Mevagissey, St. Peters
Mevagissey is a village of two distinct parts. The picturesque harbour is surrounded by attractive cottages on one side, by commerce on a second with restaurants, cafes and shops, and on the third by buildings relating to the surprisingly large fishing fleet. Behind the harbour is a narrow through street. Leading off it are largely residential streets, some of them steep and narrow. Church Hill heads steeply north-west up to St. Peter's Church, an awkward spot for worshippers with a steep climb and little or no parking. I thought traffic wardens up here unlikely so I parked on a yellow line by the most convenient entrance to the churchyard. At some point the tower collapsed; it was rebuilt with, for Cornwall, un unusual saddleback roof. The west wall has a blocked doorway with a tympanum bearing the figure of (I think) a horse. Inside is a handsome pulpit, carved with different scenes on each face, an elaborate memorial to Otwell Hill with recumbent figures in relief, another simpler in slate to the Dart family with 10 kneeling figures. There is also a nicely carved Norman stone font. To judge by the bootscraper outside the porch, the church was probably restored by J P St. Aubyn in the 19th century. All in all, I felt that St. Peter's, Mevagissey was of sufficient interest to justify a steep walk up the hill. If interested, you may be able to park by the harbour; there is ample parking elsewhere.
Mevagissey Church Tower
Horse Tympanum over door
ElaboratelyCarved Pulpit
Photographs
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Michaelstow, St. Michael's Church
On the same Saturday in mid-February that I re-visited St. Endelienta's church, I also visited St. Michael's at Michaelstow. I had been there before but only to photograph the Cornish Cross and Holy Well in the churchyard. On this occasion I was there to see the inside of the church, which consists of nave, north and south aisles, tower and porch and dates in part from the 13th century. You approach St. Michael's up steep steps from an ample parking area, through either side of a double lych gate and past a very tall Cornish wheel cross. Off to your right is an uncared for Holy Well. You enter the porch to a handsome door surround and a roof with carved bosses on the timbers. Inside, nave and aisles have standard Cornish wagon roofs. The plain 15th century font stands on a Norman base. The exceptionally good benches and bench ends were rescued from St. Tudy church. The pulpit, with Gothic carving, stands on a stone base. The Royal Arms are of 1727 and are presumably of George II. There are fragments of medieval stained glass, some good Arts and Crafts glass and a banner of St. Michael. Slate monuments stand against the west wall, one obscured by a radiator. A small stone cross stands on a window sill.
Minster near Boscastle
I first encountered Minster Church quite unexpectedly. I had parked in Boscastle and was walking up the Valency Valley, following the river on my right. After about a mile I saw a bridge over the river and a path heading up through dense woodland. I decided to see where it went and, after a few hundred steep yards through Peters Wood, found myself emerging through a gate on to a lane with Minster Church tucked below me. At that time I didn't look into the church as I had decided to follow the lane to Forrabury church, across the Stitches, an ancient systerm of small fields, and back to Boscastle on the Coast Path. However, I mreturned later for a look inside the church. The exterior of the church, tucked into the hillside below its graveyard, is unusual in one particular: its tower which boasts a saddleback roof. Such roofs were common in Anglo-Saxon times, suggesting that this church might be older than we think. In fact Pevsner thinks there may have been a small very early monastery here. As so often with Cornish churches, restoration was carried out in the second half of the 19th century by J P St. Aubyn. Inside, there are two 13th century windows, a simple Norman font, a good collection of slate memorial slabs, a rood over the chancel entrance, a fairly plain oak pulpit, a carved and pierced lectern, remnants of an elaborately carved screen, some elaborate marble wall memorials, a 1602 memorial brass to Hender Robarts, and a collection of flower patterned kneelers.
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