stile out of a
field and found myself alongside a small church with a truncated two-stage
tower. This was the church of St.
Winwaloe. I didn't go in and it was not
until January 2017 that I inspected the inside of the church briefly. Two and a half years passed then at the end
of August 2019 I had an outing way down west with the specific intention of
taking a much closer look at St. Winwaloe's.
The very first thing that you notice is a gatepost at the start of the
lane to the church with the words "This roadway was constructed and
presented to the Parish of Towednack by Sir Edward Hain, Lord of the Manor, 16
November 1914." Walk up the short
lane and you come to an open area to the south of the church with a toilet and
ample room for parking. On this 2019
visit I noticed a few things that I must have missed the first time round. Although there are none of the carved ends to
the benches that you see in so many Cornish churches, there are a couple of
bench ends - displayed on a wall. These
are the bench ends which were stolen in 1987 but eventually recovered and
returned. I also saw a couple of
original panels, surprisingly colourful, once part of a rood screen. One is now incorporated in the pulpit steps
which are unusually carpeted. Another
surprise was to see the Norman font, not in use as such but providing, inverted,
the base for the present, more recent, font.
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| The Stolen Bench Ends |
Towednack's Colourful Chancel Ceiling |
Font (or two!)
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Trebetherick, St. Enodoc
Church,
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Technically a Chapel
of Ease, the history of the little church of St. Enodoc is shrouded somewhat
in mystery. Cornwall Calling says it was built around 1430
but Simon Jenkins in his authoritative England's Thousand Best Churches
refers to its Norman interior. Its history, however, goes back much
further than that. It is probably on the site of the cell of St.
Gwinnodock who, during the 6th century, is said to have baptised converts
in the Jesus Well on the other side of St.
Enodoc golf course which surrounds the church. Architecturally it
is an odd church. The south door leads into an aisle. Beyond
is the nave with a north transept to which the tower, with its strange,
slightly twisted broach spire, is attached. The late poet laureate,
Sir John Betjeman, who had a second home nearby and who loved the church,
is buried in its churchyard, as is his mother.
Standing on sand dunes,
the church was almost lost at one time. In the 19th century encroaching
sand buried it up to roof level and the only way the vicar could get in
was through a skylight in the roof. To maintain his living he would
hold one service a year. Happily in 1863 the then vicar, Rev. Hart
Smith, organised its excavation and restoration. Even more happily,
that restoration maintained its character. It is safe now, protected
by a Cornish hedge planted with tamarisk. |
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St. Enodoc,
the church in the sand
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Accessible only
on foot across the golf course. |
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Tregony, St. Cuby's Church
| I
had a busy last Saturday of March 2018, visiting three churches in the
direction of Truro: St. Cuby, Tregony;
St. Cornelius, Cornelly; and St. Keyne at Kenwyn on the northern outskirts of
Truro. Tregony village, a nice place
with most amenities including Post Office, shop and pub, is a long one street
village on a steep hill from the infant River Fal up to the church at the very
top of the hill. I had been inside
Tregony church previously but, on this occasion I was there primarily for the
inscribed stone built into the south-west corner of the south aisle. The inscription apparently reads "Nonnita ercilini rigati .....tris fili ercilini",
but is very difficult to decipher. From
the lych gate, an avenue of tombstones leads to the porch with its vaulted roof
and door with elaborate ironwork. Inside
are nave and south aisle. The royal coat
of arms, unusually, is of James II. The
font is late Norman, with heads at each corner, as at Bodmin. The hexagonal pulpit incorporates medieval
bench ends, part of the reason there are no old ends on the present
benches. A wall monument of 1644
commemorates Hugh Pomeroy. The organ
casing incorporates a screen with paintings of saints. Attractive kneelers include one of roses, one
of an RNLI lifeboat and one of sheep in a field. |
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The painted organ screen
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Tregony Church
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Bodmin type font
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Tregaminion
| I
first encountered the little church of Tregaminion, in the middle of nowhere about
2 miles from Fowey, while walking the Saints way from Fowey to Padstow in early
summer 2006. I visited it again, in
early September 2018, at the beginning of a day seeing St. Andrew's Church in
Tywardreath and St. Fimbarrus Church in Fowey.
The church was built in 1815 as a Chapel of Ease to St. Andrew's at
Tywardreath. It was closed each
time I tried to visit. Notable features, visible from the
outside, are a small bellcote and the old arms of the Rashleighs, unearthed
when the church was being built. To the
right of the church, on a bank, is quite a tall Cornish Cross. To the left, also on a bank, is a short
Cornish Cross.
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Tregaminion Tall Cornish Cross
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Tregaminion Church
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Tregaminion Short Cornish Cross
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Tremaine, St. Winwaloe's Church
| At
the very end of August 2019 I revisited St. Winwaloe's in Towednack, west of
St. Ives; by coincidence, my
first visit in the following September was to another St. Winwaloe's, this one
just outside Tremaine, to the north of the road from Davidstow to
Launceston. This is an unusual little church. Standing quarter of a mile to the north-west
of Tremaine village it also stands on a lann,
a raised, probably Celtic, site. It is a
small, simple two-cell church, its nave and chancel totalling only 45 feet overall. Its stubby three-stage tower is buttressed
and topped by crocketed pinnacles. The
north wall dates from Norman times and has a small blocked doorway up a couple
of steps. The church was partly rebuilt
at the turn of the 13th century and windows were replaced at the turn of the
15th century. The interior has a
charming simplicity. The 15th century wagon
roof is ceiled and plastered with moulded ribs, a carved wall-plate and a
variety of carved bosses. Windows vary; a simple two light window in the nave, a Gothick
three-light window in the chancel. In
the north wall a narrow flight of steps may have led to a former rood
loft. The Norman font is circular with
cable moulding. The chancel has dark
marble paving and the simple altar is of dark stone. |
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St. Winwaloe's Simple Wagon-roofed Nave
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The Church on its Lann
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Simple Two-light Window
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Tresillian, Holy Trinity Church
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Situated as it is on one angle of a double bend, Holy Trinity Church in
Tresillian, on the road from St. Austell to Truro, is very easy to miss. However, if you can find somewhere to park,
this small church is well worth a visit.
You will, however, need to go to "A Church near you" to make
arrangements for a visit, as Holy Trinity is firmly locked normally. I did make such arrangements and was pleased
that I did so. Viewed from the road
(best from the Truro direction) Holy Trinity is not unattractive, its nave
topped by a triple bell-cote. Also from
the road, do note the small Cornish Wayside Cross head below its (approximately)
west front. Holy Trinity dates from 1904
and is by W D Carὅe in an Arts and Crafts style. While the exterior is perfectly pleasant, it
is not outstanding, particularly as it can be difficult to see for traffic. What is important is the collection of
fittings inside which were brought from the abandoned church at Merther, a
couple of miles to the SSW of Tresillian.
These include the 12th century
octagonal-shafted Pentewan stone FONT; the 17th century polygonal Jacobean oak
PULPIT with carved panels; the 15th century figure of ST. ANTHONY carved
in Catacleuse stone; the wheel-head CORNISH CROSS which stands at
the roadside in front of the church; and, of the trio of bells, prominent in the
bell-cote above the end of the church, two are from Merther, the third from the
detached bell-tower at Lamorran. More images of Holy Trinity, Tresillian
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Holy Trinity Church, Tresillian
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The Cornish Cross
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The Bellcote
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More Images of Tresillian, Holy Trinity Church
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Tresillian, Jacobean Pulpit
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St. Anthony Figure
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Tresillian, Old Holy Water Stoup
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Treslothan. St. John's Church
When I walked from Beacon to Clowance on the Land's End Trail
I was really surprised by Treslothan hamlet. All very grey and
Victorian othick but all most beautifully maintained. This was
the estate village of nearby Pendarves House and survived intact when
the Georgian home of the Pendarves family was demolished in 1955.
All built in the 1840s by architect George Whitwick, the church, house
and former school are all of the same silvery grey granite and surround
a war memorial. Contrast the number of names on the memorial with
the smallness of the village; these must mostly have been workers
on the large but dispersed Pendarves estate. Next to the church
is the Pendarves Mausoleum. Buried in the churchyard is
self-taught Camborne poet John Harris. On a corner by woods is
the former village well. From here a footpath heads roughly
south, first passing the former schooll, now a private home, then
continuing through fields and woods to the road from Troon to
Carwynnen. If you are visiting Carwynnen Quoit, re-erected in 2014 by the Sustainable Trust,
this is as good a route as any, turning right on the road towards
Carwynnen, then right into a gate into a field. Inside the gate
is a storyboard; the quoit is across the field.
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Trethevy, St. Piran's Church
| This
Trethevy, just off the road between Tintagel and Boscastle, should not be
confused with Trethevy Quoit at Darite south of Minions on Bodmin Moor. Yet, oddly, only a short distance from this
Trethevy, and on the opposite side of the road, is a large flat stone known as KING
ARTHURS' QUOIT. I visited this Trethevy
early in October 2019, primarily to visit ST. PIRAN'S CHURCH, or Chapel as it
should be known as it is a Chapel of Ease to St. Materiana's Church in
Tintagel. I suggest, if there is space there,
parking in the Rocky Valley Car Park, on
the other side of the main road from the lane up to St. Piran's Church. The lane is signed to Rocky Valley and it is
only a hundred yards or so up the lane to church and well. There is more than just the church at
Trethevy. Diagonally across the lane
from the gate to the churchyard is ST. PIRAN'S HOLY WELL, the beehive shaped
well house topped by a small iron cross.
And, if you turn down the lane at the side of the church, signed as a
footpath to Rocky Valley, you will find a ROMAN MILESTONE. This is believed to date from AD 251-3 and
bears a rather illegible Latin inscription reading "For the Emperor Caesar,
our Lords Gallus and Volusian." A few yards further along the lane is the
entrance to St. Piran's House, believed once to have been part of a
monastery. The first mention of the
church was in 1457 when Parson Gregory received licence from the Bishop to
celebrate Mass. A century later, after
the Reformation, it was used as a farm building and it was not until 1914 that
the owner, Sidney Harris, gifted it to the Church. After restoration, it eventually reverted to
use as a Chapel and the first service was held in it on 9th February 1944. Further restoration took place as recently as
2015. Externally, the church is set
partly into a small hill and is rectangular under a slate roof. Inside it is quite simple, the nave just a
plain rectanguIar space. In the east
wall is a small lancet window with a trefoil head. In the north wall an attractive modern
stained glass window depicts St. Piran against a background of Rocky Valley. On one wall a plaque commemorates the
Reverend Dudbridge Arundel, the vicar responsible for the restoration of the
church. Another remembers Sidney Wickett
Harris who gifted the building to the Church.
The simple altar is made of darkish, slatey local stone. Furnishing is simple with plain wood pews,
lacking in carved bench ends. |
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St. Piran's Holy Well
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Trethevy, St. Piran's Church
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The Roman Milestone
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Trevalga, Saint Petroc
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I was first in Trevalga when walking the Cornish Coast
Path; that particular walk was a round one from Boscastle along the coast
to Trevalga, returning inland. I was much taken with the village and by its history but only
did a brief walk around on that occasion. However, on a fine Saturday in
July 2018 I had been to visit the churches of Minster and Forrabury and, having
some time in hand, decided to take a good look at St. Petroc's, Trevalga which
I had not previously been inside, despite having visited to photograph the
Cornish Cross in the churchyard. The church's origins are probably in
Norman times but much of the fabric is of the 13th to 15th century. The chancel and transept still have their
original medieval roofs but the nave roof was part of an 1875 restoration by J
P St. Aubyn (who else!). The altarpiece
is a 16th century carved Flemish triptych;
it is flanked by 17th century panelling with re-used medieval bench ends
below (Pevsner). Two windows of 1893 are by Clayton and
Bell. A small wall monument to Samuel
Roscarrock dates from 1640. In the
graveyard, a wheel-headed Cornish Cross stands near the porch; not far away a small slate memorial of 2016 commemorates
Beth Lugg, Bard of the Cornish Gorsedd.
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Trevalga Church
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Cornish Cross in churchyard
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Shepherd Bench End
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Treverbyn, St. Peter the Apostle Church
| I
visited St. Peter's Treverbyn in mid-October 201`9. At first I
thought I was out of luck as the church was locked.
However, in the village hall over the road I found churchwarden
Rod Phillips who kindly opened up the church and gave me a guided
tour. Thank you, Rod. There
is not much to Treverbyn village which, as near as makes no difference,
is part of
Stenalees, the southern continuation of Bugle, towards the eastern edge
of
Cornwall's China Clay Country. However,
a little surprisingly, Treverbyn is the main parish of this part of Clay
Country and includes Bugle, Stenalees and Penwithick, Trethurgy, Scredds and
Carthew within its extended parish boundaries.
Treverbyn itself consists of little more than church, old vicarage, new
vicarage, school, village hall, a farm and some recreational facilities. Appropriately for a Clay Country church, Clay
Country settlements being mostly relatively recent, St. Peter's in Treverbyn
dates from 1848 and was the work of prolific Victorian architect G E
Street. This was only his second Cornish
church, the first being St. Mary's Par at Biscovey. Pevsner rates this as "good early Street
with strong design, simple detail and skilled use of local materials." The exterior is modest with steeply pitched
slate roofs. Windows in the north and
south walls have Decorated tracery to 2-light windows. The east and west ends have larger 4-light
windows. The interior is bold, lofty and
spacious. The nave is rather barn-like
with its arch-braced roof and soaring chancel arch. The sanctuary ceiling is boarded and
painted. Careful lighting gives
prominence to the altar. Stained glass
includes two windows on the south wall of the nave. The 1897 windows of the north wall are all by
E R Suffling. There are good
contemporary wrought-iron gates to the churchyard. Nearby are a few other buildings by Street; his 1858 former vicarage, described by
Pevsner as "solid and workmanlike," has a circular stair turret. The school room and school house are also by Street.
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Treverbyn's Alabaster Pulpit |
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Truro Cathedral
| I
should be ashamed of myself that, except for my friend Robert's marriage to
Hayley, I had never been inside the Cathedral in Truro until I visited in early
March 2018. Truro's new cathedral, architect J L Pearson, also responsible
for St. John's in Devoran, was begun in 1880 on the site of St. Mary's
church. Very sensibly - and sensitively
- Pearson did not pull down St. Mary's Church on the site but instead
incorporated part of the old church as a south aisle. Nicely, Pearson retained the wagon roof of
St. Mary's, complete with modern bosses, a very Cornish feature to keep. The style is an elaborate form of Early
English Gothic and the west front, overlooking a cobbled square, is
impressive. The exterior of the
cathedral is of Cornish Carnsew stone with Bath stone for the detailing. The interior is of St. Stephen granite,
again with Bath stone dressing. Pevsner
describes Truro Cathedral as Pearson's masterpiece and I certainly would not
dispute that. As always in great
buildings, whether homes or churches, look up: this cathedral soars. Among the things to look out for are: in the south aisle, the Boer War Memorial,
the Newlyn Harbour stained glass, the Wesley Window showing both John and
Charles at Gwennap Pit, and a 14th century Pieta of Caen granite. In the south transept the Delabole slate
floor commemorates the visit in 1994 of the Queen and the rose window remembers
Bishop Benson whose brass is in the chapel next to the Baptistry, where a
marble font has an elaborate wooden cover.
Above the altar, an ornate triptych was
designed by the architect's son, Frank.
Behind the High Altar is a superb reredos of Christ first crucified,
then glorified. In the North Quire Aisle is a large terracotta frieze of The Way
of The Cross. In the North Transept
a grand monument commemorates John and Phillipa Robartes. There is superb stained glass in the North
Transept Rose Window and in the West Rose Window. In the North Aisle do not miss John Miller's
painting Cornubia, Land of The Saints
or the superb Eagle Lectern. On leaving, across the square, I was delighted to notice for
the first time a Cornish Cross, not a modern one but a genuine early one,
albeit it somewhat degraded. |
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Old St. Mary's Church
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Cathedral West Front
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Caen Stone Pulpit
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Tuckingmill, All Saints Church
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I
had hoped to visit All Saints in Tuckingmill on the same day that I was at
Penponds and Treslothan. Unfortunately
it was firmly locked. For the moment,
the best I can do is use a couple of exterior photos and take my information from
Pevsner. This is an early Victorian
church, completed by John Hayward of Exeter in 1846. Externally, Pevsner admired it but I find it
not very prepossessing, too dark and massive.
Unusually, the tower, instead of attaching to the west end of the nave,
is attached to the south aisle. This
five-stage tower, with its low pitched roof and stair-turret, is perhaps the
most striking exterior feature. The
interior is both unusual and striking, the walls white-painted but
un-plastered. The roof is arch-braced.
The chancel arch is semi circular slender set-in shafts and dog-tooth
moulding. The font is early Norman and
came from a former chapel at Menadarva, a small settlement north-west of
Camborne. Stained glass in the chancel,
described by Pevsner as "bright and dazzling," is from around 1847 by
Joseph Bell.
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All Saints, from the south. Note the short stair turret.
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All Saints, from the norh-west
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Tywardreath, St. Andrew's Church
| I
made three church visits on a dull Saturday at the beginning of September. First call was at Tregaminion Church - closed
but I got photos of the two Cornish Crosses - my second was to Tywardreath's
parish church and my final visit was to the church of St. Fimbarrus in
Fowey. There was once a Priory here but
no sign of it remains although there is still a Priory Lane and Prior's
Cottages. Tywardreath's church is easy
for parking, there is room right below the west gate and the War Memorial at
the western end of Church Street. Before
entering the church it is worth first going to the east gate, outside which is
a tiny Memorial Square. Enter by that
east gate and you pass another War Memorial on your way to the south
porch. But, before entering, look to
the left of the porch where there is some old masonry on a grassy patch. The octagonal upright to the front of the
grass is said to have been the stone post that marked the route across the bay in
the days when the sea came right up to Tywardreath, as described in Daphne du
Maurier's "House on the Strand",
a literal translation from the Cornish Tywardreath. St. Andrew's Church looms large in the
attractive village. The tower is 14th
and 15th century; the body of the church
was rebuilt in the 1880s. The lofty,
spacious interior is attractive. Oak
Cornish Wagon roofs have boarded panels and carved - but not painted -
bosses. Furnishings are impressive. An octagonal font is 15th century and has
shields within quatrefoils within circles.
The attractive pulpit is made from 16th century bench ends and parts of
the former rood screen, all varied and quite distinctive. There are some fine bench ends on the pews of
the North Transept. The High Altar is of
Caen stone with 14th century consecration crosses. There are a slightly cumbersome looking
parclose screens. A slate memorial of
1534 remembers Thomas Colyns, last prior of the lost priory. On the walls are several memorials to members
of the local Rashleigh family, most associated with their harbour at
Charlestown. A partial slate memorial of
1632 remembers Jane Rashleigh.
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Tywardreath Carved Pulpit
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Tywardreath Church from the east
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Tywardreath W.I. Banner
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Veryan, St. Symphorian
| I
revisited Veryan early in July 2017. I
had been there many times before, most particularly when doing a round walk
from Portloe, heading first to Veryan, then by Carne Beacon to Carne Beach and
on back to Portloe by the high and relatively difficult Nare Head, where you
have not one but two fair climbs. I had
also been there especially to photograph the most unusual and attractive round
houses and to visit the lovely Trist House garden (I think it still opens but
it may be best to ring the Salmons on 01872 501422 to check). On this occasion I was there for the well and
for St. Symphorian's church. But first I
enjoyed coffee and a bacon roll in Elerkey House, opposite the excellent New
Inn. The well was erected by the Rev.
Samuel Trist (of Trist House) in 1910.
The church, tucked into a hill-side, is approached along an avenue of
hydrangeas. It consists of nave, aisle
and three-stage pinnacled tower. In the
sloping graveyard above are two sealed mausoleums. Inside the church is a font with four columns and heads
at each corner; an attractive carved
wooden pulpi |
