St Germoe'S Chair

St Germoe's Chair is a detached sedilia building, likely dating from the early 13th century. It features a dressed granite front with architectural details, while the rest of the structure is made of granite rubble. The roof is covered with scantle slate and has gable ends.

The building has a single-cell parallelogram plan with a two-bay open arcade at the front gable end. Inside, there is a stone bench against the rear wall, which includes three niches formed by a blind three-bay arcade; the central niche is slightly hollowed. The left-hand side wall is built into the bank and adjoins the churchyard walls. It is possible that the entire structure incorporates earlier elements from a later medieval construction.

The two-bay gable-ended front features an open pointed-arched arcade supported by round Romanesque imposts and a central column. The responds are engaged half-columns, with moulded bases and capitals that have annulet rings. The arches are straight chamfered, and at the apex of the gable, there is a carved head that likely dates from the 12th century.

Inside, there is a moulded granite bench along the rear wall, above which is a three-bay blind arcade with roll-moulded pointed arches that spring from two tapered round columns and the side walls. The columns have tapered-in bases with roll mouldings, and the capitals are tapered out with annulet ring mouldings. Above the slightly taller and wider middle arch is a carved crowned head that probably dates from the 13th century.

St Germoe's Chair is a remarkable and unique building, showcasing a blend of original and later imaginative uses of 12th and 13th-century architectural features.