St Germans Priory is a large

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 9th and 10th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norma ...

church in the village of St Germans in south-east

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, England, UK.

History

According to tradition the church here was founded by St Germanus himself . The first written record however is of Conan being made Bishop in the Church of St Germans as a result of King Athelstan's settlement with Cornwall. The fixing of the see here shows that the Celtic monastery was already of great importance. Possession of two holdings of land in the parishes of

Landrake Landrake () is a village in southeast Cornwall, England. It is situated approximately three miles (5 km) west of Saltash, in the civil parish of Landrake with St Erney (where the population of the 2011 census was included.). The A38 road p ...

("Landerhtun") and

Landulph Landulph () is a hamlet and a rural civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about 3 miles (5 km) north of Saltash in the St Germans Registration District. The parish lies on the River Tamar (which forms the cou ...

("Tinieltun" i.e. Tinnel) was confirmed by

King Canute Cnut ( ; ; – 12 November 1035), also known as Canute and with the epithet the Great, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway from 1028 until his death in 1035. The three kingdoms united under Cnut's rul ...

in 1018; they had been granted by King Edmund. Both holdings remained in the monastery's possession until 1538. In 1042 the see was moved to

Crediton Crediton is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Mid Devon district of Devon, England. It stands on the A377 road, A377 Exeter to Barnstaple road at the junction with the A3072 road to Tiverton, Devon, Tiverton, north w ...

and the lands of the monastery were divided into two parts, one for the monastery and one (named Cuddenbeak) for the

Bishop of Crediton The Bishop of Crediton is an episcopal title which takes its name from the town of Crediton in Devon, England. The title was originally used by the Anglo-Saxons in the 10th and 11th centuries for a diocese covering Devon and Cornwall. It is no ...

. After the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

a college of

secular canons Canon () is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, in one of the houses within the precinct of ...

was established which is said to have been reconstituted in the time of Bishop Bartholomew (1161–1184) as a college of

regular canons The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...

. The present church replaces an Anglo-Saxon building which was the cathedral of the

Bishops of Cornwall A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...

. The church is dedicated to St Germanus and soon after construction it became the cathedral for

in 926 AD, when

King Athelstan King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...

appointed Conan as the bishop of Cornwall. The bishopric was to be short-lived, however, as it was transferred to

in 1042 AD. A

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

grew alongside the church, and was reorganized by the Bishop of Exeter between 1161 and 1184 as an Augustinian

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

. The priory church was rebuilt on a grand scale, with two western towers and a nave of 102 ft. The church was once called the Cathedral of Cornwall because it is where the bishop of the duchy would be. At the Dissolution of the Monasteries under

King Henry VIII Henry VIII (28 June 149128 January 1547) was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage (to Catherine of Aragon) annulled. His disagreement w ...

the priory was abolished and its buildings became a

private house A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be pe ...

, home to the Eliot family, in whose hands the house remains. A number of the Eliot family are interred in the church. St Germans parish was once the largest in

. St Germans Priory is now managed by the Church of England and the St Germans Priory Trust.

Architecture

Some of the original Norman features remain, including the large arched western doorway which is particularly ornate and is carved from

elvan Elvan is a name used in Cornwall and Devon for the native varieties of quartz-porphyry. They are dispersed irregularly in the Devonian series of rocks and some of them make very fine building stones (e.g. Pentewan stone, Polyphant stone and Cat ...

quarried at

. There is a mortuary chapel for the Moyle family of

Bake Bake is the verb form of baking, a method of preparing food. It may also refer to: __NOTOC__ People * Bake (surname) * Bake McBride (born 1949), American baseball player * Bake Turner (born 1940), American Football League and National Football Leag ...

. At

Dupath Well Dupath Well () is a holy well house and chapel dedicated to St. Ethelred, constructed over a spring. It is a Grade I listed building, having been added to the register on 21 July 1951. Dupath Well is located at , just outside the town of Callin ...

the wellhouse is said to have been built in 1510 by the monks of St Germans. There is a peal of eight bells.Dove, R. H. (1982) ''A Bellringer's Guide to the Church Bells of Britain''; 6th ed. Aldershot: Viggers; p. 93 A magnificent though incongruous

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

monument in black and white marble is situated in space below north tower. It is dedicated to Edward Elliot (1682-1722), Tory Member of Parliament for the rotten borough of St Germans between 1705 and 1710. It is an early work in England by noted

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

sculptor

John Michael Rysbrack Johannes Michel or John Michael Rysbrack, original name Jan Michiel Rijsbrack, often referred to simply as Michael Rysbrack (24 June 1694 – 8 January 1770), was an 18th-century Flemish sculptor, who spent most of his career in England where h ...

, commissioned in 1723. Large five-light Perpendicular east window was glazed in 1896 by

Morris and Co. Morris, Marshall, Faulkner & Co. (1861–1875) was a furniture, furnishings and decorative arts manufacturer and retailer founded by the artist and designer William Morris with friends from the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, Pre-Raphaelites. With ...

, to designs of

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

. The donor was Alfred Burton. It two tiers of five figures show

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

to upper centre flanked by a

centurion In the Roman army during classical antiquity, a centurion (; , . ; , or ), was a commander, nominally of a century (), a military unit originally consisting of 100 legionaries. The size of the century changed over time; from the 1st century BC ...

and St Mary, Sister of Lazarus to left and St Mary Virgin and

St Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

to right. Below is

St Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...

to centre, flanked by the Four Evangelists, saints

Matthew Matthew may refer to: * Matthew (given name) * Matthew (surname) * ''Matthew'' (album), a 2000 album by rapper Kool Keith * Matthew (elm cultivar), a cultivar of the Chinese Elm ''Ulmus parvifolia'' Christianity * Matthew the Apostle, one of ...

Mark Mark may refer to: In the Bible * Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark * Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels Currencies * Mark (currency), a currenc ...

Luke Luke may refer to: People and fictional characters * Luke (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Luke (surname), including a list of people with the name * Luke the Evangelist, author of the Gospel of Luk ...

and

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Second E ...

. In tracery lights above is a choir of angels. South wall has two additional three-light windows filled with glass designed by Burne-Jones and manufactured by Morris & Co. Installed in 1902, they show allegorical representations of the Virtues and are designs from earlier in Burne-Jones' career. The church has a two manual pipe organ on the left side of the church. The church also has two towers.

Other burials

John Eliot, 1st Earl of St Germans John Eliot, 1st Earl of St Germans (30 September 1761 – 17 November 1823), known as the Lord Eliot from 1804 to 1815, was a British politician. Eliot was born at Port Eliot, Cornwall, the third son (second surviving) of Edward Craggs-Eliot, ...

Henry Eliot, 5th Earl of St Germans Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainment ...

* John Eliot (died 1685) *

Edward James Eliot Edward James Eliot (24 August 1758 – 20 September 1797) was an English Member of Parliament. Life Eliot was born in Cornwall, the son of Catherine (''c''.1735–1804), daughter and heir of Edward Elliston of Gestingthorpe, Essex, an East Ind ...

Edward Craggs-Eliot, 1st Baron Eliot Edward Craggs-Eliot, 1st Baron Eliot (London, 8 July 1727 – 17 February 1804, Port Eliot, Cornwall) was an English official and politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1748 to 1784, when he was raised to the peerage as Baron Eliot ...

History

Architecture

Other burials

See also

References

Further reading