Church Of St Winwalaus

Church of St Winwalaus, Landewednack

This is a parish church of exceptional interest, with elements spanning from the 11th century to the 20th century. The building comprises a 5-bay north aisle (added in the early 16th century), nave, south transept, chancel, south porch, and a tower that was rebuilt in the early 15th century, though it retains some remains of earlier work. The 11th-century south entrance and late 13th to early 14th-century work form the core of the church. The building was substantially restored during 1860–1862 by Rector Vyvyan Robinson, with further restoration in the 1920s. A 20th-century vestry was added later.

The church is constructed of random stone, including serpentine and granite, with a coarsed granite tower and slate roof. The unbuttressed tower rises in two stages with embattlements and crocheted finials. It features 2-light bell openings with louvres on each side. The west door has been blocked, and a smaller opening was inserted in its place. A 3-light Perpendicular window rises above. The porch is embattled with a gabled roof, and an empty niche sits over the moulded 2-centred arched entrance.

The interior contains a sexpartite ribbed vault (considerably restored) with ribs supported on angel corbels and a central boss carved as an angel holding a scroll. A holy water stoup survives on the east wall. The south door in the porch preserves a Norman arch with chevron decoration on the outer arch and circles in the voussoirs of the inner arch; the centre voussoir is missing, possibly where a figure once projected into the arch. The tympanum is blind. An entrance was partly blocked when a Perpendicular arched doorway was inserted around the 1430s. The 19th-century restoration introduced columns of polished serpentine with cushion capitals.

The original waggon roofs to the nave, north aisle, south transept, and chancel survive, adorned with carved wooden bosses and ribs. A hagiscope between the south transept and chancel is supported on a squat pier of standard Cornish type A (Pevsner classification). The lancet window behind it was originally two lights and provided access for those wishing to take Communion from outside. The south window of the south transept features 3-light Perpendicular tracery, while its east window dates to the 13th century, showing 2 lights with trefoil cusped heads and a quatrefoil above (the central mullion has been renewed). The east window of the chancel displays reticulated tracery, possibly reused and dating to the 19th-century restoration. The chancel's south window was blocked until the 1920s restoration.

The north aisle comprises 5 bays with plain Cornish standard arcades of type A (Pevsner) featuring round arches. A 4-light Perpendicular east window is present, along with three 3-light Perpendicular windows in the north wall. A shallow chamber for the organ occupies the site where rood-loft stairs were removed during the 1860s restoration; a 3-light Perpendicular window has been reconstructed behind it. A 4-centred arch leads to the vestry. The north-west and west windows of the north aisle contain 19th-century glass.

Late 13th-century piscinas appear on the south side of both the chancel and transept. The font is of granite on an octagonal shaft surrounded by four small 19th-century syenite shafts, bearing the inscription "IHC and D RIC BOLHAM ME FECIT c1404". The pulpit base dates to 1860, and both it and the contemporary lectern are constructed partly of polished serpentine. The pulpit was created in memory of Augusta Baker Vyvyan Robinson. A copy of King Charles's letter of thanks to the loyal Cornish (1643) is attached to the west wall of the transept, with a note at the bottom reading "H T Coulson Recr Donum Dedit 1829". The reading desk is constructed in part from a carved wooden screen with desk ends removed from Ruan Major during its 1867 restoration. The remaining furnishings are plain and largely of late 19th-century date. Several memorials commemorate the Vyvyan family, who served as rectors during the 19th and early 20th centuries.

The churchyard appears to retain a circular form (lan) surrounded by a rubble wall. Historically, the parish was visited by plague in 1645, with victims buried in the churchyard. A century later, part of the churchyard was opened for the internment of shipwrecked mariners. When plague reappeared, a portion of the churchyard was fenced off, though the position cannot now be traced.