Church Of St Michael

Church of St Michael

The Church of St Michael is a parish church of 12th-century origin, rededicated in 1259. It underwent substantial additions and alterations in the 14th century and late 15th to early 16th centuries. The building was restored in 1864 for J.M. Williams of Caerhays Castle, with the date recorded in the east window of the south aisle. The church is constructed in slatestone rubble with granite dressings and quoins, with slate roofs featuring crested ridge tiles and gable ends.

The church was originally planned as a cruciform structure with nave and chancel in one, flanked by north and south transepts. The north transept survives, marked by a 12th-century north doorway to the nave. The west tower dates to the 14th century, altered in the 15th century with a 15th-century embattled parapet. In the late 15th to early 16th century, a south aisle was added, with a south porch positioned in the angle between the aisle and nave. A 19th-century north vestry, accessed from the chancel, was added later.

Exterior features include, on the north side of the nave, a blocked 12th-century doorway with chamfered jambs and moulded imposts, its tympanum carved with a mutilated agnus dei. A single cusped lancet with square hood mould is present. The south side has a single cusped lancet with square hood mould. The chancel displays a stone rubble plinth at the east end and a late 19th-century Perpendicular east window of three lights with a four-centred arch, hood mould and relieving arch. To the north is a single cusped lancet with hood mould.

The north transept, lacking a plinth, features a 15th-century three-light north window with cusped lights, four-centred arch and splayed reveals. Paired cusped lancets to the south have square hood moulds. The west tower rises in three stages on a chamfered plinth with large granite quoins and weathered string courses. The 15th-century embattled parapet is in ashlar. The west doorway has a four-centred arch, moulded, with plain spandrels and square hood mould; the door is 19th century with strap hinges. A 15th-century three-light Perpendicular west window with cusped lights, four-centred arch and hood mould is present. The third stage has two-light rectangular bell-openings with slate louvres. A large 20th-century buttress stands to the south. Lancets for the stair are to the north. At the second stage to the east is a lancet with slate louvres.

The south aisle comprises two bays on a chamfered plinth. The south windows are 15th to early 16th century, each of three lights with the central light taller, finished with plain hollow-chamfered three-centred arches and a hollow-chamfered four-centred arch overall. A similar west window has a raised cill level, and a similar east window extends the full length.

The south porch is gabled, with scalloped slates to the eaves and a terracotta cross finial. Its doorway has a four-centred arch in slatestone rubble with 19th-century wooden gates. The interior of the porch has a pitched slate floor and 19th-century common rafter roof. A square aumbry stands to the west. The inner doorway has a three-centred arched, chamfered surround, with a 19th-century plank door featuring strap hinges.

The north vestry has a gable to the north with a rectangular chamfered single light and a two-centred arched chamfered doorway, fitted with a 19th-century plank door.

Interior

The walls are plastered and the floors are tiled. All roofs are 19th-century arched-braced construction with wall-plates and collars. The tower arch comprises two chamfered orders with a four-centred arch and plain imposts, the wall chamfered to each side. A 19th-century carved wooden screen spans the arch.

The nave contains a holy water stoup to the south, set on a carved corbel. The blocked north doorway is topped with a flat granite lintel. The north transept has a tomb recess to the north with a chamfered two-centred arch. To the east is a blocked doorway with a rounded hollow-chamfered arch with pyramid stops, probably formerly leading to a rood stair. A blocked upper opening on the north side of the chancel has a cranked arch.

The chancel features a bracket to the north, carved as an angel, and a 14th-century piscina to the south with a crocketed ogee hood. To the north is a slit opening in the wall, said to have been a confessional. The reredos is 19th-century tiled. A two-centred arched chamfered north doorway leads to the vestry, fitted with a 19th-century door with strap hinges. The arch to the north transept is segmental and plastered.

The south arcade comprises two bays with four-centred moulded arches on Pevsner A-type piers with carved capitals decorated with leaves.

Fittings and Monuments

The font is 12th-century work in Pentewan stone, positioned in the nave. It features a circular bowl with carved leaves on a circular stem with a square base embellished with cushion stops. 19th-century benches furnish the nave, transept and south aisle. A 19th-century carved wooden pulpit stands in the nave, and a 19th-century carved screen separates the chancel from the south aisle. A 19th-century brass Communion rail is present. Some carved bench ends in the north transept may be early 19th-century Gothic work.

A painted shield, probably 19th century, is displayed in the nave. All monuments are located in the south aisle. These include a marble tablet to Frances Bettesworth, 1821, by W.H. Pearce of Truro; a stone monument to Charlotte Trevanion, 1810, featuring weeping putti and a crocketed gable over a tomb chest with inscription panels and side shafts with blind cusped panels as pilasters, by E. Coade the younger; and a large marble monument to William Trevanion, 1767 (erected 1769), with a plinth decorated with urns and fluted drapery and a shield of arms at the base. A life-size statue of George Byron Bettesworth (1785-1808) depicts him with sword, cannon and anchor, by an unknown sculptor. Ledger stones include one to Isabella Byron, 1752, and one to John Trevanion, 1740, with an incised nowy head and good lettering.

Stained Glass

The north window of the north transept contains stained glass dated 1861. The east window of the south aisle has stained glass dated to the restoration of 1864. Two lancets in the nave contain stained glass depicting Suffer Little Children and the Presentation in the Temple, appearing to be early 19th century and of unusual style, executed in the manner of William Blake.