Werrington, St. Martin of Tours Church
This is about the furthest I have been in search of Cornish churches. Werrington is located on a very minor road a couple of miles north of Launceston and consists of little more than the big house, Werrington Park, its park and gatehouse and its church. This an unusual church for Cornwall in that it dates only from 1742 as part of a reconstruction of the entire Werrington estate. Despite its late date, the church was nonetheless subject in 1891 to a programme of radical restoration of the interior by the ubiquitous J P St. Aubyn, which Pevsner describes as giving sombre dignity to well proportioned spaces. The interior is, however. relatively conventional; it is the exterior which shows unexpected individuality and is worth a close inspection before entering. One's first view, on entering the gate from the lane is only relatively conventional; one expects a tower, the body of the building and a porch; all these you get but you also get not only one tower but also a smaller subsidiary tower attached to it - and a small round tower at the back. What I hadn't expected to see on the exterior was the proliferation of statuary set into the exterior wall; I counted ten examples altogether, including monuments to members of the Drake family and, surprisingly, a headstone of a headstone of 1724 to Philip Scipio, a black servant. Pevsner describes St. Aubyn's interior as "sombre dignity ... well-proportioned spaces." There are two fonts; one Norman, undecorated but for heads on the bottom corners; the other a small bowl on a baluster shaft and dating, like the church itself and the pulpit, from 1742. Perhaps the best feature of the interior is the variety and quality of the stained glass, most of it in the Arts & Crafts or Pre-Raphaelite style. Organ pipes are colourfully decorated, a work of art in itself. Either side of the chancel are small carved wood panels, one of a horseman, the other perhaps of St. Roch, patron saint of dogs. There is a colourful altar cloth and, either side of the altar, banners of St. Sohrgin and the Werrington Mothers Union. There are none of the expected carved bench ends but there is a finely carved pew back. The plain wooden pulpit stands on a limestone plinth.
Werrington's Twin Towers
Statue on external wall
Werrington's Old Font
Photographs
More in Churches & Holy Sites
Wesley's Cottage
One of the most hallowed Methodist sites in Cornwall, Wesley stayed here on several occasions. But there is much more to the story than that. The cottage was owned by stonemason Digory Isbell. In his absence, his wife Elizabeth gave food and drink to two strangers who, after eating, knelt and prayed 'without benefit of a book'. They were two of Wesley's advance agents. Digory was impressed by the story of the strangers and when Wesley returned to Cornwall a year or so later, he was made welcome and blessed the cottage and its owners. Later Digory, having read a passage in his bible about the Shunamite woman who built a 'Prophet's Chamber' for a man of God, built an extension to his own house - a chapel with a bedroom over - for Wesley and his preachers. Trewint became a flourishing centre of Methodism but, as other chapels were built in Cornwall, the rooms in Trewint fell into disuse and became derelict. Happily, in 1950 they were restored and opened to the public. Wesley Day celebrations are held in May each year in what is believed to be the world's smallest Methodist preaching place. Digory and Elizabeth Isbell are both buried in the churchyard at nearby Altarnun. Local legend has it that if you run round the iron railings surrounding their tombstone twelve times, then put your fingers in your ears, you will hear the bells of heaven.
Whitstone Images
Carved oak pulpit
Whitstone, St. Anne's Church
I had originally intended, on the June Saturday when I visited North Tamerton Church, to take a close look at St. Anne's church in Whitstone. Unfortunately it was closed but, when photographing the church, I noticed on an exterior south wall an attractively carved slate, dated 1712, commemorating Thomas Edgcumbe. Set below the church, on its south side, is the restored St. Anne's Well. The well house is in good condition, probably restored in the late 18th century, and is in water. I could find no convenient allocated parking so I backed down the lane to the lych gate and parked there. Although unable to gain entry this time, I believe there may be a local keyholder and I shall check for that next time I visit Whitstone. Notes from Pevsner: 15th century roofs over nave and chancel. Encaustic floor tiles. A chair incorporates 16th century bench ends. A circular Norman font has a leaf frieze. Stained glass is late 19th century. The lych gate dates from 1882.