North Petherwin, St.Paternus Church

Petherwin, St.Paternus Church

I visited North Petherwin, oddly quite some distance from South Petherwin, at the very beginning of June 2018, on the same day that I looked at Landrake and St. Erney churches. Away from the main village, the church is in its own churchtown a little way north with only Beaumont Court and a couple of farms and their cottages nearby. The church stands out, both tall and on high ground. There are surprises: the first is to discover a small Cornish Cross above the door in the porch; the second is to discover inside a Norman north aisle, complete with its massive piers; the third is to find clerestory windows, most unusual for Cornwall, above the piers. Despite the Norman north aisle, the overall appearance of the church is of the 15th century Perpendicular period. Both aisle and chancel ceilings are wood panelled, that of the chancel having a band of blue and gold panels over the east window. The lower part of the screen survives as two pairs of panels. There are a few carved bench ends. Stained glass is Victorian. There is a brass of 1621 to Leonard Yeo and incised slate wall memorials to Dorothy Killigrew (the name better known for its Falmouth connection) and to members of the Pedlar family. The font has a decorated Norman base and a crude later octagonal bowl.

North Petherwin church

Remains of the medieval screen

Cross in porch

North