Church of Saint Levan is a Grade I listed building in the Cornwall local planning authority area, England. First listed on 15 December 1988. A C15 Church.

Church of Saint Levan

WRENN ID
unlit-cloister-meadow
Grade
I
Local Planning Authority
Cornwall
Constituency
St Ives MP: Andrew George (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
15 December 1988
Type
Church
Address
Church of Saint Levan, St. Levan
OS grid reference
SW 380 222
Coordinates
50.04226, -5.66029
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of Saint Levan is a Grade I listed parish church, with origins dating back to the 13th or 14th century, particularly evident in the font and possibly parts of the chancel, north transept, and north wall of the nave. The church underwent restoration in the 15th century and was further restored in 1891. The tower is constructed of granite ashlar, while the rest of the church is built from granite rubble, featuring granite and freestone dressings. The roofs are made of dry Delabole slate, with granite coped gable ends.

The church's layout includes a nave/chancel and a north transept, with some 13th-century walls. The west tower, added in the 15th century, is a complete two-stage embattled structure, except for a 19th-century copy of the window above the west doorway. The exterior features a four-centred arched doorway, two-light traceried windows in the upper stage, corner pinnacles, and hoodmoulds. The remainder of the church includes 15th-century four-centred arched doorways, including moulded inner south doorways, and 19th-century windows in the Perpendicular style. There is a 19th-century lancet window in a likely 13th-century opening on the west wall of the north transept, and a canted rood stair projects from the right of the south wall. An 18th-century sundial is located above the porch doorway.

Inside, the church has plastered walls and possibly a 13th-century ogee-headed piscina on the north wall of the chancel. The tower features an original basket arch on corbels. There is a 15th-century basket-arched doorway leading to the rood stair, and a six-bay arcade with octagonal piers separating the nave/chancel from the south aisle, along with a similar two-bay arcade between the nave and north transept. The porch has a complete 15th-century waggon roof, while the south aisle has a restored 15th-century waggon roof with old black and yellow chevron decoration, and the nave/chancel has a 19th-century waggon roof.

Fittings in the church include 15th or early 16th-century bench ends for six 19th-century pews, a panelled font with cinquefoil tracery from a similar late medieval period, a carved base of the rood screen from the 15th century, and an oak pulpit dated 1752 with the initials IHS. Other fittings are from the 19th century, including a carved reredos with quatrefoil tracery.

Local climate

Church of Saint Levan sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 980 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 78% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 97% of listed buildings.

It averages fewer than one freeze-thaw cycle a year. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

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