NevilleWooton

St Nonna, Altarnun
The glorious 1530s bench ends include a bagpiping shepherd, crowder player, holy water clerk and a pair of flick book sword dancers!
Discover the wonder of Cornwall's sacred heritage.
Cornwall’s churches are rarely simple buildings nestling into the landscape. Instead they are assertive structures with heaven thrusting spires or towers, commonly three times the height of the church.
Quaint villages are rare here, generally churches are found in towns, hamlets or trading ports. Methodist and Nonconformist chapels partly filled the gaps left after the Reformation. Here is a sample of special churches.
Every church has a story to tell.
Search our map for beautiful churches to visit and wonderful stories to discover across the county.
The glorious 1530s bench ends include a bagpiping shepherd, crowder player, holy water clerk and a pair of flick book sword dancers!
Cornwall’s largest church at 150 feet is also the best documented in Britain, over 460 householders donated money or nails to rebuild St Petroc’s in 1469-72.
St Breaca is the archetypal painted church in Cornwall, it's medieval wall paintings survive include St Christopher with mermaid, a warning to Sabbath breakers and various saints.
Down a network of lanes in a wooded valley is St Crida, with it's wonderful atmosphere and a stained glass sleeping soldier from Christ’s tomb.
Where else but St Levan can you find a pair of fish on a bench end and earth ending prophecies are linked to the split churchyard boulder?
Arguably Cornwall’s least spoilt church, St Wyllow was so forgotten in its farmyard setting the church once had metal tie beams across both aisles and nave.
Discover 17th century Barnstaple ‘heraldic’ tiles, large plaster royal arms and a ghostly late 17th century wall painting of Abraham attempting to slay Isaac.
St Neot’s has the most complete survival of medieval glass in any parish church, don’t miss the 1530 stags ploughing St Neot’s fields.
One of Cornwall’s least known churches, wealthy patronage accounts for an early 14th century chancel and crenellated and buttressed granite walls.
The simplest parish church in Cornwall, Tremaine retains its Norman north wall with tiny window and door with dragon tympanum.
Bible Christian founder William Brian or O’Bryan, whose mother was a Quaker, was born at Gunwen in 1778. He gave land for the chapel.
Norman origins are evident in the north doorway with Agnus Dei carving, and the finely carved font.
The Cornwall Historic Churches Trust was formed in 1955 to assist in the restoration and repair of Cornish churches which have architectural or historic merit. Our patron is HRH the Duke of Cornwall.