Church Of St Ciricius And St Julitta

Church of St Ciricius and St Julitta

Parish church of mid to late 15th-century date, with a south porch of slightly later 15th-century construction. The building underwent substantial restoration in the late 19th century. It is built of granite ashlar with slate roofs finished with ridge tiles and raised coped verges, and features granite dressings throughout. The plan comprises a west tower, nave and chancel in one, a north aisle, south aisle, and south porch. The architectural style is Perpendicular.

The three-stage tower stands on a moulded plinth with weathered string courses and an embattled parapet. The west side has a pointed arched doorway with hood mould and relieving arch, with recessed 19th-century double doors fitted with strap hinges. Above this is a three-light window with four-centred arch and hood mould. The second stage has a slate ventilator to the south. The third stage features three-light bell-openings with four-centred arches, cusped lights and upper tracery, fitted with slate louvres on all sides. A north-east stair tower with an embattled octagonal turret rises alongside, with slate ventilation lancets at each stage.

The chancel east gable end steps forward beyond the north and south aisles, with a continuous plinth. It contains a four-light east window with four-centred arch, hood mould with moulded stops, and cusped lights with upper tracery.

The north aisle extends for five bays with three-light windows throughout, each with four-centred arched heads and hood mould, cusped lights with the central light taller, and upper tracery. A rood stair tower with pitched slate roof and lancet rises between the second and third windows from the left. The west gable has a similar three-light window, as does the east gable, though here all three lights are of equal height.

The south aisle runs for six bays and accommodates the porch in its second bay from the left. Windows on the south side match those on the north aisle, though some tracery and mullions were replaced in the 19th century. The east gable has a three-light window with four-centred arched head, hood mould, and cusped ogee lights of equal height. The west gable features a three-light window with pointed arch, hood mould, and pointed arched cusped lights of equal height with upper intersecting tracery.

The south porch sits on a plinth that does not align with the south aisle plinth and rises beneath a tall embattled parapet. Its principal feature is a tall four-centred arched doorway with roll moulding and quatrefoils in the spandrels, beneath a square hood mould with mask stops and moulded string course. Above the string course stands an image niche with cusped head and brattished top, with three turrets carved below.

Interior

The tower is accessed via a pointed arched hollow-chamfered door to the north, ceiled in the 19th century. A tall four-centred tower arch with moulded imposts opens into the nave. The nave and chancel feature a continuous 19th-century ceiled wagon roof, with the chancel roof particularly distinguished by moulded ribs and cusped panels between them. All walls have had plaster removed. The nave and chancel arcades run for six bays on both north and south sides, with four-centred arches rising from Cornish standard piers of Pevsner 'A' type. All piers display rings on their abaci except for two north-eastern piers, which carry quatrefoils carved on their abaci.

The north aisle contains a 12-bay 15th-century wagon roof with moulded ribs and partially replaced moulded wall-plates in granite, beneath a plaster ceiling. An upper doorway to the rood stair opens to the north. At its east end stands a cusped piscina in the south wall.

The south aisle has a 13-bay 15th-century wagon roof with moulded ribs and wall-plate, with some bosses remaining. A four-centred arched piscina in the south wall appears at its east end. By the south-east window, the left jamb is cut back as an image stand, while the right jamb carries a carved figure of an angel holding a shield.

The south porch has a granite floor and benches to its sides. A holy water stoup sits to the right of the doorway. The inner doorway features a four-centred arch with roll mouldings and central concave mouldings, with a 19th-century door hung on strap hinges. The porch is covered by a stone vaulted roof in four bays, each vault containing two lozenge-shaped cusped panels, with a moulded stone wall-plate.

Fittings

A Norman stone font of Bodmin type stands in the nave, comprising a circular bowl with carved outer sides set on a central shaft flanked by four outer shafts, each surmounted by a carved head, all mounted on a granite plinth. A 19th-century wooden pulpit on a granite base occupies the nave, incorporating wooden panels of heraldic carving. The chancel contains a pair of sanctuary chairs, probably of mid-17th-century date, with tall backs featuring geometric carving and a winged cherub to the top, but without arms. Plain late 19th-century pews line the nave and aisles.

Monuments in the north aisle include a slate tablet with nowy head and laudatory quatrain to Matthew Wellington (1794); a slate tablet of 20th-century date commemorating Walter Hicks (1636); a slate tablet with carved urns to Henry and Ann Udy (1789); a slate tablet with nowy head and incised head of cherub with wings to Loveday Williams (1733); and a fine Baroque monument to Joseph Carveth, vicar of the parish (1728), comprising pilasters, a broken segmental pediment with shield of arms and helm to the top, a bat-winged skull on the apron, and a convex oval inscription panel with moulded surround and Latin inscription.

Monuments in the south aisle comprise a slate tablet with nowy head and floral border to Nicholas Avery (1796), by N. Philip; a classical marble monument with spear and fasces on pilasters, cornice and pediment with shield of arms, to Sir John Colman Rashleigh of Prideaux (1847) and other family members; a slate tablet with nowy head to Elizabeth Rosevere (1765); and a slate tablet with nowy head and incised cherub with wings carrying admonitory verses to Joan Avery (1785), by Henry Colliver.

The tower west window retains fragments of medieval glass including shields of arms. The chancel east window contains stained glass depicting the saints, erected in memory of Silvanus Trevail (1903). Other windows hold early 20th-century glass.