Duloe, St. Cuby & St. Leonard
Unusually, this entry appears on three different pages: here under churches but also on my antiquities page and my towns and villages page. The reason is that, for such a small village, there is so much variety of interest. The form of the church, while not unique to Cornwall, is most unusual. It consists of nave, north aisle, south transept and a strange leaning tower attached to the south transpept. The tower was once taller but the top stage was replaced by a pyramidal roof in the 19th century. It leans northwards at a sharper angle than the Leaning Tower of Pisa; fortunately the rest of the church holds it up. Inside, behind an elaborate parclose screen, bearing names of past rectors and vicars, and possibly made from the former rood screen, the chancel was built as the Colshull family chapel and contains Sir John Colshull's tomb, his recumbent effigy on it, and several elaborate slate memorials. The rood loft may be gone but the stair and loft doors remain. About 600 yards south of the church, alongside the road to Looe, is St. Cuby's Holy Well. What is claimed to be his original font was moved from the well site and now stands in the church. A few yards north of the church a sign directs you to Duloe Stone Circle, a small circle of 8 stones, believed by some once to have enclosed a cairn. There is a storyboard.
Duloe is on B3254, about 4 miles south of A38 at Liskeard
Note the Leaning Tower of Duloe
More in Churches & Holy Sites
Dupath Well
Dupath Well (the Cornish "Fenton Hynsladron" means "Spring by the Robber's Path") is dedicated to St. Ethelred. The Well House is Grade I listed and built of local granite. It has a steeply pitched granite roof, at whose corners are heavily weathered pinnacles. A small bell turret has a highly elaborate canopy. A circular trough collects the spring water. Dupath Well House was probably built in about 1510 by the Augustinian canons of nearby St Germans priory. It is typical of the late 15th and early 16th centuries and its 'Celtic' style has much in common with well houses and chapels in Brittany and Ireland. At one time the spring water was believed to cure whooping cough, and it is thought to also have been used for baptisms. Legend has it that two Saxons – Colan (Cornish for heart or courage) and Gottlieb (Saxon for God's Love) – fought a duel there for a lady’s hand. Colan was killed outright and Gottlieb fatally wounded, though some versions say he died later of "impatience". The lady remained unmarried. On my way to Dupath Well I stopped in West Harrowbarrow. Here was once Western Shaft of Harrowbarrow Mine producing, amongst other minerals, silver. There are substantial remains of the old mine buildings, including two engine houses, one now part of a private house.
Egloskerry, St. Keria's Church
I chose an interesting day, at the end of August 2018, to visit Egloskerry's church. When I had been there in July the church was still being restored following a fire which, happily, mostly did only smoke damage. By happy coincidence my August visit coincided with Egloskerry's "Church Mouse" day. In addition to my usual photos of the interior of the church itself, I also took some thirty or more photos of mouse tableaux, most really quite amusing. I think my favourites were two life-size (human life-size, that is) tableaux, one of a mouse-vicar in his pulpit, the other of a bride and groom. I gathered from the small attribution cards by each tableau that most of the village must have contributed to the show. As to the church itself, the first thing to note is the height of the churchyard above the road, almost certainly suggested an Iron Age lann. The church's origins are in Norman times, evidenced by the north wall and south transept. An unusual feature, and probably of that date, is the tympanum over the blocked north door with a dragon snapping its own tail. The nave has a most attractive wagon roof with carved, but not painted, ceiling bosses. The simple font has cable decoration round the rim. The church was heavily restored in 1887 and stained glass dates from that time.
Eval
St. Uvulus church stands quite isolated, on the fringe of a former Bomber Command airfield and not far from the sea. Normally there would also be at least a small churchtown but this was demolished when the airfield was constructed. The settlement of St. Eval is some distance away and consists of military housing and, of all things, underground bunkers. The exterior of the church is quite conventional. A prominent three-stage tower once acted as a landmark before Trevose Head lighthouse was constructed; it is banded with local blue Catacleuse stone, which makes it unusual and striking. The same stone is also used to good effect in window surrounds and in the porch. The exterior may be conventional, the interior is less so, thanks to its connections with the RAF. Conventional features in the interior are the plain Norman cup-shaped front, with its RAF cover, the octagonal pulpit of 1688, the base of a rood screen with traceried panels, and a good set of carved bench ends with, in some instances, original bench backs. The pulpit of 1688 is finely carved but on an overly plain base. The south aisle arcading is in an odd mix of styles and includes a 15th century carved capital in Catacleuse stone. Modern stained glass (1989) by Crear McCartney commemorates the RAF; striking colours set off an RAF symbol surrounded by a crown of thorns. Two walls carry carved and painted RAF badges. In the Lady Chapel a stained glass windows bears RAF symbolism. While in the Lady Chapel, do look up, otherwise you will miss a fine collection of carved ceiling bosses. One wall carries painted Royal Arms but without the clear indication of which king. Outside, before entering the churchyard gate, do note the WWII was memorial.