Mawes
There is really no parking here so you will need to park in town - quay or main car park - and walk up very steep Church Hill to visit St. Mawes Church. This small church was built in the early 19th century (and rebuilt in 1881) as a chapel of ease to the main church in St. Just in Roseland. It is in the Early English style and is topped by a slate-hung bell-cote. Inside, the roof is arch-braced, springing from granite corbels. Grisaille stained glass is by Powell and Sons and F W Skeat; two other stained glass windows illustrate the story of St. Maw. The unusual font is hexagonal with quatrefoil carving. Four steps lead up to a pulpit of only two sides. There are some attractive kneelers. One gets the impression that, despite the wealth of St. Mawes village, this is a poor church of but minor importance.
St. Maw sails for Armorica
St. Mawes Church Spire
St. Maw instructs his disciples
St. Mawgan (or Mawgan-in-
Photographs
More in Churches & Holy Sites
Mawgan-in-Meneage, St. Mawgan's Church
On a sunny Saturday in late February I headed down to the Lizard peninsula to take a close look at a couple of churches, that of St. Mawgan in Mawgan-in-Meneage and that of St. Martin-in-Meneage. The Daffodil Festival had been held over for an extra week at St. Mawgan; delightful as it was I had hoped for a clear un-daffodilled view of the interior of the church, so I shall have to visit again at a later date. At St. Martin I had a pleasant surprise: I had assumed that, remotely situated, the church would be locked and I was just planning on exterior photos. However, while I was eating my soup and sandwich before leaving, who should arrive but a lady churchwarden, so I was able to take my photographs inside as well. (See separate entry) St.Mawgan's church is in a fairly isolated position away from the main part of the village. The extensive graveyard, raised as it is, suggests a lann and includes an impressive raised chest tomb. The three-stage tower is of the 15th century but the body of the church is mostly 13th century and consists of nave, north aisle and north and south transepts, the latter linked to the chancel by a squint. There are Cornish wagon roofs to porch, nave, north transept and north aisle, the latter richly carved. There are two fonts in the south transept, one circular, the other hexagonal. In the south transept is a fine recessed tomb with the marble figures of Sir Roger Carminow and his wife. There are several good monuments to members of the Vyell family, also memorialised at St. Breock. In the north aisle the wagon roof is supported by angels and has a variety of carved bosses. The lectern is a delight, of red and green serpentine, found only on the Lizard. Stained glass is Victorian.
Mawnan, Mawnan Smith, Budock & Constantine
In early June 2017 I made a couple of expeditions down to the other side of Falmouth. I was actually looking for a memorial stained glass window by Glenn Carter, commemorating someone named Steve. Jane's sister, who spotted the item in a newspaper, thought it was in Mawnan Smith church. This is a Victorian church just off the road to Mawnan. Although there was some passable Victorian glass, the Glenn Carter window was not there. I wonder where? Except for an odd little bell tower at the west end, the church was otherwise of little interest. On to Mawnan, where the first thing to take your notice is the lych gate, complete with coffin rest and a Cornish inscription which translates as "It is good for me to draw nigh unto God". The next thing to strike me was the lovely view from the south side of the churchyard over the mouth of the Helford River to Nare Head. Inside is a 15th century octagonal Font, a 17th century Alms Box and part of a 15th century Screen. There is a Cornish Cross in the churchyard. I was in the area on a couple of occasions and also visited churches at Budock and Constantine. At Budock there are three Cornish Crosses and some interesting tomb markers. There are, unusually, two lych gates; the rear one has collections of primitive lawn mowers and watering cans. The church at Constantine has panelling from a former screen, a simple font and a finely carved pulpit. Rood stairs are still in place.
Menacuddle Holy Well, near St. Austell
As so often with Cornish names, you can take your choice of what this one means. A. L. Rowse, who was born just a couple of miles away, was sure Menacuddle means Rock Well, Craig Wetherhill opts for Hillside Thicket, and Cheryl Straffon goes for St. Guidel's Well. It would be nice to think it was the latter so that it could truly be a holy well. Whatever it means, it seems to be a fact that the well house was built in the 14th or 15th century, was incorporated in a pleasure ground by Charles Rashleigh in 1820 and was restored by Admiral Sir Charles Sawle in 1921 and given to St. Austell as a memorial to his only son, lost in action at Ypres in 1914. It is thought that a chapel (sometimes referred to as a baptistry) stood next to the well house, in which a spring still rises. I made a walk of it, parking at Wheal Martyn and walking a clay trail to the edge of St. Austell. If you are coming by car, you leave St. Austell on B3274 towards Bodmin, pass under the railway viaduct and take the first little turning on the left; beware, it's awkward to get out again. It is a peaceful spot, the well house reached by a small footbridge over the White River (or St. Austell River) which rises in the clay fields and has a lovely soft blue-green colour. A 'Druid's Seat' on the opposite bank was presumably made for Sir Charles Rashleigh.