Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist, Morwenstow facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist, Morwenstow |
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Church from the southeast
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| OS grid reference | SS 199 153 |
| Location | Morwenstow, Cornwall |
| Country | England |
| Denomination | Anglican |
| Website | St Morwenna and St John the Baptist |
| History | |
| Status | Parish church |
| Dedication | Morwenna, John the Baptist |
| Architecture | |
| Functional status | Active |
| Architect(s) | J. P. St Aubyn (probable) Restoration |
| Architectural type | Church |
| Style | Norman, Gothic, Gothic Revival |
| Specifications | |
| Materials | Rubble with granite dressings Slate roofs |
| Administration | |
| Parish | Morwenstow |
| Deanery | Stratton |
| Archdeaconry | Bodmin |
| Diocese | Truro |
| Province | Canterbury |
The Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist is a historic church in Morwenstow, a village in north Cornwall, England. It's the most northerly church in Cornwall! This church is special because it's dedicated to two saints: Morwenna, a local saint, and John the Baptist. It's officially recognised as a Grade I listed building, which means it's a very important historic place. Today, it's an active Anglican parish church within the diocese of Truro.
A famous person linked to this church was Rev. R. S. Hawker, who was the vicar here from 1835 to 1874. He was a poet and someone who studied old things (an antiquary). He's known for starting the modern harvest festival church service in 1842, which is a way to give thanks for a good harvest.
The church is in a quiet spot near the cliffs on Cornwall's north coast. In the churchyard, you can see a copy of a figurehead from a ship that crashed nearby in 1842. The original wooden figurehead is now kept safely inside the church.
Contents
History of the Church
Even though the oldest parts of the church you see today are from the Norman period (around the 11th-12th centuries), people believe an even older Saxon church stood on this same spot before that. Records from 1296 describe the church as an "old and well-known structure." Over the centuries, new parts were added to the church in the 13th, 15th, and 16th centuries.
In the 1850s, during Parson Hawker's time, the church was updated. Old wooden box pews (like enclosed seating areas) were taken out, and the roof's wooden shingles were replaced. More updates happened later, including adding a vestry (a room for clergy) in 1887. The beautiful colours on the chancel roof were restored in 1934.
Church Architecture
The Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist is built using stone, with roofs made of slate that were added in the 1800s. Most of the stone is rubble (rough, unshaped stones), but some parts use shaped stones. Different types of stone were used for different parts of the church, like local dunstone, Polyphant stone, and granite. The church has a west tower, a main hall (nave), a special area for the altar (chancel), and a porch.
Outside the Church
The church tower has three levels. It's made of rough stone, but has smooth, shaped corner stones and a decorative top edge called an embattled parapet. It also has tall corner pinnacles with fancy carved decorations called crockets. The entrance to the porch has a beautiful Norman doorway with zigzag patterns and carved flowers. The main church doorway also has these zigzag carvings and carvings of birds and pine cones on its capitals (the tops of the columns).
Inside the Church
Inside, some of the arches on the north side are Norman and feature zigzag carvings and a carved ram's head. The arches on the south side are mostly in the Perpendicular Gothic style. The ends of the pews (church benches) are carved with Gothic patterns and Renaissance designs. One pew end even has the initials "T.K." for a vicar who served from 1539 to 1594, and another shows the date 1575. The font (where baptisms happen) is from the Norman period and has a simple bowl with rope-like decorations.
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The pulpit (where sermons are given) was made in the 1900s and includes some older wooden carvings. The screen separating the main church from the chancel was put back in 1908, using pieces of carving from the 1500s and 1600s. In the chancel, there's a large reredos (a decorated screen behind the altar) from 1908. It was designed by E. H. Sedding and carved by the famous Pinwill sisters of Plymouth.
On the south wall of the chancel, there's a piscina (a basin for washing communion vessels). On the north wall, you can see a small piece of an old wall painting from the late 1400s or early 1500s. It shows a woman holding a scroll and blessing a kneeling monk, and it's thought to be a picture of St Morwenna.
The church also has several old tombs and memorials. One large slate slab on the floor near the pulpit remembers Parson Hawker's first wife, Charlotte, who passed away in 1863. At the west end of the church, there's a communion table from the 1600s. In the south aisle, a special stained-glass window, put in place in 1904, honours Parson Hawker. It shows him with his dog, the church, and other things connected to his life.
Organ and Bells
The church's organ was built in London in 1892 and later rebuilt in 1969. The church has a ring of six bells. Four of these bells were made in 1753, and the other two were made in 1902.
Outside the Church Grounds
Around the church, there are several other interesting old structures. In the churchyard, you'll find many old headstones and tomb chests.
There's also a Celtic cross made of granite in the churchyard. It's said that Parson Hawker moved it from a nearby moor to remember his first wife, Charlotte. Her initials, C E H, are carved on it.
Another unique sight in the churchyard is a copy of a carved and painted wooden figurehead. This figurehead, named Caledonia, shows a woman holding a sword and shield. It came from a Scottish ship called the Caledonia, which was shipwrecked off Morwenstow in September 1842. This replica stands as a memorial to the ship's captain and crew, who are buried nearby.
At the entrance to the churchyard, you'll find a stile (steps over a wall), a lychgate (a covered gateway), and a building that used to be a mortuary. The stile is from the 1800s and was probably designed by Parson Hawker. The lychgate, made of wood with a slate roof, was built in 1641. The old mortuary, now used for storage, was a stone building where the bodies of drowned sailors were prepared.
In the vicarage garden, about 125 metres from the church, is the holy well of St John. It has a medieval well house over it, and its water has been used for baptisms for hundreds of years. This is a rectangular stone building with a wooden door and a steep stone roof.
Further from the church, down the cliff face, is the holy well of St Morwenna. Its well house is also from the medieval period and is built into the side of the cliff.
Nearby on the coast path is Hawker's Hut. This small hut was built by Parson Hawker himself using driftwood he collected. It's now looked after by the National Trust.
