A Short Guide to the Ancient Parish Church of St. Tudy

A SHORT GUIDE TO THE ANCIENT PARISH CHURCH OF ST. TUDY

ST TUDY CHURCH

The present building has been listed by the Secretary of State as Grade I of special architectural and historic interest. The church is in the perpendicular style, built of stone, having a chancel of two bays, a nave of four bays, aisles, a south porch and tower 64 feet high. St. Tudy Church has a Feast Day to commemorate the founder of the Church, usually on the second Sunday in May but occasionally on the third if need be. It is worth noting that there are two or three locations on the south coast of Brittany which also celebrate the birth of St. Tudy, namely Loc-Tudy, Ile-Tudy and Port-Tudy, and there is little doubt that it was from Brittany that the Saint made his way to Cornwall possibly in the 6th century.

St. Tudy, unlike many other locations within a mile or so of the village is not mentioned in the Domesday Book assembled in 1086, but it is referred to in a manuscript in the Library of Exeter Cathedral that suggests that there was a settlement in the 11th century.

It is likely that the first church on the site was built in the sixth century, a small rectangular structure of wood or rough stone. Nothing remains of this pre-Norman building. The church built in Norman times was cruciform and stones of that period may be found in the walls we see today. The church we have now is largely of 15th century construction and though there have been internal changes and re-ordering over the years, no significant differences would be apparent to any visitor in the 16th century. Looking eastwards we can see the distinctive 15th century wagon-shaped Cornish roof. The pews in the Nave and in the Chancel were installed in about 1873 and replaced ancient oak ones with carved bench ends that ultimately ended up in Michaelstow Church,where they are still in use. Since August 2013 Michaelstow has become a Chapel of Ease of St. Tudy

South Porch

The late 15th century porch has carved oak roof timbers and a stone floor. Formerly there were gates that were replaced by glazed doors that now keep out the rain and enhance the appearance of the entrance. There is a seat in the porch dedicated to Ken Alford, for over 20 years a Warden of this church .

South Aisle

At the west end of the south aisle there is a monument with effigies in stone to Humphrey Nicholl of Penvose, who died on 20 September 1597. Penvose lies about half a mile out of St. Tudy in a north westerly direction. At one time the Manor of St. Tudy belonged to the same Nicholl family. At the east end of the south aisle there is a memorial to Anthony Nicholl who died on20th February 1658, showing kneeling effigies of himself and his wife and four sons. He had sided with the Cromwellians in the Civil War but refused to vote for the King’s execution and that lead to his impeachment and imprisonment. He was not long in custody. Further along the south aisle there are further effigies of four females, a mother and her three daughters. The mother was Alice Reskymer, who died in 1563, and the daughters were Anne, Katherine and Johanna, all of whom made advantageous marriages to husbands in the lower echelons of the gentry. William Reskymer the husband of Alice, was a Gentleman of the Privy Chamber of Henry VIII.

There are several memorials to members of the Onslow family, formerly of Hengar Manor situated half a mile to the east of St. Tudy. They are Admiral Sir Richard Onslow who died on 27 December 1817and was the first Baronet. Admiral Onslow fought at Camperdown in October 1797, as second in command under Admiral Nelson in the first sea battle of the Napoleonic Wars. There are also memorials to Sir Henry Onslow, d. 13 September 1853, Sir Matthew Richard Onslow, d. 3rd August 1876 Another descendent of the family, though not commemorated in St. Tudy Church, was Admiral Sir Richard George Onslow who died in 1975, following a long family tradition of service with the Royal Navy. In all there are nine memorials to members of the Onslow family in the south aisle and the east end of that aisle. They have long since ceased to reside at Hengar Manor, now converted to a residential holiday home well patronized throughout the year.

Between the second and third windows is a memorial to Colonel Samuel Michell (1701-1786). He was brother to Captain Matthew Michell who accompanied Lord Anson on his voyage around the world, and came in due time to be the owner of Hengar through his wife, a daughter of Sir Richard Lower of Tremeer. Above the windows of the south aisle there are two hatchments, which commemorate Mrs Louise Sarel and her two husbands, Michell and Harvey. The stained glass window was placed there in memory of Dr. William Pearce who lived in St. Tudy for over 50 years, and nearby there is another tablet for Dr. Bernard Francis Bailey who served the parish for 25 years, dying in 1944, who owned the first motor vehicle in the parish which was later used by his unmarried daughter Pamela.

Among the newer memorials is one to Admiral William Bligh, the captain of the HMS Bounty, whose family lived at Tinten, within St. Tudy Parish and who it is thought may well have spent some part of his childhood there. William Bligh’s father was a Customs Officer at Plymouth and William was baptized in St. Andrew’s Church in that town,contrary to the statement in the earlier church Guide written by Revd. Raymond Wood in 1994. In the Baptismal Records for St. Tudy Church there is none showing the baptism of a boy William to Francis and Jane Bligh, the Admiral’s parents.It is worth noting that Tinten is also mentioned in the Domesday Book. It is not alone; there are six other locations in or near St. Tudy also referred to in the section that deals with Cornwall. A translation of the section dealing with the County was published by Phillimore Books of Chichester in 1979

The traditional Norman font is of the table-top type standing on a round shaft or column supported by four pillars with moulded bases. It is thought to be of the 14th century. It had been moved to its present location in the late 1900s from its former position at the east end of the church. The nearby Parish Chest is dated 1755.

Also in the south aisle is a pre-Norman copestone with traces of carving upon it. Its age is impossible to determine precisely, but it is thought that the stone may have covered the grave of a Saxon chieftain. There are no indications as to how it came to be deposited in the churchyard and subsequently brought inside.

On the wall adjacent to the main door into the church and on either side of it, the Apostle’s Creed is displayed and above the door is the small plaster Royal Coat of Arms (1837) that Henry VIII had decreed should be placed in all churches to certify that he was the Supreme Head of the Church in England. This in effect was the start of the conversion of the country from Roman Catholicism to the Protestant Church we know today. The plaster is a replacement for an earlier one.

The Nave

On the wall of the Nave there is a much more recent memorial stone recording the life of Edward Alan John George, Lord St. Tudy who lived in the Parish at Tremeer until his death in April 2009. To the world at large he was known as ‘Eddie George’, whose ten years as the Governor of the Bank of England ensured his face was a familiar one on TV. screens in the UK. His widow still resides at Tremeer and is much involved in tending the hundreds of Azalias, Camellias and Rhododendrons for which the garden is famous.

Above the memorial to Lord George there is one to John P Magor of Lamellen, a large property on the north-west edge of the village. His son, John Furnis Magor who died in Madeira in 1854 also features on the memorial stone. The Magor family has occupied Lamellen for many years and descendants still reside there. Lamellen is also mentioned in the Domesday Book. Adjacent is another striking memorial to John Furnis, again a former owner of Lamellen who died in 1801.

Close by there is a Book of Remembrance given to the church in 1978. The names of those recorded in it are remembered in the prayers on the Sunday nearest their date of death.

In this ‘Remembrance’ area there is a memorial to those who took part in the Great War and a collage of 68 photographs of men and women who served is hanging near the tower door. They include one of Surgeon Vice-Admiral Sir Arthur May who was at the time of the Great War, the owner of Tremeer, and whose wife started the Women’s Institute in the village of St. Tudy, an organisation that continues to flourish. On either side of the door leading into the ringing chamber of the Tower the Ten Commandments are set out for the edification of parishioners. A little further down the Nave there is a further set of photographs and a list of names of those who were involved in the most recent War including those members of the village community who served with the Home Guard and Red Cross. Towards the other end of the Nave on the same wall there is a list of Rectors of the parish from the first recorded name of Philip, son of Henry instituted in April 1264 up to the date of the retirement in 2011 of the Revd Margaret Millson after whom there have been no resident priests in the parish. Three of the former Rectors of the Parish also combined their local duties with the responsibilities they had as Archdeacon of Exeter. It was only towards the end of the nineteenth century that the Diocese of Truro was formed out of that of Exeter. This List was prepared by a carpenter of St Kew and was the gift of Major Walter Magor, for many years a Warden of this church.

The stained glass panel of the ‘Good Shepherd’ was given in memory of Giles Jory Lang of Tamsquite (1787-1864)

Above the List of Rectors of the Parish there is the ‘Tables of Kindred and Affinity’ (Prohibited degrees) a list of persons, men and women, whose marriages were restricted. Parliament has long since relaxed the law and it is no longer of much relevance to those contemplating matrimony.

The oak pulpit is a Victorian replacement for the former one made obligatory by Queen Elizabeth 1, while the lectern with oak pedestal and two-sided walnut revolving book rest is a presentation by another former owner of Tremeer, F J Hext in 1874. On the ‘English’ Altar four silver-plated candlesticks and cross were added by Mrs Gilian Magor in 1948. In most churches there are either two candlesticks or six; in this respect St. Tudy is, as in many other respects, unlike most churches in Cornwall. The stained glass east window over the altar is a memorial to John P and EA Moyle Magor.

Much of the flooring in the church is made of old slate tombstones from which most of the inscriptions have been obliterated by the passage of time. Some of that slate came from the slate quarry at Delabole some ten miles distant. After a lapse of a few years production has recently re-started and the slate from there used at the west end of the church after the removal od three rows of pews to open the rear of the building and make it available for village and other events including exhibitions.

The Chancel and Sanctuary

The Altar is wooden, as decreed by Elizabeth I in 1567 at the same time that figures, sculptures and wall paintings were ordered to be removed, as being too much a reminder of the days when the Roman Catholic Church controlled religious belief and practice in England. Likewise a pulpit wasto be installed so that priests could preach to their congregations and a lectern capableof carrying the Bible which by that date had been printed in English and installed in every parish church where it was accessible to all parishioners.

The Vestry

At the west end of the church there is a small vestry which has a number of memorials some of which are obscured by the organ which occupies much of the space between the Lady Chapel and the north west corner of the building. At the date when these memorials were set in place there was no organ or indeed any instrument to obstruct the view of them. The old Registers of Baptisms, Marriages and Funerals that were ordered by Henry VIII to be kept in every Parish Church are now in the County Record Office but there is extant a transcribed copy held by the church which is complete from about 1559 up to the year 2000. Memorials in the vestry include one to Charles Hodgson, Rector from 1817 until 1846 and George Garrick, Curate who died quite young in 1849. His father lived at Hampton Court, London.

The Vestry safe contains a quantity of interesting items of silver including a chalice dated 1650, and a pewter flagon, pewter plate and bowl of the 15th century. These and other items of silver are not available for inspection.

The Lady Chapel.

The present Lady Chapel is of very recent origin. It came into existence as a consequence of a disastrous fire in 2001 at the Old Forge opposite the church and then owned by Philip Tizard who in gratitude for the help he received subsequently from the village in restoring his property, made the wooden Altar. The Altar Frontal was made by Nora Sheer and the Cross and Candlesticks given by Hilda Halls in memory of her husband. On the north wall of the Lady Chapel there is a granite tomb slab for Margery, wife of Humphrey Lower who owned Tremeer in the later years of the 17th century. He died on 27 August 1686. The Lower’s were another well-known local family at the time, though fame and necessity ultimately lead to their removal to London to carry on their professions in that City. Humphrey Lower became a friend of George Fox the Quaker, visiting him when he was in Launceston Gaol. Their son, Sir Richard became an eminent physician to Charles II and was the first man to carry out blood transfusions, firstly on animals, and later on humans. His brother Sir William Lower was an author of some repute in his day. The Lady Chapel also contains a Book of Remembrance in which there are photographs and appreciations from those whose deceased relatives are commemorated.

The Organ

The first Organ was installed by the then Rector in 1892 at a cost of £250 and remained substantially unaltered until 2006 when it was rebuilt by David Gridley of Penzance. The new organ is much larger than the earlier instrument and incorporates an organ made in 1954 by Hill Norman and Beard and obtained from St. Francis Church in Solihull thatwas scheduled for closure. The action is electric throughout and there are 22 speaking stops, a radiating and convex pedal board and numerous playing aids appropriate to a modern instrument. The total cost of this rebuilt instrument was £37,000 much of which was donated from within the Parish. It was dedicated in October 2006 by the then Bishop of Truro, William Ind, with Peter Dyke of Hereford Cathedral giving the opening recital. It has since been played by several eminent organists andorgan recitals are a feature of the life of St. Tudy Church. In 2012 a CD made of the organ by Luke Bond, Assistant Director of Music at Truro Cathedral, was commissioned by the present organist, Dr. Geoffrey Gibbons. In 2014 the Insurers of the Church surveyed the whole church including the organ and estimated the cost of its rebuilding on a total loss basis at £235,000.

The Tower

All the indications are that the tower was added to the body of the church in the 15th century. Until 1751 there were only four bells, when five bells were cast at Gloucester . A treble bell was added in 1923 and in 1974 all six bells were re-hung due to the deterioration of the oak frame, from a new steel frame. The flag pole on the top of the Tower habitually bears a flag depending on the time of year and whether there is a day of national or religious celebration to be marked. The flag will either be the Cornish flag, a black cross on a white ground, or the Union flag.

Other Buildings of Interest

The Rectory currently occupied by a priest and his family was built about 20 years ago to replace ‘The Old Rectory’ located near the church was built in 1912 and being much too large for current needs is now a private dwelling.

The School almost adjacent to the church is a Church of England Voluntary Aided School and now one of five comprised in an Academy.

The Clink on the north east corner of the churchyard is a 17th century building of stone that has had a variety of uses over the years, having been a church ale-house, a constables lock-up, a school room and more recently a central location for coffee mornings and a meeting room for village organisations.

The Methodist Chapel a short distance away from the Parish Church was built in 1869 and has a healthy congregation.