Church Of St Cubert

A parish church of 13th-century origin, substantially enhanced by later medieval additions and comprehensively restored in the 19th century. The building is constructed of slatestone rubble with granite dressings throughout, roofed in slate with ridge tiles and gable ends; the south transept retains some hand-made crested ridge tiles.

The church may originally have been cruciform, comprising a nave with north and south transepts and a chancel, though the chancel was later extended, with masonry showing an irregular joint between the nave and chancel on the north side. The west tower was added circa 1300, and the south aisle with south transept and south porch were added circa the mid-15th century. The building was restored by G.E. Street between 1846 and 1849, with the tower being rebuilt in 1852.

Exterior

The nave's north wall and north doorway are the only visible remains of the original structure. The doorway features a 2-centred arch with triple hollow mouldings and 19th-century plank double doors. The chancel's east end displays a 19th-century Perpendicular window of 3 cusped lights with tracery, hood mould and relieving arch. A small 2-light 19th-century north window has cusped lights, upper quatrefoil, 2-centred arch and hood mould. The north transept has raised coped verges with a cross finial to the north gable, a 2-light north window (probably 14th-century) with trefoil lights and upper hexfoil in a 2-centred arch, and a 19th-century east window of 2 cusped lights with square head.

The west tower stands on a chamfered plinth in three stages, with set-back weathered buttresses rising to the level of the first stage and weathered string courses at the top of the second and third stages. It terminates in an octagonal broached stone spire with finial. The tower has a 19th-century 2-light west window with cusped lights, trefoil and 2-centred arch; a lancet window to the west in the second stage; and 19th-century 2-light bell-openings in the third stage with 2-centred arches, cusped lights with trefoil, slate louvres and hood mould.

The south aisle comprises five bays including the porch and transept. Its east gable end has a 20th-century cross finial and a 19th-century 3-light window with sharply pointed trefoil lights, 4-centred arch, hood mould and an upper relieving arch from an earlier opening. The west gable end has a similar 19th-century 2-light window with trefoil lights, elongated upper quatrefoil, 2-centred arch and hood mould. The south face at the east end retains a 15th-century 3-light window with 4-centred arch, hood mould and cusped lights, though the mullions are 19th-century replacements. To the left of the porch is a 19th-century 3-light window with cusped lights and square head; to the right, a 2-light window with trefoil lights, upper trefoil, 2-centred arch and hood mould.

The south porch is gabled with raised coped verges and a 2-centred arched moulded outer doorway; a 19th-century iron gate with spear finials and circles to the mid-rail closes the opening. The porch's interior has a slate floor and stone benches, with a roof of circa 18th-century date featuring principal rafters and cambered collars. The granite inner doorway has triple roll-mouldings and a 4-centred arch with recessed spandrels containing quatrefoils; the door itself is 17th-century plank work with studs and fleur-de-lys strap hinges on the inside.

The south transept's south gable end has a 19th-century 2-light window with 2-centred arch, hood mould, sharply pointed trefoil lights and elongated quatrefoil above, with a banded relieving arch, keystone and recessed springers remaining from an earlier window. There are no windows to the east or west.

Interior

The interior has plastered walls and a slate-paved floor throughout. The nave features a ceiled wagon roof with part of a carved 15th-century wall-plate visible on the south wall; further carved 15th-century members likely remain above the ceiling. The chancel has a 15th-century wagon roof with carved ribs and bosses, ceiled, with carved wall-plates to the south supported on granite corbels. The south aisle retains a 15th-century wagon roof with moulded ribs (without bosses) and carved wall-plate, unceiled. The south transept is ceiled. The north transept has an unceiled 15th-century wagon roof with moulded collar purlin and chamfered wall-plate.

A tall 2-centred tower arch with two convex mouldings and triple shafts to the sides in darker stone, with ring-moulded capitals and bases, dominates the crossing. A 6-bay 15th-century south arcade features Pevsner A-type piers with primitive leaf capitals, 3-centred arches and wave and hollow mouldings. The chancel contains an aumbry to the south. The south transept has a 4-centred arch with wave and hollow mouldings supported on Pevsner A-type piers with carved capitals matching those of the south arcade. To the south within the transept is a tomb recess beneath the window, with a cambered arch with roll-mouldings.

Fittings and Monuments

A 13th-century stone font in the north transept features a cylindrical bowl carved with a star, a central stem and four outer shafts with ring-moulded capitals and bases. The nave contains a wooden pulpit incorporating panels from 15th-century bench ends depicting the instruments of the Passion, including a shroud, along with plain 19th-century pews and a low 19th-century screen across the east end. The south wall of the nave displays the Royal Arms of George IV, dated 1820, an oil painting on board in a moulded frame, signed by John Blee, painter of Truro. Two 19th-century painted boards with 2-centred arches display the Ten Commandments.

Monuments in the nave include a marble tablet on slate ground to Joseph Hosken (1780) and a granite ledger to Reverend Michael Prust (1808). The south aisle contains a fragment of an 18th-century slate with verses and carved border. The chancel houses a Gothic-style marble monument on slate ground to James Hosken (1839) by Pearce of Truro; a slate monument with later stone border, pedimental top with urn, flowers and pilasters, and Latin inscription to Arthur Lawrence (1669); a marble monument with sarcophagus on slate ground by Pearce of Truro to Joseph Hosken (1833); paired marble tablets on slate ground with pedimental top to Jean Anderson (1821) and Joseph Hosken (1823); a marble monument with pilasters and draped urn with apron on slate ground by Isbell of Truro to John Hosken (1810); a marble tablet with dove on slate ground to Jean Hosken (1859); and a group of marble monuments on slate ground to Richard and Frances Hosken (1872 and 1858), Jean Logan (1838), Alicia Findlay (1907) and Constantia Hosken (1916). Late 19th-century stained glass is present in the chancel and south aisle.