Church Of St Nivet

Church of St Nivet

A parish church dating from the early 15th century with later 15th-century additions. The building underwent late 19th-century restoration, as evidenced by an undated board from the Incorporated Society for Building Churches in the porch.

The church is constructed of granite rubble, with the east end, south aisle, south porch and tower finished in granite ashlar. Granite dressings are used throughout, and the roof is slate with crested ridge tiles and scalloped slates to the eaves at gable ends.

The plan comprises a nave and chancel in one, with a north aisle added around the mid-15th century. The south aisle and south porch were added in the late 15th century, at which time the east end of the chancel and both aisles were rebuilt. The west tower also dates to the late 15th century.

Exterior

The nave is concealed by the aisles. The chancel's east end has a 3-light 19th-century Perpendicular window with a 4-centred arch and hood mould. The north aisle of six bays has 3-light windows throughout with cusped lights and Perpendicular tracery, all with 4-centred arches, hood moulds and relieving arches. The east end of the north aisle has a similar 4-light window with Y-tracery, as does the west end, though the gable is truncated by the tower.

The south aisle, built in granite ashlar without a plinth, is also of six bays. All windows are 3-light with cusped lights and more elaborate Perpendicular tracery with cusping, 4-centred arches, hood moulds and relieving arches. A porch occupies the second bay from the west. The east bay has a 2-centred arched hollow-chamfered priest's door. A rood stair projection with chamfered plinth and lancet is present. The west end has a 4-light window with cusped lights and through tracery. A 19th-century 4-light window in limestone also appears at the west end.

The south porch is gabled and without a plinth. It has a plain round-arched outer doorway with voussoirs and a fine 19th-century cast iron gate with knob finials. The interior of the porch is paved with granite and has granite benches to the sides, with a 19th-century wagon roof. The inner doorway has a 4-centred arch with roll-mouldings and a 19th-century door with strap hinges. A recess for a holy water stoup is set to the right.

The west tower stands in three stages on a chamfered plinth, with set-back weathered buttresses and moulded string courses supporting an embattled parapet. The west doorway has a moulded 4-centred arch with carved spandrels and a square hood mould, with a 19th-century door with strap hinges. The 4-light west window has cusped lights and Y-tracery, with a 4-centred arch and hood mould. At the second stage, on the south side, a 2-light window has cusped lights and a square hood mould. The third stage contains 3-light bell-openings with cusped lights and Perpendicular tracery, 4-centred arch and hood mould.

Interior

The walls are plastered and the floor is 19th-century tiled. All roofs are 19th-century with arched-braced trusses and windbraces; the chancel roof has stencilled painting. The north and south arcades each comprise six bays with Pevsner A-type piers. The north arcade has 4-centred arches with hollow-chamfering; the south arcade has plain chamfered arches. A tall tower arch with clustered piers to the sides has a moulded 4-centred arch and a 20th-century wooden screen.

The chancel contains a 12th-century stone capital hollowed out for use as a piscina and a moulded granite image stand. The south aisle has a 4-centred arch doorway to the rood stair with a stone newel stair and an upper 3-centred arched doorway; both arcades are cut through for the rood screen. An aumbry is set in the south aisle.

Fittings

The church contains 19th-century pews and a stone pulpit. The chancel has a 19th-century reredos and wooden screens to the south and north. A 14th-century octagonal stone font with elaborate tracery panels stands in the south aisle. An inscribed pillar stone in the south aisle bears the Roman capitals ANNIC FIL, dating to the 5th or 6th century.

A fine mid-18th-century table in the nave has a frieze carved with rosettes and masks and carved turned legs. Four fine 19th-century Gothic painted wrought iron candelabras in the form of corona lucis are positioned in the nave and aisles. Two sections of a late 15th-century wooden rood screen with cusped panels and a quatrefoil frieze are located in the north aisle.

Monuments in the north aisle include: a slate plate to John and Richard Courtenay with a life-size bearded figure in high relief (1632); a marble monument on slate ground to Roger Henwood (1815) by Kitt of St Austell; a marble monument on slate ground with draped urn to Mary Cole Ffrench (1873); a marble monument on slate ground to Mary Magor (1852) by Edgcombe of Truro; a slate monument with incised nowy head, shield and cherubs to John Wymond (1725); and a 17th-century slate ledger stone with inscription round the border, unidentified.

Monuments in the south aisle include: a marble pedestal tomb with urn to William Flamank, rector (1861); a marble monument on slate ground to Bridget Hoblyn (1827) by J. Collins of Devonport; a marble monument on slate ground to Nicholas Phillips (1827); a marble monument on slate ground to Thomas Jenkyn (1781); and a marble monument on slate ground to John Hawkey (1864).

Glass

The church contains late 19th-century stained glass. Two windows in the north aisle have fragments of 15th-century stained glass in the tracery.