St Wynwallow's Church, Landewednack, is the

Church of England parish church A parish church in the Church of England is the church which acts as the religious centre for the people within each Church of England parish (the smallest and most basic Church of England administrative unit; since the 19th century sometimes ...

Landewednack Landewednack ( (hamlet) or (parish)) is a civil parish and an area of The Lizard in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated approximately south of Helston.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Landewednack ...

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, United Kingdom. It is the most southerly church in mainland Britain and is about south of

Helston Helston () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated at the northern end of the The Lizard, Lizard Peninsula approximately east of Penzance and south-west of Falmouth, Cornwall, Falmouth.Ordnance Survey: ...

. It was founded about 600 AD. The oldest parts of the current building are 11th-century.

Building

The church is dedicated to St Winwaloe, who was the third son of a Cornish couple who moved to Brittany. There he founded the monastery of

Landévennec Landévennec (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Geography Landévennec is located on the Crozon peninsula, southeast of Brest. The river Aulne forms a natural boundary to the ea ...

. There is no evidence that he visited Cornwall, and the church may have been founded by one of the monks from Landévennec, or perhaps by St Winwaloe's elder brother, Wennac. Nothing remains of the original building. The oldest part of the current church building is the 11th-century

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 ...

south doorway, which has

serpentinite Serpentinite is a metamorphic rock composed predominantly of serpentine group minerals formed by serpentinization of mafic or ultramafic rocks. The ancient origin of the name is uncertain; it may be from the similarity of its texture or color ...

columns. The south doorway is inside a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

south porch that is either 13th- or 14th-century, and is rib-vaulted. The church has a south

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") cruciform plan, churches, in particular within the Romanesque architecture, Romanesque a ...

, whose east window is 13th-century. Also 13th-century are the

piscina A piscina is a shallow basin placed near the altar of a church, or else in the vestry or sacristy, used for washing the communion vessels. The sacrarium is the drain itself. Lutherans and Anglicans usually refer to the basin, calling it a pisci ...

s in the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

and south transept. There is a

hagioscope A hagioscope () or squint is an architecture, architectural term denoting a small splayed opening or tunnel at seated eye-level, through an internal masonry dividing wall of a church in an oblique direction (south-east or north-east), giving wo ...

from the south transept to the chancel. The west tower was rebuilt early in the 15th century. It is built of blocks of granite and serpentinite, mixed randomly. The

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

is granite, inscribed "IHC and D RIC BOLHAM ME FECIT c1404", and set on four small 19th-century

syenite Syenite is a coarse-grained intrusive igneous rock with a general composition similar to that of granite, but deficient in quartz, which, if present at all, occurs in relatively small concentrations (< 5%). It is considered a RIC BOLHAM" is Richard Bolham, who was Rector from 1404 until 1442. There is a north

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

of five

bays A bay is a recessed, coastal body of water that directly connects to a larger main body of water, such as an ocean, a lake, or another bay. A large bay is usually called a ''gulf'', ''sea'', ''sound'', or ''bight''. A ''cove'' is a small, ci ...

, which was added early in the 16th century. Its east and north windows are

Perpendicular Gothic Perpendicular Gothic (also Perpendicular, Rectilinear, or Third Pointed) architecture was the third and final style of English Gothic architecture developed in the Kingdom of England during the Late Middle Ages, typified by large windows, four-ce ...

. The south window of the south transept and the west window of the west tower are also Perpendicular. The building was

restored ''Restored'' is the fourth studio album by American contemporary Christian musician Jeremy Camp. It was released on November 16, 2004, by BEC Recordings. Track listing Standard release Enhanced edition Deluxe gold edition Standard Aus ...

in the 1860s. The base of the serpentinite

pulpit A pulpit is a raised stand for preachers in a Christian church. The origin of the word is the Latin ''pulpitum'' (platform or staging). The traditional pulpit is raised well above the surrounding floor for audibility and visibility, accesse ...

is dated 1860. There is a Victorian lectern made of polished serpentinite. Other 19th-century features include the glass in the west and northwest windows of the north aisle. The restoration removed a

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

and rood loft that screened the chancel from the nave. The

vestry A vestry was a committee for the local secular and ecclesiastical government of a parish in England, Wales and some English colony, English colonies. At their height, the vestries were the only form of local government in many places and spen ...

is 20th-century. The building is now

Grade I listed In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

Bells

The west tower has a

ring (The) Ring(s) may refer to: * Ring (jewellery), a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry * To make a sound with a bell, and the sound made by a bell Arts, entertainment, and media Film and TV * ''The Ring'' (franchise), a ...

of six bells, hung for

change ringing Change ringing is the art of ringing a set of tuning (music), tuned bell (instrument), bells in a tightly controlled manner to produce precise variations in their successive striking sequences, known as "changes". This can be by method ringing in ...

. William Chamberlain of

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. The gate gave its name to ''Aldgate High Street'', the first stretch of the A11 road, that takes that name as it passes through the ancient, extramural Portsoken ...

, London, cast the fifth bell in about 1456, making it one of the oldest church bells in Cornwall. Thomas Bullisdon of London cast two of the bells in about 1515: the current fourth bell, and a tenor bell. That tenor is now disused, and displayed on the church floor. In 1937

John Taylor & Co John Taylor Bell Foundry (Loughborough) Limited, trading as John Taylor & Co and commonly known as Taylor's Bell Foundry, Taylor's of Loughborough, or simply Taylor's, is the world's largest working bell (instrument), bell foundry. It is locat ...

Loughborough Loughborough ( ) is a market town in the Charnwood (borough), Charnwood Borough of Leicestershire, England; it is the administrative centre of Charnwood Borough Council. At the United Kingdom 2021 census, the town's built-up area had a popula ...

cast four new bells: the tenor currently in use, and the first, second, and third bells. Unusually, the 15th-century fifth bell is heavier than the current tenor. It is also heavier than the now disused 16th-century tenor.

Churchyard

Landewednack Parish War Memorial - geograph

St Wynwallow's churchyard includes a war memorial and a small number of

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

burials. Four of the graves are of seafarers who survived the sinking of the

cargo ship A cargo ship or freighter is a merchant ship that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's List of seas, seas and Ocean, oceans each year, handling the bulk of international trade. ...

on 17 February 1941, followed by 13 days in an open lifeboat, but were killed on 1 March when their boat capsized in Caerthillian Cove. They are a radio officer, a deck hand, and two unidentified

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

lascar A lascar was a sailor or militiaman from the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, the Arab world, British Somaliland or other lands east of the Cape of Good Hope who was employed on European ships from the 16th century until the mid-20th centur ...

Parish

The last Cornish language sermon was preached here in 1674, though this claim has also been made for the churches of

Towednack Towednack () is a churchtown and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish is bounded by those of Zennor in the west, Gulval in the south, Ludgvan in the west and south, and St Ives and the Atlantic Ocean in the north and ...

and

Ludgvan Ludgvan ( ; ) is a civil parishes in England, civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, UK, northeast of Penzance. Ludgvan village is split between Churchtown, on the hill, and Lower Quarter to the east, adjoining Crowlas. For the purposes ...

. The settlements of Grade, Ruan Major and Ruan Minor were united into a single

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

called Grade-Ruan in 1934. The former parish church of Ruan Major is now in ruins. St Wynwallow's church is part of a group of parishes comprising: * St Grada & Holy Cross Church, Grade *St Wynwallow's Church, Landewednack * St Rumon's Church, Ruan Minor *St Mary's Church,

Cadgwith Cadgwith (, meaning ''cove of the thicket'') is a village and fishing port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is on the Lizard Peninsula between The Lizard and Coverack. It is in the civil parish of Grade Ruan. History The village has ...

References

External link

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landewednack, St Wynwallow's Church Church of England church buildings in Cornwall Grade I listed churches in Cornwall St Wynwallow's Church