St. Nectans

Nectans

I visited St. Nectan's Chapel, not far from Boconnoc, in early July 2017, essentialy in search of a Cornish Cross that I had spotted on OS 107. It is a couple of miles east of Lostwithiel, tucked away up a dead end lane, south of the A390 road to Liskeard. I visited in search of a Cornish Cross but found much more of interest. In fact there are two crosses, one in the churchyard, to the right as you enter, the other is built into a stile at the south east corner of the churchyard. Oddly, assuming the second is really a Cornish Cross, the stone is square in shape. The chapel itself is odd, having a truncated tower, topped by a small bellcote, damaged in the Civil War in the Battle of Braddock. The porch has a wagon roof with carved wooden bosses. Inside is a simple font and a piscina carrying two primitive faces. The great surprise is that all along the junction of wall and ceiling is a series of (I presume) wooden bosses, carved and painted and depicting the oddest things. They include a hand, a foot, dice, a ladder and a bag of money. A little surprisingly Pevsner, who is usually very comprehensive, makes no mention of these bosses; could they be later than 1952? They are, however, mentioned on Historic England's web site, described as "instruments of the Passion in shields on arcade plate".

Cornish Cross

St. Nectan's Church

Ceiling Boss

St. Michael