Cornwall's Churches

Kernow Eglos

Web: www.churchestogetherincornwall.org.uk
Web: www.chct.info

Worship Cornwall

Discovering Cornish churches for the first time, visitors are often left with more questions than answers. Why are the buildings so solid and plain? Why are there so many names beginning with 'Lan'? Who on earth were St. Pinnock, St. Veep and St. Keyne? Why are so many parish churches all on their own, often miles from the main villages? The answers to all these questions lie in the simple truth that Cornwall is a land apart, with a history very different from the rest of England.

The unfamiliar saints to whom most of the churches are dedicated were Celtic missionaries from Ireland and Wales who, in the 5th, 6th and 7th centuries, brought to Cornwall a strain of Christianity which had developed along different lines from the faith which was reintroduced to Saxon England by the Romans in 577 AD. These holy men and women set up their oratories, simple shelters of stone and wood, on the banks of tidal rivers or near springs of water on valley sides, not necessarily anywhere near the centres of population, and here the people came to hear them preach.

The sites of many of Cornwall's churches date back to these early days, and clues can often be found in the old church or parish names. In the Cornish language 'lann' means a church site (in those days, a curved enclosure containing a chapel and burial ground); thus churches like Lanreath, Talland and Lansallos can trace a direct line back to the Dark Ages. Confusingly, with Lanteglos it is the 'eglos' which means Church, not the 'Lan' which in this instance comes from 'nans' meaning valley.

The conquering Normans re-built the Celtic chapels, but the great rebuild of Cornish churches came in the 15th century and much of what can be seen today dates from this time. If the churches themselves seem architecturally uninspiring, this may be because, in the words of Sir John Betjeman, they 'are not so much architecture as building ... the best that a religious, remote people could do to make the House of God the most glorious building in the parish'.

There is one cathedral in Cornwall, at Truro, and a large number of very old churches going right back to Norman, and even pre-Norman. Churchyards often contain early Christian remains, such as inscribed stones, crosses and holy wells. The churches built earlier than 1200 were small and simple; a nave, with a south doorway and sometimes a north doorway. Norman churches were more complex and many Norman remains are seen within present day buildings. The Norman fonts are especially splendid to find, with the carved heads and rosettes. There was considerable re-building in the 12th and 13th centuries and many of our present day churches have elements from this period. The granite arches, pillars and windows of the medieval period have survived with little restoration and the medieval church towers were often faced and decorated with granite. Many churches still have the 15th and 16th century carved bench-ends and roof bosses.

Churches

Ancient Sites in Cornwall       The Bodmin Way       Cornwall's Patron Saints       Famous Cornish People       Truro Cathedral