Ships Figurehead About 8 Metres West Of The Lych Gate Of The Church Of St Morwenna

SS 21 NW MORWENSTOW MORWENSTOW

1/109 Ships figurehead about 8 metres - west of the lych gate of the Church of St Morwenna - II

Ships figurehead. Early C19. Carved wood painted single colour. Figure of Caledonia, holding drawn sword and shield, fixed on original timber. Ship's figurehead set up to commemorate the captain and crew of the 'Caledonia' of Arbroath, wrecked at Morwenstow in 1842 with one survivor. The figure was repaired in 1968 after it had been damaged during theft. It is illustrated in the Hawker memorial window (q.v.) in the church. The Reverend R S Hawker's practice of burying drowned sailors in the churchyard was a notable break with local tradition. At one time 3 ships keels and a cross formed from oars were placed in the churchyard to commemorate dead sailors. Hawker published a dramatic description of the aftermath of the wreck of the 'Caledonia' with a poem : "We smoothed the green turf on their breast,/'Mid baffled ocean's angry roan/And there - the relique of the storm-/We fixed fair Scotland's figured form"/, Footprints of Former Men in Far Cornwall (1870). R S Hawker, poet and antiquary, was vicar of Morwenstow from 1835-1874.

Listing NGR: SS2054615266