Church Of St Mellanus

Church of St Mellanus

This parish church, dedicated by Bishop Bronescombe in 1259, stands on a site that originally contained a Norman church; remains of that earlier structure possibly survive in the nave, chancel, and south transept walls.

The building presents a complex construction history. The nave, chancel, and south transept were partly rebuilt around the mid-14th century. The south transept was rebuilt again circa 1862. The tower dates to around the mid-15th century, while the north aisle was constructed in the mid to late 15th century. The porch dates to around the early 16th century. The church underwent restoration in 1862.

The main fabric comprises stone rubble for the nave porch, chancel, and south transept. The north aisle is built of large blocks of granite ashlar with stone rubble below a moulded plinth. The tower consists of large blocks of coursed granite ashlar with Roborough stone moulded decoration. All roofs are slate, with the nave and chancel under one roof.

The west tower rises in three stages, topped with a battlement parapet and pinnacles, and features thin diagonal buttresses. The west door has a moulded pointed arch with a rectangular hoodmould and quatrefoils in the spandrels. Above it stands a 3-light Perpendicular window with hollow chamfered jambs, continuous hoodmould, and a rectangular surround. The 3-light belfry openings feature mid-15th-century Perpendicular tracery beneath 4-centred arches. Gargoyles project from the cornice below the parapet on the north and south sides.

The north aisle displays 3-light Perpendicular tracery in its east and west windows and two 3-light Perpendicular windows in rectangular surrounds on the north wall. The north door has a 4-centred, heavily hollow chamfered arch. A 19th-century vestry projects from the east end of the north wall and incorporates a reset 3-light Perpendicular window with cusped heads and a hoodmould with square label stops.

The chancel features a 3-light Perpendicular tracery window. The south transept contains a 3-light window beneath a 4-centred arch with hoodmould, topped by late reticulated tracery with quatrefoils above the lights; this tracery has been renewed or heavily restored from its original late Decorated form. A 3-light Perpendicular window stands between the south transept and south porch with a rectangular hoodmould.

The south porch has a gabled end with thin diagonal buttresses and a moulded string. Its entrance features a moulded, almost round-headed granite arch with plain stops. The south door itself has a pointed moulded arch with a circa 16th or 17th-century double boarded door studded with strap hinges.

Interior

The north aisle and nave retain their original sealed waggon roofs with moulded ribs and carved bosses, complete with moulded stone wall plates. The north aisle features a carved timber wall plate and moulded timber arcade plate. The nave has a carved timber arcade plate decorated with intertwined foliage divided by shields, with the south side remaining unornamented. The chancel is boarded with renewed wall plates and largely recarved bosses. The south transept has a probably renewed, unsealed waggon roof with probably renewed recarved bosses.

The five-bay north aisle features type A (Pevsner) moulded granite piers with moulded bases and carved capitals decorated with stylized forms including banded rings, quatrefoils, and horizontal, vertical, and oblique lines. The arcade arches are 4-centred and moulded with double hollow chamfers. The tower arch is almost stilted and pointed with type A mouldings to its piers, which have tall moulded bases. The south transept arch is almost 4-centred with type A mouldings to its piers, moulded capitals, and bases.

An early 17th-century octagonal pulpit with carved pilasters and decorated round arches on panels features a moulded cornice and a renewed granite base. Circa 1330s piscinas with Decorated ogee cusped arches appear in the south wall of the south transept and in the south wall of the chancel. An octagonal font has an octagonal shaft and square base.

The church contains an important collection of monuments to the Coryton family. In the east end of the north aisle stands a monument to William Coryton (died 1651) and his wife (died 1646). The figures kneel en face with a prayer table between them, framed by an aedicular surround with remains of ancient colour. Two pairs of marble columns with Composite capitals and matching pilasters support a richly moulded entablature decorated with cherubs' heads in the frieze. Above is a coffer-vaulted arch surmounted by a broken pediment with a large painted coat of arms. A slate tablet with inscription stands to the rear of the figures, all on a tall moulded base.

A further monument in the same location commemorates Sir William Coryton (died 1711) and his wife Susanna (died 1695). Except for the dress of the kneeling figures, the fluting of the columns, and the design of the prayer table, this monument closely copies the design of the earlier Coryton monument of 1651, making it a very late example of the type.

Additional Coryton family monuments stand in the south transept. These include memorials to John Coryton (died 1803) and Mary Jemima his wife (died 1779) with a sarcophagus and urn; to John Tillie Coryton (died 1843) and wife Elizabeth (died 1824) with a sarcophagus and inscription surmounted by urn and coat of arms; and to William Coryton (died 1836) with a simple, well-designed classical memorial by Thomas and Edward Gaffin.

A brass in the chancel commemorates Peter Coryton (died 1551), depicted in armour with his wife Jane, daughter of John Tregasoo, and their 24 children below. The brass features coloured heraldic arms and a marginal inscription.

A clock in the west tower, presented by Charlotte Coryton of Pentillie Castle in 1894, marks a later donation to the church.

The church possibly stands on a Lan (Celtic religious site). Local tradition suggests medieval connections to important ecclesiastical foundations in the area.