Church Of St Nonna

Church of St Nonna

This parish church dedicated to St Nonna stands at Pelynt Churchtown. The west tower is possibly 14th century, though it was partly remodelled in the 15th century. The 4-bay nave, chancel, north aisle and south transept were probably rebuilt in the 15th century, with the arcade of the north aisle remodelled around 1680.

The church was comprehensively restored by J P St Aubyn between 1879 and 1883. During this campaign, much of the south transept was rebuilt, the masonry of the nave was restored, tracery was partly replaced or restored, the south porch was rebuilt and a vestry was added to the south of the chancel.

The west tower is constructed of coursed stone with a moulded granite plinth and angle buttresses with set-offs. Much of the nave and the east wall of the chancel are also of coursed stone with moulded plinth. The north aisle is built of stone rubble masonry with a lower moulded plinth, and its west wall was rebuilt. Slate roofs cover the building, with the nave and chancel roof forming a single span. The vestry to the south of the chancel sits beneath a lean-to roof, continuing the slope of the chancel roof.

Much of the tracery was restored or replaced in the 19th century. The south elevation features a 19th-century 3-light rectangular window to the west of the south porch. The south transept contains a 19th-century 6-light mullion window and a 19th-century door on the east beneath a 19th-century 2-centred arch. The vestry has two 19th-century 3-light mullion windows with cusped heads. The chancel displays 3-light Perpendicular tracery with a restored hoodmould, and the east end of the north aisle has restored 3-light Perpendicular tracery. The north aisle contains four 3-light windows with circa 15th-century Perpendicular tracery beneath 2-centred arches.

The west tower rises in 3 stages and is crowned by a battlemented parapet with octagonal turrets and finials surmounted by balls. Carved panels sit at the base of the angle buttresses. The west door has a 3-centred outer arch and a 4-centred cavetto moulded inner arch, with late 19th-century double plank doors above. Above these is a 3-light uncusped Perpendicular window. An opening on the east side of the second stage contains a 14th-century ogee-headed light with a rectangular hoodmould above. The third stage features 3-light belfry openings with Perpendicular tracery beneath 4-centred arches and fitted with slate louvres. A 19th-century south porch has a 2-centred arched opening with a 19th-century plank door.

The interior displays a waggon roof to the nave and chancel, ceiled around 1810, with stained original carved bosses of high quality. The plastered moulded arcade and wallplate are visible. The north aisle and south transept have circa 19th-century boarded waggon roofs with reused and 19th-century carved bosses. A dated boss in the north aisle is inscribed 1879, and another in the south transept is dated 1882. The 4-bay arcade features medieval piers that were replaced around 1680, probably by Bishop Jonathan Trelawney. The 4 elliptical arches have large plain keystones and plain soffits resting on classical cylindrical granite monolithic piers of Tuscan order. The tower arch is slightly higher than the nave roof, with a 2-centred moulded arch on moulded corbels.

Late 19th-century and 20th-century furnishings include an octagonal font of Pentewan stone decorated with quatrefoils and fitted with a lead-lined round bowl.

The south transept comprises the Trelawney aisle, containing the family vault which was opened in 1833 to reveal velvet-covered coffins, silver nails and gilt plates alongside trophies of gauntlets, helmets and escutcheons. Displayed in the transept are the gilded staff carried at Bishop Jonathan Trelawney's (1650–1721) funeral, the Bishop's chair (possibly constructed by J P St Aubyn from pieces of the Bishop's chair from Winchester), and a helmet and gauntlets belonging to the Trelawney family.

The church contains a fine selection of high-quality monuments. In the chancel, on the north wall, a slate tombchest is surmounted by an elaborate back plate with painted and gilded figures depicting Francis Buller and his wife Thomasine kneeling at a prayer desk, with carved figures of eight daughters and four sons below in flat relief. The tombchest is decorated with strapwork, with its base partly obscured by the raised chancel floor and a third panel fixed to the east wall. Heraldic arms are shown, and plaques record repairs to the monument by John Francis Buller around 1726 and by John Buller of Downes in 1816 (the latter signed by the sculptor Sander-Cock). Part of the dismantled tombchest of William Achym (1589), probably by Peter Crocker, is attached to the south wall of the chancel. It formerly stood in the Achym aisle, now the vestry. A curious expression on the face of the carved figure in high relief possibly depicts Achym, who died of a stroke.

Also on the south side of the chancel is a monument to Edward Trelawney of Bake, who died in 1630, signed by Robert Wills in 1639, with the inscription "Here lies an honest lawyer, wot ye what. A thing for all the world to wonder at". Other monuments include those to William Harden (1704), Richard William and Hanna Sawdy (1663–1677, signed W.S. 1678), a classical monument to Richard Robert of Liskeard and Mary (wife and daughter of Richard Buller of Tregarrick, signed I.S. and GALT FT), a classical monument to William Hill of Lancare (1801), and a ledger stone to Elizabeth Pope (1654) with strapwork decoration.

Further monuments to the Trelawney family appear above the family vault in the south transept, including a plate taken from Bishop Jonathan Trelawney's coffin, a monument to John Trelawney Baronet (died 1756) erected by his widow Agnes, a brass plaque to Edward Trelawney, Governor of Jamaica 1738–1752, and a slate slab to Cordelia Trelawney inscribed with the anagram "O, illa Credita vrnae", flanked by two heraldic shields and surmounted by a floral trail, signed by Anthonius Collie in 1634. A classical monument depicts Elizabeth, daughter of John Vivyan, reclining on a couch with her hand resting on a skull, dated 1640. A painted monument to Mary, daughter of Jonah Trelawney, Bishop of Exeter, who was born and died in September 1700, is decorated with putti, flowers and an angel's head on a skull.

The church contains six bells. The earliest surviving bell is dated 1613, with two others from 1683 and 1773. A further bell from 1683 was recast in 1910 when others were restored. One bell was marked "Jonathan Trelawney, U.B, T.G., I.M.P. 1683".

The church probably stands on a Lan (an enclosed sacred site). It appears likely that the building occupies ground that was historically significant for religious purposes.