Church Of St Mellanus

Church of St Mellanus

This is a parish church of 15th-century origin, comprising a nave, north and south aisles, porch, and chancel. The tower dates to around 1512 and was erected by Robert Luddra. A portion of the south wall of the south aisle was rebuilt in 1691, as indicated by a date stone. A vestry, possibly dating to the mid-19th century, was added later. The church underwent restoration in 1840 and again in 1870 by F C Eden.

The building is constructed of rubble stone, including granite and serpentine, with granite ashlar blocks used in the tower. The roofs are of dry slate. The nave and chancel form a continuous space under one roof, with seven-bay north and south aisles that do not quite extend the full length of the nave.

The chancel contains a narrow east window with three lights and late reticulated tracery, possibly dating to the 19th century. The north aisle features a stepped buttress to the east of an early wooden studded oak door, and five four-centred arched three-light windows with Perpendicular tracery and central cusped heads raised above the flanking cusped heads. The west window of the north aisle follows a similar design. The south aisle contains a very low priests' door to the chancel on the south east, with a segmental arched opening. The wall between this door and the porch was rebuilt in 1691. Three four-centred arched three-light windows with Perpendicular tracery and raised central cusped heads are positioned here, and to the west of the porch stands a four-centred arched three-light Perpendicular traceried window that was restored in the 19th century.

The porch has a parapeted gable roof with a 19th-century cross at its apex. Inside, the original waggon roof remains unplastered, with square bosses. A holy water stoup is present, and a small opening at the base of the south door, known as a dog door, survives.

The unbuttressed west tower rises in two stages and features a slightly corbelled battlemented parapet with crocketed finials. Each side displays a two-light belfry opening with pierced tracery heads, hood moulds, and slate louvres. The west door has an arch earlier than the main part of the tower, with a drip mould and eroded heads in label stops. A three-light Perpendicular west window is positioned above this. Immediately beneath the string course is a carved panel representing the crucifixion. The vestry, probably added in the mid-19th century, has a five-light mullioned west window and a three-light mullioned north window, both dating to the 19th century.

The interior contains an arcade with seven bays featuring A-type granite piers that continue from the west to the east wall, separating the north and south aisles. Original waggon roofs span the north and south aisles and over the nave and chancel. In the chancel, carved figures with shields appear at the base of the roof ribs, with a gilded central boss.

The furnishings include a complete set of oak benches dating to around 1530, characterised by moulded top rails and exceptionally fine carved bench ends combining both Gothic and Renaissance elements, though their original order may have been altered. The chancel furnishings date to the 19th and 20th centuries. The pulpit, dedicated in 1966, incorporates two earlier carved panels. An oak rood screen divides the east end and extends across the nave and aisles, incorporating a fragment of the 15th-century sole plate. This screen was begun in 1924 and completed in 1961 by Herbert Read of Exeter. The font is possibly 15th-century, though Pevsner suggests it may be 13th-century. It comprises a hexagonal bowl with an octagonal stepped shaft and circular base. A painted coat of arms above the north door was granted to the Parish of Mullion by Charles II. A hatchment of the Erisey family hangs above the south door. Wall paintings on the south wall of the south aisle were executed by Samuel Triggs, Churchwarden, in 1729, and consist of two classical architectural frames containing inscriptions. One has been partly obscured by the rood screen. The east window contains 16th-century glass that was discovered beneath the chancel floor in 1840 by Reverend F Gregory.