St. Ildierna Lansallos
Lansallos
St. Ildierna Lansallos, Chancel Ceiling
St. Ildierna Lansallos, Celtic Font
Photographs
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St. Issey
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St. Just-in-Penwith Church
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St. Just-in-Roseland Church
I must confess a special interest in the church at St. Just-in-Roseland. For twenty years my father's cousin Bertie was rector of the parish of St. Just with St. Mawes. As children we enjoyed family summer holidays staying with Bertie and Marjorie at the rectory, just across the road from the church (it's now the Old Rectory and a private home). Jane knows it well too, having lived just a few miles away at Gerrans. The church has a long history, reputed to have been founded by St. Anthony in the 6th century on a spot said to have been visited by tin merchant Joseph of Arimathea and his nephew Jesus! Remarkably, although the Celtic Church submitted to the rule of Rome in 664 AD, St. Just remained Celtic until the middle of the 10th century. The church is attractive from the outside but is disappointing inside, having been over-restored in the 19th century. The real attraction is the location, deep in a wooded valley with the waters of a little creek lapping the churchyard walls below the lower lych gate - unusually there are two lych gates - and the sub-tropical garden planted in the sloping churchyard by an enterprising Victorian rector. The churchyard is sufficiently steep that from the upper lych gate you are looking over the church tower. The church is easy to find; a sign on the road to St. Mawes points to St. Just Church and Bar - perhaps an illustration of the saying about thirsting after righteousness?