St Sampson's Church is the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...

of the village of

Golant Golant ( kw, Golnans) is a village in south Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is on the west bank of the River Fowey and in the civil parish of St Sampson. Golant is about two miles (3 km) north of Fowey and seven miles (11 km) east of S ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England, United Kingdom; it is dedicated to

St Sampson of Dol Samson of Dol (also Samsun; born late 5th century) was a Cornish saint, who is also counted among the seven founder saints of Brittany with Pol Aurelian, Tugdual or Tudwal, Brieuc, Malo, Patern (Paternus) and Corentin. Born in southern Wal ...

. St Sampson's features in Simon Jenkins's book ''England's Thousand Best Churches'', in which it is described as "warm and welcoming". The poet John Betjeman remarked that its pews were "extremely uncomfortable, recall the fidgets of Gus and Flora in '' Ravenshoe''". It is open every day of the year, holds services every Sunday and evening prayer every Thursday evening at 6 o’clock. Its choir sings every 2nd and 4th Sunday of the month.

History

Saint Samson of Dol

Although Cornwall has more saints than any other county in the UK, Saint Sampson is one of the better known ones. He sometimes stayed in Golant while travelling to Brittany and became the archbishop of Dol. Many Cornish saints travelling from Ireland to France ''via'' the south Cornish coast stopped on the way (sometimes in or near the village). There is now a footpath, the

Saints' Way The Saints' Way ( kw, Forth an Syns) is a long-distance footpath in mid Cornwall, England, UK. History and description The footpath runs from Padstow parish church in the north via Luxulyan to Fowey parish church in the south, a distance o ...

, popular with walkers which runs from

Padstow Padstow (; kw, Lannwedhenek) is a town, civil parish and fishing port on the north coast of Cornwall, England. The town is situated on the west bank of the River Camel estuary approximately northwest of Wadebridge, northwest of Bodmin and ...

on the north coast to Fowey passing through the village and past the church.

Later history

Until 1281 this church was a chapelry of

Tywardreath Tywardreath (; kw, Ti War Dreth, meaning "House on the Beach" (or Strand)) is a small hilltop village on the south coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, about north west of Fowey. It is located in a sheltered spot overlooking a silted up ...

and the people of Golant were required to contribute to the upkeep of Tywardreath church. In the period c. 1460 to 1508 the chapel at Golant was rebuilt and in 1508 they refused to make these contributions. The church and its churchyard were consecrated by a suffragan bishop (acting for

Hugh Oldham Hugh Oldham ( – 25 June 1519) was an English cleric who was Bishop of Exeter (1505–19) and a notable patron of education as a founder and patron of Manchester Grammar School and Corpus Christi College, Oxford. Born in Lancashire to a fami ...

, the Bishop of Exeter). Before that date burials had to be made at Tywardreath. The nave roof has inscriptions recording that its rebuilding was the work of various craft guilds while the south aisle roof was given by the Colquite family. There is a holy well near the porch enclosed in a 15th-century wellhouse.

Features of interest

St Sampson is portrayed in some of the stained glass windows in the church. The church has a ring of five bells. The organ was installed in 1995 and is a hybrid using some of the pipes from an organ originally in St Michael's Church,

Newquay Newquay ( ; kw, Tewynblustri) is a town on the north coast in Cornwall, in the south west of England. It is a civil parish, seaside resort, regional centre for aerospace industries, spaceport and a fishing port on the North Atlantic coast of ...

, and also some from the organ in

Paul Parish Church Paul may refer to: *Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name) * Paul (surname), a list of people People Christianity *Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...

. A specification of the organ can be found on th
National Pipe Organ Register

List of the Vicars of Golant

The Vicars of Golant:List of Vicar

on parish website *1528 Richard Baker *1554 William Boyne *1556 Thomas Boyne *1559 Roger Prior *1571 Nicholas Maine *1577 Benedict Tyack *1580 James Penhalurick *1615 Daniel Wetherell *???? Thomas Hore *1640 George Brush *1677 Thomas Sampson *1735 Robert Blatchford *1769 Peter Coryton *1770 R. Eastcott *1780 Wymond Cory *1820 Thomas Pearce *1841 Charles Lyne *1865 George Ross *1888 H. A. Hill *1892 A. H. Langridge *1894 B. F. Trusted *1900 W. H. Sharpe *1902 H. Lines *1919 E. A. L. Clarke *1925 H. Edwards *1934 L. W. Stenson Stenson *1950 H. P. Osborne *1951 W. G. Hayward *1958 R. J. M. May *1963 G. E. J. Whitmore *1965 William J. Hall *1974 M. J. Oatey * -?--(priest in charge) Philip de Grey-Warter Golant st samson 006

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Golant, Saint Sampsons Church Church of England church buildings in Cornwall Grade I listed churches in Cornwall