Church Of St Rumon

Church of St Rumon, Ruan Lanihorne

Parish church dedicated to Saint Rumon. The building dates primarily from the 13th and 14th centuries, with parts rebuilt in the 17th century and underwent significant restoration in the 19th century. It is constructed of slatestone with granite quoins and dressings, roofed with Delabole dry slate with gable ends. The plan comprises a nave, chancel, west tower, north aisle, south transept and south porch.

The north aisle features a 15th-century granite west window and four 15th-century granite windows to the north wall. A 2-centred arched north door (nearly opposite the south door) survives, along with a chamfered 19th-century stone chimney over the former rood stair projection and a 19th-century freestone window in Decorated style in the east gable end. The chancel window is also 19th-century work, constructed of freestone with reticulated tracery, but early walling, possibly 13th-century, survives beneath it.

The south wall contains a 13th-century 2-light lancet window on the left, possibly reset in the 17th century. The south porch is dated 1669 and has a chamfered nearly semi-circular arched granite doorway with hood mould. The south transept includes a 19th-century window in the gable and a 3-light lancet in the east wall of 1868 commissioned for John Peter of Trevilles, Rector of Grade. A 3-light 19th-century window to the right of the transept is in Decorated style.

The tower is 13th-century in its lower stage, but the upper part was rebuilt following a storm in 1658, with rebuilding dated to 1675. It is said to have been originally higher. Low angle buttresses flank the north-west and south-west corners, with a sundial over the south buttress commemorating John Doble and St Doble, churchwardens in 1743. The plinth of the south-east buttress projects beyond the south wall of the nave. The tower has two tiers of 13th-century single-light windows with pierced slates. A string course runs beneath the battlemented parapet, which is crowned with crocketed granite pinnacles on square shafts. The blocked west door is 2-centred in form.

Interior

Between the nave/chancel and north aisle runs a six-bay standard A-type arcade with 4-centred arches, each capital bearing different carved detail. A tall 2-centred tower arch spans between nave and chancel. Recesses flank the altar in both the north and south walls, and a squint provides a view from the south transept to the chancel.

The roofs of the nave, chancel, north aisle and south transept date to circa 1868 and are arch-braced, incorporating 15th-century carved bracing salvaged from the original wagon roof, along with carved wall plates. The porch roof employs reused common rafters. A freestone shaft, probably 13th-century, stands in the north-east corner of the porch.

Fittings include a font possibly dating to the 14th century, with an octagonal central and corner shafts decorated with 4-leaf panels and a cover made from 15th-century carved roof braces. A hexagonal pulpit is constructed of reused roof timber with bench end-panels. The lectern incorporates reused roof braces, and the altar includes more reused oak timber with bosses. A circular iron stove is present. 19th-century pine pews remain, with a slate floor to the rear and along the north aisle. Painted arch-headed panels display The Ten Commandments and The Lord's Prayer.

Monuments and History

A monument to Richard Trestrain (1579–1664) in the south transept features a carved praying figure beneath a trefoil head. Trestrain funded repairs to the church following the 1658 storm damage. Floor slabs commemorate the Reverend John Whitaker and his daughter Jane Margaret Whitaker. A monument to John Luke, Esq. of Trevilles dates to 1776. The belfry was not inspected during recording.

Historical information concerning the storm damage and church repairs derives from "The History of Ruan Lanihorne" by the Reverend John Whitaker, the parish historian and writer who served as vicar from 1777 until his death in 1808, published in the Journal of the Royal Institution of Cornwall in 1974.