HURC 
 
 ORNWALL 
 
 ii
 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 (XWrapjcsa: ^ Xij^t^ vA^^M^ ^-^H--^ . 
 
 0(4
 
 CHURCHES 
 
 OF 
 
 WEST CORNWALL; 
 
 WITH 
 
 ^atts d ^Intiquitii^s 0f tljt Bistrkt. 
 
 By the late J. T. BLIGHT, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "A WEEK AT THE LAND'S END. 
 
 SECOND EDITION. 
 
 5parbr antr €a, 
 
 OXFORD, AND 6 SOUTHAMPTON-STREET, 
 STRAND, LONDON. 
 
 1885.
 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT 
 
 TO THE SECOND EDITION. 
 
 IN issuing a Second Edition, which has been called 
 for, the Publishers have only to state that with 
 scarcely any exception the previous Edition, as 
 finally corrected by Mr. Blight from the papers which 
 he contributed to the " Gentleman's Magazine," has 
 been scrupulously followed. 
 
 By Mr. Blight's death Archaeology has lost not 
 only an enthusiastic student, but a hard worker, and 
 it is much to be feared that his too eager devotion 
 to his favourite pursuit amidst his daily toil brought 
 on the illness which had so sad a termination. 
 
 Oxford, 
 October, 1884. 
 
 G83163
 
 I
 
 PREFACE 
 
 TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 IN presenting these papers in a collected form, little 
 more need be said than that they were originally 
 published in successive numbers of the " Gentleman's 
 Magazine," during the years 1862 — 1864. They are 
 reprinted without alteration, with the exception of 
 the concluding remarks of the ninth chapter, which 
 have been re-written ; and several notes and wood- 
 cuts have been added. 
 
 There is still a wide field for investigation among 
 the pre-historic antiquities of the county ; but hi- 
 therto attention has been directed almost entirely to 
 these, to the exclusion of the ecclesiastical buildings 
 of the Middle Ages. When the county histories 
 were written nothing was known of Church archi- 
 tecture, and it is needless to say that the occasional 
 descriptions of churches which they contain are 
 wholly untrustworthy, and, indeed, quite valueless. 
 Late Norman work is called " Saxon ;" late Perpen- 
 dicular figures as " Early English ;" and one writer 
 of eminence assumes the present church at St. Ger- 
 man's to be the ancient " cathedral of Cornwall " 
 itself, before Leofric, dilating on the great antiquity
 
 VI 
 
 PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION. 
 
 of certain windows with geometrical tracery in par- 
 ticular. 
 
 Of the thirty-five churches noticed in the following 
 pages, nearly all are of early date, as a careful in- 
 vestigation will prove ; but in most of them the early 
 character of the work has been greatly obscured by 
 extensive alterations and additions during the Per- 
 pendicular period. And yet, as the illustrations will 
 shew, the Cornish churches are by no means so devoid 
 of interest as is commonly supposed. 
 
 The last chapter is occupied by an illustrated nar- 
 rative of two days' pleasant wandering among the old 
 stones of West Cornwall, in company with the mem- 
 bers of the Cambrian Archseoloe^ical Association. 
 
 J. T. B. 
 
 Penzance, 
 March, 1865. 
 
 From the Rood-screen, St. Burian.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 Deanery of St. Burian . . . . i 
 
 The Church of St. Burian . • • • 5 
 
 Engravings. The Font. — Two arcades from the Rood- 
 screen. — Carving from the Roodscreen, {see p. vi.). — 
 The Misereres.— Capital and Base of Pier. — The Tomb of 
 Clarice de BoUeit. 
 
 The Church of St. Lev AN . . . • ^5 
 
 Engravings. The Stoup. — Carvings on Bench-ends. — 
 West View of Transept. — Plan of Transept.— Interior of 
 Transept. — Capitals of Piers. — The Font. 
 
 The Church of St. Sennen . . . .21 
 
 Engravings. A Capital. — Mutilated Image of the Virgin. 
 
 The Church of St. Madron . . . -24 
 
 Engravings. The Font. — The Sedile and Piscina. — A 
 Tower Window. — The Tower Cornice. — Alabaster figures 
 of Angels. 
 
 The Church of St. Paul, near Penzance . -31 
 
 Engravings. Arch between Nave and North Aisle. — The 
 Tower. — The Belfry Windows. 
 
 The Church of Sancreed . . . • 3^ 
 
 Engraving. Panels of the Roodscreen. 
 
 The Church of St. Just in Penwith . . -40 
 
 Engravings. Two Capitals. — Hoodmould. — Tooth-mould- 
 ing. — Inscribed Stone. 
 
 The Church of St. Cury . . . -45 
 
 Engravings. South Doorway. — Hagioscope. — Plan of 
 ditto. — Exterior of Low-side Window.
 
 Vlll CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The Church of Gunwalloe . , . -5° 
 
 Engravings. General View of Church. — Fragment of Font. 
 
 The Church of Mullion . . . -54 
 
 Engravings. The Carving of the Crucifix in the Tower. — 
 Corbel-head. — Stoup. — A Series of eleven Carvings from 
 the Bench-ends. — Carving on the Altar. 
 
 The Church of St. Keverne . . .62 
 
 Engravings. A Capital and Base. — Plan of the Church. — 
 Twenty-four Subjects from the Carvings of the Bench-ends. 
 
 The Church of St. Manaccan . . -67 
 
 Engravings. Plan of the Church. — Piscina. — Interior of 
 Chancel. — South-east View of Chancel and Transept. — 
 South Doorway. 
 
 The Church of St. Mawgan IN Terrier . . 72 
 
 Engravings. The Hagioscope.— Two Sepulchral Effigies. 
 — Carving on Key-stone of Tower Window. — Shields 
 carved on the Tower. — Jamb of Tower Door. — Key-stone 
 of Tower Arch. 
 
 The Church of St. Antony in Kirrier . . 78 
 
 Engravings. General View of the Church. — Window of 
 Chancel. — East Window of Aisle. — The Font. 
 
 The Church of Landewednack ' . . .82 
 
 Engravings. Plan of the Church.— Exterior of Low-side 
 Window. — Boss on the Porch. — South Doorway. — The 
 Font. — Inscription on ditto. — Devices on Bells. 
 
 Church of St. Ruan Major . . . .89 
 
 Engravings. Window in South Aisle. — Device on Rood- 
 screen. — Triangular notching. — Plan of Church. — Open- 
 ings at Junction of Chancel and Nave. — View of Tower. 
 
 Church of St. Ruan Minor . , , -95 
 
 Engravings. The Piscina. — The Font. 
 Church of St. Grade . . . -97
 
 CONTENTS. IX 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Church of St, Wendron . . . -99 
 
 Engravings. Plan of the Church. — Moulding of Arch. — 
 North-east View of Chancel and Transept. — East Window 
 of Chancel. — East Window of Transept. — Capital of 
 Transept Pier. — Capital and Base- mouldings of Pier. 
 — Hood-moulding. — Piscina in Aisle. — The Font. — Cap- 
 ping of Tower Buttress. — Brass. — Incised Stone. 
 
 Church of St. Breage .... 109 
 
 Engravings. An old Helmet in the Church. — Three 
 Capitals. — Cross. 
 
 Church of St. Germoe . . . .114 
 
 Engravings. General View of Church. — Gable-cross of 
 Porch. — Gable-corbels of Porch. — The Font. — ' St. Ger- 
 moe's Chair.' 
 
 Church of St, Perran-uthnoe . . .121 
 
 Engravings. Corbel of Tower-arch. — Key-stone of South 
 Doorway. 
 
 Church of St. GuLvAL , . . . .124 
 
 Engravings. The Credence. — Pinnacle of Tower. — Pier 
 of Tower-arch. — Shields on the Font, 
 
 Church of St. LuDGVAN . . . .127 
 
 Church of St, Erth . . . . .128 
 
 Eitgravings. Window of North Aisle. — String-course of 
 Tower. 
 
 Church of Lelant . . . . ,129 
 
 Engraving. Capital and Base of Norman Pier. 
 
 Church of St. Gwinear .... 130 
 Engravings . Plan of the Church. — Window of Chancel. 
 — The Piscina. — Beak-head from Porch. — Corbel-heads 
 from Tower. — The Font. — Carving on Bench-end, 
 
 Church of St. Gwithian , . . . 136 
 
 Engravings. View of Transept, — Plan of Oratory. — 
 Doorway of same. — Remains of Porth Curnow Chapel,
 
 X CONTENTS. 
 
 Church of St. Ives . . . . .142 
 
 Engravmgs. Shields from the Panels. — Section of Pier 
 and Pier-arch moulding. — Chancel roof. — The Font. — 
 Bench Standard. 
 
 Church of TOWEDNACK . . . . .148 
 
 Engravings. General View. — Sections of Mouldings. — 
 Plan of Tower Stairs. — Incised Stone. 
 
 Church of Zennor . . . . -151 
 
 Engravings. Plan of Church. — Norman Window in Nave. 
 — Window in Chancel. — Section and Hood-mould ter- 
 mination of same. 
 
 Church of St. Hilary .... 156 
 
 Engravings. Blocked Spire -light. — General View of 
 Tower, &c. 
 
 Church of St. SiTHNEY .... 158 
 
 Church of St. Crowan .... ib. 
 
 Church of Cramborne .... ib. 
 Engraving. Pulpit Panel. 
 
 General Notes upon the Western Cornish Churches. 
 Material . . . . . .161 
 
 Ground-plans . . . . .162 
 
 Engravings. General Plan of a Church. — View of Church 
 of St. Gwinear. 
 
 Roodscreens . . . . .169 
 
 Towers . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Ejigravings. Pinnacle, Sancreed. — Pinnacle, St. Just. — 
 Tower and Church of St. Mawgan in Meneage. — Turret, 
 St. Burian. — Pinnacle, St. Mawgan. 
 Windows . . . . . -173 
 
 Engravings. General View of Church of S. Ruan Minor. 
 — Various designs of Windows. — Window in Church of 
 Gunwalloe. — From St. Mawgan. — From St. Erth. — From 
 St. Just. — From St. Antony.
 
 CONTENTS. XI 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Roofs . . . . . . 177 
 
 Porches . . . . . . ib. 
 
 Engravings. Porch of St. Burian. — Pinnacle, St. Mullion. 
 
 Mouldings and Sculpture . . -179 
 
 Engravings. Section of Pier, Sancreed. — Flower Orna- 
 ment. — Impost, St Levan. — Impost, St. Sennen. — Im- 
 post, Sancreed. — Capital, Gunwalloe. — Cross, St. Ruan 
 Major. — Stoup, Sancreed. 
 
 Names of the Patron Saints of Churches de- 
 scribed in the Volume . . . .183 
 
 Two Days in Cornwall with the Cambrian Archae- 
 ological Association . . . .187 
 Efioravin^s. Trembath Cross. — Boscawen-un Circle. — 
 Plan of Barrow, near the same. — Stone found in the 
 Barrow. — Urn found in the Barrow. — View of St. Sennen 
 Church. — Section of Pier, St. Sennen Church. — Plan of 
 Castle Treryn. — View of St. Levan's Church. — View of 
 St. Burian's Church. — -Carving from Roodscreen, St. 
 Burian's Church. — Holed Stones, Bolleit. — The Pipers. 
 — Plan of the Fogou. — Entrance to the Fogou. — Door- 
 way, Trewoofe. — Plan of Hut, Chysauster. — Plan of 
 Cave, Chapel-Uny. — Stone Amulet from same. — Plan of 
 Beehive-hut, Bosphrennis. — Section of Masonry of same. 
 — Exterior of Rectangular Chamber of same. — Entrance 
 to Circular Chamber of the same. — Interior of Circular 
 Chamber of the same. — Fallen Cromlech, Bosphrennis. 
 — Plan of Hut, Bosullow. — Plan of Chun Castle. — Ma- 
 sonry of Outer Wall of the same. — Chiin Cromlech. — 
 Men-an-tol, Madron. —Plan of St. Madron's Well. — 
 Kistvaen, Samson, Scilly. 
 
 Index ...... 237
 
 CORNISH CHURCHES. 
 By J. T. Blight. 
 
 Illustrations by the Author. 
 
 I. THE DEANERY OF ST. BURIAN. 
 
 IN the latter part of the fifth and beginning of the 
 sixth century, a numerous company of Irish saints 
 — bishops, abbots, and sons and daughters of kings 
 and noblemen — " came into Cornewaul and landed 
 at Pendinas, a peninsula and stony rok, wher now 
 the toun of St. les (St. Ives) standeth ^" Hence 
 they diffused themselves over the western part of the 
 county, and at their several stations erected chapels 
 and hermitages. Their object was to advance the 
 Christian faith. In this they were successful, and 
 so greatly were they reverenced, that whilst the 
 memory of their holy lives still lingered in the 
 minds of the people, churches were built on or near 
 the sites of their chapels and oratories, and dedicated 
 to Almighty God in their honour. Thus have their 
 names been handed down to us. Few of them are 
 mentioned in the calendars, or in the collections of 
 the lives of saints, and what little is known of them 
 has been chiefly derived from tradition. Dr. Whit- 
 
 * Leland. 
 B
 
 2 Cornish Churches, 
 
 aker believed that St. Burian, a king's daughter, was 
 among those who landed at St. Ives, and that she 
 took up her abode at the spot which now bears her 
 name. Leland says, — 
 
 "St. Buriana, an holy woman of Ireland, sumtyme dwellid in this 
 place, and there made an oratory. King Ethelstan, founder of St. 
 Burian 's College, and giver of the privileges and sanctuarie to it. King 
 Ethelstan goyng hens, as it is said, on to Sylley, and returning, made, 
 ex voto, a college where the oratorie was." 
 
 Whitaker gives full credit to the truth of this 
 tradition : — 
 
 •' Athelstan advanced towards the Land's End, in order to embark 
 his army for the Sylley Isles. About four miles from it, but directly 
 in the present road to it, as he was equally pious and brave, he went 
 into an oratory, which had been erected there by an holy woman of 
 the name of Burien, that came from Ireland, and was buried in her 
 own chapel. Here he knelt down in prayer to God, full of his coming 
 expedition against the Sylley Isles, and supplicating for success to it ; 
 then in a strain of devoutness that is little thought of now, but was 
 very natural to a mind like his, at once munificent and religious, he 
 vowed, if God blessed his expedition with success, to erect a college of 
 clergy where the oratory stood, and to endow it with a large income. 
 So, at least, says the tradition of St. Burien's itself no less than two 
 centuries and a-half ago." 
 
 Having subdued the Scilly Isles, Athelstan on his 
 return founded and endowed a collegiate church in 
 honour of St. Buriana, on the spot called after her, 
 Eglos-Berrie, about five miles eastward of the Land's 
 End. " He gave lands and tithe of a considerable 
 value for ever, himself becoming the first patron 
 thereof, as his successors the Kings of England have 
 been ever since." Athelstan also gave to the church 
 the privileges of a sanctuary. The date of founda-
 
 Cornish Churches. 3 
 
 tion is supposed to have been about the year 930. 
 In Domesday Book reference is made to a college 
 of canons here. The establishment consisted of 
 a dean and three prebendaries, who are said to have 
 held it from the king by the service of saying a hun- 
 dred masses and a hundred psalters for the souls of 
 the king and his ancestors. Dr. Whitaker alludes 
 to a rector for the ruling church. Dr, Oliver says 
 the clergy who first served the church were probably 
 seven in number. Hals states that — 
 
 " The church or college consisted of Canons Augustines, or regular 
 priests, and three prebendaries, who enjoyed the revenues thereof in 
 common." He says that "about the time of Edward III., one of the 
 popes obtruded upon this church, the canons and prebendaries thereof, 
 a dean to be an inspector over them. This encroachment of the pope 
 being observed by Edward, this usurpation was taken away." 
 
 From this statement it would be understood that 
 the dean to whom reference is here made was the 
 first who presided over the establishment, whereas 
 we find it elsewhere recorded that this was the third 
 dean, one John de Maunte, that he was objected to 
 by the king on account of his being a foreigner, and 
 that on this pretence Edward seized the establish- 
 ment and kept it entirely in his own hands. It is 
 also stated that, according to the foundation of Athel- 
 stan, the establishment was exempt from all inferior 
 jurisdiction, there was no appeal from the local au- 
 thorities but to the king himself. But Dr. Oliver, 
 the highest authority on the subject, says " the foun- 
 dation did not purport to confer any exemption from 
 the jurisdiction of the ordinary, and, as far as docu-
 
 4 Cornish CJiiirches. 
 
 mentary evidence can be traced, it is manifest that 
 the diocesan exercised here the right of visitation as 
 fully as in any other portion of the diocese." In his 
 Monasticon will be found a Vidimus of the original 
 endowment of this collegiate church by King Athel- 
 stan, on the 6th of October, 943, — "a date/' says the 
 Doctor, " evidently incorrect." 
 
 It appears that the establishment was well main- 
 tained for some time after the Conquest, but was 
 subsequently much neglected from the non-residence 
 of the deans. Leland wrote, " Their longeth to St. 
 Buryens a deane and a few prebendarys, that almost 
 be nether ther." 
 
 Much unpleasant feeling seems to have existed 
 between the bishops of the diocese and the Crown 
 respecting the control of this peculiar. Dr. Oliver 
 tells us, that — 
 
 " On the death of Edmund, Earl of Cornwall, King Edward I. 
 claiming St. Burian as a royal free chapel, gave Sir William de Hamel- 
 don, his chancellor, dean of York, and a great pluralist, this deanery 
 of St. Burian. But the neglect of residence was properly objected to 
 by Bishop Thomas Bitton, and a suit in the king's court was the con- 
 sequence, which was not decided at the death of that prelate in 1307. 
 His successor. Bishop Stapeldon, offered equal opposition when Queen 
 Isabella appointed her chaplain, John Maunte, a foreigner, to this 
 deanery." 
 
 Bishop Grandisson afterwards excommunicated 
 this dean for "neglect of duty" and "disregard of 
 his monitions." The dean's supporters within the 
 parish of St. Burian were excommunicated with 
 liim : —
 
 Cornish ChurcJies. 5 
 
 " On the 4th of November (1328), being at St. Michael's Mount, he 
 (Bishop Grandisson) excommunicated with all form the principal de- 
 linquents, especially Richard Vivian, the most obnoxious of all. At 
 his public visitation, on July 12, 1336, the bishop found the parishion- 
 ers returned to a sense of duty, and truly repentant for their contumacy ; 
 and at their earnest supplication he absolved them from their censures, 
 and preached to them from the text, i Peter ii. 25, ' Ye were as sheep 
 going astray, but are now returned unto the shepherd and bishop of 
 your souls.' To add to the Bishop's satisfaction, the dean, John de 
 Maunte, on Aug. 16, 1336, waited upon him at Bishop's Court, Clyst, 
 promised amendment in future, and took the oath of obedience to him 
 and his successors in tlie see of Exeter. 
 
 "But the contest did not end here; within fifteen years King Ed- 
 ward III. revived the claim of exemption. But eventually the contest 
 was terminated in favour of the stronger party, and to this day the 
 dean receives institution from the Prince of Wales and Duke of Corn- 
 wall as his ordinary, though the patronage has often been exercised 
 by the sovereign, vacanic diicatii ^ " 
 
 The "church-town " of St. Burian stands on a high 
 position, and the lofty tower is a very conspicuous 
 object from the surrounding district. The spot com- 
 mands extensive views, terminated on the south and 
 west by the distant horizon of the Atlantic. 
 
 The church is a large building, consisting of a nave 
 and north and south aisles, with a tower ninety feet 
 in height at the west end. The dimensions of the 
 building are about ninety feet by forty-seven. Not 
 a vestige of the original church or college remains, 
 for the present edifice was erected on the site of the 
 older church in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. 
 It is curious to observe that, though Polwhele in his 
 History of Cornwall correctly refers this building to 
 
 '' Oliver's Monasticon.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 the fifteenth century, Dr. Whitaker in the supplement 
 to the same work should be so mistaken as to de- 
 scribe it as the veritable church of Athelstan, erected 
 more than eight centuries previously : — 
 
 "The inside," he says, "is 
 still disposed nearly as Athel- 
 stan left it." And "its fresh 
 appearance results merely from 
 the frequent washings to which 
 its high position on a hill and 
 its pointed exposure to the rains 
 from the Atlantic continually 
 subject it." 
 
 Dr. Oliver gives in 
 
 his Mo7iasticon the act 
 
 of the dedication of St. 
 
 Burian's Church on the 
 
 26th of August, 1238, 
 
 by Bishop Brewer of 
 
 Exeter. But few relics — ^""^'^^:-'4J:l:^^:^ZS^^ _ 
 even of the church of FontrstrB^i^ 
 
 that period remain : the font may have stood there 
 at that time, it is of Ludgvan granite", and has on 
 the bowl three angels (not four as Dr. Oliver says) 
 supporting shields; on a fourth shield is carved a plain 
 Latin cross on two steps. On the opposite side there 
 is a small Maltese cross between two of the aneels. 
 
 o 
 
 The height of the font is 2 ft. 1 1 in. It has been cleaned 
 of the lime-wash which at one time covered it. 
 
 "= The granite from Ludgvan parish is a better material for fine sculp- 
 tured work than other granite found in the district.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 In the early part of the present century this church 
 was particularly rich in carved oak benches, and pos- 
 sessed a magnificent roodscreen and loft. In the 
 year 1 8 14 the building underwent repairs, when the 
 benches and screen were barbarously destroyed. 
 The plea for taking down the latter was, that it 
 deadened the preacher's voice ; a portion yet remains. 
 About two-thirds of the curiously carved cornice has 
 been placed in its original position, extending across 
 south aisle and nave, and some of the beautiful ar- 
 cade-work is pre- 
 large 
 
 served in a 
 chest within the 
 church. The work- 
 manship, as the ac- 
 companying cuts 
 will shew, was ex- 
 ceedingly rich ; the 
 whole was gilded 
 and painted, chiefly 
 in red and blue, and 
 each compartment 
 was of a different 
 
 design in the tra- 
 cery. The screen 
 extended the whole 
 breadth of the 
 church, and must 
 have had a very 
 fine effect. It was 
 
 Arcaaes of Roodscreen, St. Burian.
 
 8 Cornish Churches. 
 
 put together with wooden pins, no nails being used. 
 The vandals who took it down do not appear to have 
 had the least regard for it, for if they had no rever- 
 ence for the holy things of the sanctuary, it would 
 be thought that they would have taken some care to 
 preserve the several portions merely for the sake of 
 the beauty of the designs. Such, however, was not 
 the case, for their saws were ruthlessly passed through 
 the most elaborate tracery. It is said that some 
 figures of saints belonging to this work were to be 
 seen as chimney ornaments in the houses of the pa- 
 rishioners, and some of the bench-ends and panels 
 were used as ordinary wood about farm out-houses. 
 
 On the upper part of the cornice is carved a vine 
 pattern, beneath which are very curious scenes of 
 hunting, warfare between animals and birds, and 
 grinning heads: the workmanship is somewhat rude, 
 but the effect is good. Some of the lower panels 
 remain in situ, but no part of the connecting frame- 
 work is to be found. The outer part of the screen 
 was gilded and painted with different colours, red 
 and blue predominating, but the inside, facing the 
 altar, was entirely red. The spiral staircase, in the 
 wall of the south aisle, which led to the rood-loft, 
 has not been destroyed. 
 
 Adjoining the screen, within the chancel, are four 
 oak miserere stalls, placed two on either side of the 
 entrance from the nave to the chancel. Dr. Oliver 
 says they were " destined for the dean, for the pre- 
 bendary of Respernell, for the prebendary of Trith-
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 ing, and for the holder of the ' Prebenda Parva.' 
 Fortunately they have escaped destruction from the 
 hands of the Puritans, and the no less mischievous 
 pew-builders of more recent date." It has been 
 suggested that when there was a choir at St, Burian's 
 one of the stalls might have been for the precentor. 
 Each stall has a moveable seat; when turned up, 
 a rounded ledge is brought forward which served 
 as a sort of occasional rest for the monks. The en- 
 graving shews one seat raised and the other down. 
 
 i':li,;;l!ri 
 
 Misereres, St. Burian. 
 
 The chancel end of the church appears to have 
 undergone alteration in modern times. The large 
 east window, which has a pointed arch, does not 
 retain its original tracery. A smaller square-headed 
 window on the south side has been recently re-opened.
 
 10 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 On the north side there was an unusual arrangement, 
 which can now only be seen from the outside. 
 Here we find that a large archway has been built 
 up, and in connection with it immediately under 
 the window of the north aisle there were three stone 
 steps, evidently constructed with the original wall. 
 These steps were to be seen about twenty or thirty 
 years ago, and though now removed, their position 
 may be traced. 
 
 There are no remains of a piscina either in the 
 chancel or in the east end of the north or south aisle, 
 for the church probably had three altars. 
 
 The aisles areconnected with the naveby six pointed 
 arches. The piers have a 
 simple ogee moulding ; the 
 capitals, though of a plain 
 character, have a bold effect. 
 The aisles are each lighted 
 by five square-headed win- 
 dows, with hood-mouldings, 
 divided into three lights, 
 which are rounded at the 
 top, and were inserted late 
 in the sixteenth century. 
 
 The tower-arch is lofty, 
 and its mouldings are bold 
 and effective. Over the 
 
 «.^,,r^.- A „ i.1- j_ Capital and Base of Pier, St. Burian. 
 
 tower doorway, on the out- 
 
 side, is a shield bearing the sacred monogram I.H.S. 
 
 The Perpendicular window above this is much supe-
 
 Cor7iish Churches. ii 
 
 rior to those at the east end of the church, and evi- 
 dently of earlier date. 
 
 Within the tower, on the pavement, is an ancient 
 tomb which, when Whitaker visited the church about 
 sixty years ago, was " lying near the altar-rails, but 
 on the floor in the northern access to it." According 
 to Hals it was discovered about the year 1665, buried 
 four feet in the ground, by the sexton while digging 
 a grave. The inscription, he says, "was difficult to 
 be read," but the " curious " found it to be " Jane, 
 the wife of Geffery de Bolait, lies here : whosoever 
 shall pray for her soul shall have five days pardon, 
 M.LX.IX." Another writer says, that " not only the 
 year, but even the month and day of the month are 
 both inserted,^' and he supposed it to mean " March 
 16, iioi." He then gives an incorrect reading of 
 the inscription. At present there is no appearance 
 of any date on the stone. The county histories vary 
 in the wording of this inscription, owing probably 
 to their authors inaccurately copying what had been 
 previously published, and not taking the trouble to 
 examine the monument for themselves. 
 
 As will be seen from the engraving on the next 
 page, the inscription, which is in Norman-French, 
 is cut in letters of the thirteenth century, and runs as 
 follows : — ^ Clarice : la : femme : cheffrei : de : 
 
 BOLLEIT : GIT : ICI : DEV : DE : LALME : EIT : MERGE : 
 KE : PVR : LEALME : PVNT (PRIUNT) : DI : lOR : DE : 
 PARDVN : AVERVND— "►!< Clarice the wife of Geofifry 
 de BoUeit lies here, God of her soul have mercy : who
 
 12 
 
 Cornish Cimrches. 
 
 pray for her soul 
 shall have ten days 
 pardon." The stone 
 is seven feet long, 
 and has a floriated 
 cross on three steps 
 carved in relief on 
 the upper part. The 
 family of BoUeit re- 
 sided on an estate 
 of the same name 
 in this parish. 
 
 The tower, which 
 is constructed en- 
 tirely of wrought 
 granite, is divided 
 into four stages, and 
 has double buttress- 
 es at each angle. The 
 newel staircase is 
 contained in an oc- 
 tagonal turret which 
 rises picturesquely 
 above the parapets 
 at the south-east 
 corner. 
 
 Thebells are three 
 in number. The 
 largest has this le- 
 gend, "Virginis egre- 
 
 Tomb of Clarice de BoUeit, St. Burian.
 
 Cornish Churches. 13 
 
 gis vocor campana Marije," i.e. " I am called the 
 Bell of the glorious Virgin Mary ;" and the date 1738. 
 It is singular to find such a legend on a post- Refor- 
 mation bell ; probably, however, it was in that year 
 recast and the original legend reproduced. The bell 
 has a flaw or crack running through it, for which the 
 following tradition accounts. The bell was cast in 
 the village of St. Burian, and before it had hardened, 
 a man jumped from a hedge near the mould, which 
 being disturbed by the shake, rendered the bell im- 
 perfect. Its diameter is 3 ft. 9 in., an unusually large 
 size for Cornish bells. The next bell has for its legend, 
 " Vocem ego do vobis : vos date verba Deo," i.e. " I 
 give to you a voice ; give ye words to God." Date 
 1638, diameter 3 ft. 6 in. The third bell has the names 
 of the Churchwardens, — " Mr. Richard Davies, Samp- 
 son Hutchens — wardens, 1681." Diameter 3 ft. 
 
 The porch is surmounted with battlements, has 
 double buttresses at the angles finished with crocket- 
 ed pinnacles, and a bold stringcourse. Within are 
 stone benches on either side, and a mutilated stoup. 
 Over the church door is a bracket, on which may 
 have been placed an image of the Blessed Virgin, or 
 of St. Burian, the patron saint of the church. 
 
 When Bishop Stapeldon visited St. Burian, in 1314, 
 he took the following inventory of the church pro- 
 perty : — 
 
 "Three suits entire of vestments with tunics and dalmatics; two 
 copes for the choir ; two chalices ; one good missal, and another infe- 
 rior ; one antiphonar, witli a middling good psaltery {psalterhcm in
 
 14 Cornish CJiiwcJics. 
 
 medio boniini) ; two grails in excellent condition ; a trophar ; a legend, 
 and one old antiphonar ; a veil for Lent ; nine towels ; a nuptial veil ; 
 a pall for the dead ; three pair of corporals ; and three surplices ''. " 
 
 Near the porch, on the right hand side of the path, 
 is an ancient cross on a flight of five steps. Another 
 cross stands without the churchyard, and there is 
 a tradition that the churchyard at one time sur- 
 rounded it. This, however, is not probable. 
 
 About a mile south-east of St. Burian, on the estate 
 of Bosliven, are some remains of an ancient building, 
 to this day called "the sanctuary." It has been con- 
 sidered as the original " sanctuary " of Athelstan, 
 but the title and privileges of sanctuary pertained to 
 the church, the churchyard, and sometimes a limited 
 space beyond. C. S. Gilbert says of these ruins that 
 they appear to be the remains of the chapel attached 
 to the Deanery-house. Dr. Oliver mentions a " ca- 
 pella Sancti Silvani" as having existed in this parish. 
 The building at Bosliven appears to have been much 
 larger than the other ancient chapels of which remains 
 are found throughout Cornwall. But whatever it may 
 have been, sanctuary, chapel, or oratory, it seems to 
 have incited the rage of the Puritans ; for it was al- 
 most totally destroyed by Shrubsall, one of Crom- 
 well's miserable instruments of sacrilege. This fact 
 alone is sufficient proof that at that time it was 
 a sacred edifice of some note. 
 
 The adjacent parishes of St. Levan and St. Sennen 
 form part of the deanery of St. Burian. 
 
 ■* Oliver's Alonasticon.
 
 Cornish Churches. 15 
 
 St. Levan Church, about three miles s.w. from 
 St. Burian, is situated in a most romantic spot, in 
 a deep hollow, scarcely a furlong from the cliffs. 
 The celebrated Logan Rock is in the immediate 
 neighbourhood, and the adjoining coast is acknow- 
 ledged to rank among the finest coast-scenery in 
 England. So abrupt is the hollow (or "gulph," as 
 a Cornish historian expresses it) in which the church 
 stands, that the four pinnacles of the tower are all 
 that can be seen of the building for any considerable 
 distance when approaching it from the east or west. 
 
 The church consists of a nave, south aisle and north 
 transept, a tower at the west end, and a small porch. 
 The aisle is lighted on the south by three square- 
 headed windows with hood-mouldings, and has pointed 
 windows at the east and west ends. The arch of the 
 chancel-window is more obtuse than that at the east 
 end of the aisle ; both have been partially built up 
 from the sill and filled with wooden frames. The 
 arched window at the north end of the transept has 
 also been despoiled of its stone tracery. In the west 
 side of this transept is a small lancet-window. Some 
 of the quoins of the jambs of this window are of sand- 
 stone, a material easily worked, but not the best that 
 might have been chosen in such a locality. It must 
 have been brought from the neighbourhood of Hayle, 
 where the sand on the shore is in some places becom- 
 ing changed into solid rock. An account of this 
 curious formation, by Dr. Paris, will be found in the 
 " Transactions of the Geological Society of Cornwall,"
 
 i6 
 
 Cornish CJmrcJies. 
 
 and in his " Guide to the Mount's Bay." Some of 
 this stone may also be found in the wall near the 
 east window of the north aisle at St. Burian's. 
 
 An arched doorway in the angle between the nave 
 and the transept has been walled up. A square- 
 headed window near it has had its mullions taken 
 away, and is filled with a wooden frame. The arch 
 of the tower doorway consists 
 of two plain cavetto mouldings, 
 under a hoodmould. 
 
 Entering by the porch, the 
 first object to be noticed is the 
 stoup, which is perfect. It is 
 square, and ornamented with 
 simple arcading on one side. 
 Adjoining the doorway is a 
 carved representation of two 
 jesters. The floor of the church is two steps below 
 the doorway. 
 
 Internally the building is in a most dilapidated 
 and neglected state, extremely damp, and with the 
 atmosphere of a vault. The walls and arcades have 
 been from time to time liberally coated with lime- 
 wash, and modern pews have been introduced to 
 break the uniformity of the original benches. Some 
 of the panels of the roodscreen remain, and have 
 curiously carved shields. On one are represented 
 the figures of a winged bullock, a winged cat or lion, 
 and two human heads with the heads and wings of 
 birds above them, (one of the birds has also the head 
 
 Stoup, St. Levan.
 
 Cornish CJmrcJies. 
 
 17 
 
 of another animal projecting from the hinder part 
 of its neck,) and the legs and feet of some quadruped. 
 
 
 
 Bench-ends, St. Levan. 
 
 These may have reference to the vision of Ezekiel 
 or to the mystical beasts described in the Revelation 
 of St. John. On other shields are devices symbolical 
 of the Passion, as the spear, the nails, 
 the hammer, and the cross, encircled 
 
 with thecrown of thorns. 
 
 But the intruding pews 
 
 hide much of the work. 
 
 Some of the bench-ends 
 
 are also curiously carved. 
 
 One has a pilgrim monk 
 
 with a breviary and a 
 
 discipline. The illustra- 
 
 Monogram, St. Levan. tionS will givC a general Bench-end 
 
 idea of the rest. One st. Levan.' 
 C
 
 i8 
 
 Cornish CJnircJies. 
 
 female has a sort of network over the hair not unlike 
 that worn at the present time. The sacred monogram 
 I.H.S. is repeated in a variety of forms. There are 
 
 
 West View of Transept, St. Lcv.iii. 
 
 other monograms probably intended to be commemo- 
 rative of forgotten benefactors of the church : a good 
 
 W 
 
 f^ 
 
 Transept 
 
 ^ 
 
 Nave ^ ^ 
 
 Plan of Transept. 
 A. B. mark the position of Windows ; i. 2. 3. Piers. 
 
 example is given on p. 17. There are many other 
 carvings suggestive of sacred subjects. The nave and 
 aisle are connected by an arcade of six low, pointed 
 arches. The piers of these arches are octagonal, and the
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 19 
 
 capitals consist merely of rounded and hollow mould- 
 ings. The oldest and most interesting part of the 
 church is the transept, which is evidently Early Eng- 
 lish, and was probably erected early in the thirteenth 
 
 Interior of Transept, St. Levan. 
 
 century. The high-pitched roof, lancet window, and 
 other details are characteristic of the style of that 
 period. Each side of the arch of this little window, 
 which is about 3 ft. 3 in. high, is formed of one stone 
 
 \^''^^'i^,.§t^' 
 
 ^ 
 
 Capital of Pier (2). 
 
 mmmtmmm^ 
 
 Capital of Pier (3). 
 
 with a chamfered edge. The modern wooden frame is 
 omitted in the opposite engraving. The transept and
 
 20 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 
 nave are connected by two arches with octagonal piers, 
 but the capitals differ from those of the aisle-piers. 
 The middle one, which has sustained some injury, is 
 curiously chamfered at each angle. The eastern pier 
 (3 in plan) is almost entirely hidden by the pulpit; 
 a part of the capital is, however, exposed to view : 
 it is ornamented with the zigzag moulding, and has 
 the appearance of being Norman, — the relic, perhaps, 
 of an older church. The roof of the transept has been 
 entirely plastered. The 
 font appears to be transi- 
 tional from Norman to 
 Early English. About 
 twenty years ago it was 
 carefully scraped and 
 cleaned — it is therefore 
 free from lime-wash, and 
 its star and cable mould- 
 ings are in good preser- 
 vation. The height of the 
 font is 2 ft. 6 in., and the 
 diameter of the bowl is 
 2 ft. It has no base or 
 step. 
 
 The wood-work of the roofs of the nave and aisle 
 is handsomely carved, and was originally painted 
 and gilt. Some traces of this decoration may still 
 be seen. 
 
 The tower has a rude round-headed arch springing 
 from pentagonal imposts. It contains two bells, 
 
 Font, St. Levan.
 
 Cornish Churches. 2i 
 
 which have no legends. One has the date 1641 ; 
 the other has the names of the churchwardens and 
 the founder's mark, — a bell with the initials A. R. 
 
 In the churchyard are two ancient crosses : the 
 taller one, nearly seven feet high, stands near the 
 porch, and is a good example of its class. 
 
 Dr. Oliver is of opinion that the patron saint of this 
 church is St. Livin, an Irish bishop, who preached the 
 Gospel in Belgium, and suffered martyrdom A.D. 656. 
 
 The well and chapel of St. Levan stood on the 
 edge of the cliff, a little below the church. Some 
 remains of the well may yet be seen. There are 
 also the ruins of the four walls of an ancient chapel 
 at Porth-curnow, about half a mile distant. 
 
 The descriptions of churches, where any are given, 
 in the county histories, are extremely meagre. C. S. 
 Gilbert's is probably the best general history of Corn- 
 wall, yet all he can say of the interesting little church 
 of St. Levan is, that it contains carved shields bear- 
 ing the arms of Vyvyan and Trethurffe, and " a 
 curious figure of the devil." 
 
 The church of St. Sennen, or Senanus, an Irish 
 abbot who accompanied St. Burian into Cornwall, 
 is four miles from St. Levan, and rather more than 
 that distance from St. Burian. It is a small, low 
 structure, standing on high ground about a mile 
 from the Land's End, and exposed to all the storms 
 of the Atlantic. The plan of this church is nearly 
 the same as that of St. Levan ; here, however, the
 
 Cornish C/mrches. 
 
 chancel projects beyond the aisle, which is not the 
 case at St. Levan. The aisle has three arched win- 
 dows on the south side, and one at either end. The 
 chancel window has a round head. A square-headed 
 window with a hood-moulding, on the south side of 
 the chancel, is blocked up. The transept has two 
 windows, one square-headed, the other arched. The 
 flat-headed north doorway is also walled up. The 
 stone muUions and tracery of all the windows have 
 been removed, and their places occupied by ugly 
 wooden frames. The belfry-lights alone remain in 
 their original condition. Internally the church is in 
 a most dilapidated condition, and, like its neighbour, 
 has been plentifully bedaubed with lime-wash. An 
 arcade of six arches con- 
 nects the nave and aisle. 
 The piers are shafted 
 at the angles, the capi- 
 tals consisting simply of 
 round and cavetto mould- 
 ings. The transept is con- 
 nected with the nave by 
 a single four-centred arch. capital, st.senneu. 
 
 The roodscreen has been entirely destroyed. The 
 font has a modern appearance, but stands on an 
 ancient base, which has an inscription in Old Eng- 
 lish letters. Hals, who visited the church in 1700, 
 writes — 
 
 "The sexton shewed me an inscription on the foot of the font-stone, 
 which he told me several bishops of E.\ctcr and their priests, in their
 
 CornisJi Churches. 23 
 
 triennial visitations at Buryan and this church, had viewed and in- 
 spected, but could not read it. Whereupon, in like manner, I observed 
 on the font-stone the said inscription in a barbarous strange character 
 of letters, of which I could see but part, by reason of a new pew or 
 seat which was built on a part of it : however, I interpreted that which 
 I saw to consist of these letters,- — Anno Dom. mille. cccc xx. or XL. ; 
 in the year of our Lord 1420 or 1440. Let the curious remove the 
 seat and explain the rest ; probably the church was then erected." 
 
 The stone has been removed to its present posi- 
 tion since Hals saw it, and is not now hidden by any 
 pew. The inscription is of the fifteenth century, in 
 the letters and with the usual abbreviations of the 
 period. A portion of it has been broken away ; the 
 remainder appears to be as follows : — " Eccta 1 deco- 
 te S. I. B. dedica fvit anno dni millo CCCCXLI. :" in 
 full, " [Haec] Ecclesia in decollatione Sancti Johannis 
 Baptistae dedicata fuit, Anno Domini Millesimo quad- 
 ringentesimo quadragesimo primo," {secundo, tertio, 
 or quarto, as the case may have been ; for a portion 
 of the date has evidently been broken away with the 
 missing fragment) ; and in English, " This church 
 was dedicated on the festival of the beheading of St. 
 John the Baptist, A.D. 1441-4." Hals also tells us 
 that the sexton shewed him " the headless bodies 
 of some images of human shape cut in alabaster that 
 were not long before found hid in the walls of the 
 same, all curiously wrought, which also had been 
 painted with gold, vermilion, and blue bice, on several 
 parts of their garments." One of these images still 
 remains, standing on a bracket which projects from 
 the north wall of the transept. It is 3 ft. 2 in. high. 
 Repeated coats of lime have entirely covered all
 
 24 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 " sold, vermilion, and blue bice." And the figure 
 has received rough usage ; the head and arms are 
 gone. It was probably mutilated by 
 the Puritans, perhaps by Shrubsall 
 himself, fresh from the demolition 
 of the sanctuary. This image repre- 
 sents a female saint, most probably 
 the Blessed Virgin. 
 
 The tower has two bells : one lies 
 on the belfry-floor ; it was cast by 
 Thomas Bayley of Bridgewater, in 
 the year 1762 : the other bell was cast 
 
 8 Mutilated Image of 
 
 10. the Blessed Virgin, 
 
 St. Sennen. 
 
 II. ST. MADRON— ST. PAUL— SANCREED— ST. JUST. 
 
 Among the many traditions of Cornwall none are 
 more popular than those which tell of the marvellous 
 strength of the ancient inhabitants of the county. 
 The peculiar forms and positions of huge rocks, and 
 the numerous rude and Cyclopean structures, are 
 generally considered good evidence of the existence 
 of a giant race. In like manner are marvellous tales 
 told of the selection of sites for churches and of their 
 erection. For instance, it is said that when a church 
 was finished, its patron saint stood on the tower, and 
 taking the builder's hammer, swung it around his head 
 and let it take what direction it might. Wherever 
 it fell, there was the next church to be erected. 
 
 The hammer thrown for St. Madron fell on a
 
 Cornish Churches. 25 
 
 pleasant place. The church stands on the brow of 
 an eminence which slopes gradually down for about 
 two miles to the shores of Mount's Bay. The famed 
 St. Michael's Mount itself is seen distinctly, and be- 
 yond it the long cloud-like coast which terminates 
 with the Lizard Point. 
 
 It is recorded that in the time of Richard I., 
 Henry de Pomeraye (or Pomeroi — the word is spelt 
 in a variety of ways) built or endowed the church of 
 St. Madron, and gave it to the Knights Hospitallers 
 of St. John of Jerusalem, for the health and salvation 
 of his own soul, that of his lord the King, and the 
 souls of his father, mother, brother, sisters, progeni- 
 tors, and successors. Among the entries relating 
 to the English houses of the Hospitallers in Dugdale's 
 Monasticon is the following : — " Trebigh Praeceptoria. 
 Henricus de Pomeria dedit Hospitalariis Ecclesiam 
 S. Maderi, cum pertinentiis, in com. Cornubiae, per- 
 tinentem eidem praeceptoriae." The Knights Hos- 
 pitallers are said to have had a provincial establish- 
 ment at Landithy, an estate immediately adjoining 
 the church. This church is called " Ecclesia de 
 Sancti Madderni " in the Taxation of Pope Nicho- 
 las, A.D. 1291. 
 
 Of the church which Henry de Pomeroi built or 
 endowed nothing remains excepting the font, which is 
 Norman. The lead with which it is lined is brought 
 over the upper edge and nearly half-way down the 
 side. The forms of square panels may be seen on 
 one side, — doubtless the other sides were similar ;
 
 26 
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 but the font appears to have received violent injury ; 
 portions have been plastered up, and it is also thickly 
 coated with lime. The block of granite on which it 
 
 Font, St. Madron. 
 
 Stands is extremely rude. The dimensions of the 
 font are as follow : — Height, 3 ft. 5 in. ; height of 
 shafts, II in. ; length of each side, 2 ft. 6 in. 
 
 The present church consists of a nave and chancel, 
 with north and south aisles, and a tower at the west 
 end of the nave. The two lower stages of the tower 
 and the east end of the chancel (the ancient sanc- 
 tuary) are much older than any other portions of the 
 building, and form parts of the church which was 
 rebuilt on the site of Pomeroi's church in the beerin-
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 27 
 
 ning of the fourteenth century. The south aisle was, 
 perhaps, built early in the fifteenth century, along the 
 nave only, and extended along the chancel at a sub- 
 sequent period. The north aisle is later. In the 
 south wall of the sanctuary are a sedile and piscina 
 
 Sedile and Piscina, St. Madron. 
 
 under a single hoodmould. There were probably 
 three sedilia ; for, though only one remains, the 
 springing of a second arch may still be seen, extend- 
 ing westward to the end of the wall, which has been 
 cut away to make room for the late arcades. The 
 height of the sedile is 4 ft. 7 in. ; the breadth 3 ft. 
 The registers of the see state that Bishop Grandisson
 
 28 Cornish CJiurcJies. 
 
 consecrated the high-altar on the 13th of July, 1336. 
 Apart from this direct evidence, it would not have 
 been unreasonable to have fixed from 1320 to 1340 
 for the date of the sedile and piscina. There is a 
 niche near the east end of the south wall in the south 
 aisle which looks very like a piscina, but there is no 
 drain. There is a smaller niche, similarly placed, 
 in the north aisle, — perhaps an ambrie. Both are 
 of late character. The east window is modern, and 
 not in good taste ; it is of two lights, transomed, and 
 filled with stained glass ; as are also the windows in 
 the east and west ends of the aisles. There are also 
 three coloured windows in the side of the south aisle, 
 and one in the side of the north aisle, which was 
 given by the ladies of the parish. The window in 
 the east end of the south aisle contains the arms 
 of its donors, some of the principal families of the 
 parish, — Borlase, Peters, Tremenheere, Le Grice, and 
 Scobell. One of the windows in the side of the 
 south aisle is commemorative of the late Major- 
 General Robyns. The best window of the whole, 
 as regards the quality of the glass, is that in the 
 west end of the north aisle : it is the gift of the 
 present vicar and patron, the Rev. M. N. Peters. 
 
 The aisles open into the nave by an arcade of six 
 four-centred arches on either side. The piers on the 
 south side of the nave are composed of four three- 
 quarter round shafts, with a hollow moulding be- 
 tween each. The capitals are good, with simple 
 mouldings. The piers on the north side of the nave
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 29 
 
 are of a different character ; their mouldings are 
 the same as those in St. Just Church, of which en- 
 gravings will be given hereafter : the capitals arc 
 ornamented with foliage. 
 
 Some fragments of the roodscreen remain, and on 
 one of the pew-doors, evidently 
 not their original position, are 
 carved the arms of Henry VIII. ; 
 this carving is probably of the 
 same date as the north aisle. 
 A description of these arms, with 
 an accurate engraving, may be 
 seen in the Gentleman's Ma- 
 gazine for May, 1842. 
 
 The tower is probably contem- window of Second stage 
 
 . , , - , of Tower, St. Madron. 
 
 poraneous with the lourteenth-cen- 
 tury work at the east end, with the exception 
 of the uppermost stage, which was added at a 
 subsequent period. It is plain, without buttresses, 
 and is very substantially built, the walls being four 
 
 n;;..u,,-,,r,V..V,,.,^,,|(,,,, ,,_ 
 
 iMiiiiiiiiiii'ifeii 
 
 fc-iT-'K T - 
 
 
 
 m 
 
 iHiii: 
 
 Corbel-table of Second Stage of Tower, St. Madron. 
 
 feet in thickness. Externally the junction between 
 the older walls and the aisles is apparent. The tower-
 
 \o 
 
 ComisJi Churches. 
 
 arch is a perfectly plain soffit-arch of masonry. The 
 doorway has simply a chamfer. The window over it 
 is a modern restoration, filled with stained glass. 
 On the north side is a square turret, reaching to 
 the second stage, and containing a newel staircase. 
 The corbel-table below the uppermost stage is very 
 good and effective. 
 
 Loosely placed in the piscina are some remarkable 
 alabaster figures of archan- 
 gels, very excellently sculp- 
 tured. They stood in rows, 
 one above the other, and 
 each holds a spear in the 
 right hand and a reversed 
 shield in the left. They are 
 entirely gilded excepting the 
 inner parts of the wings, 
 which are coloured red and 
 blue in each alternate figure. 
 These fragments may have 
 
 belons:ed to some tomb, or Figures of Archangels. St. Madron. 
 
 probably to an ancient reredos. The height of the 
 fragment represented by the accompanying cut is 
 ten inches. 
 
 There are several mural monuments in the church. 
 One, date 1631, is inscribed with "an Epitaphc to y*^ 
 memorye of y*^ deceased Thomas Fleming, Gent." 
 This family once held considerable property in the 
 parish. There is also a monumental brass on the 
 wall of the north aisle.
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 3 [ 
 
 In the churchyard is the oft-quoted epitaph on 
 George Daniel: — 
 
 " Belgia me Birth, Britain me Breeding gave, 
 Cornwall a Wife, ten children and a grave " 
 
 These hnes are on a newly-cut stone, the original 
 inscription having been almost obliterated. 
 
 The parish registers commence with the year 1577. 
 In the baptismal register for 1594 reference is made 
 to the "daughter of George the Miller;" — " a curious 
 fragment," says Mr. Halliwell, " in the history of the 
 origin of English surnames." 
 
 St. Madron Church has not been allowed to fall 
 into a state of decay for want of timely repairs. 
 
 St. Paul. — This church stands on the summit of 
 a hill overlooking the fishing village of Mousehole, 
 and is about three miles from Penzance. It possesses 
 few architectural features of interest, for it is perhaps 
 the most sadly disfigured church in the west of 
 Cornwall. Some historical interest is, however, at- 
 tached to the spot; for in the year 1595 the Span- 
 iards paid a hostile visit to this parish, and, says 
 Carew, — 
 
 " Burned not onely the houses they went by, but also the parish 
 church of Patil, the force of the fire being such, as it vtterly ruined all 
 the great stonie pillers thereof; others of them in that time burned 
 that fisher towne Mowsehole ; the rest marched as a gard for defence 
 of these firers." 
 
 In reference to this subject the parish register thus 
 commences : —
 
 32 Cornish ChurcJics. 
 
 "Jesu spes et Salus mea. 
 "1595- 
 "A register of the names of all those that were baptised, married, 
 and buried in the Parish Church of St. Pawle in the Countie of Corn- 
 wall, from the 23rd Dale Julie, the year of our Lord God 1595, on the 
 which Dale the Church, towre, bells, and all other things pertaining to 
 the same, together with the houses and goods, was Bum'd and spoil'd 
 by the Spaniards in the said parish, being Wensdaie the dale aforsaid, 
 in the 37th yeare of the Reigne of our Sovereigne Ladie Elizabeth, by 
 the grace of God, of England, Fraunce, and Ireland, defender of the 
 Faith. 
 
 "Per me Johannem Tremearne, Vicarium Ejus." 
 
 If the stonework of the tower was injured, it was 
 evidently restored with the original materials ; but 
 the greater probability is, that only the woodwork 
 w'as destroyed, which of course involved the destruc- 
 tion of the bells. The tower was erected perhaps 
 about the end of the fifteenth century. There is 
 a tradition in the parish to the efiect that the 
 Spaniards met some of the country people bearing 
 fagots of furze, and driving them into the church 
 compelled them to drop their bundles, to which they 
 set fire ; and as it happened to be a strong south- 
 west wind, they opened wide the door to receive the 
 benefit of its aid. When the porch was opened for 
 repairs, in the year 1807, some of the woodwork was 
 found to be charred. This fact supports other evi- 
 dence that the church was not totally demolished. 
 Nearly all the timber in it was probably consumed, 
 and doubtless some portions of the walls suffered 
 much ; but Carew's statement, that " all the great 
 stonic pillcrs " were "vttcrly ruined" requires some
 
 Cornish ChurcJies. 33 
 
 qualification, — for the present piers, though they 
 might subsequently have undergone repair, were 
 evidently constructed previous to the landing of the 
 Spaniards. The arches appear to have been clumsily 
 repaired, for they incline a little to the north and 
 south of the nave, and to prevent them from falling 
 they are connected by unseemly iron braces bolted 
 through the spandrels. The south doorway and the 
 western part of the wall, including the doorway of 
 the north aisle, also escaped destruction. It there- 
 fore appears that the building was simply gutted, 
 and that the walls at the eastern end only were so 
 much injured as to require to be rebuilt. Although 
 at the time the Spaniards left it, it could not have 
 been in a fit condition for the usual public worship, 
 yet the services of baptism, marriage, and burial 
 were undoubtedly celebrated within the walls : for 
 the Vicar says in the register, ^' From the 23rd dale 
 of Julie," &c., — which implies that it was still pos- 
 sible to perform these necessary services within the 
 church. The destruction by fire, in the year 1853, 
 of the neighbouring parish church of St. Hilary, af- 
 fords a melancholy instance of the amount of injury 
 a building of like description would incur under 
 similar circumstances. This church, however, pro- 
 bably received more damage than that of St. Paul, 
 yet whilst it was still unroofed and blackened by 
 the effects of fire a marriage was celebrated at its 
 altar. 
 
 The present church of St. Paul is of large dimen- 
 
 D
 
 34 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 sions. The nave and aisles are connected by nine 
 four-centred arches, but the third arch westward 
 from the chancel on the north side of the nave is 
 of peculiar formation. As will be seen by reference 
 
 Arch between Nave and North Aisle, St. Paul. 
 
 to the accompanying cut it is very small, and is 
 constructed on a solid block of masonry, which is 
 3 ft. 6 in. above the floor. This arch may have been 
 in some way connected with the rood-loft and screen, 
 or perhaps it was a hagioscope from the transept 
 which the aisle replaced. It is of earlier date than 
 any other part of the building except the tower. 
 
 The windows of the aisles are of churchwarden 
 insertion, ugly and round-headed ; and the east win-
 
 Cornish CJmrcJies. 
 
 35 
 
 dow is a perfect caricature. All have wooden frames 
 with large panes of glass. 
 
 The tower, like all church- 
 towers in the western part of 
 Cornwall, is constructed entirely 
 of wrought granite. It is a fine 
 building, divided into three 
 stages, with double buttresses 
 at the angles. The newel stair- 
 case, like that at St. Burian, is 
 contained in a turret which rises 
 above the embattled parapet. 
 The niullions and tracery have 
 been removed from the large 
 tower-window, which is filled up 
 in the most barbarous manner. 
 Over this window and on either 
 side is a niche, from which the 
 ancient images have been re- 
 moved. On the lower part of Z^^, 
 the niche on the left of the 
 window is carved the letter M, 
 
 which, of course, indicates that the image of the 
 Blessed Virgin stood here ; the niche on the other 
 side has a blank shield. The hoodmoulding over 
 the doorway springs from two corbel-heads, and at 
 the centre of the mould is a shield bearing the sacred 
 characters I. H. C. The belfry-lights retain their 
 original tracery, which is very good of its kind. The 
 tower-arch is of very excellent proportions ; it is su- 
 
 Tower, St. Paul.
 
 36 
 
 Cornish CJiurcJies. 
 
 perior to those in most other churches in this district. 
 The three bells are each dated 1727, with the initials 
 A. R., and have the 
 following legends: — 
 North bell (diameter, V' 
 
 2 ft. 10 in.), "Pros- 
 perity to this parish;" 
 middle bell (diame- 
 ter, 3 ft. 3 in.), "Pros- 
 perity to the Church 
 of England ;" south A^. 
 bell (diameter, 3 ft. Bdfry windows, st. Paui. 
 
 3 in.), " To the church the living call : To the grave 
 do summon all.'* 
 
 There is a mural monument, dated 1689, in the 
 north aisle, to William Godolphin, of Trewarveneth, 
 in this parish : he is said to have been the last repre- 
 sentative of that ancient and noble family. Two 
 swords and pieces of armour are hung over the stone. 
 There is also a most elaborate monument here, to 
 the memory of " Stephen Hutchens of this parish, 
 who departed this life at Port Royall in Jamaica, 
 the 24th day of August, 1709 :" — 
 
 " He hath given one hundred pounds towards the repairing and 
 beautifying this church, and six hundred pounds for building a house 
 for six poor men and six poor women born in this parish." 
 
 We are also informed by a quotation from, or 
 rather variation of, the 112th Psalm, that Stephen 
 Hutchens "saw his desire upon his enemies." The 
 monument is in the most florid style : there are
 
 Cornish Churches, 37 
 
 representations of shattered vessels, warlike instru- 
 ments and trophies, with a profile likeness of Queen 
 Anne. It is worthy of notice only because it bears 
 an old Cornish inscription : — 
 
 "Bounas heb dueth Eu poes Karens wei 
 tha Pobl Bohodzhak Paull han Egles nei. " 
 
 Which has been rendered into English thus : — 
 
 " Eternal life be his whose loving care 
 Gave Paul an alms-house and the church repair." 
 
 It was the custom at one time to place Cornish 
 inscriptions in churches, but this appears to be the 
 only one now remaining, 
 
 X' Particular interest is attached to this church on 
 account of its being the burial-place of Dolly Pen- 
 treath, said to have been the last person able to 
 converse in the old Cornish language. A well-cut 
 granite obelisk has lately been erected here in com- 
 memoration of this tradition. The monument is in- 
 scribed with the name of Dorothy Pentreath, which 
 was the maiden name of the old woman, for it ap- 
 pears that she was married to a person of the name 
 of Jeffery. This, however, is of no great importance, 
 for she is popularly known as Dolly Pentreath, and 
 it is still the custom in the villages of Mousehole 
 and Newlyn for women to be called by their maiden 
 names after marriage ; indeed, there are some in- 
 stances in which the husband goes by the maiden 
 name of his wife, she being the more popular or 
 ^ more important personage of the two. 
 
 This church was attached to the mitred abbey of
 
 38 Cornish Churches. 
 
 Hailes, in Gloucestershire, and is dedicated to St. 
 Paulinus, first Archbishop of York, who was sent 
 into England by Pope Gregory soon after the mis- 
 sion of St. Augustine. In the Taxation of Pope 
 Nicholas, A.D. 1291, it is entered as " Ecclesia Sancti 
 Paulini." 
 
 Should any reader of this paper visit the church 
 of St. Paul let him not forget to ascend to the roof of 
 the tower : the magnificent view from the summit is 
 well worthy of the labour, 
 
 Sancreed Church lies in a secluded spot among 
 the hills about three miles westward from Penzance. 
 
 That there was a church here at the end of the 
 thirteenth century is proved by the Taxation of 
 Pope Nicholas IV., where it occurs as " Ecclesia 
 Sancti Sancredi." There are probably no existing 
 remains of this building, except perhaps in the foun- 
 dations and the lower parts of the walls of the pre- 
 sent church, which appears to have been erected late 
 in the fifteenth century. Its plan nearly resembles 
 that of St. Levan — consisting of a nave and a south 
 aisle, a south porch, a north transept, and a low 
 tower at the west end of the nave : the walls of the 
 tower are very massive. The font is similar to that 
 at St. Burian ; it has four angels, with crosses on their 
 foreheads, and bearing shields. The stoup remains, 
 and there is a niche for an image over the south 
 door. The roodscreen has been removed, but some 
 of its curiously-carved panels are preserved in the
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 39 
 
 vestry at the north end of the transept. These panels 
 consist of two large pieces of woodwork, 8 ft. 6 in. 
 
 Panels of Roodscreen, Sancreed. 
 
 and 8 ft. 4 in. respectively in length, the panels fol- 
 lowing in succession as they were originally placed. 
 The carved figures are undoubtedly symbolical, 
 though some seem more than usually grotesque. 
 The crowned head with three faces, represented in 
 the annexed cut, is of course intended to symbolize 
 the Holy Trinity. The trellis-like pattern on this 
 panel is the same as that on the Norman font at
 
 40 Cornish CJiiircJi£s. 
 
 Green's Norton, Northamptonshire (see Simpson's 
 Baptismal Fonts). The eagle on the third panel is 
 very spirited. In the first panel is a spotted goat 
 devouring the tender branches of the vine. Others 
 contain — an owl, two-headed female figures, serpents 
 entwined, a crowned serpent, and the pelican. These 
 carvings were richly painted, like those of the screen 
 at St. Burian. 
 
 The windows, with the exception of the belfry-lights, 
 have been treated in the usual barbarous manner. 
 
 In the churchyard is a tall round-headed cross, on 
 which is cut, among other devices, a representation 
 of the lily of the Blessed Virgin, — a symbol very 
 frequently used during the fifteenth century. There 
 is another ancient cross by the west gate. 
 
 St. Just in Penwith^ — The church-town of St. 
 Just is situated on the coast, in a wild and romantic 
 spot between the Land's End and the parish of 
 Morvah. 
 
 Bishop Grandisson dedicated the high-altar of a 
 church at this place on the 13th of July, 1336, — the 
 same day with St. Madron ; but nothing now re- 
 mains of that church, for the east end of the chancel, 
 which was the only portion of it that remained at 
 that time, was taken down to be rebuilt in the year 
 1S34. The rest of the church was erected late in the 
 fifteenth century, and it is of nearly the same plan as 
 St. Burian. The porch is the same as St. Burian's, 
 
 * So called to distinguish it from St. Just in Roseland.
 
 Ccrnish CJiiirches. 
 
 41 
 
 excepting that there is a stairway from the interior 
 of the church leading to its roof; the doorway to 
 this is now walled up. The interior of the church 
 presents rather a singular appearance, owing to the 
 pier-arches being of different breadths, — some being 
 pointed, and some depressed and nearly semicircular. 
 The capitals of the piers are richly sculptured with 
 foliage, — a very fre- 
 quent design being 
 that of leaves bound 
 with their twisted 
 stems as with cords. 
 The same may be 
 seen at St. Madron, 
 and the mouldings 
 of the St. Just piers 
 correspond to those 
 of the north (or later) 
 aisle at St. Madron. 
 Some of the capitals 
 have angels bearing 
 shields, on which are 
 carved the arms of 
 several of the prin- 
 cipal families con- 
 nected with the pa- 
 rish, and which were 
 
 , , , , , , Capital, St. Just. 
 
 probably benefactors 
 
 to the church. The capital of the second pier west- 
 ward from the chancel has an angel with a shield, on 
 
 Capital, St. Just.
 
 42 
 
 Cornish C J lurches. 
 
 which are the letters M. J., for MARIA Jesus. The 
 hoodmould-terminations of one of the south aisle win- 
 dows bear the same letters, 
 but in reversed order, and 
 are noticeable for their sin- 
 
 gular design. 
 
 In 
 
 writing 
 
 Hoodmould, St. Just. 
 
 on these letters, in his 
 " Account of St. Just," Mr. 
 BuUer, a late vicar, seems 
 to have overlooked evidence which would have sup- 
 ported his interpretation, had there been any doubt 
 as to the letters themselves ; for around the J are 
 five bosses, and around the M seven ; the former, as 
 is well known, being symbolical of the five wounds 
 in the body of our Lord, and the latter the seven 
 dolours of the Blessed Virgin. The round-headed 
 termination of the J, with the two similar forms on 
 its upper part, may represent the three nails ; for in 
 the arms of the Passion three nails were sometimes 
 used instead of four. 
 
 The last capital westward 
 on the north side of the 
 nave has a curious variety 
 of the tooth-moulding. 
 
 The aisles have each five pointed windows, with 
 tracery of two patterns, which alternate in each aisle. 
 The east windows of the aisles are very singular. 
 They are alike, having four lights, with depressed 
 heads above filled with Perpendicular tracery of 
 flamboyant character. The east window is a recent 
 
 Tooth-moulding, St. Just.
 
 Cornish Chtirches. 
 
 43 
 
 imitation of one of the side windows of the aisles. 
 The tower is of a plain character, with embattled 
 parapet and four pinnacles, but no buttresses. It 
 diminishes toward the top too abruptly for its height 
 to have a pleasing effect. There are three bells, two 
 of which have legends. On one, " Sancte Michael, 
 ora pro nobis :" on the other, " Protege Virgo pia 
 Quos convoco, Sancta Maria." 
 
 When the old sacrarium was taken down in 1834, 
 there was found in the wall an inscribed stone, bear- 
 
 Inscribed Stone, St. Just. 
 
 ing on one side the words " Silus [or Selus] hie 
 jacet." There are also some marks over the first 
 word which look very like a monogram. On the 
 upper side of the stone, as it is now placed, is an 
 incised cruciform pastoral-staff, indicating that the 
 monument was commemorative of an ecclesiastic of 
 some authority. In the same walls were found the 
 broken parts of a piscina and the capital of a pier 
 of Norman date.
 
 44 Cornish Churches. 
 
 III. CURY— GUNWALLOE-MULLION. 
 
 The district of Meneage measures about ten miles, 
 from its northern boundary to its termination at the 
 Lizard Point — the southernmost land of England ; 
 and its greatest breadth from east to west — that is, 
 from sea to sea — does not exceed ten miles. Within 
 this small compass there are no fewer than twelve 
 parish churches. Some of these are situated in se- 
 cluded spots, embosomed in rich foliage ; whilst 
 others stand on open and exposed situations on the 
 table-land. One, Gunwalloe, on the very margin 
 of the sea, is often dashed by the foam in stormy 
 weather. 
 
 Various are the interpretations given to the word 
 Meneage, such as meneg, ' stony ;' mean-ake, ' the 
 deaf stone ;' vieneog, ' kept in by the sea :' it is also 
 said to mean the ' heath-stone,' from the fact of the 
 beautiful Cornish heath. Erica vagans, growing plen- 
 tifuUy over the serpentine rock of the district. " Me- 
 nege," says Norden, "is a parcell of lande contayning 
 the most part of this Kirrier hundred ; a fruteful and 
 plentifuU place for people, corne, fleshe, fishe, tynn, 
 and copper." This reference to tin and copper is not 
 correct, — at least the district is not now disfigured 
 by unsightly mine works ; it is almost wholly an 
 agricultural country. One side of Mount's Bay is 
 formed by its western coast. The headlands, coves, 
 and arched rocks along this shore are of the most 
 varied and beautiful description ; the peculiar charac-
 
 Cornish Churches. 45 
 
 ter of the serpentine rock giving to the cliffs greater 
 brilliancy of colour, though they have not the same 
 savage grandeur as those at the Land's End. 
 
 When the wild downs in this tract of land were 
 dense forests, through which wild beasts prowled, 
 and about that period when the inhabitants began 
 to change their Celtic religion for a purer faith, then, 
 says tradition, saints came from afar, and here made 
 their abodes in little hermitages. Of these were St. 
 Rumon and St. Corantyne, afterwards Bishops of 
 Cornwall. "St. Corantyne," says Dr. Borlase, "who 
 is now called Cury, was the first Cornish apostle of 
 note that we know of. He was consecrated Bishop 
 of Cornwall by St. Martin, Bishop of Tours in France, 
 and, being said to have converted all Cornwall, died 
 in the year 401." Dr. Whitaker, however, who ap- 
 pears to have taken considerable pains to controvert 
 Dr. Borlase on all points, states that St. Corantyne 
 " certainly died in a much earlier year." 
 
 In the Domesday Book Cury was taxed under the 
 jurisdiction of Buchent, now Bochym, a barton in the 
 parish, and at that time of some note. In the reign 
 of Henry VI. we find it called Curytowne. In Wol- 
 sey's Inquisition it is entered as Curyton, and was 
 then presented with Breage, Germoe, and Gunwalloe 
 as one living, Breage being the mother church. 
 
 The church of St. Cury (or Corantyne) is about 
 one mile from the sea, and consists of a chancel, 
 nave, south transept, north aisle, a tower at the west 
 end of the nave, and a small porch. Originally it
 
 46 
 
 CornisJi Churches. 
 
 South Doorway, Cury. 
 
 was undoubtedly cruciform. The south doorway, 
 probably the sole relic of an earlier church, is in the
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 47 
 
 Norman style, perhaps of the latter part of the 
 eleventh or beginning of the twelfth century. 
 
 The nave, chancel, and transept appear to have 
 been erected at the end of the fourteenth century ; 
 but the window in the transept is modern, as is also 
 the chancel window. 
 
 The aisle, of fif- 
 teenth-century cha- 
 racter, is connected 
 with the nave by six 
 four-centred arches. 
 The piers are shafted 
 at the angles, the space 
 between each being a 
 plain cavetto mould. 
 The capitals are orna- 
 mented with a simple 
 and angular kind of 
 foliage. The east 
 window of this aisle 
 is the largest in the 
 building, and has four 
 lights with geometri- 
 cal tracery ; the splay 
 of the arch internally 
 
 is filled with quatrefoil ornamentation — a very rare 
 feature. 
 
 At the junction of the chancel and transept a re- 
 markable hagioscope is formed by a large chamfer 
 of the angle, supported by a detached shaft and 
 
 sttitr^ 
 
 Hagioscope.
 
 48 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 arches to small responds of similar character. Ex- 
 ternally the wall has been thickened out into two 
 
 CHANCEL 
 
 
 r ' 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 »- 
 
 ■^ * 
 
 UJ 
 
 fS^^K 
 
 in 
 
 2 
 
 ^>??K 
 
 < 
 
 V ^ ^\- Y 
 
 oc 
 
 t --"-'-- J 
 
 y- 
 
 ^ ^ .1 
 
 
 
 
 b-^xT-^-^ 
 
 5 FEET 
 
 i I 
 
 Plan of Hagioscope, Cury. A. Low Side Window. 
 
 rounded projections, on the inner side of the smaller 
 of which is a window (see opposite cut), which may 
 have been used as a "low side window;" within, it 
 is four feet seven inches above the floor, and its di- 
 mensions are i ft. 4 in. high by 9 in. wide. A similar 
 arrangement is found in other churches of the district, 
 as at Landewednack and St. Mawgan ^. 
 
 The font is supported by a central pillar and four 
 slender shafts ; the bowl has a circular form of orna- 
 mentation similar to that on the font at St. Levans. 
 
 * It is remarkable that precisely the same arrangement is common 
 in Pembrokeshire, and one very similar to it in Somersetshire and other 
 parts of the country. 
 
 B Gent. Mag., April, 1S62, p. 394.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 49 
 
 The tower, of two stages, has battlements and pin- 
 nacles: it is construct- 
 ed entirely of granite, 
 which material must 
 have been brought 
 from a considerable 
 distance. The mul- 
 Hons of the windows 
 and the piers are also 
 of granite. 
 
 Thereare three bells 
 in the tower ; the old- 
 est is dated 1761, and 
 has for its legend 
 "Jesus de Nazareth 
 Rex Judaeorum." 
 
 EitherCuryChurch, 
 or that of Menheniot, 
 in East Cornwall (for 
 
 both are named after Exterior of Low side window, Cury. 
 
 St. Corantyne), was the first in which the Liturgy was 
 read in English. Dr. Whitaker says it was Menheniot. 
 
 St. Cury Church is now in a state of good repair, 
 the late incumbent, the Rev. Saltren Rogers, now 
 Vicar of Gwennap, having done much to restore it 
 to its original appearance. 
 
 In the south part of the churchyard is an ancient 
 cross of granite, nine feet high, one of the tallest 
 monolith crosses in Cornwall '\ 
 
 ^ See Blight's "Crosses, &c. , in West Cornwall," p. 36. 
 
 E
 
 so 
 
 Cornish Cliurches. 
 
 A mile westward from Cury is the strangely-situ- 
 ated church of GUNWALLOE ; the coast here is formed 
 by sand hills, called towans, overgrown with herbage. 
 
 Gunwalloe Church. 
 
 Those who have visited Gunwalloe Cove will agree 
 with the Rev. C. A. Johns, who says, in his " Week 
 at the Lizard," that it is "as delightful a spot in 
 which to spend a long summer's day as can be well 
 imagined." Though so lovely in summer, the winter 
 storms that have blown on the coast have caused 
 many a shipwreck here. In 1S62 could be seen on 
 the smooth beach of sand of the little adjoining cove 
 of Poljew, portions of a ship which was driven on the 
 coast but two or three months before : after striking 
 on the rocks she broke in two. The crew remained 
 on the fore part, and effected a landing on a huge
 
 Cornish CJinrcJies. 51 
 
 isolated rock ; thirteen, however, were washed ofif 
 before aid could be rendered. It is a singular fact, — 
 and shews by what a narrow chance lives may be lost 
 or saved in such moments of extreme danger, when 
 men "are at their wit's end," — that the whole crew 
 might have been saved had they retreated to the after 
 part of the ship ; for when the storm abated articles 
 perfectly dry were taken out of the cabin. This is 
 but one instance of the many wrecks that have oc- 
 curred near the spot. No apology is needed for 
 alluding to these tales of misery, for the church itself 
 is said to have been erected as a votive offering by 
 one who here escaped from shipwreck. Where he 
 had been miraculously rescued from the fury of the 
 mighty deep, he vowed that he would build a chapel 
 in which the sounds of prayer and praise to God 
 should blend with the never-ceasing voice of those 
 waves from which he had so narrowly escaped. So 
 near to the sea is the church, that at times it is reached 
 by the spray, and the waves have frequently broken 
 away the walls of the churchyard. 
 
 There is no reason to doubt the truth of the above 
 tradition. Another which attempts to account for 
 the situation of the church will not, perhaps, be so 
 readily credited. It is said that the builders intended 
 to erect the church on higher ground, nearer the 
 centre of the parish, at Hingey ; but as fast as mate- 
 rials were brought to the place they were, by some 
 mysterious agency, removed during the night to the 
 present site. And here the church was built, it being 
 found useless to contend with a supernatural power.
 
 52 Cornish CJutrcJies. 
 
 Dr. Whitaker tells us that St. Winwaloc, or Wyn- 
 wallow, the patron of the church, was a Cornishman, 
 and that he resided on this part of the coast as a 
 hermit. Others state that he was of noble Welsh 
 extraction, and became Abbot of Landeveneck in 
 Bretagne, where he died in 529. 
 
 In the Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV. (A.D. 1288 
 — 1291), this church is referred to as " Ecclesia Sancti 
 Wynwolay ;" " that is," says Hals, absurdly, " the 
 church of the hoi}', victorious, or conquering Wallo." 
 In Wolsey's Inquisition, 1521, it is given in valuation 
 and consolidation with Breage, Germoe, and Cury, 
 by the name of the vicarage of Wynnanton. The 
 manor of Wynnanton, or Winington, formerly claimed 
 jurisdiction by sea and land over the whole parish. 
 
 Not only is the church most unusual in its situa- 
 tion, but it has the peculiar arrangement of a detached 
 belfry, built on the solid rock against a steep ascent 
 westward of the church. The rock forms a large 
 portion of the west, north, and south walls. There 
 is no tradition relating to the belfry ; probably, how- 
 ever, funds were not available for the building of 
 a tourer to the church, and this was erected as a tem- 
 porary receptacle for the bells. 
 
 Two of the bells appear to be of early date. One 
 has this legend : — 
 
 "Voce mea viva depello cuncta nociva."— " With my living voice 
 I drive away all hurtful things'." 
 
 ■' The same inscription appears on a bell of the fourteenth century at 
 the parish church of All Hallows, Ringmore, South Devon.
 
 Cornish CJiurcJies. 53 
 
 On the middle bell : — 
 
 " Ichs oTs plaudit ut me tarn sepius audit." — Which may be read, 
 " Jesus is praised by all as often as my voice is heard." 
 
 The third and latest bears the following : — 
 
 " Eternis annis resonet campana Johamiis." — " Let the bell of [St.] 
 John resound in endless years." 
 
 The church is of the fifteenth century, and consists 
 of a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, and a south 
 porch. Internally it is coated with whitewash, and 
 sadly requires restoration. Its dimensions are 54 ft- 
 by 43 ft. The belfry is fourteen feet from the church, 
 its north-east angle being in a line with the south- 
 west angle of the south aisle. 
 
 The open oak roof of the south aisle is particularly 
 good, and the ribs of the porch-roof appear to have 
 been elaborately carved. The piers, resembling those 
 at Cury, have capitals of different design ; some con- 
 sist simply of a sort of twisted or cable moulding. 
 
 The side windows of the north aisle are each of 
 two ogee-headed lights, the head filled with a qua- 
 trefoil. 
 
 The south aisle is lighted by six windows, five of 
 which contain three round-headed lights ; the west 
 window has but two. 
 
 Behind the south and north doors are panels with 
 carved framework, containing very rude paintings of 
 the Apostles, with their emblems, — St. John holding 
 a chalice with a serpent issuing from it, St. James 
 the Great with his staff and scrip, St. Matthew hold-
 
 54 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 ing an axe, &c. This work originally formed the 
 lower part of the rood-screen. 
 
 The font is of late 
 character, but in the 
 churchyard is the 
 fragment of an older 
 one of much supe- 
 rior design, and ap- 
 parently of Norman 
 date. 
 
 A tombstone in the churchyard has the fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 " We shall die all, 
 Shall die all wee ; 
 Die all we shall, 
 All we shall die." 
 
 Fragment o£ Font, Gunvvalloe. 
 
 MULLION Church is about half an hour's walk 
 from Gunwalloe. Its plan is the same as that of 
 Gunvvalloe, except that the tower is joined to the 
 west end of the nave. This tower is said to have 
 been erected in the year 1500 at the expense of 
 Mr. Robert Luddra ^ ; who also at that time restored 
 the chancel, as a curious inscription on the cornice 
 testifies. The tower, like others in this district, is 
 built partly of granite and partly of a sort of inferior 
 serpentine : the light colour of the former, contrasted 
 with the blackness of the latter, gives to the building 
 a strange and variegated appearance. Mr. Davies 
 
 '' " Robertus Ludder " is entered as Vicar in the Valor Ecclcsiasti- 
 cus — Return of Vesey, Bishop of Exeter, June 3, 1536.
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 55 
 
 Crucifix, jMulHon Tower. 
 
 Gilbert must certainly have had some authority for 
 stating, as he has done, that the tower was erected 
 in 1500. If, however, it were erected at that time, 
 fragments of older work must have been used in its 
 construction. 
 
 Over the west window, 
 and immediately under the 
 string-course, is a piece of 
 granite on which is carved 
 the Crucifixion, treated in 
 a manner common enough 
 in some parts of the king- 
 dom, but of unusual occur- 
 rence in the churches of this 
 part of Cornwall, though 
 found on some of the later Cornish crosses. The 
 Father, over whose head is the 
 encircling arc of heaven, holds 
 forth the crucified Son, who 
 has a figure on His right 
 hand and on His left: these, 
 probably, are intended   for 
 the Blessed Virgin and St. 
 John. 
 
 The hoodmould over the 
 arched doorway springs from 
 two corbel-heads, one of which 
 represents the mitred head of 
 a bishop. The tower is about 
 40 ft. high, and contains three 
 
 Corbel-head, Mullion 
 Tower.
 
 56 
 
 Cornish CJmrclies. 
 
 bells of modern date, said to have been cast with 
 the metal of older ones. Tradition says that one 
 of the ancient bells was of an unusually large size, 
 and that it was intended for St. Kevern Church, but 
 by some mishap in its carriage, or through the inter- 
 vention of the patron saint, it fell to the lot of Mul- 
 lion tower. 
 
 The windows of this church originally contained 
 painted glass, representing among other devices the 
 arms of De Ferrers, and of the Erisey family. The 
 fragments that remained were collected together and 
 inserted in the new east window, when the Rev. 
 Francis Gregory, the late lamented vicar, restored 
 the chancel in 1840. 
 
 The side windows of the aisles have arched heads, 
 very depressed ; the east windows have a kind of 
 rude geometrical tracery. 
 
 Thedoor-jambs 
 of the porch are 
 panelled, resem- 
 bling those at 
 Gunwalloe ; and 
 the stoup re- 
 
 Stoup, IMullion. 
 
 mams m 
 
 good 
 
 Bench-end, MiiUion. 
 
 preservation. 
 
 This church is particularly wor- 
 thy of notice, because it retains 
 a large proportion of the original benches, carved in 
 a manner much superior to those in any other church 
 in the western part of Cornwall. The designs are
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 57 
 
 varied, and some are remarkable, representing soldiers, 
 monks, heads of Bacchanalian figures, and initial 
 letters quaintly conceived. 
 
 In the western part of the nave the arms of the 
 Passion are beautifully represented, following in the 
 order shewn by the accompanying cut. Beginning 
 with the sacred characters I H C, each shield in the 
 
 Arms of the Passion, Mullion. 
 
 most suggestive manner tells some fact connected 
 with the crucifixion of our Lord. There is the 
 scourge ; the symbol of the five wounds ; the cross 
 encircled by the crown of thorns ; the initial letter of 
 the word " Christ ;" the spear of Longinus placed 
 diagonally with the reed, on which is the sponge — 
 arranged triangularly with these are three dice ;
 
 58 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 the ladder, with the torches ; the weapons mentioned 
 in St. John's Gospel, (chap, xviii. 3) ; the four nails, 
 hammer, and pincers ; the series most appropriately 
 concluding with a shield bearing the chalice and 
 sacramental wafer. 
 
 Shields on other benches bear the fleur-de-lis, 
 St. Andrew's cross, and a Latin cross with the spear 
 on one side and the reed on the other. The cross, 
 in most instances, in this, as well as in other churches, 
 stands on a Calvary of steps, three in number. The 
 Rev. R. S. Hawker says,—" The three steps which 
 lead up to a cross are symbolic of those three Chris- 
 tian graces of Faith, Hope, 
 and Charity, which a peni- 
 tent should seek and find 
 whenever he pleads for par- 
 don there." 
 
 The font Is octagonal, with 
 panelled sides. On one side 
 the lower part of the bowl is 
 not bevelled, like the others, 
 but the stone extends down- 
 wards to the shaft, as if the 
 font had been left in an un- 
 finished state, or had been 
 built against a wall or pillar. 
 
 On the front of the altar 
 are two figures carved in 
 wood, each having one hand 
 
 raised to bless. One of these Carving on the Altar, MulUon.
 
 Cornish Churches. 59 
 
 — evidently intended for St. Clare^ — stands at the 
 entrance of an ecclesiastical structure, and holds 
 a monstrance in her right hand. These carvings 
 formed part of the roodscreen. 
 
 Until recently the church was disfigured by an un- 
 sightly gallery at the west end of the nave, erected 
 for the choir ; this has been taken down, and other 
 improvements made : still the building is by no 
 means completely restored ; two or three ungainly 
 pews should be removed. Indeed, at a comparatively 
 trifling cost it might be made one of the neatest 
 churches in the district. 
 
 In the chancel is a tablet to the memory of Thomas 
 Flavel, at one time vicar of the parish. Beneath the 
 tablet on a piece of brass are the following lines : — 
 
 " Earth take thine Earth, my Sin let Satan havet ; 
 The World my Goods ; my Soul, my God, who gavet. 
 For from these four — Earth, Satan, World, and God — 
 My flesh, my Sin, my goods, my Soul I had." 
 
 This church is dedicated to St. Meknus, an abbot 
 of Bretagne, born in South Wales, and the bosom 
 friend of St. Sampson; he died about 617. St. Mel- 
 lion Church, near Southill, in East Cornwall, is also 
 dedicated to him, Southill Church being dedicated 
 to St. Sampson. 
 
 ' In this parish is an estate called Clahar (pronounced Clare) Garden, 
 on which are the remains of an ancient chapel, similar to others in 
 Cornwall. This was probably a chapel of St. Clare, and gave name 
 to the estate, whence St. Clare is represented in the parish church.
 
 6o Cornish Churches. 
 
 In the Taxation of Pope Nicholas IV. MuHion 
 Church is entered as " Ecclesia Sancti Melany," but 
 in the Valor Ecclesiasticus {temp. Hen. VIII.), as 
 "Vicaria de Melyan ;" a connecting hnk this, be- 
 tween the original dedication, " Melan," and the 
 curious modern corruption, " Mullion." 
 
 IV. ST. KEVERNE— MANACCAN— ST. MAWGAN. 
 
 Among other interpretations of the word 'Mene- 
 age,' given at p. 44, was mcan-ake, ' the deaf stone.' 
 The reason given for this rendering is, that though 
 there are several mineral veins or lodes in the dis- 
 trict, on trial they have been found of little value, 
 and are called deaf, or barren. What greater pun- 
 ishment could be inflicted on Cornish-men than de- 
 priving their native soil of the precious ore which 
 gives employment to some and fortunes to others } 
 This did St. Keverne. For the irreligion of the in- 
 habitants, and their disrespect towards him, he pro- 
 nounced a curse against them, and caused the mineral 
 veins to be unproductive ; and tradition has handed 
 down the proverb, that " no metal will run within 
 the sound of St. Keverne's bell™." 
 
 There appears to be no record of a saint of the 
 name of Keverne, but Leland, Tanner, and Dr. 
 Whitaker have treated St. Kieran, St. Pieran, and 
 St. Keverne as the same person. Dr. Borlase, how- 
 ever, was of opinion that Piran, or Pieran, and Kiaran, 
 Kieran, or Keverne, were different personages. In 
 
 ■" Pohvhele's Hist, of Cornwall.
 
 Cornish Churches. 6i 
 
 Domesday Book is the following entry : — " Canonici 
 Sancti Achebranni tenent Lannachebran, et tene- 
 bant tempore regis Edwardi." Dr. Borlase says, 
 " The letter a before Chebran is no more than a 
 preposition in the Cornish language, signifying ' of,' 
 prefixed to the St. Chebran, or Kevran." Thus Lan- 
 nachebran would be 'the church of [St.] Chebran.' 
 
 Whether Pieran, Kieran, and Chebran are to be 
 identified as one person or not, it is evident that the 
 Lannachebran of Domesday Book refers to the pre- 
 sent St. Keverne, as Dr. Whitaker conclusively re- 
 marks : — 
 
 "The want of a parish for the Lannachebran of Domesday Booh, 
 and the want of a notice in Domesday Book for the parish of St. Ke- 
 verne, unite to shew the one is omitted because the other is mentioned, 
 and the one is mentioned under the name of the other." 
 
 Dr. Oliver, whose authority may be regarded as 
 almost conclusive, does not doubt that St. Keverne 
 was collegiate ; and he further informs us that — 
 
 "This property was granted by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, to his 
 father's foundation of Beaulieu, Hants., and was confirmed to that 
 monastery by Bishop Brewer, and by Pope Gregory IX. In 30 Ed- 
 ward I. that abbey was allowed by the justices in eyre extensive liber- 
 ties in their vill of St. ' Keveran' under the grants of the two preceding 
 kings. Until the dissolution of religious houses the vicars of St. Keverne 
 were presented by the abbot and convent of that Cistercian abbey. 
 After the transfer of the property to the abbey, the church does not 
 
 appear to have retained its collegiate character Bishop Brones- 
 
 combe, June 10, 1266, admitted William Postjoye to this vicarage, 
 reserving to the abbey of Beaulieu the whole tithe of the fishery, and 
 the tithe of beans, peas, and vetches, and of all other things growing 
 within the fields of the parish"." 
 
 " Oliver's Monasticon.
 
 62 Cornish Churches. 
 
 Leland says : — 
 
 "Within the land of Meneke, or Menegland, is a Paroch Chirch of 
 St. Keuer3m, otherwis Piranus ; and ther is a sanctuary with x. or xii. 
 dwelling Howses, and therby was a Sel of Monkes, but now goon home 
 to ther Hed Hows"." 
 
 St. Keverne's is the largest church in, the western 
 part of Cornwall, being about no feet in length; 
 and consists of nave, chancel, north and south aisles, 
 tower at west end of nave, and a south porch. Dr. 
 Whitaker considered the large dimensions of the 
 church evidence of its " once collegiate dignity." 
 We have seen from Dr. Oliver that the church did 
 not retain its collegiate character after its transfer 
 to Beaulieu Abbey. So the present church, or at 
 least the greater portion of it, having been erected 
 since that period, its size can have no connexion 
 with its collegiate establishment, — unless, indeed, the 
 church were built on the original foundations, which 
 is not probable, for it appears to have been enlarged 
 from time to time. The aisles are connected with 
 the nave on either side by an arcade of eight acutely 
 pointed arches, which give great height to the church. 
 The piers have more elaborate mouldings than are 
 generally found in Cornish churches, and are of four 
 different sections ; (see next page). The tower is 
 constructed on three well-proportioned arches : those 
 north and south open directly into the aisles, of 
 which they may be said to form the westernmost 
 
 " C. S. Gilbert says there were six chapels in this parish, — Hist, of 
 Cornwall.
 
 CornisJi CJiu relies. 
 
 63 
 
 bays. Surmounting the tower is a newly-built spire 
 of the same design and proportions as the original 
 one, which was struck down by lightning in the year 
 1770. The western wall of the tower is exceedingly 
 massive, has a doorway with 
 good mouldings, and square 
 hoodmould with curious ter- 
 minations: on each side of 
 this mould is a shield, one 
 of which bears three flagons 
 or chalices. 
 
 Westward of doorway in 
 north aisle is a small lancet- 
 window of one light, and two 
 probably contemporaneous 
 buttresses, which would give 
 an earher date to this portion 
 of the church. Buttresses of 
 different character are carried 
 along the wall ; immediately 
 adjoiningthe second eastward 
 of the door is a wide projec- 
 tion, resembling a rood-turret, and containing a 
 blocked light, i ft. by 6 in., and 3 ft. 6 in. from the 
 ground ; (A in plan). Internally, the wall being 
 plastered, there is no evidence to shew whether this 
 contains a staircase ; if it does not, the small light 
 is a remarkable feature, and may have been a 
 confessional window. It is probable, however, that 
 the turret was for the staircase of the roodloft, which. 
 
 Capital and Base of Pier, 
 St. Keverne.
 
 64 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 if the church was subsequently extended eastward, 
 was also moved in that direction, for there is still an 
 
 Plan of St. Keverne Church. 
 
 undoubted rood-turret nearer the eastern end of this 
 wall ; (B in plan). 
 
 With the exception of the lancet, all the windows 
 are large, of three, four, and five lights, and of Per- 
 pendicular character. 
 
 Several of the original benches remain in the 
 western part of the nave and north aisle ; they have 
 an appearance of great age, and may be coeval with 
 the portions of the church in which they are situated. 
 The carvings represent, chiefly, the arms of the Pas- 
 sion ; some of the most remarkable of which are 
 shewn in the opposite cut. 
 
 On every standard are two shields, each, in most 
 instances, having reference to the same personage 
 or object. Of those here figured, the first repre- 
 sents two nails — it is very unusual to find only two 
 nails given. The others appear to be the pillar; 
 the cord (on one shield these are given together, 
 the cord forming a circle over the pillar); the ladder;
 
 Cornish CJmrcJies. 
 
 65 
 
 the spear and scourge ; the sacred heart pierced by 
 the spear; a monogram of the B.V.M. ; crowned 
 
 Shields on Bench-ends, St. Keverne. 
 
 initial letter of the word " Mary ;" the sword and 
 spear. The next two shields appear to have refer- 
 ence to the blessed Virgin, from the curiously formed 
 fleur-de-lis, a portion of which is broken away. The 
 two following have reference to St. Peter, — the cock 
 which called him to repentance, and the fish from 
 which he took the tribute-money. The next figure 
 is probably intended for Pontius Pilate, his authority 
 or governorship being expressed by the number of 
 spears on the following shield. The next two are 
 
 F
 
 66 CornisJi CJnircJies. 
 
 the chalice and sacramental wafer, the fleur-de-lis 
 and crown of the blessed Virgin. The meaning of 
 some of the others is not very evident ; on the fifth 
 and sixth shields in this line are the lantern, spear, 
 and reed with sponge ; the last two possibly refer 
 to the body of our Lord being " wrapped in linen." 
 
 There is a tradition that the oak out of which these 
 benches are carved grew on Crowza-downs, now a 
 dreary tract and wilderness of rocks. Those who 
 know the spot will scarcely believe the truth of the 
 tradition. 
 
 The font has an octagonal bowl, with four angels 
 at the angles ; the breast of each being crossed by 
 bands forming a St. Andrew's cross. On four of the 
 sides are the initials A.M., and the sacred monogram 
 i.H.S. The bowl is supported on a square shaft, 
 curved inwardly ; this feature appears peculiar to 
 some of the fonts of the district p. 
 
 P In the north aisle is an elaborate monument to the memory of 
 "Maj.-Gen. H. C. Cavendish, Capt. S. G. Dunkenfield, Lieut, the 
 Hon. Edward Waldegrave, and 6i non-commissioned officers and 
 privates of the . . . Regiment, who, in returning from Spain in the 
 ' Dispatch ' transport, unhappily perished in Coverack Cov-', the 22nd 
 of Jan., 1809." 
 
 In the south aisle are the arms of Incledon, the famous singer, 
 a native of this parish. In the same aisle is an epitaph to Thomas 
 Toll, concluding with an anagram — 
 
 "Anag.{;j;|;;;'""^j Smooth Tall. 
 
 " In converse smooth, faire, plaine, and voide of guile, 
 Of Stature Tall ; whose loss we do bewaile." 
 The date of this is 1668, and it may be considered a good example of 
 the prevailing taste of the period.
 
 CornisJi Churches. 
 
 67 
 
 Manaccan Church, about four miles from St. 
 Keverne, is beautifully situated on wooded land 
 rising above the Durra, a creek parallel with the 
 
 Plan of Manaccan Church. Scale, 25 ft. to i in. 
 
 Helford river. It has several features of interest, 
 and goes far to prove that most of the Cornish 
 churches which now consist of nave, chancel, one 
 
 ./TV 
 
 aisle, and one transept, — the aisle 
 having superseded a transept, — 
 were originally cruciform. 
 
 The chancel and transept are 
 of the same date — Early English. 
 The east window of the chancel 
 is a triple lancet, the two south 
 windows are, single lancets. There 
 is a single lancet, of precisely the 
 same character as the chancel windows, in the 
 east wall of the transept, and the window in the 
 
 Piscina in Transept, 
 Manaccan.
 
 6S 
 
 Cornish CJmrchcs. 
 
 south wall of the transept was origuially a double 
 lancet. The piscina near the east window of the 
 transept also proves its Early English character. 
 
 The present roof of the chancel appears to be the 
 original one ; it is shewn in the accompanying view 
 of the interior. The principals on the north side are 
 
 Interior of Chancel, Manaccan. 
 
 good evidence of the existence of a north transept, 
 otherwise there could have been no necessity for such 
 a construction. On the north side of the chancel are 
 six corbels, sculptured with crosses, quatrefoils, and 
 other devices ; these support that portion of the wall- 
 plate which was disturbed when the north aisle was 
 added. The nave is wider than the chancel, and the 
 arches being necessarily in a line with the nave, these 
 corbels were required for the then overhanging-roof ;
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 69 
 
 but whether they were sculptured at that time, or 
 older work used up, is uncertain ; not more than two 
 have any similarity of design or shape. 
 
 The angle formed by the east wall of the transept 
 and the south wall of the chancel terminates in a piece 
 of granite, broadly chamfered, which supported the 
 roodloft ; to the east of this a doorway is plainly 
 discernible beneath the plastering, which, taken in con- 
 nexion with the evident disturbance of the walls of 
 the angle externally, shews there was a hagioscopic 
 passage here similar to others in the district. From 
 
 
 South-east View of Chancel and Transept, Manaccan. 
 
 this angle, as far as the sacrarium step, there appears 
 to have been something like a stone bench constructed 
 against or built with the wall ; it was eighteen inches 
 high. It has been suggested whether this was a
 
 70 
 
 Cornish CJiiirches. 
 
 bench carried around the walls of the church, as at 
 Tintagel, of which the chancel only remains. But 
 
 South Doorway, Manaccan. 
 
 there can be little doubt as to the transept being
 
 Cornish Clmrches. 71 
 
 contemporaneous with the chancel. Then west of 
 the transept is still earlier work. The south door- 
 way is one of the best Norman doorways in Corn- 
 wall, and is perhaps an early example of that style 
 of architecture''. (See opposite page.) 
 
 The tower is of two stages, battlemented and pin- 
 nacled : the entrance to the staircase is unusually 
 placed, being direct from the nave, and the first step 
 7 ft. 6 in. from the floor. 
 
 The bowl of the old font is preserved in the vicar- 
 age grounds, 
 
 A peculiar feature in connexion with this church 
 is a large fig-tree — diameter of trunk about 10 in. — 
 growing out of the south wall of the nave. A fig-tree 
 also grows in the western wall of Newlyn Church, 
 in East Cornwall. 
 
 Dr. Oliver calls Manaccan Manacon or Mona- 
 thon, and says the church is dedicated to St. An- 
 toninus. 
 
 1 The Rev. Edward Budge, at one time Vicar of Manaccan, published 
 an account of this doorway in the Reports of the Royal Institution of 
 Cornwall (1846), and states with much plausibility that the crimp 
 moulding carried round the two arches is the original type of the zig- 
 zag so characteristic of Norman architecture; "and that it was sug- 
 gested by the obvious device of placing a succession of bricks on their 
 sides in a row, each one alternately projecting a little beyond the other, 
 which we still see done occasionally in modern masonry to form a sort 
 of rude cornice, as round the tops of chimneys for instance. Supposing 
 a row of bricks placed in the manner just described, the corners of 
 each will stand out in angular projection very much like the crimp 
 seen in the cubes of this doorway. The profile of this figure is evi- 
 dently the zigzag."
 
 7^ 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 The present Vicar, the Rev. Edward Seymour'', 
 has with much good taste improved the chancel of 
 this church, which was, in common wdth others of 
 this neighbourhood, in a deplorable state. 
 
 St. Mawgan in Kerrier is of the same plan as 
 Manaccan, and was originally cruciform, the north 
 transept having been removed for the north aisle. 
 
 The east chancel- 
 window and the south 
 window of the transept 
 are each of good flow- 
 ing Decorated, of three 
 lights. All the other 
 windows are late. 
 
 The roofs of the 
 chancel and the nave 
 are of the usual cradle 
 form, and plastered ; 
 the roof of the aisle 
 richly carved wood- 
 work. 
 
 At the angle of the 
 transept and chancel 
 is a hagioscope of si- 
 milar plan to that 
 at Cury and other 
 
 Hagioscope, St. Mawgan. 
 
 "■ I would take this opportunity of acknowledging the valuable aid 
 Mr. Seymour has given me in preparing these notes and sketches of 
 Manaccan Church.
 
 Cornish Churches. 73 
 
 churches in the district; it is, however, superior to 
 the others, and differs in detail : the slender octa- 
 gonal shaft supporting the north arch is peculiar. 
 There is a plain shield over the eastern side of the 
 capital of this shaft, and on the capital of the large 
 detached octagonal shaft is a figure holding a shield. 
 The dimensions of the low side window are 2 ft. 2 in. 
 by I ft. I in. ; it is 4 ft. 6 in. from the floor. A vestry 
 unfortunately having been built to the east side of 
 the transept, the window is blocked, and the external 
 arrangement of the angle destroyed. 
 
 The south wall of the transept has two low but- 
 tresses, — an unusual feature ; internally, beneath the 
 window is a large mural arch, having shafts with 
 capitals. It appears to have been constructed for 
 the reception of an t.'^^y, though not now occupied. 
 Near it, however, are two effigies of stone, each about 
 6 ft. long, representing a Crusader and his lady (see 
 p. 74). These, according to some of the county histo- 
 rians, were removed hither, when the church was built, 
 from a little chapel in this parish belonging to the 
 Carminow family. Hals says they were removed in 
 the reign of King James I., and refers to inscriptions. 
 But C. S. Gilbert, who alludes to these effigies as 
 laid " in the recess," thought it " more probable that 
 they were brought from the church of the Grey Friars 
 at Bodmin, where figures of the kind are known to 
 have laid in commemoration of the Carminow fa- 
 mily." And in his account of that family he parti- 
 cularly mentions one Oliver Carminow as a person
 
 74 
 
 Cornish Cliiirches. 
 
 of great note in the time of Richard II., to whom he 
 had the honour of being Lord Chamberlain. " He 
 
 Effigies, St. Mawgan. 
 
 died, apparently very aged, in 1395, and was buried, 
 together with Elizabeth his lady, sister of John Hol- 
 land, Duke of Exeter, in the church of the Grey 
 Friars at Bodmin, where they were for some time 
 represented in ^^^y, she with a coronet and he with
 
 Cornish Churches. 75 
 
 his legs across." According to Hals there was a tra- 
 dition which said that one Robert de Carmynow 
 "accompanied King Edward I. in the holy war in 
 Palestine." Undoubtedly this was one of the most 
 ancient of Cornish families ; indeed, there is a tradi- 
 tion that one of the Carminows fought at the landing 
 of Julius Caesar, and it will be remembered that du- 
 ring the celebrated Scrope and Grosvenor controversy 
 the disputed arms were claimed by the Carminows 
 as theirs from Saxon days ! The Crusader in St. 
 Mawgan Church, and represented by the engraving 
 on p. 74, is certainly a Carminow, for he bears their 
 arms, "Azure, a bend or," and may be the effigy of 
 that " Robert de Carmynow" mentioned by Hals. 
 The transept is called "the Carminow aisle." 
 
 The tower, of three stages, is the finest 
 in this part of the county ; the pinnacles 
 are formed by clustered shafts, are crock- 
 eted and finialed, and rest on corbels 
 carved as angels of evil. The belfry win- 
 dows are of three lights, as is also the 
 western window. On the keystone of the Keystone, Tower 
 
 ■' Window, St. 
 
 arch of the latter is carved a figure re- Mawgan. 
 sembling a bishop holding a staff or crozier ; on each 
 stone at the springings of the arch 
 is carved a shield, one of which is ;:'Mf75f^ 
 represented by the annexed cut. On 
 the three principal stones of the 
 doorway-arch shields are also sculp- sweids on xower, 
 tured ; one has the figure of a '' ^'^^'^'
 
 76 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 crescent, another a lion with two horse-shoes, as 
 shewn on p. 75. Hals says that on the tower of 
 St. Mawgan are sculptured the arms 
 of the families of Carminow, Res- 
 kymer, Ferrers, and Vyvyan. The 
 jambs of the doorway are carved 
 with a continuous pattern of foliage, 
 which springs from the head of a 
 king and queen. The tower-arch is 
 admirably proportioned, and springs 
 from two curious corbels — figures 
 holding shields. The keystone is 
 peculiar, terminating in a round flat 
 disc, on which is sculptured, very 
 sharply though not in great relief, 
 a plain Latin cross, a figure resem- 
 bling the spear and sponge, a pair of compasses, 
 and a circular disc. 
 
 The font is octagonal, with a 
 shaft curved inwardly, and four 
 circular slender shafts attached, 
 following the curve. 
 
 The aisle appears to be of , 
 the fifteenth century, and opens 
 into the nave and chancel by 
 an arcade of seven four-centred 
 arches. The piers are of the usual style, shafted at 
 the angles, and with hollow mouldings. The capi- 
 tals are rudely carved and vary in design, some 
 having foliage, others cables intertwined. 
 
 Jamb of Tower-door, 
 
 St. Mawgan. 
 
 Keystone of Tower-arch, 
 St. Mawgan.
 
 Cornish Churches. 77 
 
 On the north side of the aisle is a small transeptal 
 projection used as a pew by the Vyvyan family, of 
 which it contains monuments, one a marble slab to 
 the memory of Sir Vyell Vyvyan, Bart. In the east- 
 ern part of the aisle are a helmet and sword said to 
 have been worn by Sir Richard Vyvyan, fighting 
 loyally, in the Great Rebellion. 
 
 This church is dedicated to St. Mauganus. 
 
 V. ST. ANTONY, LANDEWEDNACK— ST. RUAN 
 
 MAJOR. 
 
 The parish of St. Antony in Kirrier occupies 
 a mere neck of land, bounded on one side by the 
 Helford River, and on the other by the Durra. The 
 church, embosomed in trees, and almost close to 
 the water's edge, stands on the southern side of the 
 narrowest part of the promontory, the extreme east- 
 ern point of which is cut off by an ancient earthwork, 
 Castle Dinas, which was occupied during the Great 
 Rebellion, and surrendered to Sir Thomas Fairfax 
 in 1646. It was the last place in Cornwall held 
 for the King, except St. Michael's Mount and 
 Pendennis Castle, and was defended by Sir Richard 
 Vyvyan. 
 
 The situation of the church is very peculiar, and 
 has a legend attached similar to that of Gunwalloe. 
 It is said that soon after the Conquest, as some Nor- 
 mans of rank were crossing from Normandy into 
 England, a tempest drove them on the Cornish coast,
 
 yS CornisJi CJmrcJies. 
 
 where they were in momentary danger of destruc- 
 tion ; but in their distress they called on St. An- 
 tony, and vowed if he would save them from ship^ 
 wreck they would build a church in his honour on 
 the spot where they should first land. The ship was 
 wafted into the Durra creek, and there the pious 
 Normans as soon as possible fulfilled their vow. As 
 in those days men were more wont than at the pre- 
 sent time to express their gratitude to God in some 
 visible form, this story seems not improbable, and 
 a votive chapel may have marked the site for the 
 present Church. 
 
 This parish is not mentioned in Domesday Book, 
 but Bishop Tanner says there was a cell of Black 
 Monks of Anglers here, belonging to the Priory of 
 Tywardreath, which existed as early as the reign 
 of Richard I. Its site is supposed to have been on 
 an estate called Lantinny, adjoining the churchyard, 
 where foundations of buildings and remains of human 
 bodies have been found ^. Dugdale also refers to 
 St. Antony (or Antonine) in Meneage as a cell to 
 Tywardreath, and says that " being mentioned in 
 Gervase of Canterbury's Catalogue, it must have ex- 
 isted as early as the time of King Richard I." It is 
 rated in the Pope's Inquisition of 1294. Dr. Oliver 
 says the church is dedicated to Antoninus the Mar- 
 tyr, but gives no date of dedication. 
 
 The plan of the existing church closely resembles 
 that of Manaccan : consisting of a chancel, nave, 
 
 ' Lysons' "Cornwall."
 
 Corn ish Ch ii rcJics. 
 
 79 
 
 north aisle, tower at the west end of the nave, and 
 a shallow south transept with porch adjoining it to 
 
 The Church of St. Antony in Kirrier. 
 
 the west. The chancel appears to be of much earlier 
 date than any other portions of the building, and has 
 on its north side a single lancet, partially blocked. 
 The east windows of the chancel and aisle are both 
 good Early Perpendicular (see next page). With the 
 exception of a small single-light on the south side of 
 the chancel, and a window of three lights trefoliated 
 in the transept, all the others are of two lights, under 
 a square hood-mould.
 
 8o 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 The nave and aisle are divided by an arcade of 
 five acutely pointed arches, one side of each arch 
 being formed by a single piece of granite, with 
 mouldings of a simple order. The piers are plain 
 octagonal shafts, with capitals of the same form. 
 
 m.' .,„;'i i|T'i ,j,'i, 
 Window of Chancel and East Window of Aisle, St. Antony. 
 
 The rood-turret on the north side of the aisle is 
 very remarkable in having the entrance to the stairs 
 on the outside. The north wall of the aisle is but- 
 tressed, and there are two buttresses against the 
 south wall of the chancel. 
 
 The tower, of three stages, battlemented and pin- 
 nacled, and between sixty and seventy feet high, 
 somewhat resembles that of St. Mawgan, though not 
 so elaborately ornamented : it is built of granite.
 
 Cornish CJiurcJies. 
 
 8i 
 
 The pinnacles are formed by clustered shafts resting 
 on angels. The belfry windows, of unusually large 
 size for the district, are of three lights, with geomet- 
 rical tracery. The western doorway consists of a 
 depressed four-centred arch within a square head, 
 the spandrels being filled with a trefoil ornament. 
 The tower-arch, simply a plain soffit, is semicircular. 
 The font, standing in the western end of the aisle, 
 appears to be of the 
 
 thirteenth century, 
 and, like many 
 others in Cornwall, 
 has around the bowl 
 four angels bearing 
 shields. Around the 
 upper part of the 
 bowl is an inscrip- 
 tion — " Ecce karissi- 
 mi de Deovero bap- 
 tizabuntur spiritu 
 sancto," with the 
 initials O. P., B. M., 
 B. v., P. R. ; two 
 letters being placed 
 between each angel, 
 base, 3 ft. 3 in. ^ 
 
 The Perpendicular additions to this church are 
 mostly of early and good character. 
 
 * In Lysons' " Cornwall " will be found an engraving of a font, for- 
 merly in Camborne Church, similar to this, and with the same inscription. 
 
 G 
 
 Font, St. Antony. 
 
 Height of the font, including
 
 82 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 Landewednack, the most southerly church in 
 England, is little more than a mile north-east from 
 the Lizard Point, and stands near the summit of a 
 slope terminating at the cliffs about a furlong dis- 
 tant. Nothing can be more beautiful than the situ- 
 ation of this church and its churchyard. The mur- 
 muring of the sea below can be distinctly heard ; and 
 between the trunks of the trees, by which the church 
 is surrounded, are glimpses of its deep blue, dotted 
 here and there with the white sails of the outward 
 or homeward bound. But tombstones in this grassy 
 slope tell of many a bark which, on the rugged 
 coast, untimely finished its course, and of those who 
 perished on the dark crags. In fact, we have here 
 the usual tales told on stone in most seaside church- 
 yards. 
 
 Plan of Landewednack Church. 
 
 The plan of this church also very nearly resembles 
 Manaccan ; but here, as at St. Antony, the porch
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 83 
 
 adjoins the transept, and this latter has the peculiar 
 hagioscopic arrangement 
 in the angle, similar to 
 those already noticed at 
 St. Cury and St. Maw- 
 gan. The low side win- 
 dow, however, is of two 
 lights ; and just beneath 
 it, from the foundation 
 of the wall, into which 
 it is built, projects a 
 rude block of stone, 
 which might have been 
 convenient for persons 
 to stand on if these 
 windows really had an 
 outward use. At St. 
 Cury are no traces of 
 the existence of such a 
 block. The dimensions of the window are 2 ft. 10 in. 
 by I ft. 8 in. ; the sill 5 ft. from the ground ; from 
 the sill to the stone beneath it, 4 ft. 3^ in. ; breadth 
 of che wall, 4 ft. The internal arrangement is nearly 
 the same as at St. Cury^ 
 
 " In the Gentleman's Magazine, vol. cci. pp. 543, 544, will be 
 found a plan of Bosherston Church, Pembroke, with view of a squint 
 similar to that at Landewednack. At the former, however, the oblique 
 wall appears to be of greater length, and the small window occupies 
 a more central position. The lean-to roof is in each case arranged in 
 just the same manner. Landewednack \yas most probably originally 
 a cruciform church, like that at Bosherston. 
 
 Exterior of Low Side Window, 
 Landewednack.
 
 84 Cornish Churches. 
 
 The chancel and transept appear to be contem- 
 poraneous : in each are piscina niches of the same 
 form— simply an arched recess ; the basins are gone. 
 The windows of the chancel, transept, and nave are 
 of Decorated character, as is also the porch — a most 
 remarkable structure to find attached to a church in 
 Cornwall, where groining and stone ribs are very rare. 
 The vault runs north and south, and has boldly 
 chamfered diagonal and cross 
 ribs ; the former supported 
 by angels bearing shields, 
 and the whole terminating 
 in a central boss — an angel 
 holding a scroll. The outer 
 entrance has a segmental arch, 
 and the walls are battlement- 
 ed. The inner doorway 
 has considerable remains of Norman work ; indeed, 
 the Norman doorway is complete of itself, but a 
 Perpendicular doorway has been constructed with- 
 in it, and from the segmental arch and niche for 
 image there appears to have been a doorway occupy- 
 ing the space previous to the present one, possibly 
 contemporaneous with the porch itself. The Nor- 
 man doorway is of most unusually lofty propor- 
 tions, being 9 ft. high, and 4 ft. 5 in. from jamb to 
 jamb : the jambs are partially built of that curious 
 sandstone which has been referred to as existing 
 in early work at St. Lcvan and St. Burian ; it almost 
 resembles a concrete, and may, with the back of a 
 
 Boss on Porch, Landewednack.
 
 Cornish CJiiircJies. 
 
 H5 
 
 South Doorway, Landewednack. 
 
 penknife, be scraped into particles of sand as it ori- 
 ginally existed. The positions of these stones — two
 
 86 
 
 CornisJi CJiiircJies. 
 
 on the left, and one forming part of the base of the 
 right shaft — are indi- 
 cated in the engrav- 
 ing, p. 85. The same 
 material is used in 
 the formation of the 
 piscina in the chancel. 
 The font support- 
 ed on a central pillar 
 andfourshafts,aform 
 frequently met with 
 in Cornwall, is proba- 
 bly of the thirteenth 
 century, and bears an 
 inscription in early 
 English characters, 
 
 "I. H. C. D. Ric. Font. Landewednack 
 
 (Dominus Ricardus) Bolham me fecit." 
 
 The tower, 
 built perhaps 
 
 early in the fif 
 teenth century, 2 
 is of two stages, 
 unbuttressed; it 
 is battlemented 
 
 ^^-■'Si -CnTr 
 
 J 
 
 J 
 
 
 Inscription on the Font, Landewednack. 
 
 and has crocketed pinnacles. The doorway is blocked. 
 The western window of three lights, and the belfry 
 lights under square hoodmoulds, are constructed of 
 granite. The same material is used in other parts 
 of the tower, and in conjunction with the dark stone
 
 Cornish CJmrcJies. 
 
 87 
 
 of the district has a singular effect. The staircase, 
 as usual, is contained in the thickness of the north 
 wall. The tower-arch has a plain sofifit. There are 
 three bells, apparently of early date ; they bear the 
 following legends : — 
 
 " Sancta Anna ora pro nobis." 
 
 " Sancte Nicholas ora pro nobis." 
 
 " Nomen Magdalene gerit campana melodic." 
 
 The founder's mark — a bell, with the initials B. V. — 
 is the same on the north and south bells, and is met 
 with in other parts of the kingdom. The shields on 
 the bell of St. Nicholas do not, however, seem to be 
 familiar to the collectors of bell-marks. 
 
 On North and South Bells, 
 Landewednack. 
 
 On the Bell St. Nicholas, 
 Landewednack. 
 
 An exceedingly fine sea-view may be had from 
 the roof of the tower. 
 
 The aisle, added late in the fifteenth or in the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century, has no features 
 of interest.
 
 88 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 The present Rector, the Rev. Philip Vyvyan Robin- 
 son, has put the chancel in order, erected a polished 
 serpentine pulpit, opened the tower-arch, and effected 
 other improvements. The rich colours of the ser- 
 pentine stone render it very effective for interior 
 fittings of churches, and it is now being much used 
 for that purpose. 
 
 In the churchyard — perhaps the only instance of 
 the kind — are tombstones of polished serpentine. 
 
 According to Dr. Borlase, the last sermon in the 
 Cornish language was preached in Landewednack 
 Church, not long before the year 1678, by the rector, 
 the Rev. F. Robinson. After the language ceased to 
 be used in churches it soon became extinct. " Had 
 the Liturgy," says Dr. Whitaker, "been translated 
 into Cornish, as it was into Welsh, that language 
 would have been equally preserved with this to the 
 present moment." And the Doctor remarks, with 
 much indignation, that an English Liturgy " was not 
 desired by the Cornish, but forced upon them by 
 the tyranny of England, at a time when the English 
 language was yet unknown in Cornwall." 
 
 Dr. Oliver says the church is dedicated to St. Win- 
 wolus — the same as Gunwalloe. It is difficult to 
 imagine how Winwolus, or Winwoluc, could be cor- 
 rupted into Wednack, as some have conjectured. 
 The present name evidently had the same origin 
 as Landevenach in Bretagne.
 
 CornisJi CJiiirches. 89 
 
 On the flat open country, little more than two 
 miles from Landewednack, stands the Church of 
 St. Ruan Major, surrounded by trees, which shelter 
 it from the winds to which the neighbouring lands 
 are terribly exposed. Somewhere on this tract is 
 supposed to have existed the Nemean wood, in which 
 St. Rumon, the patron of the church, had his cell, 
 and passed the greater number of his days'^. It 
 appears that he came over from Ireland, and sought 
 this retired spot for the solitude and contemplation 
 of a hermit's life. Near the church of St. Grade is 
 a village named St. Ruan, where there was a small 
 ecclesiastical structure. This is pointed at as the 
 exact spot of the Saint's residence. His well was 
 two or three hundred yards distant, and may still 
 be seen, having been in mediaeval times enclosed 
 by walls, with a ribbed roof and pointed archway. 
 From this retreat Dr. Whitaker contends that St. 
 Rumon was taken to become one of the early bishops 
 of Cornwall, but that he soon returned to his hermit- 
 age, where he died, "was buried in his oratory, and 
 then became sainted by the reverence of the country 
 adjoining." Ordulph, Duke of Cornwall, knowing how 
 Rumon was reverenced, caused the Saint's bones to 
 be removed to the monastery which he founded at 
 Tavistock, a.d. 961 y. And so greatly was the Saint 
 
 '' " Rumonus genere fuit Scotus Hiberniensis. Nemea sylva in Cor- 
 nubia, plenissima olim feraium. S. Rumonus faciebat sibi oratorium 
 in sylva Nemsea. Falemutha." — Leland's Collect., torn. iv. p. 153. 
 
 y " King William II., a.d. 1096, in the ninth year of his reign, con-
 
 90 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 esteemed in the vicinity of his abode, that two 
 churches were there consecrated to his name, and 
 are now distinguished by the titles of St. Ruan 
 Major and St. Ruan Minor, 
 
 St. Ruan Major consists of a chancel, nave, north 
 and south aisles, a south porch, 
 and western tower. The chan- 
 cel, projecting one bay beyond 
 the aisles, is the oldest part of 
 the church, and, as at St. An- 
 tony, has a single lancet on the 
 north and south sides. The 
 east window, a late insertion, 
 consists of three ogee lights 
 under a very depressed head. 
 The two easternmost windows 
 in the side of the south aisle 
 are Decorated, of two lights, 
 the head of one being filled 
 with a trefoil. Some of the other windows of the 
 aisle are of good Perpendicular. Over that in the 
 western gable is a corbel-head. 
 
 The gable of the porch is surmounted by a granite 
 cross, boldly chamfered. The jambs of the outer 
 entrance are octagonal and panelled. 
 
 firmed to this monastery the manor of Wuhirinton, in Devonshire, 
 giving seisin of it to the abbat 'per cuUellum ebiirneum' (by the de- 
 livery of an ivory knife), in the presence of the Bishops of Winchester 
 and Bath and Wells, and the Abbat of Glastonbury. The knife, it is 
 added, was deposited in the shrine of St. Rumon." — DugdaWs Monas- 
 ticon, it. 489. 
 
 iX^ili'ii IJTB 
 
 Window in South Aisle, 
 St. Ruan Major.
 
 Coniish CJiurcJies. 
 
 91 
 
 In the eastern wall of the north aisle, which is 
 probably the latest part of the church, are traces of 
 an altar, with remains of brackets north and south. 
 The rood-turret is of most unusual breadth— eight 
 feet. Of the roodscreen itself some panels remain 
 across the chancel and the north aisle. The carving 
 is not very bold, but better finished than usual ; 
 several of the designs are on medallions. The 
 heads of a male and female are particularly good. 
 
 On one medallion the carver has 
 represented his own tools — a pair 
 of compasses, a mallet, and two 
 curiously - formed instruments, 
 apparently grav- 
 ing tools, one of 
 which seems well 
 adapted for cut- „ . , ^ , i,- 
 
 ^ Triangular Notching. 
 
 ting a sort of tri- 
 angular notching, frequently 
 found as a border ornament in fifteenth-century work. 
 The most peculiar features in the church are two 
 narrow openings formed at the junction of the nave 
 and chancel side arcades, and immediately adjoining 
 the screen piers (see p. 93). On the north side the 
 easternmost pier rests on a solid block of masonry, 
 3 ft. 5 in. high (A) ; the height of the opening is 2 ft. 
 1 1 in., breadth i ft. 10 in. The height of the southern 
 opening (B), which extends from the lintel to the 
 floor, is 6 ft. 2 in,, its breadth only i ft. 6 in., so that 
 it could scarcely have been used as a passage from 
 
 On Roodscreen, 
 St. Ruan Major.
 
 92 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 the chancel to the south chancel-aisle ; whilst on the 
 north side the passage theory would be still more 
 improbable, owing to the low dimensions of the open- 
 ing, and its height from the floor, there being no 
 connecting steps ^ The eastern piers are octagonal, 
 whilst the western ones are the same as those in the 
 nave, three-quarter rounds and cavettos. 
 
 Plan of St. Ruan Major Church. 
 
 This peculiar arrangement of the aisle-churches 
 occurs in two or three other instances in Western 
 Cornwall. At St. Mullion the openings are nearly 
 four feet wide, and both extend to the floor, the 
 piers and arches being of the same character, and 
 nearly as high as those of the nave and chancel. 
 In no other instance are the spaces so narrow as at 
 St. Ruan ^ Within the screen are two carved desk- 
 
 ' These openings were probably connected with the chantry altars 
 at the ends of the aisles. 
 
 * At St. Grade Church, recently taken down, the opening on the 
 north side was about the same breadth, i ft. lo in.
 
 Cornish Chtcrches. 
 
 93 
 
 ends, the slope above the square top of the standard 
 being formed by a kneeling angel. On one panel 
 
 i^''"M,.,i,A;i'iii,i,;ir// 
 
 Openings at Junction of Chancel and Nave, St. Ruan Major. 
 (The dotted lines mark the position of the Roodscreen.) 
 
 is a shield with the letter R. These desks face east- 
 ward, and are in a line with the peculiar openings 
 described above ^ They seem to occupy their origi- 
 nal position. 
 
 An engraving of the tower is given, as it serves to 
 illustrate the general features of three or four towers 
 of the Lizard district. The ground-plan is oblong, 
 its greatest length being from north to south; dimen- 
 sions, 17ft. 10 in. by 14ft. loin, outside. The height 
 is about 45 ft. The staircase in the north-west angle 
 
 '' These desks were probably for the use of the chantry priests.
 
 94 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 is contained within the thickness of the wall, by which 
 arrangement the western doorway and window are 
 thrust southward from the centre. The tower-arch 
 has a plain soffit. There are two stages, divided 
 by a bold set-off, carried round the tower, after the 
 manner of a stringcourse ; the parapet, with a plain 
 cavetto mould, overhangs the upper stage, being 
 brought out to the plane of the base of the tower. 
 The battlements are plain, without mouldings. The 
 pinnacles are square and crocketed, with peculiar 
 finials — crosses plac- 
 ed horizontally and 
 diagonally to the 
 sides of the tower. 
 There are four belfry 
 windows, each of two 
 lights, with a quatre- 
 foil in the head. The 
 western window is 
 Perpendicular, with 
 three lights. 
 
 This tower, like 
 others previously no- 
 ticed, presents a sin- 
 gular effect from the 
 material used in its 
 construction ; it is 
 one of the black and 
 white towers, ashlar ^^^ 
 
 blocks of dark Ser- Tower, St. Kuan Major.
 
 Cornish ChiircJies. 95 
 
 pentine and coarse granite, giving the walls an 
 irregularly chequered appearance. For the window- 
 tracery, pinnacles, battlements, and courses, a finer 
 granite is used, which must have been brought from 
 a considerable distance. At St. Grade, a neighbour- 
 ing parish, the tower in every respect nearly resembles 
 that at St. Ruan, and was, according to C. S. Gilbert ^ 
 built in the year 1400. This seems a probable date 
 for both towers '^. 
 
 On the floor of the south aisle is a coffin-lid of 
 red porphyry, five feet long, with a cross fleury in 
 relief on three steps. 
 
 VI. ST. RUAN MINOR— ST. GRADE— ST. WENDRON. 
 
 St. Ruan Minor, the smallest church in the 
 deanery of Kirrier, appears originally to have been 
 a chapel, consisting only of the present chancel and 
 nave as far as the porch, which is modern. The 
 north aisle and tower were apparently added in the 
 sixteenth century. 
 
 The old east window, of two lights and quatre- 
 foiled head, has been removed to the west end of 
 the aisle. In the south wall are two single Decor- 
 ated lights, each resembling those in St. Madron 
 tower ^. 
 
 ' History of Cornwall, vol. ii. p. 773. 
 
 ^ A useful paper on the church towers of the Lizard district, by 
 J. J. Rogers, Esq., M. P., was published in the Transactions of the 
 Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society, vol. iv. 
 
 * See above, p. 29.
 
 96 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 The aisle is separated from the nave and chancel 
 by an arcade of four pointed arches. The piers, 
 very low and massive, have three-quarter rounds and 
 hollow mouldings, rising from the floor without bases, 
 and with capitals different from the usual Cornish 
 type of the same period. 
 
 Previously to the recent restorations the easternmost 
 arch was of narrower span and not so high as the 
 others ; this marked 
 distinction between 
 the chantry or aisle 
 chapel arch and aisle 
 arcades exists in a 'l 
 few other churches ^ 
 of the district. 
 
 The tower is a very 
 plain square struc- 
 ture of one stage, 
 with a projecting 
 battlemented para- 
 pet without pinna- 
 cles, and a pyramidal 
 roof rising above the 
 parapet. There are 
 four square belfry lights, and a modern pointed west 
 window. The tower-arch is a plain soffit. There are 
 no stairs, the access to the belfry being by a ladder. 
 
 The basin of the piscina in the chancel looks like 
 transition Norman inserted in a niche of later date. 
 The font (see next page), with a plain zigzag orna- 
 
 Piscina, St. Ruan Minor.
 
 Cornish C J lurches. 
 
 97 
 
 merit, is, perhaps, contemporaneous with the piscina 
 basin. 
 
 The Rev. F. C. Jackson, the rector, has, with a few 
 alterations, restored the church throughout. 
 
 Font, St. Ruan Minor. 
 
 From time immemorial, the rector of St. Ruan 
 
 Minor has had the right of sending a horse into 
 
 a certain field in the parish of Landewednack when 
 
 t IS cropped with corn, and taking away as many 
 
 sheaves as the horse can carry on its back. 
 
 The very interesting church of St. Grade stood 
 between St. Ruan Major and Landewednack. Being 
 considered too dilapidated for repair, it was, about 
 two years ago, with the exception of the tower, 
 taken down, and a nave and chancel only erected 
 
 H
 
 9 8 Cornish Churches. 
 
 in its place. The old church was cruciform, and 
 had the hagioscopic arrangement in the south-east 
 angle, and the peculiar opening like that at St. Ruan 
 Major adjoining the roodscreen. 
 
 The middle bell in the tower bears the legend — 
 
 " O Martir Cristofore pro nobis semper orare." 
 
 The initials are very prettily crowned, and the found- 
 er's mark is the same as that on the north bell at 
 Landewednack ^. 
 
 Though a portion of the parish of St. Wendron 
 extends almost into the Lizard district, the church 
 is situated some miles beyond the limits of the ser- 
 pentine rock, and stands among the granite hills. 
 
 At certain seasons of the year this tract of country 
 presents a dreary and barren aspect, much of the 
 land being uncultivated, with masses of rock rising 
 above the soil. Still, even the wildness of the scene 
 renders it interesting ; and, though perhaps not very 
 inviting to the tourist in winter, it is beautiful at the 
 time when the furze and heath are in bloom among- 
 the grey rocks. Many of these rocks, too, will them- 
 selves attract attention from their fantastic forms 
 and strange positions. Then, again, there are traces 
 of the works of Celtic days, — circles, barrows, and 
 " giants' houses," — respecting which the honest people 
 of the neighbourhood tell of battles fought, of giants 
 hurling, and of the mysteries of the Druids. 
 
 ' See above, p. 87.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 99 
 
 The church as it now exists has chancel, nave with 
 western tower, north transept, and south aisle with 
 porch. A vestry has recently been built against the 
 western side of the transept. 
 
 Plan of St. Wendron Church. 
 
 It would now, perhaps, be difficult to decide on 
 what was the original plan. The chancel appears 
 to be much older than any other portion of the build- 
 ing ; it has some peculiar features, and is differently 
 arranged from the chancels of other churches in the 
 neighbourhood. It is elevated by a single step above 
 the nave ; there are three steps to the sanctuary, and 
 behind the altar the east wall is stepped in a remark-
 
 100 
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 able manner, probably indicating the site of an an- 
 cient reredos. 
 
 In the north wall, at the foot of 
 the altar steps, is a segmental mu- 
 ral arch with a good moulding ; it 
 is eight feet in breadth, and forms 
 a recess about a foot in depth (A in Moulding of Mural Arch, 
 
 1 V rr-'i • 1 1 j_ T^ St. Wendron. 
 
 plan), Ihis no doubt was an JLas- 
 ter sepulchre. A single-light window, eleven inches 
 wide and six feet high, is placed over the western 
 part of the recess. Externally, this window, as shewn 
 in the accompanying illustration, is cut through a 
 
 Nortli-east View of Chancel and Transept, St. Wendron. 
 
 plinth which extends from the junction of transept 
 and chancel to a few feet eastward of the mural arch 
 within. This plinth was evidently constructed to
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 lOI 
 
 increase the thickness of the wall hollowed out for 
 the arch. 
 
 The east window is of late flowing Decorated, 
 nearly flamboyant. 
 In design it closely 
 resembles the chan- 
 cel window of St. 
 Mawgan, excepting 
 that it has no hood- 
 mould. An unusual 
 feature in this win- 
 dow is that the 
 jambs are built with 
 small stones, and not 
 formed of one or two 
 lengths, as is gener- _ 
 ally the case in west- Ly 
 country churches. 
 
 Between the chan- 
 cel and chantry or 
 south aisle chapel, 
 occurs the small con- 
 necting opening, si- 
 milar to those already noticed as existing in other 
 churches of the district (B in plan). The archway is 
 7 ft. high and 3 ft. 8 in. wide. At the apex of the 
 arch is a corbel, on which a portion of the roodloft 
 rested. The arch east of the opening is of greater 
 breadth, but not so high, as the pier-arches between 
 nave and aisle. 
 
 East Window of Chancel, St. Wendron.
 
 102 
 
 Cornish C/utrches. 
 
 The rood staircase is contained in the angle at the 
 junction of chancel 
 and transept. 
 
 Though the pretty- 
 little two-light win- 
 dow in the east wall 
 of the transept is 
 apparently earlier 
 than the east win- 
 dow of the chancel, 
 there can be no 
 doubt that the tran- 
 sept was built subse- 
 quently to the chan- 
 cel. The former is 
 constructed of ashlar 
 blocks of granite ; 
 the latter of rubble. 
 The transept, like 
 that at St. Levant, 
 is separated from 
 the nave by two 
 arches ; the capitals 
 of the piers having 
 angelsbearing shields. 
 Two brackets pro- 
 ject from the north Capital of Transept Pier, St.Wendron. 
 
 wall. The north window is Perpendicular with three 
 lights, and of the same design as the east window of 
 
 8 See above, p. i8. 
 
 East Window of Transept, St. Wendron.
 
 CornisJi CJmrchcs. 
 
 103 
 
 the aisle of St. Antony "^ ; it has, however, no hood- 
 moulding. 
 
 The nave and aisle are divided by an arcade of 
 five four-centred arches, with piers of late Decorated 
 section. The westernmost capital is of similar design 
 to those on the side piers separating transept from 
 nave — a crowned angel dressed in a tunic and with 
 arms extended holding a shield in each hand : the 
 capitals of the remaining piers are represented by 
 the annexed cut, and a section of the base mould- 
 ings is also given. 
 
 There is but one small two-light window on the 
 north side of the nave ; it resembles the window in 
 St. Madron's tower J. 
 
 Section, Capital, and Base Mouldings of Aisle Piers, St. Wendron. 
 
 On the south side of the aisle are four windows ; 
 that west of the porch having tracery somewhat like 
 
 ■^ See above, p. 80. ' See above, p. 29.
 
 104 
 
 Cornish CJnircJies. 
 
 Section of Hood-moulding 
 
 of Aisle Windows, 
 
 St. Wendron. 
 
 the east window of the chancel. The other windows 
 are also of Decorated character. The east window 
 consists of three lights without 
 tracery ; it has, however, deeply 
 moulded jambs, and the section 
 of the hood-moulding is remark- 
 able. The same moulding occurs 
 over other windows of the aisle. 
 
 The piscina in the south-east 
 corner of the aisle is of unusual 
 formation. 
 
 The font (see op- _ 
 
 posite), standing near 
 the western end of the 
 aisle, has the inwardly 
 curved stem with slen- 
 der shafts attached, 
 and octagonal bowl, 
 like others of the dis- 
 trict previously no- 
 ticed; the four sides 
 are ornamented with quatrefoils, and the material 
 out of which the font is formed appears to be Caen 
 stone. 
 
 The tower must be classed with the later parts of 
 the building ; it consists of three stages, is battle- 
 mented and pinnacled ; and an unusual feature in 
 construction for this part of the world is, that the 
 buttresses are placed at the angles diagonally to the 
 sides. Plain set-offs mark the stages, and each stage 
 
 Piscina in Aisle, St. Wendron.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 105 
 
 recedes to the parapet, which slightly projects. The 
 
 cappingsofthebuttresses, 
 though now much wea- 
 ther-worn, were effective 
 in design, and shew how 
 
 Font, St. Wendron. 
 
 Capping of Tower Buttresses, 
 St. Wendron. 
 
 theold builders struggled 
 with an obdurate mate- 
 rial, (for the tower is of granite,) and sought by simple 
 chamfering to give change of line and variety of 
 form. There are four belfry windows, each of two 
 lights, in the uppermost stage. The large west win- 
 dow is decidedly Perpendicular. The doorway has 
 a plain chamfer. At the junction of the tower with 
 the aisle there is a block of solid masonry carried 
 up to the first set-off of the buttress. The object 
 of this is not apparent. 
 
 The following quaint belfry rhyme is retained on 
 the wall of the tower : — 
 
 " We ring the quick to church, the dead to grave, 
 Good is our use, such useage let us have.
 
 io6 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 Who swears, or curse, or in a furious mood 
 Quarels, or striks, altho he draws no blood, 
 Who wears a hat, or spurs, or turns a bell, 
 Or by unskilful! handling mars a peall, 
 Let him pay sixpence for each single crime, 
 Twill make him cautious gainst another time." 
 
 The porch is the latest part of the whole struc- 
 ture ; like that at St. Burian, it has double buttresses 
 at the angles and is battlemented. The buttresses 
 are finished with pinnacles crocketed and finialed. 
 The buttress cappings appear to be copied from those 
 of the tower. 
 
 The church contains two or three monuments of 
 interest. On the chancel floor are two brasses ; one 
 bears no inscription, but has the effigies of a man 
 and woman. The other is much larger and is thus 
 inscribed : — 
 
 " Hie jacet Magister Warinus Penhallinyk, in Decretis Baccalaureus, 
 quondam Prebendarius Ecclesioe CoUegiatje de Glasneth,necnon Rector 
 Ecclesire Parochialis '' Sancti Justi ', et Vicarius Ecclesiarum Parochia- 
 lium "" Sanctarum Wendronse et Stedianse ; qui obiit nono die mensis 
 Aprilis, Anno Domini millesimo quingentesimo trigesimo quinto : Cu- 
 jus animffi propicietur Deus. Amen." 
 
 The figure of the priest has unfortunately lost its 
 head (sec opposite page). 
 
 Of more interest than these is a stone forming the 
 step of the north door of the nave, now leading into 
 the vestry. Its present is certainly not its original 
 position, and there can be little doubt that it existed 
 
 ^ Spelt parochialis. ' St. Just in Roseland. 
 
 ■" Spelt p^ochialium.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 107 
 
 long before the building of the nave. It bears simply 
 an incised Latin cross and circle, and may be a most 
 
 Brass of Warin Penhallinyk, and Incised Stone, St. Wendron; 
 
 early Christian monument. It measures in length 
 4 ft. I in., in breadth i ft. 8 in., and is 7 in. thick. 
 A portion of the length has been broken off to make 
 it fit into the breadth of the doorway. 
 
 Though in some instances the Decorated work of 
 St. Wendron much resembles the work of the same 
 period at St. Mawgan, still the church has many dis- 
 tinct features from those of other churches of the 
 neighbourhood, especially in the arrangement of the 
 chancel, and the superiority of its piers with their
 
 io8 Cornish Churches. 
 
 capitals and bases ; some of the windows are also 
 very good ; and because it contains much Decorated 
 work, in a country abounding with inferior Perpen- 
 dicular, is the building chiefly noticeable. 
 
 The chancel has been restored by the Rev. G. B. 
 Boraston, the vicar, within the last few years. 
 
 Of the patron saint nothing is known. In the 
 Valor Ecclesiasticus, 1536, the name is spelt " Gwen- 
 drone." Dr. Oliver in his Monasticoii says that the 
 church is dedicated to St. Wendrona, but does not 
 give the date of dedication. He adds that there was 
 a chapel at Merthen Park in this parish, dedicated 
 to St. Decumanus, which was licensed on the i8th 
 of August, 1427. Also that the great tithes were 
 appropriated to the abbey of " Rewley, regalis loci, 
 juxta Oxon"." 
 
 Some remains of the chapel, and a tall round- 
 headed cross in good preservation, still exist at 
 Merthen. 
 
 VII. ST. BREAGE— ST. GERMOE— ST. PERRAN- 
 
 UTHNOE. 
 
 Breaca, a lady of rank, and Germoe, a king, be- 
 longed to that large company of Irish missionaries 
 which, according to the tradition, landed, some time 
 in the fifth century, at Riviere, at the mouth of the 
 Hayle. Several of these saints were slain, says Dr. 
 Borlase, near where they came ashore, by Theodoric, 
 a heathen king of Cornwall. Dr. Whitaker, on the 
 
 " Bp. Stapledon's Register, fol. 180.
 
 Cornish CliwxJies. 109 
 
 other hand, contends that this king was a Christian, 
 that a few of the party were killed only, through 
 mistake, and that as soon as Theodoric became aware 
 of the nature of their holy mission he treated them 
 with great hospitality, and permitted them to go 
 where they would. 
 
 " Germoe mather 
 Breaga lavethes. " 
 i.e. " Germoe a king 
 
 Breage a midwife," 
 
 is an old Cornish distich which some have attempted 
 to explain in a spiritual sense. However this may 
 be, it seems that St. Breaca and St. Germoe crossed 
 from Riviere to the southern coast°, where the former 
 caused a church to be built, and St. Germoe made 
 his abode at a short distance. 
 
 St. Breage is the mother church of St. Germoe, 
 St. Cury, and St. Gunwalloe. The parish of Sithney 
 intervenes between St. Breage and St. Gunwalloe, but 
 St. Germoe adjoins St. Breage on the west and is 
 separated from St. Perran-uthnoe only by a narrow 
 strip of the parish of St. Hilary, which in a curious 
 manner runs down to the sea, apparently just to 
 claim the prominent headland known as Cudden Point. 
 St. Germoe does not extend to the sea, for all the 
 line of coast, excepting Cudden Point, from Maendu, 
 
 ° Dr. Whitaker seriously suggests that St. Breaca came to this spot 
 to reform wreckers ! And strange to say, there are still to be found 
 a few persons so utterly ignorant in regard to their own country as to 
 believe that wrecking is even now practised in Cornwall !
 
 1 10 Cornish Churches. 
 
 which is a little eastward of St. Michael's Mount, to 
 Porthleven, is included in the parishes of St. Perran- 
 uthnoe and St. Breage. A glance at the map will 
 shew how strangely this group of parishes is divided. 
 Starting either from Helston or Penzance it would 
 be possible, with tolerable ease, to visit in one day 
 the three churches which form the subject of this 
 paper. If not pressed for time a pleasant excursion 
 might be made by leaving Penzance and proceeding 
 direct to St. Perran-uthnoe Church, thence down to 
 Perran Sands, and across Cudden Point, just beyond 
 which is Prussia Cove with a coast-guard station and 
 a few fishermen's houses. Then on to the fine stretch 
 of beach called Pra Sands. About a quarter of a 
 mile from the shore stands Pengerswick Castle, built 
 in the early part of the sixteenth century, and was 
 the residence of the Militons. One of this family, 
 Job Militon, was governor of St. Michael's Mount 
 in the time of Edward VI. The greater part of the 
 building has long ago fallen into decay, but a three- 
 storied and battlemented tower remains in tolerable 
 preservation. An upper room adjoining the tower 
 had panelled walls, each panel containing a rude 
 painting with a legend in verse beneath p. 
 
 p The following, entitled " Perseverance," affords a good example 
 of these verses : — 
 
 "What thing is harder than the rock 
 What softer is than water cleere? 
 Yet wyll the same, with often droppe, 
 The hard rock perce, as doth a spere ;
 
 Cornish Churches. 1 1 1 
 
 Following along the coast, the next remarkable 
 place is Trewavas Head, where a detached mass of 
 granite called the " Bishop Rock" assumes the form 
 of a colossal figure with its back to the sea, and with 
 clasped hands resting on a lectern, whilst the robe 
 trails down the cliff side. It does not require the 
 aid of imagination to trace in this naturally formed 
 figure the striking resemblance to a kneeling monk, 
 "and it is much superior to many similarly situated 
 rocks on the coast to which names have been given 
 for their supposed likeness to familiar things or re- 
 markable personages '^. 
 
 Referring to this locality, Mr. W. J. Henwood 
 says : — 
 
 "The wild romantic character of the coast is inferior to nothing of 
 the kind in Cornwall ; and Wheal Trewavas ■■, which has its engines 
 perched on the cliffs, and its workings beneath the sea, is quite as 
 picturesque as Botallack or Levant in the St. Just district ^" 
 
 Even so, nothing so hard to attayne. 
 
 But may be hadd with labour and payne." 
 
 Other lines refer to certain abuses of the time of Henry VIII., pro- 
 bably strictures on that monarch himself. 
 
 1 The Rev. C. A. Johns has figured the Bishop Rock in his instruc- 
 tive " Week at the Lizard." 
 
   Wheal Vor, also in this parish, has been in its time one of the 
 richest mines in Cornwall : — " The present working of Wheal Vor has 
 been continued about eighteen years, and in that time about ;^I, 240,000 
 worth of tin has been raised, of which I believe that more than ;i^ioo,ooo 
 has been profit to the adventurers." — VV. y. Henwood, F.R.S., F.G.S., 
 in Trans. Geological Society of Cornwall, vol. v. 1843. 
 
 * Trans. Geological Society of Cornwall, vol. v.
 
 112 
 
 Cornish CJiurcJies. 
 
 St. Breage Church is httle more than two miles 
 from the coast, and to succeed in the tour of in- 
 spection of the three churches it would now be neces- 
 sary to proceed to the church town, and thence to 
 St, Germoe. 
 
 Before describing the church it may be worth while 
 to refer to a few other objects in St. Breage. In this 
 parish are two hills called 
 
 Godolphin and Tregon- 
 ing, which are conspicuous 
 from all the shores of 
 Mount's Bay. At the foot 
 of the former stands the 
 old mansion - house, (a 
 quadrangular building of 
 the time of Queen Eliza- 
 beth,) of the noble family 
 of Godolphin. The mean- 
 ing of the word Godol- 
 phin has not been satisfactorily explained, and it ap- 
 pears that the family took a portion of the word lite- 
 rally, and adopted a dolphin for their crest, as may 
 be seen on the old helmets in St Breage Church. 
 
 On the summit of Tregoning Hill are the remains 
 of a large fort, or as it is termed in Cornwall, a "hill- 
 castle." This appears to have been of great strength, 
 and was one of the largest structures of the kind in 
 Cornwall. The hill was formerly called Pencairn, 
 and Leland refers to the castle as Cair Kenin, alias 
 Gonyn and Conin. 
 
 Helmet, St. Breage.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 113 
 
 It was to this hill of Pencairn that St. Breaca first 
 came after leaving Riviere, and, says Leland, " cedifi- 
 cavit eccl. in Trenewith et Talmenethy The ancient 
 name of the parish was Pembro, and the place called 
 Trenewith is some distance from the site of the pre- 
 sent church, which stands on rising ground adjoining 
 the high-road leading from Helston to Penzance. 
 
 The church possesses no architectural features of 
 particular interest ; it consists of a chancel and nave, 
 with western tower, north and south aisles, each with 
 a small transeptal projection, probably constructed 
 as chapels for, and at the cost of, important families 
 of the locality. The wooden roof of the north tran- 
 sept has some well-carved bosses. The south aisle 
 has a porch of the same local character as those of 
 St. Burian and St. Wendron previously described. 
 
 The piers separating the 
 aisles from the nave are of 
 the usual type, consisting of 
 four rounded and four cavetto 
 mouldings; thecavettos,how- 
 ever, are broader than usual. 
 The capitals also resemble 
 those found in other Perpen- 
 dicular churches in western 
 Cornwall. Indeed, the church 
 throughout is of the fifteenth 
 century ; all traces of earlier 
 work, if any exist, being ob- 
 scured by later additions and alterations. The tower 
 
 I 
 
 
 Capitals, St. Breage.
 
 114 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 is so nearly like that of St. Germoe that the descrip- 
 tion to be given of the latter will serve for both. 
 There is considerable difference, however, between 
 the tower-arches. At St. Breage the arch is panelled, 
 of lofty proportions, and is perhaps the finest Per- 
 pendicular arch to be found in any of the churches 
 of the district. 
 
 A few years ago the head of a cross was dis- 
 covered buried in the churchyard ; it is similar in 
 
 form to others exist- 
 ing in churchyards in 
 Cornwall, is evidently 
 much older than the 
 present church, and 
 may be contempo- 
 raneous with the ori- 
 ginal fabric. As at 
 St. Burian, this cross 
 has lost its shaft. 
 
 ..trfSiiTf- ^, 
 
 
 Cross, St. Breage. 
 
 In the taxation of Pope Nicholas IV., (A.D. 1288- 
 91,) the entry is as follows : — 
 
 " Ecclesia Sanctse Breacse. Taxatio £,\(> ; Decima;^! I2j. ; Vicaria 
 ejusdem £1 6j. 8^." 
 
 St. Germoe at one time appears to have been a 
 Decorated cruciform church; the north transept 
 having been superseded by a fifteenth-century aisle, 
 to which a shallow transeptal projection was added, 
 as at St. Breage and elsewhere. 
 
 The south transept, wall of nave, and porch, are 
 all that remain of the Decorated work, and these
 
 Cornish CJnircJies. 
 
 115 
 
 present interesting and remarkable features, differing 
 materially from other churches of the district. In 
 
 St. Germoe Church. 
 
 most of the early transeptal churches the porch either 
 adjoins or is very near the transept, as if later ad- 
 ditions ; here, however, the porch is 1 1 ft. from the 
 transept, and between the two, in the wall of the 
 nave, is a peculiar Decorated square window of three 
 ogee-headed lights with quatrefoils in the head. The 
 south window of the transept was apparently of the 
 same design, but the quatrefoils have been removed
 
 ii6 Cornish C/mrches. 
 
 and the space between the points of the three lights 
 and the square hoodmould occupied by solid masonry. 
 This accounts for the great height of the mould above 
 the lights. In the east wall of the transept is a win- 
 dow of two ogee-headed lights. 
 
 There does not appear to have been an oblique 
 wall at the junction with the chancel, but, at the 
 angle, mouldings are carried up to the height of seven 
 feet, where they sprung into a diagonal arch, of which 
 only twelve or thirteen inches remain. This prob- 
 ably formed the narrow passage at the end of the 
 screen, and led from the chancel to the transept. 
 If such were the case, it shews that the primary 
 object of this peculiar construction was rather to 
 afford means of communication than for the purpose 
 of a hagioscope, though we have seen they are in 
 several instances combined. At St. Perran-uthnoe 
 another variation of the prevailing plan will be noticed. 
 The transept is divided from the nave by a single 
 pier rising from a rude block of stone, between two 
 and three feet high before the moulding commences, 
 and supporting a square beam of oak, extending 
 across the breadth of the transept. The capital and 
 mouldings of this pier are similar to those between 
 nave and aisle at St. Wendron ^ A moulded corbel 
 projects from the west wall of the transept, and prob- 
 ably supported an earlier roof. 
 
 The inner and outer doorways of the porch have 
 deep mouldings of a superior character. The pretty 
 
 ' See above, p. 103
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 \17 
 
 gable cross, and gro- 
 tesquely sculptured 
 gable corbels, are also 
 features of rare oc- 
 currence ; indeed they 
 may be said to be 
 unique in West Corn- 
 wall. 
 
 The tower at the 
 west end of the nave 
 is Perpendicular, of 
 three stages, unbut- 
 tressed. Plain set-offs 
 mark the stages, each 
 receding a little to the 
 parapet. More labour 
 than usual has been 
 bestowed on the up- 
 per part. The bat- 
 tlements are certainly 
 of a simple descrip- 
 tion, but the pinnacles 
 vary from the general 
 type ; each springs 
 from an angel, and 
 consists of a square, 
 panelled shaft, bat- 
 tlemented, crocketed 
 above, and capped by 
 a flat square finial, on 
 
 Gable Cross of Porch, St. Germoe. 
 
 Gable Corbels of Porch, St. Germoe.
 
 ii8 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 which a cross is placed. At the foot of the parapet 
 are grotesquely sculptured gargoyles. 
 
 The four belfry windows are each of three lights, 
 with two quatrefoils in the head. A well-moulded 
 plinth is carried around the base, and about 2 ft. above 
 it a bold stringcourse. The western doorway con- 
 sists of a four-centred arch under a square hoodmould, 
 with square terminations, on which oak-leaves are 
 sculptured. 
 
 The tower-arch has ogee mouldings. 
 
 There are three bells, all dated 1753, and with the 
 same founder's mark, a 
 bell. Two have the 
 founder's initials, " A. 
 R.," whilst the third is 
 inscribed, — 
 
 "Abel Rudhall 
 Cast us all." 
 
 Although the church 
 may have existed as a 
 Decorated cross church, 
 the font is certainly of ^ 
 earlier date, and is per- 
 haps one of the most 
 ancient fonts in Corn- Font, st. Cermoe. 
 
 wall. It is rudely and irregularly formed, and has 
 on opposite sides two heads carved in bold relief, 
 whilst just between them is a curious projection of 
 a fish-like form, extending the whole depth of the 
 bowl.
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 119 
 
 On the floor lies the fragment of a Norman font, 
 which may have belonged to some chapel in the 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 The chancel has been rebuilt. 
 
 St. Germoe's Chair. 
 
 At the north-east angle of the churchyard is a 
 curious structure, popularly known as " St. Germoe's 
 Chair," or, " King Germoe's Throne." Its form is 
 oblong, measuring, internally, 3 ft 6 in. by 6 ft. 3 in. 
 The front is formed by two arches, each 6 ft. high, and 
 supported on round pillars. At the back is a seat, 
 I ft. 4 in. high, extending the whole length of the 
 building, and divided into three equal compartments
 
 120 CornisJi Churches. 
 
 by two shafts, which serve as supports for three 
 arches ; those on the sides being 3 ft. 8 in. high, 
 whilst the centre one rises 4 in. higher, and has on 
 its apex a sculptured head of the Blessed Virgin 
 wearing a crown. A head also projects from the 
 outside of the front wall. 
 
 These sedilia do not appear to have been removed 
 from elsewhere, but to occupy their original position. 
 The situation commands a view of the greater part 
 of the churchyard, and it is possible the structure 
 was erected for the convenience of priests in church- 
 yard ceremonies. The work is of early character. 
 
 Referring to St. Germoe's Church, Leland says, 
 "his tumbe is yet seene then" He also speaks of 
 " St. Germoke's Chair in the Chirch-yard," and of 
 "St. Germoke's Welle a little without the Chirch- 
 yard." No traces of the latter remain, but a small 
 stream runs just by the southern entrance to the 
 churchyard, and here the well may have stood. 
 
 St. Piran, one of the most noted saints of Ireland, 
 came into Cornwall in the early part of the fifth cen- 
 tury. That he was highly esteemed amongst the 
 Cornish is shewn by the fact that four parish churches 
 in the county bear his name — Perran-zabuloe, Perran- 
 arworthal, Perran-uthnoe^ and St. Kevern or Pieran, 
 called Lanachebran in Domesday. There is also 
 
 " In the taxation of Pope Nicholas, St. Piran-uthnoe is entered 
 "Ecclesia de Lanudno."
 
 Cornish CJnircJics. 121 
 
 the well of St. Perran on the northern shores of 
 Perran-zabuloc. 
 
 The church of St. Perran -uthnoe is situated near 
 the coast, opposite St. Michael's Mount. It seems 
 probable that the site was, at an early date, occupied 
 by an ecclesiastical edifice, though there are few 
 remains of an ancient character in the existing 
 building. 
 
 Judging from the external appearance of the walls, 
 the oldest part is the transept, which has the hagio- 
 scopic passage at the junction with the chancel resem- 
 bling" those in the churches of the Lizard district. 
 The oblique wall, however, forms a much less angle ; 
 it is very rudely constructed, and at the height of 
 eighteen inches from the ground projects a little from 
 the foundation. One of the lower stones has marks 
 of incised decoration of a very primitive character, 
 and probably formed part of a much earlier struc- 
 ture. 
 
 This oblique wall has no window as in the other 
 examples, but adjoining it in the eastern wall of 
 the transept may be seen, internally, an obtusely 
 pointed arch, two feet in breadth, and forming a re- 
 cess, which now extends only to the springing of 
 the arch, though there are traces that it once reached 
 the floor, and was either a narrow aperture through, 
 or a shallow recess 4 ft. 8 in. high in, the wall. Ex- 
 ternally, the masonry has been much disturbed, and 
 the upper portion, at least, appears to have been 
 pierced through.
 
 122 Cornish Churches. 
 
 Whether this peculiar arrangement is any way 
 analogous to certain provisions made for the benefit 
 of what are termed Cagots, referred to by Mr, Wright, 
 may be worthy of consideration. In this maritime 
 part of the country, and so near St. Michael's Mount, 
 it is not unlikely that many individuals, from whom 
 the inhabitants of the country would keep apart, 
 might be brought into the neighbourhood. 
 
 In plan, the church is much the same as others 
 already noticed. In addition to the chancel (recently 
 rebuilt) and south transept, it has nave with western 
 tower and south porch, and a north aisle. There is 
 a space of 5 ft. between the transept and the porch, 
 and in the intervening wall of the nave a small ugly 
 modern sash window, the only window, in fact, in 
 the nave. The transept window is of like cha- 
 racter. A Perpendicular window of three lights 
 occupies the west end of the aisle ; those in the 
 north wall, each of two lights, are of Debased 
 character. 
 
 The piers between nave and aisle are of rather an 
 unusual section ; the capitals consist of a series of 
 plain chamfers. 
 
 As usual, the tower is Perpendicular, of three 
 stages, battlemented and pinnacled, with four belfry 
 lights, a western window and doorway under a square 
 hoodmould. The corbels of the tower- arch are 
 worthy of notice, as varying from the ordinary type. 
 One only is finished, as shewn by the woodcut, the 
 other being inserted as a plain pentagonal block, in-
 
 Corjiish Churches. 123 
 
 tended probably to have been subsequently worked 
 on. 
 
 The font, of granite, is square, with one side pa- 
 nelled, and may be of early 
 date. 
 
 The hoodmould termina- 
 tions of the south door are 
 
 Corbel, Tower-arch, St. Perran-uthnoe. ..nT,'"''''"'' "H' ' jfj ' "Tnn'i 
 
 Keystone of South Doorway, and 
 
 sculptured heads: one of a Figure of Stjames the Great. 
 ^ St. Perran-uthnoe. 
 
 bishop. The keystone is a 
 
 head with a lolling tongue, over which, built into 
 the wall, is a piece of granite, having a sculptured 
 figure of St. James the Great with his staff and book. 
 Some interest may be attached to this stone because 
 we have pretty sure knowledge of its date ; it affords, 
 therefore, an example of the capabilities of the work- 
 men in this neighbourhood at a certain period. In 
 the first instance, it is rare to find at all, in West 
 Cornwall churches, representations of particular
 
 124 Cornish Churches, 
 
 saints ; what little sculpture exists is mostly of a 
 general character, so there must have been some 
 reason why St. James was specially selected. 
 
 It is said, and there can be little doubt on the 
 subject, that this stone was brought from the ruins 
 of a chapel at the village of Goldsithney, in this 
 parish. Documentary evidence proves the existence 
 of such a chapel, and Dr. Oliver states in his Monas- 
 ticon that St. James's Chapel at Goldsithney was 
 licensed July 12, 1450. Now, as pilgrimages were 
 made to St. Michael's Mount, it is very easy to con- 
 ceive that a chapel would have been erected at that 
 spot 
 
 " Where the great vision of the guarded Mount" 
 
 first burst on the gaze of the weary, yet gladdened, 
 travellers. When the noble bay was first seen spread 
 out before them, and the strange sight of the monas- 
 tery on the island rock came into view, the pilgrimage 
 might have been considered as almost concluded ; 
 and here, in the chapel of the very patron of pilgrims, 
 were thanks given for escapes from all dangers, and 
 for protection granted on the way. 
 
 VIII. ST. GULVAL — ST. LUDGVAN - ST. ERTH — 
 LELANT— ST. GWINEAR— ST. GWITHIAN. 
 
 St. Gulval (or St. Gudwall) Church, embo- 
 somed in foliage, is pleasantly situated about a mile 
 from Penzance, on the northern shore of Mount's Bay. 
 It has chancel, nave with transept and western tower, 
 south aisle and porch. On the south side of the chancel
 
 Cornish Chiwches. 
 
 125 
 
 Credence, St. Gulval. 
 
 are sedile and piscina, and in the north wall a cre- 
 dence, all having arches of 
 Decorated character ; those 
 of the sedile and credence be- 
 ing cinquefoiled, the piscina 
 trefoiled. 
 
 The transept, as at St. Le- 
 van ^, is divided from the nave 
 by two arches with plain oc- 
 tagonal piers. 
 
 A small well-sculptured cor- 
 bel-head projects from the 
 spandril between the second 
 and third arches of the nave, and on the 
 moulding of the third arch are traces of 
 ancient painting ; the figure remaining 
 looks like the termination of a crock- 
 eted and finialed canopy, with a lettered 
 scroll on either side. 
 
 The tower, a very plain granite struc- 
 ture, has three stages carried up on 
 nearly the same plane to the parapet, 
 which overhangs, with a hollow mould ; 
 and at the angles immediately under 
 the parapet are sculptured figures, prob- 
 ably intended for the four Evangelists, 
 
 The belfry windows, each of three 
 lights, have a kind of geometrical tracery 
 
 ..1 . rr^, , ,. r ,^ Pinnacle of Tower, 
 
 Without cusps. 1 he mouldmgs 01 the st.Guivai. 
 
 * See above, p. 18.
 
 126 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 western doorway consist of three rounds and two 
 cavettos ; and the plinth mouldings (a round and 
 chamfer), which in other towers of the district stop 
 at the springings of the arch, are here continued 
 boldly as a hoodmould over the doorway. 
 
 The staircase is contained in the thickness of the 
 north wall, with an entrance from 
 without; an inner doorway is blocked 
 up. The tower-arch differs from any 
 other previously noticed, being a 
 plain soffit-arch with chamfered im- 
 posts, and underneath (as if an after- 
 thought) responds with a moulded 
 arch. 
 
 The very simplicity of the tower 
 renders it worthy of notice. There 
 are three bells of late date ; one 
 bears the following : — 
 
 ILE . RING . ALLWAYS . MY 
 PRAYES. 1675." 
 
 MAKERS 
 
 Tower-arch, St. Gulval. 
 
 Between each word is stamped the head of Charles IT., 
 with the superscription, CAROLUS II. DEO GRATIA, 
 like a coin of the period, and about the size of a 
 shilling. 
 
 The general form of the font resembles that at 
 St. Buriany, having a pedestal consisting of three- 
 quarter rounds at the angles, with a cavetto between 
 
 f See above, p. 6.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 127 
 
 each. At one angle of the bowl is an angel ; the 
 others have shields curiously sculptured. 
 
 
 Shields on Font, St. Gulval, 
 
 This church was reseated and partially restored in 
 1857; ^""^ some good stained glass memorial win- 
 dows have recently been inserted. 
 
 A curious old cross stands in the south-eastern 
 corner of the churchyard ^ 
 
 The church of St. Ludgvan, St. Ludowanus, 
 occupies a commanding station two miles eastward 
 of St. Gulval. No finer view of Mount's Bay can 
 be had than from the roof of the tower. The church 
 is of some interest to Cornishmen, as it contains the 
 monument of Dr. Borlase, the eminent county anti- 
 quary, and for many years Rector of the parish. In 
 this parish also was Sir Humphry Davy born, and 
 there is a tablet in the church to the memory of the 
 father and mother of the great philosopher. 
 
 Architecturally, the church is of little interest ; 
 it has chancel, nave with western tower, and north 
 and south aisles, with a south porch. 
 
 ^ See "Ancient Crosses, &c., in West Cornwall," p. 51.
 
 128 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 The bowl of the font appears to be the sole relic 
 of earlier work ; it has a cable moulding, scolloped 
 sides, and a rude tooth-ornament above. Its date 
 is probably transition from Norman to Early Eng- 
 lish ^ 
 
 The tower is fully developed, of three stages but- 
 tressed on square at the angles ; the belfry lights 
 resemble those at St. Gulval ; and the parapet, pin- 
 nacles, and gurgoyles are like those at St. Germoe ^. 
 The tower-arch is panelled. 
 
 Rudely formed figures of the Crucifixion, with 
 St. Andrew and other saints, are inlaid with coloured 
 woods in the panels of the pulpit. 
 
 Window, North Aisle, St. Erth. 
 
 St. Erth Church is worthy of notice as possess- 
 ing very early and good Perpendicular work. The 
 
 ' See "Week at the Land's End," p. 226. *> See above, p 115.
 
 CornisJi Churches. 129 
 
 chancel appears to have been built in the latter part 
 of the fourteenth century, during the Transition period, 
 and has a good window of that date. The north aisle 
 east window (see opposite), Perpendicular, is divided 
 into three lights, and has a hoodmoulding, much de- 
 cayed, with capped heads as terminations. The south 
 aisle window is of five lights and later. The east walls 
 of the aisles are flush with the wall of the chancel. 
 
 The porch is buttressed, has panelled jambs to the 
 outer door, and over its apex a rather richly carved 
 canopied niche, now occupied by a sundial. 
 
 The tower has three stages of the ordi- 
 nary Cornish type ; the belfry windows 
 are early Perpendicular, At the angles 
 of the uppermost stringcourse are gro- 
 tesque figures of dogs and other animals ; 
 the only instance of this kind of decora- 
 tion in West Cornwall. The pinnacles stringcourse, 
 are of later date. Xowerrst.Erth. 
 
 This church contains a cenotaph to the memory 
 of Davies Gilbert, President of the Royal Society, 
 and author of a " Parochial History of the County 
 of Cornwall." 
 
 Lelant Church is built among the sandbanks 
 which line the southern shore of St. Ives Bay. Its 
 plan closely resembles that of St. Erth, having chan- 
 cel and nave with north and south aisles to both, 
 with south porch and western tower ; and is interest- 
 ing chiefly for its Norman remains, consisting of an 
 
 K
 
 I30 
 
 CornisJi CJiurcJies. 
 
 entire arch, pier, and half-pier, forming the second 
 bay on the north side of the nave. 
 
 The springing of a second arch to the 
 east is to be seen on the south side. 
 The capitals are scolloped, and the base 
 has simply a round and chamfer on a 
 square plinth. Westward of the Nor- 
 man work is an acutely-pointed arch of 
 the thirteenth century, of plain masonry 
 without mouldings. 
 
 The rest of the church is Perpendicular. 
 The porch is like that at St. Erth, and 
 has a niche for a stoup, the vessel itself 
 
 being removed. 
 
 Capital and Base 
 
 of Norman Pier, 
 
 Lelant. 
 
 Those who are curious in such matters 
 will find quaint inscriptions on the tablets against the 
 west wall of the south aisle. 
 
 There is some fair modern glass in this church. 
 
 Outside the western entrance is a round-headed 
 cross, and another, having St. Andrew's cross in bold 
 relief, stands within the churchyard. 
 
 The patron saint is St. Ewinus. 
 
 St. Gwinear. This church stands on high ground 
 about three miles from Hayle. Its plan is rendered 
 peculiar by the addition of a chapel 32 ft. long to the 
 side of the north aisle. It was probably built by 
 some lord of an estate in the parish ; and that it 
 was for the separate use of a family would seem to 
 be shewn by the curious entrance at the west end,
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 131 
 
 the north-east corner of the porch having been cut 
 away for the purpose of giving access to the door 
 
 Plan of St. Gwinear Church. 
 
 of the chapeL An addition of this kind frequently 
 assumes, in Cornwall, the form of a small transeptal 
 projection. Here, however, it has nearly the pro- 
 portions of an aisle, being divided from the north 
 aisle by four arches with octagonal piers ; the capi- 
 tals having angels holding shields. One shield not 
 so supported has the figure of a deer, or stag, — per- 
 haps the arms of the person who raised the structure. 
 The work is late, probably of the sixteenth century. 
 
 It is uncertain what was the original plan of this 
 church. The west wall of the south aisle is older 
 than that on the south ; possibly it was the west 
 side of a transept contemporaneous with the existing 
 chancel, which is of good early Decorated date. The 
 east window is of five lights, with mullions carried
 
 132 Cornish Churches. 
 
 on through the head and simply intersecting each 
 other. A portion of the upper part of the tracery 
 
 Chancel Window, St. Gwinear. 
 
 having fallen away, the vacant space has been built 
 up. The splay-arch has detached shafts, with heads 
 as capitals. This window is a valuable example of 
 the period, and of a type seldom met with in Corn- 
 wall "". 
 
 The piscina in the south wall is of the same date ; 
 
 •^ The east window of Lesnewth Church, in Cornwall, is a fine ex- 
 ample of this type.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 133 
 
 its chamfer-stops are curious and unusual in these 
 parts. 
 
 The nave and aisles are 
 late Perpendicular, of much 
 the same characteras other 
 churches in the district pre- 
 viously noticed. It is, how- 
 ever, rare to find the porch 
 on the north side. The 
 south doorway has been 
 blocked up. Both north 
 and south doorways have 
 the Tudor rose carved in 
 the spandrils. Built into 
 the wall of the porch are 
 two beak-heads of Norman P'''^'"^' S'- Gwinear. 
 
 date, indicating that an earlier structure once occupied 
 the site ; and two grotesque heads joined together 
 
 Beak-head, Porch, St. Gwinear. 
 
 Corbel-heads, Tower, St. Gwinear. 
 
 are built into the western wall of the tower about 
 lo ft. from the ground, and north of the doorway. 
 Another anciently sculptured head is inserted in the
 
 134 
 
 Cornish CJmrcJies. 
 
 ■west wall of the tower; all, undoubtedly, relics of 
 the previous church. 
 
 The tower is of three stages, doubly buttressed at 
 the angles, and has the staircase on the north side 
 contained in a square turret rising above the parapet, 
 and battlemented and pinnacled. At the base the 
 staircase is lighted with a trefoil, and above by 
 square slits. The lower stages have windows of 
 Decorated character, resembling those at St. Ma- 
 dron '\ The upper windows are Perpendicular, each 
 of three lights. The tower was not finished in the 
 year 1441, for we learn from Dr. Oliver's Monasticon 
 that " Michael L'Archdekne, treasurer of Exeter Ca- 
 thedral, left by will, 
 dated Jan. 5, 1441, 
 forty shillings to- 
 wards the building 
 of the tower, or pur- 
 chase of bells Ecclesie 
 Saudi IVynneri." It 
 was probably then in 
 progress. 
 
 The bowl of the 
 font is octagonal, 
 dated 1727, and has 
 each face carved, the 
 devices being — a 
 
 heart, a hand, St. Font, St. Gwinear. 
 
 Andrew's cross, figure of our Lord on a Tau cross, 
 
 ^ See above, p. 29.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 135 
 
 head with nimbus, &c. The pedestal and base 
 are of early date ; on the splay of the latter is a 
 lozenge and scollop pattern ; and at each corner 
 was a projecting head, one of which still remains. 
 The bowl may be sculptured in imitation of an 
 older one. 
 
 Fragments of the old carved bench- 
 ends and wood-work remain. The 
 frequent repetition of a hand is 
 remarkable : in one instance it is 
 pierced and has a crown over it, 
 representing one of the five sacred 
 wounds. 
 
 Dr. Oliver, under the signature 
 " Curiosus," published in a local 
 paper some interesting notes relat- 
 ing to this church and its vicars. It appears that 
 " Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and Hertford, 
 as chief lord of the manor, at the instance of Walter 
 Stapledon, Bishop of Exeter, authorized by his deed, 
 dated Westminster, May 24, 1311, the grant of an 
 acre of land in the manor of Draynet, now called 
 Drannock, with the advowson of the church Sancti 
 Wynneri, to Sir Richard Stapledon in aid of, and 
 for the maintenance of, twelve scholars in the Uni- 
 versity of Oxford." 
 
 The Doctor says that before its annexation to 
 Exeter College he had met with but a single Rector, 
 viz. " Robert Fitz-Robert, whom Bishop Bronescombe 
 admitted on Jan. 12, 1261, 'ad Ecclesiam Sancti 
 
 Symbol of Sacred 
 Wound, St. Gwinear.
 
 136 
 
 Cornisli C J lurches. 
 
 Winner! vacantem,' on the presentation of Jane 
 'Domine de Campo Arnulpho,' or Champernoun." 
 
 The church is dedicated to St. Winnerus ; and 
 in a note to the paper from which the preceding 
 extracts are taken, Dr. Oliver adds, " For any acts 
 or particulars of this saint I have hitherto searched 
 in vain." 
 
 St. Gwithian (or St. Gothian) Church, on 
 the eastern shore of St. Ives Bay, as it now stands 
 has chancel, nave with western tower, north transept, 
 and south aisle with porch. The original building 
 was evidently cruciform, and of Early English date. 
 
 Transept, St. Gwithian. 
 
 The transept of this period remains, and its arch 
 is of a kind not usually found in West Cornwall.
 
 Cornish ChnrcJies. 137 
 
 There are also traces of a chancel-arch, a very rare 
 feature in the county : the removal of the south 
 transept for the aisle must have caused its fall. 
 
 The recess in the east wall of the transept was 
 possibly an aumbry : there was of course an altar 
 here ; and the piscina may be hid beneath the 
 plastering. 
 
 The tower is good Perpendicular, earlier than the 
 aisle ; it has three stages, with parapet and pinna- 
 cles like those at St. Germoe. There are angels at 
 the angles, but no gargoyles. 
 
 The font consists of a late square bowl placed 
 on an early round shaft. 
 
 In the year 1782 the chancel was rebuilt; and 
 a good Decorated stained glass window of three 
 lights has been inserted by the present Rector, 
 the Rev. Frederick Hockin. 
 
 In the churchyard stands a round-headed cross, 
 having a Greek cross, with a boss on its centre in 
 relief, within the circle. 
 
 Among the sand-banks about a quarter of a mile 
 from the church are the ruins of the ancient oratory 
 of St. Gothian. At the time of its discovery, about 
 thirty-five years ago, it was totally buried beneath 
 a turf-clad mound. Externally, the sand is still 
 level with the tops of the walls, which vary from 5 
 to 7 ft. in height. The length of the building, in- 
 ternally, is 48 ft. 1 1 in. ; of this the chancel occu- 
 pies 17 ft. I in., and is 12 ft. 2 in. wide. The nave,
 
 138 Corfiish Churches. 
 
 31 ft. 10 in. in length, measures 14ft. 4 in. in breadth 
 at the east end, but at the west end is 6 in. narrower. 
 
 •y>x' " ' w//"'U ' "" ' yD' ' 7^'' 
 
 fe ^c 
 
 10 20 FEET 
 
 Plan of St. Gothian's Oratory. 
 
 The doorway is in the south \vall of the nave, 9 ft. 
 from the chancel. There appears to have been a 
 priest's doorway at A in the plan, and at C a small 
 window. On examining the foundations beneath 
 the present covering of sand, traces of stone benches 
 (BB) were discovered along the chancel and sacrarium. 
 There was also an altar of masonry — pulled down 
 when the owner of the land turned the oratory into 
 a cowshed ! 
 
 Three small square holes in the western wall were 
 probably left for putlogs. 
 
 The plan of this little structure resembles that of 
 the famed oratory of St. Piran : both were similarly 
 situated, and were discovered under like circum- 
 stances, for the eastern side of St. Ives Bay, as well 
 as the coast at Perranzabuloe, is overwhelmed with 
 sand. It has been conjectured that when St. Piran's
 
 CorJtish Churches. 
 
 139 
 
 Oratory was built, the sand had not reached the 
 spot. Such, however, was the case, the foundations 
 being laid on the sand. The fact of these buildings 
 being found buried does not afford any clue to their 
 age, for the sands have been continually shifting ; 
 and so lately as a hundred years ago the house of 
 the barton of Upton, in the parish of St. Gwithian, 
 was overwhelmed, and the family had to escape by 
 the windows. In 1808 a drift disclosed the house 
 still standing. We have, therefore, no other means 
 of judging as to the period when those structures 
 were raised but by the character of the work, and 
 this seems to indicate an early date. From the 
 absence of all mouldings, and from the rudeness of 
 
 Doorway of St. Gothian's Oratory. 
 
 the construction of St. Gothian's Oratory, it would 
 appear to be of higher antiquity than that of St. 
 Piran. It will be remembered that the latter pos- 
 sessed a doorway with a kind of zigzag moulding, 
 and sculptured heads at the springings and keystone
 
 140 Cornish CJuircJics. 
 
 of the arch '^. At St. Gothian's Oratory the stones, 
 consisting of slate, quartz, and sandstone, seem to 
 have been built in just as they came to hand. A 
 large piece of sandstone in the eastern jamb of the 
 doorway may, perhaps, have been worked into form ; 
 it is the same kind of stone as that referred to as 
 existing in early work at St. Levan, St. Burian, and 
 Landewednack. 
 
 No cement of any sort is used in the masonry. 
 At St. Piran's, however, the walls at the back of the 
 benches are plastered with unwashed china-clay, 
 none of which could have been procured within a 
 distance of ten or twelve miles ^ 
 
 These oratories were of greater dimensions, but 
 are certainly to be classed with other structures of 
 like character, remains of which are to be found on 
 different parts of the Cornish coast, more frequently 
 in the Land's End district. In plan they are simply 
 parallelograms, with some distinguishing mark di- 
 viding the altar platform, and a stone altar. No 
 roofs remain. From their extreme simplicity, and 
 the rudeness of the masonry, they are evidently of 
 very early date ; but for what special purpose con- 
 structed is uncertain. They may have been the 
 oratories of holy men many centuries ago, and some 
 
 * These heads are now in the Museum of the Royal Institution of 
 Cornwall at Truro. 
 
 ' Ferruginous limestone occurs in several parts of the neighbouring 
 cliffs, and it has been burnt for modern building purposes at Lower 
 St. Colomb Forth, within five or six miles of the ancient oratory.
 
 Cornish Churches. 141 
 
 of them appear to have given a pecuh'ar sanctity 
 to the locality, marking the site and providing the 
 dedication for a subsequent parochial church. 
 
 In the sand around both the oratories of St. Go- 
 thian and St. Piran numerous human skeletons were 
 found, as if the spots had been specially selected as 
 burial-places. At Forth Curnovv, near St. Levan 
 Church, on the southern coast of the Land's End 
 district, are the remains of one of those ancient ora- 
 tories or chapels. The courses of stone were built 
 with some regularity. Two small openings in the 
 west wall appear to have served as windows, and, 
 like St. Piran's and St. Gothian's oratories, this little 
 structure is situated near a rivulet ; indeed, nearly all 
 such buildings are so. But the remarkable pecu- 
 liarity at Porth Curnow is that the chapel appears 
 
 Forth Curnow Chapel. 
 
 to have been built on an artificially raised mound ; 
 and about two or three yards from its western wall 
 the present tenant of the estate found, a few years
 
 142 Cornish Churches. 
 
 ago, in digging up the ground, a large sepulchral urn. 
 Was the site, therefore, accidentally selected, or was 
 it a spot greatly venerated, as the grave of some 
 noted personage during the age of urn-burial, over 
 which, on the introduction of Christianity, the little 
 oratory was erected, that true worship might be 
 offered there ? 
 
 IX. ST. IVES— TOWEDNACK—ZENNOR— ST. HILARY 
 — SITHNEY— ST. CROWAN— CAMBORNE. 
 
 St. Ives. — This is a large church, consisting of 
 chancel, nave with western tower, north and south 
 aisles to both, with porch, and a side chapel ^ open- 
 ing by an arcade of two into the eastern part of the 
 south aisle. The east walls of the aisles and chapel 
 are all flush with that of the chancel. 
 
 The chapel was added, but the other portions of 
 the structure appear to have been built according to 
 one design, without any additions or alterations, ex- 
 cepting those which were barbarously effected in 
 almost every church during Puritanical times. 
 
 The roodloft staircase is at the north-west angle 
 of the chapel. The roodscreen has been removed, 
 but some of the carved oak benches remain. 
 
 One Ralph Clies, the master smith who super- 
 intended the smiths' work, is said to have made 
 a present of a carved screen. The front panels of 
 
 s Connected with the Trenwith estate, and now commonly called 
 the "Trenwith aisle."
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 143 
 
 a seat now in the chancel have shields bearing — 
 I, Hammer, pincers, nails, and horse-shoe ; 2. Ham- 
 
 Shields on panels of seat, St. Ives. 
 
 mer and anvil; 3. Ahead; 4. A head; 5. Pair of 
 bellows ; 6. Ladle, trammers, and clefts. These are 
 said to represent the smith's implements ; and the 
 figures 3 and 4 to be intended for Master Clies 
 and his wife. 
 
 Each aisle has seven bays, with piers consisting of 
 
 Section of Pier, St, Ives. 
 
 Pier-arch Moulding, St. Ives. 
 
 four shafts with intervening ogee mouldings ; the 
 arch-mouldings correspond. 
 
 The roofs are of the usual waggon form, but very 
 handsome and perfect, elaborately carved, and with 
 full-length figures of angels at the springings of the 
 braces ; these figures are continued all the way 
 down the nave, and similar ones occur at St. Madron
 
 144 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 and a few other churches in Cornwall. In the 
 chancel-roof only the braces and purlins are inter- 
 
 Chancel-roof, St. Ives. 
 
 sected diagonally by a raised and continuous mould- 
 ing, giving a pretty net-like appearance. The sug- 
 gestive vine pattern is carried along the wall-plate 
 both in chancel and nave. Richly carved bosses 
 are placed at the intersections of the diagonal lines 
 and of the purlins and braces. 
 
 In the east wall of the north aisle and adjoining 
 the chancel is an arched recess, with jambs resting 
 on the floor, 4 ft. 2 in. high and 2 ft. 4 in. wide. It 
 is too low for a doorway, and the exterior of the 
 wall shews no indication of its being blocked up.
 
 CornisJi Churches. 
 
 145 
 
 The tower, 119 ft. high, is of four stages, but- 
 tressed on square, has a battlemented parapet, and 
 battlemented pinnacles resting on angels. The 
 belfry windows, larger than usual, are each of three 
 lights and transomed. 
 
 Several well-sculptured corbel -heads under the 
 roof of the south chapel appear to be of earlier date 
 than the wall into which they are built. 
 
 There is a very fine font, 3 ft. 10 in. high, appa- 
 rently of the thirteenth century, but, as it is of 
 
 Font, St. Ives. 
 
 granite, may be a copy of a similar one of that 
 date. On the bowl are four angels connected by 
 
 L
 
 146 Cornish Churches. 
 
 bands, on one of which are, in raised early Engh'sh 
 characters, the words " Omnes baptizate gentes." 
 Four dragons on the base symbolize the demons 
 cast out by the power of baptism. 
 
 C. S. Gilbert, in his " History of Cornwall," quot- 
 ing from the MSS. of a Mr. Hicks, who gleaned 
 from the borough records of St. Ives, gives the fol- 
 lowing : — 
 
 " As it had pleased the Almighty God to increase the town inhabi- 
 tants, and to send down temporal blessings most plentifully among 
 them, the people, to shew their thankfulness for the same, did resolve 
 to build a chapel in St. Ives, they having no house in the town wherein 
 public prayers and divine service were read, but were forced every 
 Sunday and Holy Day to go to Lelant Church, being three miles 
 distant from St. Ives, to hear the same ; and likewise to carry their 
 children to be baptized ; their dead to be there buried ; to go there to 
 be married, and their women to be churched. Whereupon the in- 
 habitants of St. Ives did, about the year of our Lord 1408, petition the 
 lord Champernoun, lord of St. Ives, that he would be pleased to pe- 
 tition his Holiness the Pope to grant his licence for a chapel to be 
 built within the borough. So the lord Champernoun on his petition 
 did obtain from his Holiness the Pope Alexander the Fifth — ' Primo 
 Anno Pontificatus, Anno Domini 1410' — his Bull to build a chapel in 
 the borough, and likewise obtained a licence from the Most Reverend 
 Father in God the Archbishop of Canterbury, and a licence from the 
 Reverend the Bishop of Exeter, for building the said chapel ; which 
 together with the tower was begun in the reign of King Henry the 
 Fifth and finished in the reign of King Henry the Sixth, being sixteen 
 years and a half in building." 
 
 The stones for building are said to have been 
 brought by water from the neighbouring parish of 
 Zennor. We also gather from the same source that 
 there was a fine organ, costing £y:>o, placed over the
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 147 
 
 roodscreen, and that it was taken down by the Pu- 
 ritans in 1647. There is now an excellent organ at 
 the east end of the north aisle. 
 
 A good brass of Otho Trenwith, formerly in the 
 chancel, has been removed. 
 
 Against the wall of the chapel an epitaph, on the 
 monument to the family of Sise, curiously com- 
 mences, — 
 
 " Neere to this bed sixe Sises late were laid, 
 Foure Hopefull sonns, y* grandsire, and a maid." 
 
 According to Dr. Oliver, the patron saint is St. la, 
 an Irish virgin, martyred at 
 Hayle in Cornwall about the 
 middle of the fifth century. 
 Other accounts give the dedi- 
 cation to SS. Andrew and Peter. 
 The standards at the east ends 
 of two old seats — that of Master 
 Clies and another — in the chan- 
 cel, are carved with the figures 
 of SS. Andrew and Peter. These 
 now face the altar. Over St. 
 Peter two kneeling figures sup- 
 port a shield, on which are 
 the words, "John Peyn." The 
 standard with the figure of 
 St. Andrew is surmounted by 
 
 two similar figures with a shield Bench standard, St. Ives. 
 
 bearing two coats of arms impaled — i. Three pine-
 
 148 Cornish Churches. 
 
 apples, 2, An arrow-head in pale, reversed. The 
 arms of John Peyn, of whom Hals says, alluding to 
 the barbarous execution of insurgents in the reign 
 of Edward VI., " In like manner the marshal hanged 
 John Payne, the mayor or portreeve of St. Ives, on 
 a gallows erected in the middle of that town, whose 
 arms are still to be seen in one of the foreseats in 
 that church, viz. In a plain field three pine-apples." — 
 (D. Gilbert's Hist, of Cornwall, ii. 198.) The carver 
 had evidently never seen pine-apples. The arms are 
 later than the carving of St. Peter beneath. 
 
 Dr. Oliver states that Pope Alexander V., Oct. "y.o, 
 1409, and John XXIII., Nov. 18, 1410, recommended 
 Bishop Stafford to make "capellas Sancti Tewynnoci 
 (i.e. Towednack) et Sancte Ye parochial, with font 
 and cemetery, but dependent on Lelant." 
 
 There is a good churchyard cross recently re- 
 stored. 
 
 The church of St. Ives is in excellent repair ; it 
 has been substantially reseated in oak, floor tiled, 
 ugly galleries cleared away, and many good stained 
 glass windows inserted. The greater part has been 
 done by the munificence of Robert Hichens, Esq., 
 of St. Ives and East Dulwich ; who also defrayed 
 nearly the whole of the cost for the building of the 
 pretty church of St. John in the new parish of Halse- 
 town, near St. Ives. 
 
 Towednack Church is remarkable as alone pos- 
 sessing a chancel-arch among the churches of West
 
 Cor?tish CJmrcJies. 
 
 149 
 
 Cornwall ; it is of the thirteenth century, very acutely 
 pointed, and consists simply of two chamfered orders 
 
 Towednack Church. 
 
 springing from corbels, like the transept - arch at 
 St. Gwithian '^, which is of the same date. 
 
 The church consists of chancel, nave with western 
 tower, and south aisle and porch ; the two latter are 
 much later than the other parts. 
 
 2 V\\ x^ 
 
 Mouldings of Tower, Towednack. 
 1. Cornice; 2. Battlement; 3. Stringcourse ; 4. Impost, Tower-arch. 
 
 The tower, of granite, very low and massive, is 
 altogether unlike every other in the district, and, 
 being constructed without any attempt at orna- 
 
 '■ See above, p. 136.
 
 ISO 
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 mentation, proper use was made of the material at 
 hand. The stringcourse and cornice are remarkably 
 bold ; the battlemented parapet (walled in on the 
 east and west sides) is of the simplest character. 
 The belfry lights are square-headed and chamfered. 
 Altogether it is a characteristic structure, harmon- 
 izing well with its site, in the midst of a most wild 
 and dreary region. The tower staircase, on an un- 
 usual plan, is constructed 
 without newel or win- 
 ders, and has its entrance 
 direct from the north- 
 west angle of the nave. 
 The tower-arch appears 
 to have been originally, 
 like most others of the 
 same date in Cornwall, a plain soffit-arch; to this 
 responds and a chamfered order have been added. 
 A portion of the old impost-moulding remains. 
 
 Plan of Tower Stairs, Towednack. 
 
 Incised Stone, Towednack, 
 
 The eastern bench in the porch is formed of a 
 block of granite, 7 ft. long, i ft. 6 in. high, and 10 in.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 151 
 
 wide, with an incised double cross. This stone evi- 
 dently does not occupy its original position ; it 
 differs from the ordinary types of the Cornish church- 
 yard and wayside crosses, and is most probably an 
 early Christian sepulchral monument. 
 
 Zennor Church, dedicated to St. Senara, stands 
 amongst the bleak granite hills on the north coast. 
 It has chancel, nave, western tower, north aisle, south 
 transept, and porch. The periods of the walls may 
 
 Plan of Zennor Church. Scale, 24 ft. to i in. 
 
 be thus briefly told, — south side of nave Norman, 
 transept and chancel Decorated and contemporane- 
 ous : it is uncertain what the arrangement on the 
 north side may have been when the chancel was
 
 152 
 
 Cornish CJinrcJies. 
 
 built, but at present the nave and chancel open into 
 an aisle by an arcade of six fifteenth-century arches, 
 of unequal breadths, with plain octagonal granite 
 piers. The tower, of the usual Cornish Perpendicular 
 type, is constructed of ashlar granite, has three stages 
 marked by plain set-offs, and a bold stringcourse 
 above the plinth. It has a good west window, with 
 tracery constructed of a hard black stone, nowhere 
 to be procured in this locality, and retains the sharp- 
 ness of angle and outline as freshly as when first 
 inserted, affording a striking contrast to the dis- 
 integrated granite. Above this window occurs the 
 rather unusual feature in this district of an ogee- 
 headed niche, perhaps 
 for the reception of a 
 crucifix, which of course 
 has long since been re- 
 moved. 
 
 The nave, as at Ma- 
 naccan, is wider than 
 the chancel, and in each 
 case the south side of 
 the nave is older than / 
 any other part of the 
 building. There remains 
 westward of the door- 
 way a single Norman 
 light 3 ft. high by 6 in. 
 in breadth, and with a 
 ^play of 3 ft. 3 in. through a very massive wall. This 
 
 Norman Window, Zennor.
 
 Cornish Churches. 153 
 
 little window is of much interest as being probably the 
 oldest to be found in the churches of West Cornwall. 
 It is partially hidden by a gallery, concerning which 
 the following memorandum was made in a private 
 account-book of William Borlase, Vicar of Zennor 
 in 1772 : — 
 
 " Memorandum, April 9th, 1794. In the year 1772, when the sing- 
 ing-gallery was erected, and previous to the compass-roofing of that 
 part of the church over the gallery, I observed these figures on one of 
 the oak sills (i.e. sills or principals) which supported the south part, 
 1 1 72 or 1 1 77, which I should take to be the date when the Church of 
 Zenor was built, so that about the time of the Lincoln Taxation, 
 mentioned on the other side, it was more than one hundred years 
 old." 
 
 The doorway, also round-headed, has been so much 
 concealed by modern repairs and repeated coats of 
 whitewash, as to render it difficult to decide whether 
 it is contemporaneous with the window. 
 
 The chancel is raised one step above the nave, and 
 the sacrarium has two steps, all three extending con- 
 tinuously across the aisle, which has in the lower part 
 of the east wall to the height of the window sill, 
 masonry projecting eight inches, and a rude bracket, 
 the upper surface of which measures i ft. by i ft, 2 in. 
 The north wall of the aisle was rebuilt about fifty 
 years ago. 
 
 The transept, like that at St. Levan (p. 18), pro- 
 bably opened into the nave by two arches ; but these, 
 except the springing of the westernmost, with the 
 central pillar, have been removed, and the space 
 spanned by a wooden beam as at St. Germoe : in-
 
 154 
 
 Cornish ChiircJies. 
 
 deed the arrangement of this church much resembles 
 St, Germoe. The existing piers at the angles of the 
 transept correspond to the second and fourth piers 
 of the nave arcade ; they are, in fact, of the same 
 character and date, and take the places of others of 
 an earlier period, or supersede some different plan 
 of junction. There does not appear to have been 
 a passage from the north-east angle to the chancel. 
 The south wall is occupied by an acutely pointed 
 window, with a plain chamfered scoinson arch, but, 
 having lost its tracery, has been fitted with a wooden 
 sash. The hoodmould terminations are of a type 
 unusual in these parts. 
 
 Section and Terminations 
 
 of Hoodmould, Transept 
 
 Window, Zennor. 
 
 Window in Chancel, Zennor. 
 
 Remains of a two-light Decorated window exist in 
 the south wall of the chancel. It is evidently of the 
 same date as the transept window. In all the earlier 
 windows of this building granite was not used, but 
 a finer grained stone procured from some distant 
 part. The gable-cross on the transept, which was 
 found in the chancel, and a corbel-head built into 
 the transept wall, are of this stone. A coarse native
 
 Cornish Churches. 155 
 
 sandstone, which I have previously noticed here and 
 there in early work, is used in the construction of the 
 little Norman light in the nave. 
 
 There is a good Decorated font, and two of the old 
 bench-ends remain, one of the latter has the figure of 
 a mermaid '. 
 
 There are three bells, the first recast in 1717 ; the 
 second and third bear the legends, SANCTE JOHANNE 
 ORA PRO NOBIS, and SANCTA MARIA ORA PRO 
 NOBIS. 
 
 On the edge of the cliff, near the Gurnard's Head 
 in this parish, are the remains of an ancient chapel 
 or oratory. Its dimensions can just be traced, and 
 the stone altar-slab lies on the floor. 
 
 In the vicarage garden is the head of a cross of 
 the usual Cornish type. 
 
 I have here the pleasure to thank the Rev. Wm. 
 Borlase, Vicar of Zennor, for permission to copy from 
 the account-book of a former Vicar the note relating 
 to the dated sill removed from the west end of the 
 nave, as well as for the following curious extract 
 from the parish register : — 
 
 "Be it remembered, That on Sunday the 27th of June, 1762, 
 Thomas Osbom of Trewey, Robert Michell of Tregarthen, Matthew 
 Thomas of Treen, and Elizabeth Phillips of the Church Town, brought 
 Butter and Cheese into the Chancel in the Time of Divine Service, 
 imagining, I suppose, it would be accepted instead of their Tithes for 
 Cows and Calves ; but not being taken away either by them or any 
 
 ' This bench-end and font are figured in " A Week at the Land's 
 End."
 
 156 Cornish CJuirches. 
 
 one else before it grew offensive, I ordered the Church Wardens, under 
 Pain of being cited to the Spiritual Court, to remove the same as an 
 Indecency and a Nusance to the Congregation. I here insert this lest 
 my Successor should be imposed upon by being told that I accepted 
 of that or any other Butter and Cheese instead of Tithes of Cows and 
 Calves, which I assure him I did not, nor of any other sort of Tithe 
 according to the Tenor of the Terrier, dated 1727, and held in the 
 Register of the Consistory Court of Exeter, as Witness my hand this 
 2ist day of July, 1762, Jacob Bullock, Vicar. 
 
 "N.B. Samuel Michell, Brother of the said Robert, and [John] 
 Baragwanath were Church Wardens, [and removed] the said Butter 
 and Cheese as a [Nusance at] my command. — ^J. B., V'." 
 
 The words between brackets are now almost illeg- 
 ible in the register. 
 
 The Church of St. Hilary, with the exception of 
 the tower and spire, was destroyed by fire on the 
 night of Good Friday, 1853. At that time it con- 
 sisted of chancel, nave, and north and south aisles, 
 all, excepting perhaps the chancel, later than the 
 tower. When the church was rebuilt some few al- 
 terations were found necessary to be made in the 
 tower, but it retains its original principal features, 
 and differs altogether from every other tower of the 
 district. It is of early Decorated date, and from 
 the near connexion of St. Hilary Church with St. 
 Michael's Mount, builders of a better class than usual 
 may have had to do with its construction. 
 
 Buttresses extend nearly half the height of the 
 tower ; they have bold set-offs, chamfered angles, 
 and cappings. The angles of the tower have round
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 157 
 
 mouldings, and there are cor- 
 bels along the cornice. The 
 belfry windows are of three 
 lights. Each alternate spire - 
 light is blocked, the space 
 being occupied by sculptured 
 heads and other ornaments. 
 The tower-arch is recessed and 
 chamfered, and has three-quar- 
 ter-round responds with mould- 
 ed capitals and bases. 
 
 During the rebuild- 
 ing of the church frag- 
 ments of early work 
 were found, and a por- 
 tion of the capital of a 
 pier now in the church- 
 yard shews mouldings 
 and ornamentation un- 
 like any existing work 
 in West Cornwall 
 churches. 
 
 Through the exer- 
 tions of the Vicar, the 
 Rev. Thomas Pascoe, 
 who contributed largely 
 to the fund, a hand- 
 some church has been 
 built on to the old 
 tower. 
 
 Blocked Spire-lig 
 St. Hilary. 
 
 •*:^^ 
 
 Tower, St. Hilary.
 
 158 Cornish Churches. 
 
 St. Sithney Church has shallow transepts added 
 to the north and south aisles. The Perpendicular 
 tower is superior to many others of the same period, 
 and has a boldly moulded tower-arch, and shafted 
 pinnacles, with figures of the Evangelists at their 
 bases, resting on the cornice. 
 
 The east window of the north aisle, like that at 
 St. Cury, is. of four lights with geometrical tracery, 
 and has the splay of the arch internally filled with 
 geometrical ornamentation in panels. 
 
 On the chancel floor is a portion of a brass cross : 
 the word " Mercy " was inscribed on each limb, and 
 beneath the following words may still be read : — 
 " Hie jacet Rogerus Trelbythyanyk cujus anime 
 propicietur Deus. Amen." On the wall of the south 
 aisle is a neat brass, date 1856, in memory of the Rev. 
 John Rogers, M.A., of Penrose, Canon of Exeter. 
 
 St. Crowan Church possesses no features of 
 particular interest. It has a fine tower with a peal 
 of six bells, and a square Norman font with dragons 
 at the base ; being found in a mutilated condition it 
 was repaired, and the shaft is modern. 
 
 The numerous monuments and brasses of the 
 ancient family of St. Aubyn in this church are figured 
 in Polwhele's " History of Cornwall." 
 
 Camborne Church, dedicated to St.Meriadoc,has 
 recently been re-seated and otherwise restored. Many
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 159 
 
 of the original Perpendicular windows remain. The 
 piers and capitals are of the c^ 
 usual type, and the tower re- ^' ' 
 sembles others already noticed. 
 The panels of the pulpit are 
 carved with the symbols of the 
 Passion : one shield bears the 
 five wounds, representing the 
 wells of pity, comfort, grace, 
 mercy and everlasting life ; from 
 the heart (the well of ever- 
 lasting life) blood flows into a symbols of the Five Wounds, 
 chalice. Cambome. 
 
 Against the exterior of the wall of the porch is 
 a very ancient altar-slab. It is figured in Borlase's 
 "Antiquities of Cornwall," and bears the following in- 
 scription : — " Leuiut jusit hec Altare pro anima sua." 
 
 The walls of the sanctuary are of the fourteenth 
 century ; a good piscina and a fine old stoup were 
 discovered during the late restoration. 
 
 Note. — Since these papers were printed, a restor- 
 ation of St. Just Church has been commenced ; and, 
 as is generally the case, some interesting discoveries 
 have been made. On the authority of Mr. Buller, 
 ("Account of the Parish of St. Just-in-Penwith," 
 p. 19,) it was stated that the whole of the old sanc- 
 tuary walls were removed when the east end of the
 
 i6o Cornish Churches. 
 
 church was rebuilt in 1834, and this appeared to be 
 the case. But the stripping of the plaster proves 
 that the lower part of the south wall was retained, 
 including the piscina and a single sedile, some- 
 what resembling those in the neighbouring church 
 of St. Madron, and evidently portions of the church 
 which was consecrated in 1336 by Bishop Gran- 
 disson. 
 
 Some mural paintings have also been discovered 
 on the north wall of the north aisle. The designs 
 are bordered by the running pattern of rude foliage 
 twisted round a straight continuous stem, so common 
 on capitals and woodwork of the fifteenth century. 
 There can still be traced a representation of St. George 
 and the Dragon ; also a large figure surrounded by 
 a curious collection of quaint devices — scales, an anvil 
 and hammer, a horn, part of a mermaid, the tail and 
 comb remaining, a rake, a ladder, a boat bearing 
 a fish, &c. 
 
 Beneath this painting the workmen found that 
 some of the wall had been removed, and a rough 
 recess formed, 2 ft. 7 in. by i ft. 2 in., and 2 ft. deep. 
 It contained a skull and other human bones (possibly 
 relics secreted at the Reformation), and some pieces 
 of stained glass, which appear to have been hastily 
 deposited, and then walled up. 
 
 The present, with the preceding papers, may serve 
 to give some idea of the ecclesiology of western Corn-
 
 Cornish Churches. i6l 
 
 wall. As, however, each church has been referred 
 to separately, and its details described with but in- 
 cidental comparison with others, it will be desirable 
 to offer a few general remarks on the whole. 
 
 Material. The Perpendicular work of Cornwall 
 differs in many respects from that of other parts of 
 the kingdom, chiefly, as might be expected, from 
 local causes, of which perhaps the most influential 
 was material. Granite, deliberately rejected by me- 
 diaeval builders in favour of stones capable of higher 
 finish, came into use in the fifteenth and sixteenth 
 centuries, and where it was plentiful, hurried on de- 
 basement. Indeed, granite is totally unfit for deli- 
 cate workmanship, even if, at the time, it be well 
 worked, being frequently thickly studded with pieces 
 of felspar, which coming on sharp angles, get thrown 
 out by exposure to the atmosphere, and the sharp- 
 ness of outline soon becomes effaced. It may be 
 seen on most of the exposed granite towers how the 
 angles have fretted away, and such sculpture as was 
 attempted has been reduced to almost shapeless 
 masses. 
 
 The granite then used was commonly called "moor- 
 stone," i.e. blocks found lying above the surface on 
 the open moor. These, being ready at hand, were 
 carted away without much attempt at selection. It 
 was wretchedly inferior to the granite now procured 
 from deep and extensive working in quarries ; the 
 finer or coarser qualities being applied to the pur- 
 
 M
 
 1 62 Cornish Churches. 
 
 poses for which they are best adapted. Still, granite 
 should only be employed in large bold masses ; and 
 where the old builders judiciously confined them- 
 selves to plain mouldings, as in Towednack tower, 
 and produced variety and change of line by simple 
 chamferings, the effect is in most instances pleasing 
 and characteristic. 
 
 The fine towers of St. Probus and St. Austell, in 
 East Cornwall, shew great skill in the use of granite, 
 and the granite tower at St. Ives would be a very fine 
 structure if the buttresses were not so lean and poor. 
 
 In the earliest work Caen and other free-stones 
 were much used, and even in the latest Perpendicular 
 churches a finer-grained stone was occasionally pro- 
 cured for window tracery and for the mouldings of 
 the principal doorways. 
 
 Ground-plans. To the casual observer the great- 
 er number of the Cornish churches seem to be 
 fashioned after one model, and to belong to one 
 style — the Perpendicular. The reconstruction or re- 
 building of the earlier fabrics which took place in 
 the fifteenth century more or less throughout the 
 country, appears to have been carried to an unusual 
 extent in the far west. Whatever may have been 
 the cause elsewhere, it is very clear that in Cornwall, 
 at all events, increased population had little or no- 
 thiner to do with the increased zeal in church build- 
 ing. The country districts were but thinly inhabited 
 — a few miners' cottages scattered over the wild
 
 Cornish CJiurcJies. \6x 
 
 3 
 
 clowns and moors, little groups of fishermen's huts 
 here and there along the coast ; towns small and 
 unimportant, and having no extensive trade or manu- 
 factures, were not calculated to attract settlers from 
 distant parts. Although there were some families 
 of distinction, the people generally were not rich. 
 Yet with all these drawbacks we find many of the 
 churches, even in the most remote places, of unusually 
 large dimensions, much larger in proportion than the 
 ordinary parish churches of the rich midland counties, 
 and of more populous districts. That the churches are 
 nearly all alike in respect of their plans is to some ex- 
 tent true, and there is but little diversity of outline. 
 
 The earliest examples of ecclesiastical building 
 in Cornwall are perhaps to be found amongst the 
 little chapels and oratories, such as St. Piran's, St. 
 Gothian's, St. Madron's Baptistery, &c. Because these 
 do not possess any external sign of distinction be- 
 tween chancel and nave, it has been supposed that 
 they afforded the type for the non-chancel-arched 
 churches of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. It 
 is rare now to find in this district'^ a chancel-arch; 
 but we have sufficient proof that some did exist, and 
 were destroyed when, in the fifteenth and sixteenth 
 centuries, the transepts of the Early English and 
 Decorated churches were removed for Ions' aisles. 
 
 't> 
 
 •^ And in the county generally : the fine churches of St. Michael 
 Penkivel and Shevioke have come down to us nearly unaltered ; both 
 have arches to the transepts, but a continuous unbroken roof to chan- 
 cel and nave ; both are of the fourteenth century.
 
 164 Cornish Churches. 
 
 It would appear, therefore, that the ancient oratories 
 had httle or no influence on the mediaeval builders. 
 Internally, however, these ancient structures have 
 some distinguishing mark separating chancel and 
 nave, such as a step, or a raised altar platform, and 
 at St. Gothian's oratory 1 a shallow projecting wall 
 of masonry on either side. 
 
 There is scarcely a parish in Cornwall in which there 
 are not the ruins of some ancient chapel or oratory, 
 and where such remains do not exist tradition gener- 
 ally points out the sites on which they formerly stood. 
 Many estates have a " chapel field," or in the Cornish, 
 parc-an-cJiapel. In several instances where the build- 
 ings have been removed, crosses mark the spots. 
 Most of these chapels bear the names of saints whose 
 names are not connected with the parish churches, 
 and of whose history nothing is known. These pious 
 wanderers seem to have erected little cells in lonely 
 spots, by the side of some spring or well, and thus 
 a peculiar sanctity became attached to those places, 
 of which the remembrance has not yet altogether 
 died out. It was in the earlier days of British 
 Christianity when these Irish missionaries gave their 
 names to such localities, and of course we look in 
 vain for the little structures they first erected. 
 Whether of stone or wood may perhaps have de- 
 pended on which material was at hand ; at any rate, 
 these crumbled away in the course of time. But 
 to keep alive the memories of these saints, pious men 
 
 ' See above, p. 139.
 
 Cornish Churches. 165 
 
 in later days, from time to time, re-erected the walls 
 on the original plans, and continued to use the build- 
 ings as chapels, oratories, and baptisteries. Much of 
 this work was done in the fifteenth century, and 
 many of these detached buildings appear to have 
 answered the purpose for which chantries were in 
 some places added to the parish churches. In- 
 deed, it will be found that the greater number of 
 the Cornish chapels as they now exist, date no 
 further back than the fifteenth century, and many 
 of the crosses are not more ancient. The ora- 
 tory of St. Piran-in-the-Sands may be as early as 
 Saxon times, and the oratory of St. Gothian is in 
 all probability as old. Few others, however, have 
 such claims to antiquity. The examples referred to 
 may be considered as amongst the earliest Christian 
 structures in Cornwall, and are valuable as witnesses 
 to the ritual arrangement of the age in which they 
 were built. 
 
 The absence of mouldings has in many cases ren- 
 dered it difficult to assign a date to these chapels ; 
 they are so uniform in plan and so rudely built, that 
 at a hasty glance some might be referred to the 
 twelfth or thirteenth century, until the fortunate 
 discovery of a window-head or door-jamb in a kin- 
 dred building affords a clue to their age. The style 
 of the masonry is not always a certain guide in this 
 district, for modern walls of the cottages of the poor, 
 if found in ruins, with no doorways or windows, 
 might almost be classed with what is called Cyclopean
 
 1 66 Cornish Churches. 
 
 masonry. The walls of cottages and outhouses are 
 often formed of great shapeless blocks, sometimes 
 reaching nearly up to the roof, the intervening spaces 
 being filled with rubble. Nothing can have a ruder 
 or more primitive appearance. Indeed, it is the style 
 of the first builders in these parts, of the men who 
 raised the hill forts and the hut circles. In this we 
 see the effect of material on architecture : buildings 
 must in a greater or less degree, of course, partake 
 of the natural characteristics of the country, espe- 
 cially when but little labour or money is to be had. 
 The humble Cornish builder of ancient and modern 
 times set in huge masses of granite just as he found 
 them, and the larger they were the better they an- 
 swered his purpose ; if he could make three or four 
 great blocks of stone form a wall, the less labour and 
 skill was required in building, and the main object 
 was attained. And as both old and modern walls 
 are found constructed without the use of cement — 
 nothing more than dry stone walling — and as this 
 mode seems to have been continued from the earliest 
 to the latest times, it would in many instances, apart 
 from other aid, increase the difficulty of assigning 
 a date, and lead many unacquainted with these local 
 characteristics into error. 
 
 Some of the first churches occupying the sites of 
 these stations of holy men, may have consisted merely 
 of chancel and nave, but many of early date were 
 cruciform in plan ; of this fact proofs have been given 
 in noticing the Early English work at Manaccan.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 167 
 
 When a transept exists, it is in most instances con- 
 temporaneous with the chancel. The occurrence of 
 one transept only — either on the north or south — has 
 been considered a great puzzle, and a peculiarity in 
 Cornish churches. A correspondent of the GENTLE- 
 MAN'S Magazine in 1781, asks for an explana- 
 tion : — 
 
 "In almost all the Cornish churches," he writes, "(at least those 
 I have seen,) there is a singularity which I have not observed in 
 churches elsewhere. ... I cannot conceive for what purpose this half- 
 transept, if I may give it such a name, was added to the church when 
 the building was erected, as it is now seldom used for seats for any part 
 of the congregation." 
 
 By careful examination it may be found that these 
 " half- transepts " are truly half-transepts, and that 
 the missing half has been merged into a north (or 
 south) aisle, as in the accompanying diagram. This 
 
 Plan of Church. 
 
 shews how many churches were treated in the fif- 
 teenth century. The north transept, with the excep- 
 tion of its north wall, and the north walls of the 
 chancel and nave, were removed, and an arcade sub- 
 stituted. Thus we have a church of chancel, nave
 
 1 68 Cornish Churches. 
 
 with western tower, north or south transept, as the 
 case may be, and north or south aisle. Examples 
 of both will be found in the preceding pages. The 
 manner in which the transept and nave are connected 
 is sometimes by a single arch, sometimes by two 
 arches, like the beginning of an arcade ; as if it had 
 been the intention to supersede the transept for an 
 aisle, and the idea afterwards abandoned. The 
 double-arched transepts may, however, be an original 
 constructional feature. At Zennor, St. Germoe, and 
 St. Mawgan, the arches are removed, and the space 
 spanned by a wooden beam. Some churches have 
 shallow transepts to the aisles, but these are ahv^a} s 
 the latest additions to the building, and appear to 
 have been constructed for the special use of the prin- 
 cipal families in the neighbourhood, as at St. Maw- 
 gan, St. Breage, and St. Germoe. 
 
 Many churches of the fifteenth century were un- 
 doubtedly from their commencement designedly con- 
 tinuous, but in these when it was possible the sanc- 
 tuary of the original church was preserved, but arch 
 after arch was added westward opening into aisles, 
 extending along both nave and chancel. These con- 
 tinuous aisles are generally somewhat narrower than 
 the nave, but are of the same height ; and the long 
 unbroken roofs in three parallel ridges, sometimes in 
 four where a side chapel is added, as at St. Ives and 
 St. Gwinear (see next page), have a very monotonous 
 and tame effect. In some instances the eastern walls 
 of the aisles are flush with that of the chancel ; in
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 169 
 
 others the chancel projects by the sanctuary, as at 
 St. Madron. 
 
 St. Gwinear Church. 
 
 The Roodscreens were the grand features of 
 demarcation between chancel and nave, and in the 
 two-aisled churches were carried across the whole 
 building, with a roodloft-staircase in the wall of the 
 north or south aisle. At St. Madron, the screen ran, 
 not from pier to pier, but clear of all the piers, under 
 the apices of the arches ; the furthest departure pos- 
 sible from the chancel-arch plan. 
 
 Towers. The towers are in almost every instance 
 placed at the west end of the nave. The greater 
 number are of three stages, some are of four, each 
 receding a little to the parapet, which is brought out 
 to the plane of the base. In the Land's End district
 
 I70 
 
 Cornish CJiiirchcs. 
 
 they are built of ashlar blocks of granite, with but 
 little attempt at ornamentation. At St. Germoe, 
 St. Ludgvan, and St. Gwithian, however, the pinnacles 
 are richly panelled and sculptured with quatrefoils ; 
 gargoyles are placed under the cornice, and, as in 
 other towers not so highly ornamented, the pinnacles 
 rest on angels. The granite tower pinnacles present 
 some originality of design characteristic of the ma- 
 terial employed. The 
 pinnacle of Sancreed 
 tower is an example 
 of the effect obtained 
 by the simple pro- 
 cess of chamfering. 
 The shaft rising from 
 the parapet is cham- 
 fered at each angle ; 
 aboveis a plain mould- 
 ing, embattled, to re- 
 
 ceive the octagonal 
 
 pinnacle, which is fin- 
 
 Pinnacle, Sancreed. • i j -.i i. r j Pinnacle, St. Just. 
 
 ishedwith achamtered 
 block and cable-moulding ; the whole surmounted by 
 a ball. At St. Just the pinnacles are square shafts 
 with plain round and hollow mouldings, and a sort of 
 scallop pattern as a substitute for battlements, from 
 which the capping rises square, and surmounted by 
 a ball and cross. In octagonal-shafted pinnacles this 
 scalloping becomes more fully developed, and has a 
 corona-like appearance. The shafts are sometimes
 
 Cornish Churches. l/l ' 
 
 panelled and battlemented, and the pinnacle finished 
 with ball and cross. The pinnacle of the staircase- 
 turret at Gwinear terminates with a triple moulding. 
 The pinnacles of St. Perran-uthnoe, of a very plain 
 character, finish with a cross placed horizontally, 
 which arrangement occurs again in the churches of 
 the Lizard district. 
 
 The parapets are battlemented. 
 
 The staircase is either in the thickness of the north 
 wall, or is contained in a square or octagonal turret. 
 
 Many of the tower-arches are simply plain soffit 
 arches, others have good and bold mouldings. 
 
 These notes apply chiefly to the Perpendicular 
 towers ; indeed, with the exception of two or three, 
 they are all of that style. 
 
 St. Mawgan, perhaps the best tower in west Corn- 
 wall (see p. 172), and somewhat earlier than the rest 
 (excepting St. Hilary), has fine pinnacles of clustered 
 shafts (see p. 173). 
 
 The characteristic features of the towers of the 
 Lizard district have been already described in the 
 notice of the church of St. Ruan Major™. 
 
 The granite towers are to be noted for their plain- 
 ness, which, however, harmonizes well with much of 
 the wild and exposed country in which they are 
 situated. Many stand on high ground, and doubt- 
 less served as landmarks. Indeed it is attested that 
 a yearly allowance was made by the port of St. Ives 
 for the white-washing of St. Hilary tower, so as to 
 
 ° See above, p. 94.
 
 172 
 
 Corjiish Churches. 
 
 render it more conspicuous at sea. St. Burian tower 
 is the first building seen by mariners approaching 
 England from the westward, and it is remarkable 
 that three of the loftiest towers in West Cornwall, 
 
 Church of St. Mawgan in Meneage. 
 
 St. Paul, St. Gwinear, and St. Burian, are all built 
 on high land, and in each the staircase-turret is car- 
 ried considerably above the parapet, resembling the 
 watch-towers which occur in some districts, and of 
 which the tower of Llandrillo yn Rhos on the north 
 coast of Wales affords an example. It has also been
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 173 
 
 sucrcrested that these turrets were used as beacons. 
 
 00 
 
 Numerous instances 
 of lanterns construct- 
 
 might 
 
 Turret, St. Burian. 
 
 ed on towers 
 be given, but that it 
 was the custom in this 
 part of the kingdom 
 it may be sufficient 
 to refer to the lantern 
 — more popularly- 
 known asSt. Michael's 
 
 Chair — on the tower of St. Michael's Mount, which 
 was undoubtedly designed for this purpose. 
 
 Some of the ordinary types of the 
 towers are figured in the preceding pages. 
 A cut of St. Ruan Minor (see p. 174) is 
 annexed as an interesting specimen of late 
 fifteenth or early sixteenth-century work, 
 pleasing because so unambitious. It is 
 not, however, entirely of granite. 
 
 Of the churches described in these 
 papers two only have towers with spires, 
 namely, St. Keverne, a Perpendicular 
 building, and St. Hilary, a good example 
 of early fourteenth -century architecture. 
 Indeed, spires are nearly as rare in Corn- 
 wall as chancel arches. 
 
 Pinnacle, 
 St. Mawgan. 
 
 Windows. — For many of the best win- 
 dows, as I have elsewhere noted, a finer-grained stone
 
 174 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 was procured, even for those of Perpendicular date. 
 Most of the later windows are, however, of granite, and 
 
 Church of St. Ruan Minor. 
 
 this doubtless accounts in great measure for their 
 meagre and poor appearance, though there are in- 
 teresting examples of its adaptation to this purpose 
 with the best results. In the latter part of the 
 fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century, 
 windows of two, three, or four pointed lights, with 
 sunk spandrels, within a square head, were frequently 
 inserted. Another common design is that of three 
 or four lights under a depressed four-centred arch. 
 If of three lights, the centre one is carried up to the 
 head, that on each side terminating at the springing 
 of the enclosing arch, the spaces over them being 
 pierced. When there are four, the two middle lights 
 are carried up to the head, (fig. i) ; but in some cases 
 the liijhts follow the form of the head of the window
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 175 
 
 with spandrels sunk, (fig. 2). A very frequent form 
 is shewn by the annexed figure, (fig. 3). It has a 
 
 Fig. I. 
 
 Fig. 2. 
 
 Fig. 3- 
 
 Decorated character, but occurs in the latest work, 
 probably in imitation of the earlier forms. The 
 spaces between the lights and the enclosing arch 
 
 Window and Cusp, Gunvvalloe. 
 
 are in some cases pierced, in others left blank. In 
 the larger windows of this kind the upper openings 
 are formed by the tracery being carried up in a re- 
 ticulated pattern from the heads of the lights beneath, 
 as at St. Ruan and St. Ives. Gunwalloe Church 
 affords an example of a late window of two lights 
 with a quatrefoil in the head, the cusps of the quatre- 
 foil terminating in flowers. This peculiar cusping 
 occurs in other churches of the Lizard district. A
 
 176 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 two- light, square-headed window at St. Antony has 
 cusps of this kind, and the sinking in the spandrel 
 contains a ball. This treatment of spandrels may 
 be seen also at St. Mawgan and elsewhere. 
 
 Window, St. Mawgan. 
 
 Window, St. Erth. 
 
 Many windows of the fifteenth century have geo- 
 metrical tracery, evidently copies by less skilful hands 
 of earlier work. The annexed examples from St. 
 Erth and St. Antony may be transitional from De- 
 
 Window, St. Just. 
 
 Window, St. Antony. 
 
 corated to Perpendicular. There are a few examples 
 of a tendency to the Flamboyant, and at St. Just is 
 a rare instance, perhaps unique in this district, of a 
 window with divergent tracery.
 
 Cornish Churches. 177 
 
 The Roofs are all of the barrel or waggon form, 
 with braces and purhns, sometimes plainly moulded, 
 sometimes richly carved, and large bosses at the in- 
 tersections. The blank spaces between are plastered, 
 except at St. Ives, where the squares are boarded 
 and enriched with surface ornamentation over the 
 sanctuary. A continuous pattern is frequently carved 
 on the wall-plate, and in some churches — St. Ives, 
 St. Madron, and St. Mawgan — full-length figures of 
 angels, standing on corbels, symbolically represent- 
 ing the heavenly host, are placed at the spring- 
 ings of the braces. Originally the woodwork was 
 richly painted and gilded, as may still be seen at 
 St. Levan. 
 
 Porches. — There is a type of porch found at St. 
 Burian, St. Just, St. Breage, and St. Wendron which 
 owes its peculiarity to the use of granite. The St. 
 Burian porch may be taken as the best example of 
 the group. It is a large structure, built of ashlar, 
 buttressed where it joins the wall of the aisle, and 
 doubly buttressed at the outer angles. Commencing 
 at the base, there is a bold plinth, then a stringcourse 
 carried round the buttresses ; above this the but- 
 tresses have a plain set-off, and finish with a charac- 
 teristic capping — cubes with their angles bevelled — 
 thus presenting five triangular surfaces. From this 
 rises a pinnacle, panelled and crocketed. These 
 crockets, too, are peculiar ; there is no attempt at 
 the real crocket, a budding or unfolding leaf — moor- 
 
 N
 
 178 
 
 Cornish CJmrches. 
 
 stone would not admit of this — but they are merely 
 "billets," if they may be so called, not of themselves 
 elegant, but producing a certain effect, and witnessing 
 to the good sense of the designer. The graceful 
 flowing line to be produced in free-stone could not 
 be rendered, so the workman stopped when he could 
 
 Porch, St. Burian. 
 
 safely go no further. Attempts at curved crockets 
 result in a flame-like figure, as at St. Mullion and 
 Ludgvan, the "billets" being sharpened away at 
 the top.
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 179 
 
 The parapet of the porch projects from 
 the wall, and has battlements of bold 
 and effective construction. The door- 
 way is a depressed four-centred arch^ 
 under a square head, with plain wide 
 mouldings and spandrels filled with 
 quatrefoils. , 
 
 Pinnacle, 
 St. Mullion. 
 
 Mouldings and Sculpture. — The 
 difficulties experienced in dealing with the native 
 material may also be observed in the mouldings of 
 the piers. Many are plain octangular pillars, and 
 many consist of four half, or three-quarter round 
 shafts, with intervening cavetto or ogee mouldings. 
 Sometimes these shafts are attached 
 to a square centre pier, of which the 
 points of the angles just peep out be- 
 tween, as at St. Perran-uthnoe and 
 St. Sennen. The section of one of 
 the Sancreed piers shews circular 
 central pillar, to which four three- 
 quarter round shafts are attached. 
 The bases and capitals are also peculiar. The 
 better kind of capitals, and these are numerous, 
 are those of the bell form, with angular mouldings : 
 examples occur at St. Perran-uthnoe and St. Burian. 
 Where ornament and foliage are attempted, the re- 
 sult, as might be expected, is generally far from 
 satisfactory, though occasionally when the design is 
 simple the effect is good. A cross within a lozenge, 
 
 Section of Pier, 
 Sancreed.
 
 I So 
 
 Cornish Churches. 
 
 for instance, which occurs at St. Breage", and in 
 other churches, is much more successfully rendered 
 in granite than flowing foliage. This last is found 
 in many of the granite churches, and the leaves in 
 almost every instance are either cramped and formal 
 or most graceless and commonplace. Another fa- 
 vourite ornament was a series of expanded flowers, 
 and two connected leaves within branches arranged 
 hke the zigzag moulding are very common ". 
 
 Flower Ornament. 
 
 Impost, St. Levan. 
 
 The door-jambs and arches have mouldings of two 
 or three orders, and the plinth-mouldings of some of 
 the towers are very bold and effective. The imposts 
 of the tower- arches are also often characteristic. 
 Those at St. Levan, St. Sennen, and Sancreed may 
 serve as examples. The latter has the section of 
 a Norman impost, and it is worthy of note that 
 some of the ornamentation of the fifteenth-century 
 churches has the appearance of being copied from 
 Norman work. The frequent occurrence of the cable- 
 moulding may be especially referred to. One in- 
 stance has been given in the Sancreed pinnacle, and 
 a late capital at Gunvvalloe may serve as another. 
 
 " See above, p. 113.
 
 Cornish C/mrches. 
 
 i8i 
 
 Some of the fifteenth-century fonts also appear to 
 be copies of those of a much earHer period. 
 
 Impost, St. Sennen. 
 
 Impost, Sancreed. 
 
 A few of the gable crosses are pleasing examples 
 of what may be done by mere chamfering. The 
 annexed cut represents that on the porch of St Ruan 
 
 Capital, Gunwalloe. Cross, St. Ruan Major. 
 
 Stoup, Sancreed. 
 
 Major. There is at Sancreed a good stoup similarly 
 treated. 
 
 The existing Perpendicular and debased buildings 
 are not the true Cornish church. In some parts of 
 the county, however, good examples of the latter still 
 remain, such as St. Antony in Roseland, St. Michael 
 Penkivel, St. Ive, Shevioke, and Southill ; to which 
 architects would do well to refer when about to erect 
 or restore churches in Cornwall. 
 
 It is proposed to give, at some future time, a iew 
 notes on, and illustrations of, some of the churches
 
 1 82 Cornish Churches. 
 
 of East Cornwall, possessing much good Norman and 
 Early English work. 
 
 Though many of the Cornish churches are still in 
 a very dilapidated condition, and sadly need restora- 
 tion, it is gratifying to know that much has been 
 done in this way of late years, and that several new 
 churches have been erected in populous districts.
 
 MIES OF THE PATRON SAINTS OF THE CHURCHES 
 DESCRIBED IN THIS VOLUME. 
 
 (From Dr. Oliver's Monasticon Dicecests Exoniensis.) 
 
 Parish, whetlier Rec- 
 tory, Vicarage, or 
 Perpetual Curacy. 
 
 Anthony, St., V., 
 in Meneage, often 
 called Antoninus 
 the Martyr 
 
 Breage, V., with 
 Germoe, Gun- 
 walloe, and Cury 
 
 Burian, St., R., 
 with St. Levan 
 and St. Sennen" 
 
 Camborne, R. 
 
 Deanery. 
 
 Crowan, V. 
 
 Cury, olim St. Co 
 rentine, V., with 
 Breage, Gunwal- 
 loe, and Germoe 
 
 Erth, St., V. 
 
 Kerrier 
 
 Kerrier 
 Penwith 
 
 Penwith 
 Penwith 
 Kerrier 
 
 Date of Dedica- 
 tion and Saint. 
 
 St. Anthony 
 
 St. Breaca 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Aug. 26, 1 238, 
 St. Buriana 
 
 St. Meriado- 
 cus 
 
 St. Crewena 
 
 St. Corenti- 
 nus 
 
 Festival kept May 29. In the 
 Inquisitioiics Nonariim, p. 
 348, " capella Sancti Sil- 
 vani" is mentioned. 
 
 Sometimes called, in later 
 times, St. Martin, in the 
 registers. 
 
 Bronescombe's Register, fol. 
 41 : a chapel here was dedi- 
 cated to St. Augustine. 
 
 What is now Cury parish was 
 formerly within the parish of 
 St. Corentinus, and contain- 
 ed a small chapel, licensed 
 by Bishop Stafford in favour 
 of the monks of Hales, who 
 might come down to visit 
 their property there. 
 Penwith St. Ercus There was a saint of this name, 
 
 the first bishop of Slane, 
 anno 513. Can St. Ercus be 
 a corruption of St. Enurchus, 
 the bishop of Orleans 340, 
 
 • On the death of Dean Stanhope, April, 1864, the parishes of St. Bu- 
 rian, St. Levan, and St. Sennen, were constituted into three separate 
 Rectories, which are in the patronage of the Prince of Wales. 
 
 Dependent 
 Priory, 
 
 on Tywardreth
 
 1 84 
 
 Names of the Patron Saints^ &c. 
 
 T ish, whetlier Rec- 
 tory, Vicarage, or 
 Perpetual Curacy. 
 
 Deanery. 
 
 Felack, St., or 
 Phillack, Ji. , and 
 Gwithian 
 
 Penwith 
 
 Date of Dedica- 
 tion and Saint. 
 
 St. Felicitas 
 
 Gulval, or Lanes- 
 
 ly, y. 
 
 Gunwalloe, V., 
 withBreage,Ger- 
 moe, and Cury 
 
 Gwinear, V. 
 
 Gwithian and Fil- 
 lack, J?. 
 
 Hilary, St., or 
 Ilarii, V., with 
 Hermes, chapel 
 of 
 
 Ives, St., C. 
 
 Penwith 
 
 Kerrier 
 
 Penwith 
 Penwith 
 
 Penwith 
 
 St. Gudwal 
 
 St. Winwo- 
 laus 
 
 St. Winnierus 
 St. Gothianus 
 
 St. Hilary 
 
 St. Hya, la, 
 or Ya 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 whose feast in the calendar 
 is marked September 7 ? St. 
 Mary Magdalene's Chapel at 
 Boswythgy, licensed July 20, 
 1398. 
 
 Virgin Martyr. Bishop Brones- 
 combe assigned to the vicar 
 of St. Felicitas all the ob- 
 ventions of its church and of 
 Connerton Chapel (the tithe 
 of its sheaf excepted), as also 
 a glebe of five acres, with 
 the tithes of sheaf de Run- 
 nier, Penpol, Nanteren, and 
 Trethinegy (Reg., fol. 7). 
 
 St. Gudwal, a British saint, 
 flourished in the sixth cen- 
 tury in this diocese, whose 
 feast was kept June 6. An 
 ancient calendar styles him 
 bishop of St. Malo. 
 
 Of noble Welsh extraction ; 
 Abbot of Landevenack in 
 Bretagne, ob. March 3, 529. 
 
 On March 22, 1309, Bishop 
 
 Stapeldon allowed the in- 
 habitants of Marazion to have 
 service three times a-week 
 in St. Hermes Chapel there 
 (Reg., fol. 39). The chapel 
 was rebuilt and reopened 
 Sept. 9, 1839. 
 St. Hia, an Irish virgin, said 
 to have died at Hayle, in 
 Cornwall, about the middle 
 of the fifth century. Pope 
 Alexander V. (Oct. 28, 1409) 
 and John XXIII. (Nov. 18, 
 1410) recommended Bishop 
 Staftbrd to make " capellas 
 Sancti Tewynnoci et Sancte
 
 Names of the Patron Saints, &c. 
 
 185 
 
 Parisli, whether Rec- 
 tory, Vicarage, or 
 Perpetual Curacy. 
 
 Just, St., V. 
 Keveme, St., V. 
 
 Landewednack,/?. 
 
 Lelant Uny, oli/n 
 Lanant with St. 
 Towednack, V. 
 
 Levan, St., H., 
 with St. Burian 
 and St. Sennen 
 
 Ludgvan, or Lude- 
 
 von, R. 
 Madron, or Ma- 
 
 dern, V., with 
 
 Morva 
 
 Manacon, or Ma- 
 nathon, V. 
 
 Deanery. 
 
 Penwith 
 Kerrier 
 
 Kerrier 
 
 Penwith 
 
 Penwith 
 
 Penwith 
 Penwith 
 
 Date of Dedica- 
 tion and Saint. 
 
 St. Justus 
 
 St. Keveran, 
 
 or Kieran 
 
 St. Winwo- 
 laus 
 
 St. Ewinus 
 
 St. Livinus 
 
 St. Ludowa- 
 
 nus 
 St. Madernus, 
 
 or Paternus 
 
 Kerrier 
 
 St. Antoninus 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 Ye" parochial, with font and 
 cemetery, but dependent on 
 Lelant. 
 
 Bishop Nevil's Reg., fol. 21 ; 
 appropriated to the Abbey of 
 Beaulient, Dec. 5, 1330. 
 
 The chapel of the Holy Cross 
 at Rosewyk was dedicated 
 by Bishop Bronescombe on 
 Easter Day, 1261. 
 
 The papal recommendation to 
 Bishop Stafford to erect St. 
 Tewynnoc into a parochial 
 chapel was not carried into 
 effect, as St. Ives was, till 
 a hundred and thirty years 
 later, viz. June 27, 1542, 
 when Bishop Vesey directed 
 his suffragan, William of 
 Hippo, to consecrate his 
 cemetery. 
 
 Perhaps St. Livin, the Irish 
 bishop who preached the 
 Christian faith in Belgium, 
 and is said to have been mar- 
 tyred at Escha, near Han- 
 then, in the district of Alost, 
 Nov. 12, A. n. 656. Hisfeast- 
 day is kept in the parish on 
 Oct. 15, perhaps the day of 
 the translation of his relics. 
 — Moiiasticon, p. 8. 
 
 Chapel of St. Morwetha li- 
 censed April 17, 1409; of 
 St, Bridget, Oct. 28, 1437 ; 
 of St. Mary, Penzance, June 
 IS> 1397; and of St. Gabriel 
 and St. Raphael, at Pen- 
 zance, Aug. 12, 1429.
 
 i86 
 
 Names of the Patroti Saints, &c. 
 
 Parish, •whether Rec- 
 tory, Vicarage, or 
 Perpetual Curacy. 
 
 Mawgan, St., and 
 
 Martin, St., J?. 
 MuUion, F. 
 
 Paul, St., K 
 
 Perran - Uthnoe, 
 J^., (Lanuthnoe, 
 Bronescombe's 
 Reg. fol. 41) 
 
 Ruan-Major, Ji. 
 
 Ruan-Minor, A\ 
 
 Sancreed, St., V. 
 
 Sennen, St., J?., 
 with St. Burian 
 and St. Levan 
 
 Sithney, V. 
 
 Towednack, V., 
 with Uny Lelant 
 Wendron, St., with 
 Helston, V. 
 
 Zennor, or Senar, 
 F. 
 
 Deanery. 
 
 Kerrier 
 Kerrier 
 
 Penwith 
 Penwith 
 
 Kerrier 
 Kerrier 
 
 Penwith 
 Penwith 
 
 Kerrier 
 
 Penwith 
 
 Kerrier 
 
 Penwith 
 
 Date of Dedica- 
 tion and Saint. 
 
 St. Mawganus 
 St. Melanus 
 
 St. Paulinas 
 St. Pieran 
 
 St. Rumonus 
 St. Rumonus 
 
 St. Sancredus 
 St. Senan 
 
 St. Siduinus, 
 or Sithuinus 
 
 St. Wendrona 
 
 St. Senara 
 
 Remarks. 
 
 This abbot in Brittany, born in 
 South Wales, was the friend 
 of St. Sampson, and died 
 about 617. He is often 
 called St. Meen. 
 
 Chapel of St. Mary, at Mouse- 
 hole, often occurs in the 
 registers. 
 
 St. James' Chapel, at Goldsith- 
 ney, licensed July 12, 1450. 
 
 Often described as "in terra 
 arida." 
 
 St. Sennen, or Senan, an Irish 
 bishop and bosom friend of 
 St. David of Wales, ob. 
 March i, about 544. Some 
 say he accompanied St. Bu- 
 rian into Cornwall ; his feast 
 was on the Sunday nearest 
 to St. Andrew's. — Monasti- 
 con, p. 9. 
 
 Query, St. Swithun? 
 
 A chapel at Merther Park , in the 
 parish of St. Wendron, dedi- 
 cated to St. Decumanus, li- 
 censed Aug. 18, 1427.
 
 TWO DAYS IN CORNWALL WITH THE CAMBRIAN 
 ARCH^OLOGICAL ASSOCIATION. 
 
 In compliance with an invitation from the Royal Institu- 
 tion of Cornwall, the meeting of the Cambrian Archseolo- 
 gical Association in 1862 was held at Truro, whence excur- 
 sions were made to different parts of the county. 
 
 The members arrived at Truro on Monday, August 25th, 
 and the two following days were devoted to the neighbour- 
 hoods of Bodmin and Truro. On Thursday a large party 
 left for Penzance. Every facility was kindly offered by the 
 directors of the West Cornwall Railway. The weather 
 could not possibly have been finer ; and it is only to be 
 regretted that more time was not available for the examina- 
 tion of the numerous antiquities scattered within a radius of 
 five or six miles around the town. 
 
 A few of the members proceeded by the first morning 
 train to the Marazion sta- 
 tion, visiting St. Michael's 
 Mount, and the inscribed 
 stones at St. Hilary. The 
 greater number, however, 
 came on by the next train, 
 joining the others at Pen- 
 zance, where carriages were 
 waiting to drive westward. 
 After leaving the outskirts , -^ -^ s^nm 
 
 of the town, the first object Trembath Cross. 
 
 noticed by the wayside was the ancient cross at Trembath.
 
 188 
 
 Cor nisi I Antiquities. 
 
 It is of the usual form of the Cornish cross, a plain shaft 
 with a rounded head, but differs from any other in the 
 county in the rude figures incited on two of its sides. On 
 the eastern face is a patriarchal cross. Possibly it may 
 have marked the boundary of land of, or have been in some 
 other way connected with, a religious Order holding land 
 in the neighbourhood. The canons regular of the Order 
 of the Holy Sepulchre, for instance, bore on the cassock 
 a cross of similar form. 
 
 At Drift, about a mile beyond this cross, we passed the 
 two pillars described and figured by Borlase {" Antiquities 
 of Cornwall," p. 187), and soon after the tall Tregonebris 
 stone was seen. We did not, however, alight from the 
 carriages to inspect those objects, as better examples of 
 monuments of this class were to be visited in the course 
 of the day. We had now advanced about six miles on the 
 
 Boscawen-un Circle. 
 
 Land's End road, and were opposite the Boscawen-un 
 Circle, which lay in a moor on the left, a quarter of a mile
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 189 
 
 distant. Nearly all the party went to inspect this remark- 
 able circle, which is formed by nineteen stones, averaging 
 little more than three feet in height, and placed at irregular 
 distances, some being thirteen feet apart, others no more 
 than seven or eight. Within the area, but not in the centre, 
 is a stone nine feet long, in an inclining position. It in- 
 cHnes W.S.W. 49° from the horizon, but whether originally 
 upright is uncertain. No other stone circle in Cornwall 
 has this peculiarity, which is found, however, in the tall 
 stones in the " ship-barrows " of Sweden, a;nd marks pro- 
 bably the site of some structural arrangement. 
 
 The diameter from east to west is seventy-six feet, from 
 north to south eighty-one feet. Dr. Borlase speaks of a 
 cromlech on the north-eastern side. This does not now 
 exist ; but a large stone lies near the spot, and may have 
 formed a side or covering for a kist-vaen. 
 
 It is unnecessary here to give the numerous speculations 
 as to the use of this Circle, but it may not be out of place 
 to say that the late Rev. Thomas Price considered this to be 
 the Circle mentioned in an ancient Welsh triad, whatever 
 importance may be attached to it, as "the Gorsedd of Bos- 
 cawen in Damnonium." 
 
 About thirty yards south-east of the Circle is a barrow 
 from six to seven feet high. 
 
 At the time of our visit the Boscawen-un Circle was 
 divided by a hedge, and many of the stones were over- 
 grown by brambles and furze. Recently, however, these 
 disfigurements and obstructions have been cleared away. 
 The Circle has been enclosed within a strong fence, and is 
 now secure from accidental or wilful mutilation. For this 
 care taken of a valuable monument of a remote age, the 
 county owes a debt of gratitude to Miss Elizabeth Carne,
 
 190 
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 of Penzance, on whose property the Circle stands, and who 
 has thus set an excellent example to Cornish landholders 
 to preserve those antiquities for which the county is so 
 justly celebrated, but which are in too many instances 
 liable to destruction by thoughtless and ignorant tenants ^. 
 
 " In anticipation of a visit, in the autumn of 1864,'from the members 
 of the Royal Institution of Cornwall and of the Penzance Natural His- 
 tory and Antiquarian Society, trenches had been cut within the Circle, 
 but nothing of interest ap- 
 
 \ 
 
 pears to have been discovered 
 The large barrow mentioned 
 above, on being dug into, 
 was considered by those who 
 conducted the operations to 
 have been previously opened. 
 There was found, however, 
 on its north side the remains 
 of a kist-vaen, and nearer its 
 centre, in a line, three cir- 
 cular pits, each about one 
 foot in diameter, and covered 
 with flat stones. Two only 
 contained ashes. 
 
 A barrow sixty yards south- 
 west from the Circle, on be- 
 ing examined, also shewed 
 signs of being previously 
 
 
 «fofe 
 
 Plan of Barrow, near Boscawen-un Circle. 
 
 opened. Its construction is remarkable, consisting of a circle of stones 
 set around a large granite rock, twelve feet by eleven feet, and two 
 feet ten inches thick, with a smooth upper surface in which is sunk 
 a cavity, A, one foot six inches in length by one foot one inch as its 
 greatest breadth. This upper part of the rock appears originally to 
 have been exposed to view, though it had become overgrown by vege- 
 tation, and formed the summit of the barrow. Between the enclosing 
 circle and the rock is a space with an average breadth of four feet, in 
 which were found, at B, at the depth of eighteen inches, a piece of
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 191 
 
 After a pleasant scramble through heath and gorse, we 
 regained the carriages on the high road, and proceeded 
 
 granite, eighteen inches in length by twelve inches in breadth, and 
 about nine inches thick, scooped out on one side to the depth of four 
 inches. It is but the fragment of some instrument, for evidently the 
 
 Stone found in a Barrow, near the Boscawen-un Circle. 
 
 stone has been broken across. The surface of the hollowed part ap- 
 pears to have been subjected to friction, as if a muUer had been worked 
 in it for the purpose of bruising or grinding grain *. At C, a stone 
 
 two feet six inches long and about ,.--- 
 
 the same breadth, set on its edge, 
 and rising nearly to the surface of 
 the barrow ; on its south side were 
 a number of small loose stones ; on 
 the north side many calcined hu- 
 man bones, fragments of large urns, 
 and a small one entire, mouth down- 
 wards, filled with soil. It measures 
 in height four and a-half inches, in 
 diameter at top three and a-half 
 inches. Around the upper part is 
 a very rude ornamentation, formed 
 by the usual mode of dotting in lines 
 with some pointed instrument, per- 
 
 • I recently found a rude granite mortar, the very counterpart of the above, in an 
 ancient circular work in the neighbouring parish of St. Paul. 
 
 Urn found in a Barrow near the 
 Boscawen-un Circle.
 
 192 
 
 Cornish A ntiqidties. 
 
 direct to the Land's End. The cross at Cro\vz-an-wra was 
 glanced at as we drove along. On the right were the hills 
 of Chapel Carn Brea and Bartine. An open country of 
 cultivated fields, amidst tracts of moor and down, lay spread 
 on the left and before us, until the long line of the distant 
 horiaon became visible, and approaching the cliffs we were 
 soon as far westward as it was possible to go on England's 
 soil. 
 
 St. Sennen Church. 
 
 It was scarcely archaeological to pass St. Sennen's Church 
 unheeded, but there was a long day's work before us \ we 
 had left Penzance an hour later than was originally in- 
 tended, and as many of the company had never before 
 
 haps the end of a stick or a sharpened stone. At unequal distances the 
 more numerous lines are crossed, but so carelessly as scarcely to form 
 a regular pattern. Although of inferior workmanship, this little urn 
 may be regarded with much interest on account of the locality in 
 which it was found. By the kind permission of Miss Elizabeth Carne 
 I am enabled to present the accompanying figure (see p. 191). Frag- 
 ments of pottery also occurred at E, on the south-west side. The large 
 rock with the cavity has long been known to the people of the neigh- 
 bourhood as the "Money Rock."
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 193 
 
 visited the Land's End this was considered a favourable 
 opportunity. Moreover, on the green turf lay spread white 
 cloths bearing almost every kind of refreshment that could 
 be brought to such a spot. This handsome luncheon had 
 been provided by gentlemen of the neighbourhood, and as 
 it was now near mid-day a halt of this sort was not unac- 
 ceptable, for many had left Truro so early as six o'clock. 
 
 Here, on the dark cliffs of Bolerium, the British " Pen- 
 rhyn Guard," the " promontory of blood," were assem- 
 bled representatives of the Celtic races from Scotland, 
 Wales, and Ireland, met on Cornish ground to investigate 
 the monuments erected by their common forefathers cen- 
 turies ago, erected in the ordinary course of a simple mode 
 of life, by men little dreaming of a future in which the 
 meaning of their cromlechs, tolmens, and circles could 
 possibly become subjects for earnest controversy, — when 
 the stones which they rudely heaped together to meet their 
 commonest wants, and which are now the sole testimonies 
 of their existence, should be regarded as objects of mys- 
 tery, — when the greatest deeds of their best men should be 
 forgotten, and not the name of one remembered. 
 
 The Land's End could not have been seen to greater 
 advantage. There was a clear, bright sky overhead ; the 
 sun sent down cheering rays; the Atlantic was stretched 
 out before us ; the deep-blue waves were not angry, but 
 they are never at rest; and the cliff-base and jutting rocks 
 were fringed with snow-white foam. The old Longships 
 looked as firm as ever, and we could see the cloud-like 
 islands of Scilly breaking the line of the distant horizon. 
 The company consisted of about a hundred, for many 
 ladies and gentlemen from Penzance and neighbourhood 
 had joined this day's excursion. 
 
 o
 
 194 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 Leaving the Land's End, we again passed near St. Sen- 
 nen's Church (see p. 192), but there was no time to 
 enter it. It is a small, unattractive structure of the fif- 
 teenth century, interesting chiefly on account of an inscrip- 
 tion on the stone at the base of the font, which, in the 
 letters and with the usual abbreviations of the period, tells 
 that " This church was dedicated on the festival of the 
 Beheading of St. John the Baptist, 
 A.D. 1441," and thus affording direct 
 evidence of the date of the greater 
 portion of the building; for it is not 
 improbable that the walls of the chan- 
 cel may have been erected long be- 
 fore. It was not unusual to re-dedi- 
 cate a church when rebuilt or restored. Section of Pier, 
 The fifteenth-century piers shew much St. Sennen church. 
 judgment in the use of that intractable granite ; each pre- 
 sents a section of a square with three-quarter round shafts 
 attached. 
 
 About three o'clock we had arrived at the quaint old 
 village of Treryn, and thence proceeded to the clifts to 
 examine the " castle " and the Logan Rock. This pro- 
 montory was strongly fortified : three lines of circumvalla- 
 tion may still be traced. First, there is a broad ditch, A 
 on the opposite plan, from the bottom of which to the 
 summit of the first vallum of earth is about twelve feet. 
 The second and third lines, B, C, appear to have been 
 formed of masses of rock and earth, combined with the 
 natural inequalities of the ground. They all extended to 
 the sides of the cliffs as far as they were necessary ; the 
 cliff"s themselves forming impenetrable barriers on the sea 
 side. At D is another ditch cut across a narrow isthmus,
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 195 
 
 and a straight light of defence exhibiting rude masonry. 
 These are the remains of the finest cliff-castle in Cornwall, 
 perhaps in England. Such structures were numerous on 
 the coast of the Land's End district ; almost every pro- 
 montory was cut off in like manner. It is unnecessary to 
 
 Plan of Castle Treryn, 
 
 repeat all the theories respecting their origin and use. 
 Many have supposed them to be the works of the Danes, 
 or other invading foes, who may have drawn up their ships 
 in some sheltered cove hard by, fortified these promon- 
 tories, and so gained a footing on the land, whereby they 
 might at least so far subjugate the natives as to be able 
 to procure for themselves necessary provisions. Before 
 accepting this theory, however, it should be rem.embered 
 that in many instances there are no landing-places near 
 these fortifications, no sheltered coves in which to draw
 
 196 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 up boats, and the clififs are altogether inaccessible. Sup- 
 posing it possible for foreigners to have effected a land- 
 ing and remained undisturbed sufficiently long to have 
 constructed these fortifications, in all probability they 
 would soon have been at the mercy of the natives. If 
 shut up within their lines of defence their vessels could 
 soon have been destroyed, unless there was a sufficient 
 force without to protect them. If these invaders could 
 not have been overcome in battle, supplies could have been 
 withheld by the natives retiring inland with all their 
 property. Indeed, there seems more reason to suppose 
 these structures to have been the last strongholds of the 
 natives themselves, driven seaward before a stronger race 
 advancing on them from the east. The Rev. James Graves, 
 the learned Secretary of the Kilkenny Archaeological So- 
 ciety, who was present on this occasion, remarked at a sub- 
 sequent meeting of the Kilkenny Society, that " The stone 
 forts, cromlechs, caves, tumuli, and stone hut circles of the 
 aborigines were alike in both countries (Ireland and Corn- 
 wall) ; but what chiefly attracted his attention was the fact 
 that they were found clustered on the western hills and 
 cliffs of England, just as we find them abounding on the 
 western mountain sides and cliffs of Ireland. His impres- 
 sion was that the race which built them and fought in de- 
 fence of them were a race fighting against an exterminating 
 enemy; that they were unsuccessful; next found shelter 
 in Ireland for a time, and were at last hurled over the cliffs 
 of Kerry and Arran into the Atlantic. He defied any one 
 to stand on the Cornish and the Kerry hills and not have 
 the same idea forced on him." If the cliff-castles were the 
 works of foreigners, it seems evident they must have been 
 thorough masters of this part of the country.
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 197 
 
 The Logan Rock, a naturally formed rocking-stone, 
 weighing above sixty tons, and poised on a grand pile of 
 granite, was examined with interest by those to whom the 
 locality was new. 
 
 Before the carriages had reached Treryn, a few members 
 branched off to see St. Levan's Church. It has features 
 
 St. Levan's Church. 
 
 worthy of notice, but it was found impossible to include 
 it among the objects to Be visited in the day's excursion. 
 
 At St. Burian we had half-an-hour to examine the church, 
 a large building of the fifteenth century. Remains of an 
 earlier structure, however, exist in the chancel, which has 
 in its north wall a Norman arch and pier with respond. 
 The arch is built up, and the greater portion of the pier is 
 buried in the masonry at the junction of the chancel with 
 the east wall of the north aisle, but both are still distinctly
 
 198 
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 St. Burian Churc'.i.
 
 Cornish Atitiqiiities. 199 
 
 to be seen. The elaborately carved and painted roodbeam 
 was much admired. The cross in the churchyard was not 
 considered of very early date. Possibly it may be of the 
 thirteenth or fourteenth century. 
 
 From St Burian our route took a south-easterly course, 
 passing on the road the Sanctuary cross. It is of the 
 Latin form, and has the figure of our Lord dressed in 
 a kilt carved in relief on one side. It still stands in the 
 original socket-base, but a portion of the shaft has evidently 
 been broken away. A quarter of a mile from this cross, 
 beside a little stream on the farm of Bosliven, are the 
 remains of an ancient structure called the Sanctuary. 
 Athelstan is said to have founded the collegiate church 
 of St. Burian, and to have granted to it the privilege of 
 sanctuary. These ruins have been supposed to occupy 
 the site of the original structure, but they are most pro- 
 bably no more than the walls of an oratory or chapel : 
 buildings of this kind were numerous throughout Cornwall. 
 It should be stated, however, that glebe lands had often, 
 anciently, the privilege of sanctuary ^ The people of the 
 neighbourhood speak of the spot as the " Sentry." When 
 I first went to see it no one could direct me to the " Sanc- 
 tuary," but the site of the "Sentry" was well known. 
 A correspondent of the Gentleman's Magazine in 1781, 
 after offering a few remarks on certain peculiarities in 
 Cornish Churches, goes on to say : — 
 
 " I might add at the same time another circumstance which seems 
 to me peculiar to the churches of Cornwall. There is in most parishes 
 of this county a field (generally near the churchyard) which is com- 
 monly called the sentry (perhaps j^w^t/z/^z;;;'), but this field is not always 
 glebe land, or at least has been filched from the church in some in- 
 
 ^ See Dr. Petrie's Ecclesiastical Architecture of Ireland, (Sic.
 
 200 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 stances. How came this name to be given to one field only in a parish ? 
 and why is not this field akuays glebe land ?" In reference to the word 
 sentry, the editor adds in a foot-note, " Probably cemetery (or burying- 
 ground), as the old cemetery-^'^'i^ at Canterbury is called by corruption 
 f^«/^7-gate." — (Vol. li. p. 305.) 
 
 This enquiry of the correspondent of 178 1 deserves more 
 attention from Cornish archaeologists than it appears to 
 have received at the time. I have recently been informed 
 that the two fields which constitute the glebe of St. Feock 
 are known as the "Sentries," and the name is still pro- 
 bably retained in other parts of the county. 
 
 At Bolleit and Rosemoddress, adjoining estates, we had 
 quite a cluster of interesting objects. First, there was the 
 Rosemoddress circle, the "Dawns myin," consisting of 
 nineteen stones ; and by the roadside very near it a stone 
 now used as a gate-post, measuring six feet in height, two 
 feet seven inches as its greatest breadth, and nine inches 
 thick, with a hole six inches in diameter pierced through 
 it at the distance of one foot two inches from the upper 
 edge. 
 
 In a gap in the hedge of a field on the opposite side of 
 the road is a similar monument, four feet eight inches in 
 length, and diminishing from two feet nine inches to ten 
 inches in breadth. The hole, five and a-half inches in 
 diameter, is seven and a-half inches from the edge of the 
 broader end. It is about seven inches thick. I beHeve 
 there is a third stone of like character at no great distance. 
 They were all probably in some way connected with the 
 circle. The Men-an-tol in Madron parish, visited on the 
 next day, seems to have formed one of the stones of a circle. 
 Several holed stones of this description were found by the 
 Rev. J. Buller near the circles at Carn Kenidzhek, in the
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 201 
 
 parish of St. Just. (See Buller's "Account of the Parish of 
 St. Just in Penwith," p. loo.) And in the parish of St. 
 Constantine is a stone of triangular form with a large hole 
 
 
 Holed Stones, Bolleit. 
 
 through its centre. This latter stood near a barrow, and 
 in later times a stone cross was erected near it. A cross 
 yet stands by the roadside near one of the holed stones at 
 Bolleit, and it is remarkable that a tolmen at Plymouth 
 had a cross erected at a little distance from it. (See David- 
 son's " Notes on Antiquities of Devonshire.") It appears 
 to have been the custom in early Christian days to set 
 up the symbol of the cross where heathen rites prevailed. 
 Indeed, superstitious practices connected with such stones 
 are forbidden in Anglo-Saxon laws. (See Wilson's " Pre- 
 Historic Annals of Scotland.") Holed stones of this de- 
 scription do not exist in Wales, though there are some
 
 202 
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 in Scotland (see Toland's " History of the Celtic Religion"), 
 and they are not unknown in Ireland. 
 
 A five minutes' walk from the holed stones brought us to 
 two tall pillars of granite, one fifteen and a-half feet, the 
 other thirteen and a-half feet high, and about three hundred 
 yards asunder. They are popularly known as the " Pipers," 
 
 
 The Pipers. 
 
 and resemble the menhirs of Wales and Brittany; as in 
 the latter country, however, we do not find crosses placed 
 on or incised in those stones. That they are sepulchral 
 monuments there can be little doubt. A large urn was 
 found beneath a similar pillar at Tresvannack, in the 
 neighbouring parish of St. Paul. Tradition speaks of 
 Bolleit as a battle-field, and that Athelstan here fought 
 his last fight with the Cornu-Britons, and set up these 
 monoliths as memorials of his victory. A few fields off 
 stands another pillar ten feet high, and in the neighbour- 
 hood were numerous barrows, from which Hals says urns 
 were taken.
 
 Cornish Ajitiqiiities. 
 
 203 
 
 At a few hundred yards' distance from the " Pipers," we 
 came on what was considered of greater interest than any- 
 thing else visited in the 
 course of the day. This 
 was the " Fogou " (Cornish, 
 'a cave'), a subterranean 
 gallery with two smaller 
 chambers. The principal 
 passage is about thirty-six 
 feet in length, four feet seven 
 inches wide in the middle, ' 
 diminishing to three feet 
 three inches at the extrem- 
 ity; its greatest height is 
 six feet two inches, the en- 
 trance (A) being the lowest 
 part, only four feet two 
 inches high. Five feet from 
 the entrance on the left- 
 hand side is an opening (B) 
 with proper jambs and lin- 
 tel, three feet high by eigh- 
 teen inches wide ; this leads to a chamber (C) about thir- 
 teen feet in length and four feet high : there is then another 
 branch (D) about five feet in length, running nearly parallel 
 to the first or principal gallery. All the sides are very 
 rudely walled with unhewn stones built up without cement, 
 and the roofs are formed of large slabs of granite thrown 
 horizontally across. An opening has been made through 
 the roof at the extremity of the main chamber. Through 
 this nearly all the company passed. Learned archjeolo- 
 gists descended to the proper entrance, were then lost to 
 
 Plan of the Fogou.
 
 204 
 
 CornisJi Antiquities. 
 
 view for a few moments, and finally re-appeared at the 
 opposite end, with different opinions as to the object of 
 
 
 Entrance to the Fogou. 
 
 this peculiar structure. Subterranean passages of this kind 
 do not appear to exist in Wales, though Mr. Graves stated 
 that he had seen similar ones in Ireland which were evi- 
 dently used as places of concealment, for the chambers 
 communicated one with the other most ingeniously. At 
 the evening meeting Lord Dunraven said he had seen 
 a great number of caves of this kind, and that it was very 
 singular that forts nearly always possessed them. He had 
 that day seen the remains of a fort around the cave the 
 moment he looked for them. Dr. Simpson also referred 
 to similar caves not far from Aberdeen. That this cave 
 was surrounded by a fort there can be no doubt. Hals,
 
 CornisJi Antiquities. 205 
 
 describing this spot, says that in his time there was " still 
 extant the downfalls of a castle or treble entrenchment, 
 in the midst of which is a hole leading to a vault under 
 ground. How far it extends no man now living can tell, 
 by reason of the damps or thick vapours that are in it, 
 for as soon as you go an arrow flight in it or less your 
 candles will go out or extinguish of themselves for want 
 of air." He then suggests that this was "probably an 
 arsenal or store-house for laying up arms, ammunition, 
 corn, and provisions." There are several caves of this 
 description in Cornwall, some of them having numerous 
 galleries branching off in a very intricate manner, and in 
 all it will be observed that the entrances are extremely low 
 and narrow ; in no case is a doorway sufficiently high to 
 admit a man unless he stoops or creeps through on hands 
 and knees, though the chambers are not unfrequently more 
 than six feet high. They vary in breadth, and the long 
 galleries are generally curved ; few continue in a straight 
 line for any considerable distance. At Chapel Uny, in 
 Sancreed parish, a narrow passage expands into a circular 
 chamber, and then runs on again to the entrance of an- 
 other. In some instances, as at Trewoofe and Trelowarren, 
 are indications of these caves being surrounded by forts ; 
 from the peculiar positions of others, however, it is hard to 
 believe that they could have been so enclosed. 
 
 Whilst the carriages were being driven to the top of 
 Trewoofe (pronounced Trove) hill, many of the excur- 
 sionists after leaving the Fogou crossed a little stream, 
 climbed a prettily wooded bank, and then found them- 
 selves in front of the old manor-house of Trewoofe — or 
 rather the house which occupies the site of the old build- 
 ing, of which the doorway alone remains. The jambs are
 
 206 
 
 Cornish A ntiqtiiiies. 
 
 richly sculptured with figures of men and other ornamenta- 
 tion, whilst above are carved the arms of the family of 
 
 
 Doorway, Trewoofe. 
 
 Levelis, or Leveale, viz., three calf's heads. Hals tells us 
 that Leveale obtained Trewoofe in the time of Henry VIII.
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 207 
 
 through his marriage with the heiress of that name and 
 house. A monument in St. Burian Church to Arthur Le- 
 velis of Trewoofe says : — 
 
 "This worthy family hath flourished here, 
 Since William's Conquest full six hundred year." 
 
 This Arthur LeveHs, "last of his name," died in 167 1, 
 Mr. LeveHs, who resided at Trewoofe during the time of 
 the Great RebelHon, it is gratifying to know whilst on 
 the spot, was a staunch Cavalier; and when, according 
 to Hals, divers of the Royal party were pursued in the 
 west by the troops under Fairfax, Mr. Levelis conveyed 
 them to the " Fogou" which we have just inspected, and 
 fed them until they found the opportunity to make their 
 escape and join the King's party. The doorway, probably 
 of the time of Henry VHL, is interesting, as shewing the 
 style of work then bestowed on gentlemen's residences in 
 this district ; for it is rare to find at all in West Cornwall 
 specimens of mediaeval domestic architecture even of so 
 late a date as this. We observed, however, many curious 
 old cottages in St. Sennen church-town, rude and devoid 
 of architectural character, but most probably as old as 
 the church. 
 
 There was now nothing more to be visited : we were five 
 miles from Penzance, which distance could not be driven 
 over very rapidly, as we had to descend Newlyn-hill at 
 a slow pace ; affording time, however, to those who had 
 not been in the neighbourhood before, to admire the beau- 
 tiful views of Mount's Bay to be had from this locality. 
 
 A dinner at one of the principal hotels, and a meeting 
 for the reading of papers and for remarks on the antiquities 
 seen since the morning, concluded the day's proceedings.
 
 208 
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 On Friday, August 29, a company scarcely less numerous 
 than that of the preceding day left Penzance about nine 
 o'clock. Our course lay through the parish of Gulval, to 
 the supposed British village of Chysauster, situated on the 
 ridge and slope of a hill, the highest portion of which is 
 occupied by the ancient fortification of Castle-an-dinas. 
 The village with its surrounding enclosures extends over 
 ten or twelve acres of ground, and there may still be traced 
 the foundations of seven or eight huts, mostly of elliptical 
 form ; some are more circular than others, but all were 
 constructed on the same principle. The accompanying 
 plan shews the arrangement of one of them in a compara- 
 
 iQ^CCjVXJ^-^V^ 
 
 
 
 Plan of Hut, Chysauster. 
 
 tively good state of preservation. This is formed of a thick 
 wall faced externally and internally with stones built to- 
 gether without cement, the intermediate space being filled 
 with earth. On the north-east side, the highest part of the 
 ground, the wall is about two feet high, and nine feet thick
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 209 
 
 from the external facing to the small circular chambers. 
 On the opposite side the wall is constructed on a rampart, 
 sloping away from its base, and its height, exclusive of the 
 rampart, is about nine or ten feet, the breadth four feet. 
 The entrance faces a little east of south, and forms the ap- 
 proach to a passage somewhat more than twenty feet in 
 length, and contracted in width towards the interior of the 
 dwelling. Passing through this we came into a large open 
 area thirty-two feet by thirty-four, from which openings 
 led into small chambers apparently constructed within the 
 thickness of the wall on the east and north sides. Three 
 of these chambers are from fifteen to twelve feet in di- 
 ameter; the fourth, opposite the entrance, being of much 
 greater dimensions. One half of the second cell on the 
 right of the entrance is deeper than the other. All these 
 chambers are regularly walled ; in some instances the 
 stones appear to have been slightly overstepped, and thus 
 gradually approaching as they increased in height, and 
 giving the structure somewhat of a beehive form. The 
 stone-work, however, does not appear to have converged 
 sufficiently to have formed a perfect dome, and the apex of 
 the roof was probably constructed of furze and turf laid on 
 branches of trees. The large open area could only have 
 been roofed by the erection of a pole in the centre, with 
 others converging to its summit from the surrounding walls. 
 No traces, however, of such construction exist, neither does 
 it seem probable that this space was ever covered in. The 
 dimensions of this hut are about eighty by sixty-five feet. 
 Three or four yards north of this is another, somewhat less 
 in size, on nearly the same plan : there are, however, but 
 three cells, and the outer wall follows the shapes of those 
 cells, not being carried around in a continuous curve as in 
 
 P
 
 210 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 that described above. This second hut has, within the 
 large open area, two walled pits, each six by three feet, 
 and similar in character, though much less in size, to those 
 in the camp on Worle Hill in Somerset, and to those found 
 in some of the Cornish hill-castles. 
 
 These two huts were connected by a bank of earth, and 
 the whole cluster of dwellings extending over the hill slope 
 were surrounded by enclosures of eccentric shapes. Beneath 
 the dwellings, but still on the declivity of the hill, were two 
 subterranean galleries, similar to that we entered at BoUeit. 
 One was of considerable length, as may still be seen by the 
 long trench and heaps of stones marking its site, for it has 
 been utterly demolished by persons carrying away the larger 
 stones for building purposes. The other, about a hundred 
 yards distant, though partially destroyed, is sufficiently per- 
 fect to shew the mode of its construction, and resembles 
 that at Pendeen, in St. Just, in having each course of stone 
 overstepping that beneath. The roof was formed by long 
 slabs of granite, as seen at BoUeit. Dr. Borlase dug up 
 the floor of the Pendeen cave, but found little to repay the 
 labour of his search, excepting a circular pit in one of the 
 passages. Polwhele found ashes in one in the parish of 
 St. Constantine, but no accompanying remains to afford a 
 clue as to the period when the structure was formed. It 
 has already been stated, in noticing the Bolleit Fogou, that 
 caves of this kind occur within ancient fortifications. Pol- 
 whele, in his " Historical Views of Devon," refers to one 
 at South Huish, near an entrenchment on the declivity of 
 a hill, and Borlase describes another at Bodinnar, in the 
 parish of Sancreed, in Cornwall, which spot, from the 
 numerous heaps of stones and traces of hut circles, he 
 considers to be the site of a British town. Many writers
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 21 1 
 
 have considered those structures to have been store-cham- 
 bers, and as places of refuge in times of danger. Some 
 have even conjectured that they were used as habitations — 
 dwelling-places of the natives of the country ! But any one 
 who has ever inspected them must admit that they are al- 
 together unsuited to be places of abode, though it is not 
 improbable, as in the instance of the party of Royalists at 
 Bolleit, that they may have been temporarily occupied as 
 hiding-places. It seems to be clearly ascertained that in 
 this country some primitive races did at times live in caves, 
 and have left traces of such habitation, as, for instance, at 
 Kent's Hole at Torquay ; but this, and all other caves 
 which were occupied as dwelling-places, were as different 
 as possible from the Fogous, the long, walled, subterranean 
 chambers of Cornwall. 
 
 The Cornish caves are perhaps akin to the " Giants' 
 Chambers" and "earth-houses" of Norway, Sweden, and 
 the Highlands of Scotland; and to the "passage-buildings" 
 descrited by Worsaae in his " Primeval Antiquities of Den- 
 mark." Mmy appear to have been formed in such situa- 
 tions as to render them difficult to be discovered, and to 
 the present day the people have superstitions respecting 
 those caves, that it is dangerous to enter them, and that 
 some near the coast run long distances under the sea. 
 That at Bodinnar was called the " Giant's Holt," and, Bor- 
 lase says, has "no other use at present than to frighten and 
 appease forward children." Of the Bolleit cave it is said 
 that the roof will fall in and crush any one who remains 
 there more than a certain number of minutes. All these 
 superstitious notions may at least be considered good evi- 
 dence of the antiquity of these peculiar structures, and it 
 appears that similar tales are attached to the "earth-houses"
 
 212 Co mis J I Antiquities. 
 
 of Denmark, as may be seen by the following quotation 
 from Robert Jamieson's " Illustrations of Northern Anti- 
 quities :" — 
 
 "'Earth-houses,' as they were called, were built underground in 
 hillocks, the entrance to which, being concealed by trees and under- 
 wood, was known only to those to whom they belonged. Here plate, 
 jewels, armour, or whatever was more precious, was deposited for 
 security against any sudden invasion, such as they were continually 
 exposed to ; and those who were interested in preventing the places 
 from being explored industriously propagated reports of its being the 
 retreat of a Drac (demon) of the most malignant and terrible descrip- 
 tion. Every chief had his peculiar cavern, treasury, or hiding-place, 
 which was known only to those whom it most concerned. Caverns of 
 this kind are everywhere pointed out at this day in Norway, Sweden, 
 and the Highlands of Scotland ; and if they are but sufficiently large 
 and dark, never without some terrible story of the dragon or demon 
 who was encountered by the warrior, harper, or bag-piper who, in 
 quest of the treasure, ventured too far." 
 
 If the Cornish caves were thoroughly investigated with 
 
 Plan of Cave, Chapel-Uny. 
 
 great care, no doubt something might be found to afford 
 a clue to their origin and purpose. The Chapel-Uny cave
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 213 
 
 in the parish of Sancreed — alluded to in the account of 
 the preceding day's excursion — has recently been partially 
 explored. In opening it, it was found that the long passage 
 (A on the plan), thirty-five feet in length, was filled to the 
 roof with soil, in many places much discoloured. The 
 circular chamber B — perhaps unique as regards the Cor- 
 nish caves, though a similar arrangement occurs at the 
 Picts' House at West Grange of Conan, Forfarshire — was 
 undoubtedly a perfect dome or bee-hive-shaped cell en- 
 tirely constructed of stone, about ten or twelve feet high, 
 and with a diameter of fifteen feet. At C is a recess with 
 jambs and lintel, measuring in height two feet seven inches, 
 in breadth three feet one inch, in depth two feet. The 
 circular chamber was not found to have been filled with 
 earth — at least it contained nothing more than the debris 
 of the fallen roof. On reaching the floor it was discovered 
 that drains regularly constructed of stone were carried 
 through the midst of each chamber, as indicated by the 
 dotted lines on the plan. The drain through the long 
 gallery leads into a deeper pit at D ". 
 
 " These drains are not now visible, but for information respecting 
 
 their positions I am indebted to Mr. 
 W. C. Borlase, who has in his posses- 
 sion the few relics discovered during 
 the exploration of the cave. I en- 
 grave, by Mr. Borlase's permission, 
 what appears to be a stone amulet, 
 about one inch in diameter. It was 
 taken from behind the large granite 
 block (E) to the right of the entrance 
 to the long chamber. There were 
 also found fragments of pottery, one 
 piece very like Samian ware, an article resembling an iron spear-head, 
 and another of the form of a large fish-hook. 
 
 Stone Amulet, from Cave, 
 Castle-Uny.
 
 214 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 The " Giants' Chambers" of Denmark were filled up like 
 the passage in this structure, Worsaae says the " circular 
 chambers, and even the entrances, which are from sixteen 
 to twenty feet in length, are filled with trodden earth and 
 pebbles, the object of which doubtless was to protect the 
 repose of the dead in their grave." He suggests that they 
 had been thus filled as soon as a corpse had been de- 
 posited, " and not to have been opened until a new corpse 
 was to be interred ^." 
 
 Above the Chysauster cave the hill-side is scarped into 
 a succession of terraces, each platform being very evenly 
 levelled. The ground was so thickly overgrown with furze 
 and brambles as to prevent our entering many of the hut- 
 dwellings, but two of the best examples were inspected 
 with interest ^. 
 
 Leaving Chysauster, we had to proceed through a rather 
 rough lane to a place called New Mill, where we got on 
 the high road from Penzance to Zennor, and passing under 
 Mulfra Hill, crowned with a cromlech, of which we had 
 a distant view, we drove over the Zennor Down towards 
 the village of Treryn. All the company, however, did not 
 proceed to the latter place, for we stopped on the way, and 
 it was explained that those who wished to inspect a bee- 
 hive hut at Bosphrennis, which had been brought into no- 
 tice only a few weeks previously by Mr. Thomas Cornish, 
 might do so by walking about a mile across the Down, and 
 that carriages would be driven round and be kept in wait- 
 ing for them as near as they could be brought to the Bos- 
 
 '' Worsaae's Primeval Antiquities of Denmark, translated by W. J. 
 Thorns. 
 
 • In vol. xviii. of the Archaeological Journal I have given a plan of 
 the whole village of Chysauster, with illustrations of masonry, &c.
 
 Cornish Ajitiquities. 
 
 215 
 
 phrennis village. Fifteen or sixteen gentlemen availed 
 themselves of this arrangement, and did not afterwards 
 regret having taken this special excursion. About three 
 or four hundred yards from the road we saw the remains 
 of a circle which appeared to have consisted of numerous 
 upright pillars, with rude masonry between them. This is 
 probably the Zennor circle of Borlase. Between this spot 
 and the Mulfra cromlech, as well as on the route to Bos- 
 phrennis, are several barrows, some of which have been 
 opened. 
 
 The Bosphrennis hut has already been so ably described 
 
 t— ' I— ' 
 
 10 
 
 ^ 
 
 40 Feet 
 
 -\ 
 
 Plan of Bee-hive Hut, Bosphrennis.
 
 2l6 
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 by the Rev. E. L. Barnwell in the Archceologia Cambrensis 
 that little need be said beyond what is necessary to explain 
 the accompanying illustrations. The hut consists of two 
 chambers, one circular, thirteen feet in diameter, the 
 other rectangular, nine by seven feet; with a communi- 
 cating doorway, B on the plan, measuring four feet high 
 
 'diL-:^yji.'>H^^'^y^. 
 
 sFeet 
 
 Fig. I. Fig. 2. 
 
 Sections of Masonry, Bee-hive Hut, Bosphrennis. 
 
 by three feet nine inches in breadth. The principal en- 
 trance, A, five feet six inches high and two feet wide, has 
 a lintel composed of three slabs of granite. C marks an- 
 other entrance only two feet seven inches high and two
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 217 
 
 feet three inches wide ; one lintel stone remains, but there 
 were evidently others, for the outer facing of the wall on 
 this side has suffered much injury, many of the stones 
 having been carried away. At H the wall has been broken 
 through, thus affording a good section, and shewing the 
 mode of construction. All the stones — large blocks of 
 
 Exterior of End of Rectangular Chamber, Bee-hive Hut, Bosphrennis. 
 
 granite — used in this structure appear to have been se- 
 lected with much care. In the circular chamber each 
 course overlaps that beneath, the stones at the height of 
 five feet projecting inwardly three feet beyond those at the 
 base, as shewn by fig. i in the woodcut opposite, and ap- 
 pear to have thus continued until a perfect dome was 
 formed ; the roof has fallen in, and the present height of 
 the wall is from five to six feet. The masonry over the 
 doorway, B, is stepped over towards both chambers (see
 
 2i8 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 fig. 2), but the remaining three sides of the rectangular 
 one consists of perpendicular walling to the height of seven 
 feet without shewing any indication of the manner in which 
 the roof was formed. It was thought at first that the rect- 
 angular chamber was of later date, but on more careful 
 examination this was not found to be the case, and there 
 can be no doubt that the whole building was constructed 
 at the same time. In the end of the rectangular chamber, 
 five feet from the ground, is a small window, which, as 
 regards structures of this kind, Mr, Barnwell considers to 
 be unique in England and Wales : — 
 
 "For although Tref Caeran in Caernarvonshire may still retain 
 a doorway in the outer defences, yet no other instance of a window is 
 known. Even in the more numerous and perfect specimens of such 
 buildings in the west of Ireland (for an excellent account of which see 
 Mr. Dunoyer's article in the Archaeological Journal, vol. xv. ) only one 
 window is figured in Plate IV. of the article referred to, and it appears 
 to have been much more carefully and neatly executed than the one at 
 Bosphrennis '. " 
 
 The masonry of the side walls of the inner chamber ap- 
 pears to have been executed with much greater care and 
 regularity than the end in which the window occurs. At 
 F and E are low platforms about eighteen inches in height, 
 and at G three steps in the hedge. The use of these 
 platforms is not apparent, neither is it evident what pur- 
 pose the great thickness of the south-west wall could have 
 served. On the opposite side, it will be observed, the wall 
 externally follows the shape of the chambers, whilst here 
 there is, to all appearance, a solid mass of earth between 
 
 ' ArchcEologia Cambrensis, Third Series, No. xxxiv.
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 219 
 
 Entrance to Circular Chamber, Bee-hive Hut, Bosphrennis. 
 
 
 Interior of Circular Chamber, Bee-hive Hut, Bosphrennis.
 
 220 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 the two facings. At present there is not known to exist in 
 Cornwall any other building of the period to which this is 
 assigned to be compared with it. The interesting bee- 
 hive huts of Roughtor and Brown Willy described by Sir 
 Gardner Wilkinson are of a different character. One of 
 the gentlemen present stated that if he had seen this build- 
 ing of a round and rectangular chamber in Ireland he 
 should have called it an oratory — a place in which some 
 religious man established himself and had a little chapel 
 attached. Whatever may have been its use, the striking 
 resemblance of this building to those in Ireland seems to 
 afford another proof of the connexion which existed be- 
 tween the two countries at an early period. This bee-hive 
 hut stands in the angle of a small enclosure, the hedges of 
 which are built of the stones which at one time formed 
 other similar structures, and which were destroyed by a 
 former tenant, but within the remembrance of the person 
 now occupying the estate. In an adjoining field are the 
 remains of the foundations of rectangular chambers sur- 
 rounded by a rudely constructed circle, and at a distance 
 of a few hundred yards, among furze and heath, are traces 
 of circular enclosures resembling those at Chysauster. 
 
 After having examined the bee-hive hut, we retraced our 
 steps through a few fields to the side of a little stream, the 
 course of which we followed for a short distance, then 
 directed our way to a croft on the left, and came on the 
 fallen cromlech of Bosphrennis. It consisted of four sup- 
 porters three feet six inches high, forming a complete kist- 
 vaen six feet by three, and what is very remarkable, the 
 covering-stone is circular, irieasuring four feet ten inches in 
 diameter and five inches thick. The stone must certainly 
 have been wrought into this form, and it seems to afford
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 221 
 
 the only known instance of the kind. It was suggested 
 that it was made circular in modern times, — in fact, that 
 
 Fallen Cromlech, Bosphrennis. 
 
 the cromlech was pulled down for this stone, — and that after 
 it had been shaped it was found useless for the purpose 
 required. But, after all, it scarcely seems likely that any 
 one would be at the labour of rounding a large piece of 
 granite without first ascertaining whether it was of suitable 
 dimensions and quality. Though — owing to the rough 
 character of the intervening ground — we had to proceed 
 on a roundabout course, this cromlech is no more than 
 about five hundred yards from the bee-hive hut. 
 
 It was but a short walk to the conveyance which had 
 been left behind for us. We had now a good sea view, and 
 just below could see the situations of the Gurnard's Head 
 and Bosigran, both fortified headlands. After proceeding 
 nearly parallel with the coast for a mile or two our route 
 took an inland direction, and we soon came in sight of
 
 222 
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 Chun-hill, and at a mile distant could perceive that the 
 castle was already in the possession of the advanced party 
 of our forces. 
 
 Approaching the hill from the north-east we first passed 
 through the hut-dwellings of BosuUow, about a furlong from 
 the castle. These, as will be seen by the annexed plan, 
 
 jQfS^^^l>C>-;,^ 
 
 J 80 Ft 
 
 Plan of Hut, BosuUow. 
 
 are very similar in arrangement to those at Chysauster, 
 each enclosure containing three or four small chambers 
 with an open area. Since our visit a few excavations have 
 been made here. I have been informed that a quern was 
 found, and have seen that a considerable amount of wood- 
 ashes were dug up from under the turf which had over- 
 grown the floors, thus shewing that those enclosures were 
 at some period the habitations of man. There appears to 
 have been a protected roadway from the huts to the castle. 
 This we followed, and ascending to the summit of the hill, 
 entered within the ruined walls of Chun Castle, where we 
 found a handsome luncheon — as on the preceding day 
 provided by gentlemen of the neighbourhood — spread on
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 223 
 
 cloths on the smooth turf. As those who had first arrived 
 had been waiting for the Bosphrennis party, no further 
 delay was now necessary. The proceedings of the follow- 
 ing hour need not be narrated to those who have enjoyed 
 a picnic on an interesting spot on a fine summer's day, 
 A few speeches were made — Cornish gentlemen welcoming 
 the members of the Association, and the members in return 
 expressing their thanks for the hearty and kind manner in 
 which they had been received and entertained. 
 
 Plan of Chun Castle. 
 
 Chun Castle has been greatly mutilated, large quantities 
 of the stone having been carried away and used in the erec- 
 tion of modern buildings. Its plan and arrangement can, 
 however, be still distinctly traced, and some portions of the
 
 224 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 walls retain good examples of the masonry. The castle 
 consisted of two ditches and two strongly-built concentric 
 walls. The first ditch, A on the plan, is twenty feet wide. 
 The wall B, five or six feet thick, is now from six to seven 
 feet in height in some parts, but Dr. Borlase says it was at 
 least ten feet in height. The second ditch, C, rather more 
 than thirty feet wide, is divided by transverse walls, D, E, F. 
 The wall G, twelve feet thick. Dr. Borlase considers to have 
 been originally not less than fifteen feet high. Within this 
 wall is an open area, one hundred and eighty feet by one 
 hundred and seventy. This, however, appears to have 
 contained a third concentric wall of less strength, and 
 about twenty-five feet from the wall G, the intervening 
 space being divided by partitions radiating from the centre 
 of the building into several compartments, H, H, H : in 
 one of which, on the north side, is a well, described by 
 Dr. Borlase as regularly walled around and having steps 
 descending to the water. 
 
 These compartments are described by Britton in his 
 " Beauties of England and Wales," and by Cotton in the 
 fifteenth volume of the ArchcBologia of the Society of Anti- 
 quaries, as of circular form. But there can be little doubt 
 that Dr. Borlase was correct in his plan, which in this par- 
 ticular agrees with that accompanying this paper. This ar- 
 rangement shews a striking similarity between the ground- 
 plans of this, a British work, and the Norman castle of 
 Restormel, also in Cornwall. In the latter the apartments 
 are between two concentric walls, and have their entrances 
 from the circular open area. It would seem, therefore, that 
 the builders of the later circular castles of Cornwall bor- 
 rowed their ground-plans from older works. The entrance 
 I, through the outer wall, faces south-west. From this
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 225 
 
 a passage, thirty-eight feet long, leads to the entrance J 
 through the second wall G. Between this passage and 
 the wall G is another, only three feet in breadth, and com- 
 municating with that division of the ditch between the 
 transverse walls K, F. The entrance J splays outwardly 
 to a considerable degree ; at the inner part, where two 
 jambs about five feet in height remain, it is six feet wide, 
 whilst the broadest part measures sixteen feet. From the 
 left side of this entrance a wall extended towards the outer 
 one, B. The extreme thickness of the wall on each side of 
 the entrance J is remarkable. It will be observed that the 
 outer wall was strengthened in like manner on one side 
 of the entrance I. If of no other use, this extraordinary 
 breadth would have served for a great number of warriors 
 to stand on the walls and defend their entrances from at- 
 tacking forces. There seems to have been another en- 
 trance at L ; the wall here is much mutilated, but the sides 
 of this opening look as if they had been regularly faced. 
 The masonry is much superior to that found in the Cornish 
 hill-castles ; indeed, it shews considerable skill in the con- 
 struction of a large building with dry-stone work. The 
 outer wall at the right hand of the entrance I presents a 
 good specimen of the masonry, and it will be seen by the 
 annexed cut that the stones were placed with much regu- 
 larity and care. 
 
 Masonry of Outer Wall, Chun Castle. 
 
 The castle and huts at Bosullow are probably of the 
 same period. The former would always have afforded a 
 
 Q
 
 226 
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 place of refuge for the inhabitants of the latter in case 
 of attack from invaders or hostile tribes. 
 
 The hill-side is studded with numerous small barrows, 
 and five or six hundred yards west of the castle stands the 
 Chun Cromlech, consisting of four supporters and covering 
 
 
 Chun Cromlech. 
 
 stone forming a rectangular kistvaen. It was surrounded 
 by a circle of stones, some of which still remain. These 
 formed perhaps the base of a mound which may have 
 covered the cromlech. Of course it is doubtful whether it 
 ever was thus buried, for there is no mound hard by formed 
 of the soil which would have been thrown off. The suppo- 
 sition that such a heap would have disappeared in the lapse 
 of ages scarcely applies in this case, for, as already stated, 
 the hill side is studded with small barrows, not a quarter 
 of the height necessary to contain this cromlech, yet they 
 remain apparently just as they were when first constructed. 
 Surely if the material which formed a mound eight or ten 
 feet high was dispersed through exposure or through some
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 227 
 
 inexplicable process connected with time, how much more 
 rapidly should the lesser mounds have disappeared. If 
 mounds over cromlechs were wilfully removed for the sake 
 of pillaging the kistvaens, how comes it that those kist- 
 vaens themselves are not demolished ? It does not seem 
 likely that the depredators who destroyed the mounds 
 would have much respect for the stone chambers. Such 
 are some of the difficult points for consideration in con- 
 nexion with this question. Good evidence has been 
 brought forward that certain cromlechs were covered with 
 barrows ; in fact, that this was the case in many instances 
 admits of no doubt, but some perhaps were merely sur- 
 rounded by circles of stones. It is remarkable that struc- 
 tures very similar to our cromlechs are now in use among 
 the natives of India. Mr. W. J, Henwood has described 
 those Indian cromlechs in the Reports of the Royal Insti- 
 tution of Cornwall. Indeed, the form of this monument 
 admits of its being used for many purposes, though there 
 can be no doubt that those existing in countries occupied 
 by Celtic tribes were constructed as sepulchral chambers. 
 
 The next objects to be seen were the Men Scryfa and 
 the Men-an-tol. We soon came to the road leading to 
 them j it was, however, found to be too rough to be driven 
 over, so leaving the carriages we started on a walk, the 
 Men Scryfa being about half-a-mile distant. It is a rough 
 granite pillar, seven feet two inches high, and bears the 
 inscription, rialobran-cunoval-fil, the letters running 
 lengthways of the stone, which is always the case in the 
 earliest inscribed stones of Cornwall. This monument is 
 supposed to be of the fifth or sixth century. 
 
 On our way back across the moor we visited the Men- 
 an-tol. This curious monument, as its name implies, is
 
 228 
 
 Cornish A ntiqiiities. 
 
 a stone with a hole through it. It stands between two 
 others, at the distance of seven feet ten inches from one 
 
 Men-an-tol, Madron. 
 
 and seven feet eight inches from the other, A few yards 
 north-west of the westernmost stone are two others, one 
 fallen the other upright ; and it seems probable that these 
 are the only remaining stones of a circle. The holed stone 
 is three feet six inches high by four feet three inches in 
 breadth at base. The hole measures in diameter on one 
 side two feet two inches, on the other one foot seven 
 inches. One side may have been bevelled for some par- 
 ticular purpose, or perhaps is the result of the hole having 
 been made with a rude instrument worked only on one 
 side of the stone. The hole of the Tolven, in the parish 
 of St. Constantine, is bevelled in like manner. Super- 
 stitious practices have been observed at these stones in
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 229 
 
 modem times. Dr. Borlase has referred to such customs. 
 Children were passed through the Men-an-tol as a cure for 
 spinal diseases, and some amusement was afforded at the 
 time of our visit by several of the excursionists creeping 
 through the hole. 
 
 It was but a short stage in our journey from the Men-an- 
 tol to the Lanyon cromlech. This monument stands on 
 the top of a hill, and has three supporting stones, each 
 about five feet high, and a covering-stone seventeen feet 
 four inches long by eight feet nine inches as its greatest 
 breadth, and weighing about nine tons. The covering- 
 stone was thrown down during a violent thunder-storm in 
 the year 1816, and replaced in 1824. The Lanyon crom- 
 lech has therefore lost much of the interest which would 
 otherwise have been attached to it had it still stood as when 
 first erected. The supporting stones in their present po- 
 sition could not have formed a rectangular kistvaen, neither 
 do they appear as if they had been intended for the sides 
 of a circular chamber, as is sometimes the case in monu- 
 ments of this kind. Probably these stones were shifted 
 when the cap-stone was replaced, and other supporting 
 stones may have existed, though it is remarkable that many 
 cromlechs possess only three. A cromlech at Caerwynen, 
 in Cornwall, has three only, and it is well known that the 
 frequent occurrence of this arrangement in some localities 
 has caused certain antiquaries to class them under the name 
 Qitriliths, though these are now generally considered to be 
 the mere ruins of more complicated structures. About 
 a furlong from the Lanyon cromlech, in the midst of a 
 sloping field, are the remains of another, which we did 
 not visit. The covering-stone, eighteen feet eight inches 
 long, and a supporting stone, five feet nine inches high,
 
 230 
 
 Cornish Aiitiquities, 
 
 still exist. This cromlech is particularly worthy of notice, 
 because it afforded proof that monuments of its class were 
 sometimes buried under mounds. It appears that a gentle- 
 man who owned the estate happening to notice the mound, 
 and remarking that the soil appeared to be very rich, sent 
 his servants to remove it. When they had taken away 
 about a hundred cart-loads they observed the supporting 
 stones of a cromlech, from which the covering-stone had 
 slipped off. Digging beneath the stones they found a 
 broken urn and ashes, with half a skull, the thigh bones, 
 and most of the other bones of a human body. From 
 the position of these remains, however, it appeared that the 
 cromlech had been previously opened. An account of this 
 discovery is given in vol. xiv. of the Archceologia of the 
 Society of Antiquaries. 
 
 isTeet. 
 
 Plan of St. Madron's Well. 
 
 St. Madron's Well was not placed on the programme of 
 the day's excursion, but when we reached the road leading
 
 Corn ish A n tiqu ities. 231 
 
 to it, it was found that we had half-an-hour to spare, so 
 leaving the carriages, we walked about a furlong over a low 
 marshy tract until we came to the roofless walls of the little 
 building, measuring internally twenty feet four inches by 
 eleven feet, with walls a little more than two feet thick. 
 In the east end is the mensa of the altar, A in the plan, 
 with a mortice sunk in its midst, probably for the reception 
 of a crucifix or image of the saint. A row of flat stones, B, 
 one foot four inches from the altar, divides the sanctuary 
 from the nave. In the south-west corner of the latter is 
 the well, C, four feet six inches by two feet ten inches, the 
 superstructure being about four feet high, and roofed by 
 each course of stone being made to overlap. The work is 
 somewhat irregular, but the builders have managed by the 
 use of stone alone — commencing on a rectangular base — 
 to form the upper part into a rude dome-shaped cell. This 
 well was supplied from a little perennial stream which flows 
 within a few feet of the south wall. The water was let in 
 through a properly-constructed opening in the wall at D, 
 and when it overflowed the pit ran out at E, whence a 
 channel conducted it on to the opposite side of the build- 
 ing, where it appears to have been allowed to percolate 
 under the wall, for outside this wall there was no drain, 
 though one has been made there within the last three 
 months. The labourers who constructed the present drain 
 informed me that they found no remains of a former one. 
 It appears, therefore, to have been the custom to fill the 
 well-pit, and then stop the supply of water from the running 
 stream. Stone benches, F, F, were built against the two 
 side walls ; the upper stones were wrought to a smooth 
 surface, and being of greater breadth than the masonry be- 
 neath, their under edges were bevelled by a plain chamfer.
 
 232 Cornish A^itiqiiitics. 
 
 The doorway G in the north wall splays inwardly, measur- 
 ing two feet without, two feet eight inches within. This 
 baptistery was enclosed by an outer wall, the foundations 
 of which may yet be traced. 
 
 St. Madron's was the most celebrated of the holy wells of 
 Cornwall : remarkable cures are said to have been effected 
 by virtue of its waters. Norden says, " Its fame in former 
 ages was greate for the supposed virtue of healinge which 
 St. Maderne had thereinto infused." Bishop Hall, in " The 
 Invisible World," gives an instance of the miraculous cure 
 of a poor cripple by resorting to this well. Even at the 
 present time many of the poorer people seem to believe in 
 the efficacy of this water, for on the first three Sundays in 
 May they take their sickly children to the baptistery that 
 they may be strengthened and cured by immersion. After 
 the visitation of these votaries small pieces of rag and band- 
 ages will be found fastened to the surrounding bushes — 
 a practice also observed in connexion with the holy wells 
 of Scotland and Ireland. 
 
 After leaving Chun Castle, some of the excursionists pre- 
 ferred going on to see St. Madron's Church instead of walk- 
 ing to the Men Scryfa and Men-an-tol. Those who visited 
 the church seem to have found in it some points of interest, 
 and Mr. E. A. Freeman favoured those present with re- 
 marks on its architecture. Illustrations of the sedile, 
 piscina, font, and other details are given above, pp. 
 24—31. 
 
 We arrived at Penzance in good time for the train by 
 which the members of the Association were to proceed to 
 Truro for the evening meeting. At this meeting, as on the 
 previous day. Professor Babington gave a most instructive 
 account of the numerous objects visited, referring more
 
 Cornish Antiquities. 233 
 
 particularly to Chun Castle and to the Bosphrennis Bee-hive 
 hut. 
 
 This, the sixteenth meeting of the Association, was form- 
 ally dissolved on Saturday, August 30, but a few of the 
 members remained behind, and early in the following week 
 ventured across the sea over the submerged tract of Lyon- 
 esse to the Scilly Islands, where they were hospitably re- 
 ceived by the proprietor, Mr. Augustus Smith. To interest 
 the visitors it was proposed to open a barrow on the island 
 of Samson. I borrow the following from an interesting 
 account of the investigation written by Mr. Smith, and 
 published in the Reports of the Royal Institution of 
 Cornwall : — 
 
 "The workmen employed first excavated a passage about four feet 
 wide, beginning from the exterior circle which constitutes the outer 
 base of the round, and carefully keeping in their progress to the level 
 or surface of the natural ground. The mound in its outer circumference 
 measured about fifty-eight yards, giving therefore a distance of nearly 
 thirty feet to its centre. For about eighteen or twenty feet the mound 
 appeared entirely composed of fine earth, when an inner covering first 
 of smaller and then of larger rugged stones was revealed. These were 
 carefully uncovered before being disturbed, and were then one by one 
 displaced till a large upright stone was reached, covered by another of 
 still more ponderous dimensions. This top covering, measuring about 
 seven feet six inches in its largest diameter, was found to be the lid of 
 a chamber beneath, in which was discovered part of an upper jaw-bone, 
 presenting the alveolae of all the incisors, the canines, and three molars, 
 and the roots of two teeth, very while, still remaining in their sockets. 
 Another fragment gave part of the lower jaw with similar remains of 
 teeth in the sockets. All the bones had been under the action of fire, 
 and must have been carefully collected together after the burning of 
 the body, to have been found placed as they were s. They are con- 
 
 B When the relics taken out of this grave were exhibited at the late 
 meeting of the Cornwall Institution, there was found with the bones 
 a curious double-edged piece of stone, designated ^ Jlint-Jiake.
 
 234 
 
 Cornish A ntiquities. 
 
 Kistvaen, Samson, Scilly.
 
 Cornish Ajiiiqjiities. 235 
 
 sidered to have belonged to a man about fifty years of age. The bottom 
 of the sarcophagus was neatly fitted with a pavement of three Hat but 
 irregular-shaped stones, the joints fitted with clay mortar, as were also 
 the interstices where the stones forming the upright sides joined toge- 
 ther, as also of the lid, which was very neatly and closely fitted down 
 with this same plaster, shewing most clearly it never could have been 
 disturbed from the time it had been first constructed. Two long slabs, 
 from seven to nine feet in length and two feet in depth, form the sides, 
 while the short stones fitted in between them make the ends, being 
 about three and a-half feet apart, and to fix which firmly in their places, 
 grooves had been roughly worked in the larger stones. " 
 
 This grooving of the stones is remarkable, proving that 
 implements of some kind were occasionally employed on 
 monuments of this period, and rendering it a not very im- 
 probable case that the covering-stone of the Bosphrennis 
 cromlech was worked to its present circular form when first 
 erected. 
 
 There can be no doubt that for the moment the visit of 
 the Cambrian Association excited a revival in the interest 
 of Cornish antiquities, and there is reason to hope it may 
 be maintained. 
 
 It is in the power of the Cornish Societies to do much 
 towards the promotion of further research, and the preser- 
 vation of the antiquities of the county. For the latter, 
 however, aid should be more particularly looked for from 
 the landholders. If the stewards and agents of gentlemen 
 having land in Cornwall were to impress on the tenants 
 that certain structures were not to be meddled with, it 
 would surely to some extent be the means of preventing 
 their wilful destruction. 
 
 In the official report of the Truro Meeting of the Cam- 
 brian Association it is stated that the Land's End district 
 " stands unrivalled in any portion of Europe of the same
 
 236 Cornish Antiquities. 
 
 extent as regards the value and variety of its monuments." 
 Certainly there is not in Cornwall another district possess- 
 ing so many objects of antiquarian interest so thickly clus- 
 tered ; but the whole of the county is still a good field for 
 archaeological research. There are outlying tracts to be 
 examined and reported on, affording work for those who 
 really care for the subject for many years to come.
 
 INDEX OF PLACES, 
 
 Wiik Reference to Engravings denoted by an Asterisk. 
 
 Anthony in Kirrier, St., 77—81 ; 
 parish church, legend of founda- 
 tion of, 78 ; general view of 
 church, 79* ; windows of chan- 
 cel and aisle, 80; font, 81*; 
 cusps of window, 176; window, 
 176*. 
 
 Austell, St., tower of, 162. 
 
 Bolleit, holed stones, 201 ; the 
 Pipers, 202* ; the Fogou, 203* ; 
 entrance to the Fogou, 204*. 
 
 Boscawen-fln-Circle, 188* ; plan 
 of barrow near, stone found in, 
 190*, 191*; urn found in, 191*. 
 
 Bosliven, "the Sanctuaiy," 14, 
 199. 
 
 Bosphrennis, Bee-Hive hut, plan 
 of, 215*; sections of masonry 
 of, 216*; exterior of end of rect- 
 angular chamber, 217* ; en- 
 trance to circular chamber, in- 
 terior of circularchamber, 219* ; 
 fallen cromlech, 221*. 
 
 Bosullow, hut, plan of, 222*. 
 
 Breage, St., 109 — 114; "Bishop 
 Rock," III ; helmet, 112* ; 
 "hill-castle," 112; capitals, 
 113* ; head of cross, 1 14* ; 
 shallow transept, 168; porch, 
 177 ; ornament, 180. 
 
 Burian, St., oratory of, Athelstan 
 founds college at, 2 ; deanery 
 of, J — 24; "church town" of, 
 5 ; church, 5 ; font, 6* ; rood- 
 screen and benches, 7 j arcades 
 
 and cornice of roodscreen, 7* ; 
 spiral staircase, 8 ; misereres, 
 9* ; chancel, piscina, and aisles, 
 10 ; capital and base of pier, 
 10* ; tomb of Clarice de Bol- 
 leit, II, 12*; tower, bells, 12; 
 porch, church property, ancient 
 crosses, 13, 14; turret, 173* ; 
 porch, 177, 178*; capitals, 179; 
 general view of church, rood- 
 screen, 198*. 
 
 Camborne, 158, 159; symbols of 
 the five wounds, 159*. 
 
 Castle Treryn, plan of, 195*. 
 
 Chapel Uny, cave at, 205 ; plan 
 of, 212* ; stone amulet found 
 in, 213*. 
 
 Chun Castle, plan of, 223* ; ma- 
 sonry of outer wall, 225* ; crom- 
 lech, 226*. 
 
 Chysauster, British village at, 208, 
 214; plan of, 208*. 
 
 Crowan, St., 158. 
 
 Cury, 45 — 49 ; south doorway, 
 46* ; nave, windows, and aisles, 
 47 ; hagioscope, 47 ; plan of 
 hagioscope, 48* ; low side win- 
 dow, 49*. 
 
 Eglos-Berrie, named after St. Bu- 
 rian, 2. 
 
 Erth, St., 128; window of north 
 aisle, 128* ; stringcourse of 
 tower, 129* J window, 176*.
 
 238 
 
 Index of Places. 
 
 Germoe, St., 114 — 120 ; general 
 view of church, 115*; gable 
 cross of porch, gable corbels of 
 porch, 117*; font, 118*; St. 
 Germoe's chair, 119*; shallow 
 transept, 168 ; panelled pin- 
 nacles, 170. 
 
 Goldsithney, St. James' Chapel at, 
 124. 
 
 Gothian's,St., Oratory, 138*, 163, 
 164. 
 
 Grade, St., 97. 
 
 Gulval, St., 124 — 127; credence, 
 pinnacle of tower, 125* ; tower- 
 arch, 126* ; shields on font, 
 127*. 
 
 Gunwalloe, 50 — 54; the cove, 
 50 ; general view of church, 
 50* ; bells, open roof, 52, 53 ; 
 fragment of font, 54* ; epitaph 
 in churchyard, 54 ; window and 
 cusp, 175*; capital, 181*. 
 
 Gwinear, St., 130 — 136; plan of 
 church, 131*; chancel window, 
 132* ; piscina, beak-head, cor- 
 bel-heads, 133*; font, 134; 
 symbol of sacred wound, 135* ; 
 general view of church, 169* ; 
 tower, one of loftiest in Corn- 
 wall, 172. 
 
 Gwithian, St., 136, 137; transept, 
 136*; planof St. Gothian's ora- 
 tory, 138* ; doorway, 139* ; 
 Porth-curnow Chapel, 141* ; 
 panelled pinnacle, 1 70. 
 
 Hilary, St., 156, 157; blocked 
 spire-light, tower, 157*, 172, 
 173- 
 
 Ives, St., ancient name of, I ; de- 
 scription of church, 142 — 148 ; 
 shields on panels of seat, sec- 
 tion of pier, pier-arch mould- 
 ing. H3* ; chancel roof, 144* ; 
 arched recess, 144 ; tower, 145, 
 162 ; font, 145*; bench standard, 
 147*. 
 
 Just in Penwith, St., 40 — 43, 159 ; 
 capitals, 41 ; hoodmould, tooth- 
 moulding, 42* ; windows, 42 ; 
 tower and bells, 43 ; inscribed 
 stone, 43* ; discoveries made 
 at, 159; pinnacle, 170*; win- 
 dow, 176*. 
 
 Keverne, St. , 60 — 66 ; capital and 
 baseof pier, 63*; plan of church, 
 64*; shields on bench -ends, 
 65* ; font, monument in north 
 aisle, 66 ; spire, 173. 
 
 Landewednack, 82 — 88 ; plan of 
 church, 82* ; low side window, 
 83* ; boss on porch, 84* ; south 
 doorway, 85* ; font, inscription 
 on, 86* ; founder's marks on 
 bells, 87*. 
 
 Lelant, 129, 130 ; capital and base 
 of Norman pier, 130*. 
 
 Levan, St., 15 — 21 ; arched door- 
 way, 16 ; stoup, 16* ; bench- 
 ends, 17*; inonogram, 17*; 
 transept, 18*, 19* ; capitals of 
 pier, 19* ; font, 20* ; woodwork 
 of roof, 20 ; tower, ancient 
 crosses, well, and chapel, 20, 
 21 ; impost, 180*; general view 
 of church, 197*. 
 
 Ludgvan, granite of, best for fine 
 work, 6 ; description of church, 
 127; panelled pinnacles, 170; 
 crockets, 178. 
 
 Madron, St., 24 — 31 ; font, 26*; 
 sedile and piscina, 27* ; aisles, 
 rood-screen, tower, 28, 29 ; cor- 
 bel-table and window of tower, 
 29* ; figures of archangels, 30* ; 
 mural monuments, 30 ; epitaph 
 on George Daniel, parish regis- 
 ters, 31 ; baptistery, 163; Men- 
 an-tol, 228* ; Lanyon cromlech,
 
 Index of Places. 
 
 239 
 
 229 ; plan of St. Madron's well, 
 230*. 
 
 Manaccan,67— 72; plan of church, 
 piscina in transept, 67* ; inte- 
 rior of chancel, 68* ; south-east 
 view of chancel and transept, 
 69* ; south doorway. 70* ; tower, 
 71 ; Early English work at, 
 167. 
 
 Mawgan in Kerrier, St., 72 — 77; 
 hagioscope, 72* ; effigies, 74* ; 
 shields on tower, keystones of 
 tower-window and tower-arch, 
 jamb of tower-door, 75*, 76* ; 
 font, aisle, 76 ; shallow tran- 
 sept, 168; general view of 
 church, 172*; pinnacle, 173*5 
 window, 176*. 
 
 Meneage, district of, 44 ; deriva- 
 tion of, 44, 60. 
 
 Merthen, remains at, 108. 
 
 Michael Penkivel, St., church of, 
 163. 
 
 Michael's Mount, St., " St. Mi- 
 chael's Chair" on, 173. 
 
 Mullion, St., 54—60; crucifix, 
 corbel-head, 55* ; stoup, 56* ; 
 ' bench-end, arms of the Passion, 
 56*, 57* ; font, 58 ; carving on 
 the altar, 58* ; tablet in chan- 
 cel, 59 ; openings at junction of 
 chancel and nave, 92; crockets, 
 178 ; pinnacle, 179*. 
 
 Paul, St., 31—38 ; parish register, 
 32 ; arch between nave and 
 aisle, 34* ; windows, 34 ; tower, 
 35*; belfry windows, 36* ; mu- 
 ral monuments, 36; tower, 172. 
 
 Pendinas, landing of Irish saints 
 at, I. 
 
 Perran-uthnoe, St., 116, 121^ 
 124; corbel of tower-arch, key- 
 stone of south doorway, figure 
 of St. James the Great, 123* ; 
 shafts, capitals, 179. 
 
 Piran's, St., oratory, 163, 165. 
 
 Porth-cumow, ancient chapel at, 
 
 21, 141*. 
 Probus, St., tower of, 162. 
 
 Rosemoddress, stonecircleat, 200. 
 
 Ruan Major, St., 89 — 95 ; win- 
 dow in south aisle, 90* ; carv- 
 ing on roodscreen, triangular 
 notching, 91 ; plan of church, 
 92* ; openings at junction of 
 chancel and nave, 93* ; tower, 
 94* ; cross, 181*. 
 
 Ruan Minor, St., 95 — 97 ; piscina, 
 96*; font, 97*; general view 
 of church, 174*. 
 
 Samson, kistvaen, 234*. 
 
 Sancreed, 38 — 40; panels of rood- 
 screen, 39*; pinnacle, 170*; 
 section of pier, 179*; impost, 
 stoup, 181*. 
 
 Scilly Isles, Athelstan's expe- 
 dition against, 2 ; kistvaen, 
 Samson, 234*. 
 
 Sennen, St., 21—24; capital, 
 22* ; roodscreen, font, 22 ; mu- 
 tilated image of the Virgin, 24* ; 
 bells, 24; shafts, 179; impost, 
 181* ; general view of church, 
 192*; section of pier, 194*. 
 
 Shevioke Church, 163. 
 
 Sithney, St., 158. 
 
 Towednack, 148 — 151; general 
 view of church, mouldings of 
 tower, 149* ; plan of tower 
 stairs, incised stone, 150*. 
 
 Trembath, ancient cross, 187*. 
 
 Trewoofe, manor - house, 205 ; 
 doorway, 206*. 
 
 Wendron, St., 98 — 108; plan of 
 church, 99 ; moulding of mural- 
 arch, chancel and transept, 100; 
 east window of chancel, loi* ; 
 east window of transept, capital 
 of pier, 102* ; section, capital, 
 and base mouldings of aisle
 
 240 
 
 Ifidex of Places. 
 
 piers, 103 ; section of hood- 
 moulding, piscina in aisle, 104*; 
 font, capping of tower but- 
 tresses, 105* ; belfry rhyme on 
 tower, 105 ; brass of Warin 
 Penallinyk, incised stone, 107*; 
 porch, 177. 
 
 Zennor, 151 — 156; plan of church, 
 151; Norman window, 152*; 
 doorway, chancel, transept, 
 153; section of hoodmould, 
 transept window, window in 
 chancel, 154* ; shallow tran- 
 sept, 168. 
 
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