Launceston

, St. Mary Magdalene's Church

With so grand a church at its heart, you would expect that the present Launceston town would be the original settlement. However, the name Launceston is a corruption of Lan Stephan, still applied to the earlier settlement on the north side of the valley of the River Kensey - and the suburb's church, dedicated to St. Stephen, is itself quite grand - but too often closed. Of St. Mary Magdalene's church in modern Launceston, the exterior is the significant part; only the 15th century painted pulpit truly stands out inside. Rebuilt in the early 16th century the exterior is a monument to the great skills of Cornish stone carvers. Nothing is more difficult to work than granite, yet the whole is covered in elaborate decoration, the south porch most of all; motifs include quatrefoils, flowers, Latin mottoes, the arms of Sir Henry Trecarrel and his wife, the Duke of Cornwall's feathers, figures of St. George and the dragon, of St. Martin of Tours and a figure of Mary Magdalene carved not in stone but terracotta. A church well worth seeing, most of all for its superb exterior.

The off-axis tower is earlier than the body of the church

Launceston St. Mary Magdalene revisited - interior

Review of Launceston Town

Review of Launceston Castle