Cornwall’s Holy Places

The focus of attention for today’s pilgrims seeking to visit Celtic holy places has been Iona and Lindisfarne. Yet there are many spiritual places in Cornwall, Wales and Brittany. We strongly recommend you buy the excellent Celtic Sites and their Saintsby Elizabeth Rees (Burns & Oats, NY, 2003) if you are particularly interested in visiting them.

Cornwall is full of holy places to visit. It has been a difficult task, but we have selected these few to give you a flavour of the vibrant Celtic Christian heritage you will find in Cornwall’s sacred landscape. We have included grid references in case you have access to Ordinance Survey maps, but they are not really necessary – just trust the directions given.

Cornwall is truly a land of Celtic saints – if you are unfortunate enough not to live here, we hope you will be inspired to come here soon in pilgrimage so we can welcome you in a spirit of true Celtic hospitality. If we can help in any way, please do not hesitate to email us at peransansSPAMyahoo.co.uk (please replace the letters SPAM by an 'at' sign.

Kernow a'gas dynergh!

St Non’s Church and Holy Well, Altarnun (GR 223813).

The village of Altarnun is to be found seven miles south-west from Launceston on the edge of Bodmin Moor, ‘Altarnun’ meaning ‘the altar of Non’. Non was the mother of St David, patron of Wales. It may be that she came from this area.

The splendid village church, dedicated to Non, has a Celtic cross in the churchyard and contains a fine 12th century font with the heads of the four gospel writers carved into it. The splendid pew ends are ornately carved with medieval scenes, including St Michael slaying a dragon, Cornish musicians and corn dollies. The church is quite dark, so bring a torch if you want a good look.

To find Non’s Well, walk north-east out of the village. After the second field on your right is a short track leading to a gate. Look to the right over the gate and you will see the well and its ‘bowssening’ pool fifty metres away in the field. Carew mentions the practice of ‘bowssenning’ the mentally ill here which involved tossing them up and down in the water. When suitably exhausted, they were then taken to the church where masses were said for them until, hopefully, they were restored to sanity.

It is not recommended this is tried today!

St Endellion’s Shrine, St Endellion (GR 997787)

The village of St Endellion is to be found about eight miles north of Wadebridge, its church standing near an ancient pre-Christian cemetery. The south aisle of this serenest of churches contains the 14th century shrine of St Endellion carved out of black catacleuse stone. Prior to the Reformation, this probably contained her remains. It is the only surviving shrine to a Celtic saint in Cornwall that has survived the Reformation.

Endellion was a daughter of St Brychan, a Welsh king famous for conceiving no less than eleven sons and twenty-five daughters, all or most of whom went on to become saints. Nicholas Roscarrock (who was born in the parish in the mid 16th century) records a local tradition that she lived austerely at Trentinney Farm half a mile to the south with only a cow to provide sustenance for her. The local lord killed the cow, but Endellion’s godfather was King Arthur who had him killed in punishment. She then revived him miraculously.

When she was approaching death, she ordered that she be placed on a sledge and pulled by bullocks, the place where they stopped being where she was to be buried. They stopped at the top of a nearby hill where the church now stands.

St Madern’s Baptistery and Holy Well, Madron (GR 446227)

Just outside the village of Madron near Penzance is the ancient baptistery and holy well of St Madern. Sadly, we know nothing at all about this saint who gave his name to the village and whose well is a popular place for prayer and pilgrimage.
Drive north out of the village and after a mile or so you see a sign where you turn right for the baptistery. After a short distance, you are indicated to turn right into the car park. Just a few minutes walk down the path, you will find willow trees full of ‘clouties’- pieces of cloth dipped in the well water and hung there to dry as prayer offerings rather like candles in churches. (‘Clout’ is the Cornish word used in Cornish dialect for a patch of cloth to this day). The ancient, and probably pre-Christian, custom was to tie the cloth around the part of the body requiring healing for a while before offering it in this manner (as the cloth rotted away, the illness was supposed to dissipate), but clouties today are hung for a variety of reasons. Local people now have to manage the clouties, otherwise the trees would soon be overwhelmed!

Continue down the path and you will find the roofless baptistery. While this is thought to be Norman in construction, its dimensions of a 2:1 rectangle suggest it is built on the foundations of an ancient Celtic chapel. Water actually flows through the chapel via a baptismal pool, still occasionally used for baptisms. Stone benches line the sides and there is a small low stone altar with a square recess thought to be for portable altar stones, possibly containing relics of saints.

Local people used to make up a bed of grass by the altar (called St Madern’s Bed) on which sick people seeking healing would sleep. In the 17th century a cripple was so miraculously healed he was able to fight (and die) in the English Civil War.

If you have time, go into the village church and see the pre-Christian sacred stone at the back inscribed to be used as a Christian grave stone, apparently in memory of a warrior called ‘Fair Slayer’.

St Clether’s Church and Holy Well, St Clether (GR 206844)

St Clether village is situated at the northern edge of Bodmin Moor eight miles west of Launceston. Its Norman church is situated in a delightful churchyard whose circularity provides strong evidence for this being the site of a very early Celtic Christian church (Celts then, it seems, did not like corners!).
Pass through the churchyard and exit the back gate on to moor land and follow the path. After a few minutes you will reach the holy well, its water flowing through a medieval well house. Inside this exquisite chapel, you will find water from the well flowing right under an altar made of blocks of Cornish granite. The little hatch to the right of the altar was to take in the offerings of pilgrims outside. Thanks to the efforts of a local woman, the well house has been sensitively restored and is being well maintained, Christian worship now taking place there once more at certain times of the Celtic year (see www.peaceland.org.uk ).

Sadly, we know little about St Clether. The 12th century Life of St Brynach of Wales mentions a Welsh lord by that name who was ‘a righteous old man who had fathered twenty sons whom he presented to Brynach to be his servants; later he departed to Cornwall and died serving God in that place.’

St Piran’s Church and Holy Well (GR 077892)

There are a number of churches dedicated to St Piran in Cornwall - it is important not to confuse them with his famous oratory which now lies buried beneath Perran Sands, thousands marching to it in a huge procession early in March each year.

His well is to be found just a mile or so north east of Tintagel on the coast road. The unusual hive-shaped well is 50m up a short rough road opposite a telephone kiosk, his little church standing right by. The monks of St Piran are recorded in the Domesday Book as possessing lands in this area, so this church and well probably have ancient provenance.

But why build a church here? The early Celtic missionaries were keen to Christianise places held to be sacred by pagans - we should not be surprised, then, that just such a place is very close by. Head down the lane past the church and other houses until you enter woodland with a stream flowing through it. You are now in what is thought to have been a pre-Christian ‘fairy glen’ which leads to a waterfall a mile upstream called St Nectan’s Kieve. St Nectan (yet another child of St Brychan) is said to have been buried under it. It is likely this is a story created by early Christians to supplant pagan beliefs in a god or sprite, living beneath the waters of the waterfall. There is a tradition that Arthur’s knights came here to pray.

The waterfall is only accessible via what was once a chapel and which is now a private dwelling called The Hermitage. Access for a fee is permissible at certain times of year.

Sancreed Church and St Euny’s Wells (GR 421294)

We know little about Saint Creed (hence ‘San-creed’) after whom this hamlet is named. Roscarrock records the local tradition that he killed his father accidentally and lived as a hermit and swineherd as a self-imposed penance. This evidently so impressed the local inhabitants, he was considered by them to be their saint.

Sancreed church is situated in a churchyard littered with ancient Cornish crosses. The churchyard is oval, providing evidence that the church was originally founded in the early Celtic Christian era. Today it is a place of burial for local artists.

Cross over the road from the church to the red telephone kiosk where you will find a path leading through the houses to a wide stile and a field with St Buryan Church in the distance. Do not cross over this stile, but take the tiny one to its right, leading to a path following the hedge line past two concrete pump houses and what may be the ruins of an early hermitage. A little further and you come to the delightful St Euny’s Well (with a fittingly Celtic nine steps down to its waters below). Right by the well is a rather tasteless modern cross and an ancient ruined baptistery. Clouties adorn surrounding trees.

Return to the church and drive down the road with the church to your left and turn right after half a mile down a road indicated ‘Carn Euny’. After a couple of miles you drive through Brane Farm, terminating afterwards in a small car park. There are two tracks heading off, one to the right and one to the left. The one to the right leads to the ancient Iron Age settlement of Carn Euny complete with a spectacular (and much older) underground chamber (fougou) whose purpose is hotly debated – was this just a storeroom or did it have some religious function? The track to the left leads to another St Euny’s Well, this one to be found after a few hundred metres at the end of a short muddy path leading off from a sharp right bend just past a few houses. Again, there is a tree full of clouties.

William Worcester, writing in 1478, said Euny was a brother of St Erc and St Ia who came over from Ireland and founded churches in St Erth and St Ives respectively. That is sadly all we know of a saint who has so many dedications throughout Cornwall.

St Samson’s Church, Holy Well and Cave, Golant (GR 120552)

Golant is to be found two miles north of Fowey on the bank of the estuary. You can read in the seventh-century Life of Samson how a local king, probably based at the Iron Age hill fort of Castle Dore (a kilometre away on the B3629), asked Samson to drive out an evil serpent which was terrorising the local inhabitants. Samson found the serpent in a cave and drove it out to sea. The grateful king and local inhabitants invited Samson to be their bishop, Samson living in the cave himself for a while afterwards.

Samson’s holy well is by the porch of his church high above Golant harbour. Enter in and see the carving of him on the pulpit. A modern stained glass window depicts the saint casting out the serpent.

Now descend the hill to the harbour below. Walk to the railway level crossing and cross over. Walk down the path by the railway track about 50m and look through the fence to your right. There, right by a telegraph pole, you will see Samson’s Cave.

The railway line is not electrified and is only for transporting china clay. As it is now rarely used, you may be tempted to walk back to the crossing and walk down the track to inspect the cave. As it is dark, cramped and very wet, you would need old clothes, a torch and wellies if you wish to go inside.

And never mind the trains….WATCH OUT FOR SERPENTS!

St Neot’s Church and Holy Well, St Neot (GR 186 679)

St Neot is a pretty village five miles northwest of Liskeard and just two miles off the A38. The beautiful granite church dominates the village centre and has four Celtic crosses by an ancient yew tree outside the porch. One is probably ninth century and ornately carved, but missing the head, the others are in the Breton-Latin rather than the Cornish wheel cross style. The church is mentioned in the Domesday Book, and seems to have been a place of some importance.

Enter the church by the porch to be greeted by the finest collection of medieval stained glass in Cornwall, perhaps even the Southwest. Practically all the church is glazed with fine pre-Reformation stained glass windows, one featuring scenes from the life of Neot (north aisle), another (south aisle) the creation story. It is worth taking some binoculars if you wish to see the detail in the higher panels.

Exit the church door and turn right down the hill. At the village post office and store take the track opposite which heads upstream, the river to your left. After 200m you will see the holy well to your right nestling into a granite outcrop on the side of a hill.

According to legend, Neot used to stand in the well reciting the psalms. Some imagination is required as the present well house built much later is somewhat cramped. He also lived off three fishes which lived in it which were miraculously replenished if he only ate one a day – an early example for us of sustainable living! Another story is of a stag which Neot saved from a hunter which then became one of his monks in penitence. Another tale of his empathy with nature is when his oxen were stolen, three deer volunteered their services to pull his plough in their stead.

It is difficult to be certain about key events in the life of Neot from surviving accounts. It seems likely he was of Welsh aristocratic stock before he became a monk at Glastonbury. He then moved down to Cornwall to establish his small monastery at St Neot. He died there and his relics became a site of pilgrimage, possibly residing at one time in a shrine in the now-empty recess in the north side of the church’s chancel wall. His now-lost relics were later moved from Cornwall to sites in England.

St Levan Church, Holy Well, Hermit’s Cell and Pagan Stone (GR 380223)

You will find the delightful St Levan Church after a mile at the end of the road that passes through Porthcurno (near St Buryan in Penwith). You will have to park in the church car park in the summer months as the road is narrow and there is really nowhere else. The founding saint’s name was Selevan, which is the Celtic vernacular for Solomon.

Little is known about this saint, except for some local traditions recorded by William Borlase in 1748. Selevan was brother to St Breage (sometimes called Manacca). She once visited him with two children. Selevan went fishing to feed them, catching two fish on just one hook. Unfortunately, the children had less luck as they choked on the fish bones. This has led to a local superstition that the chad is an unlucky fish. Selevan was once reproved by a woman called Johana for fishing on Sunday; consequently, there is still a local tradition that girls by that name must not be christened at St Levan Church.

As you walk along the path to the church, note the oval churchyard (ignore the modern extension to it to the southeast). By the porch you will find a fine Celtic cross in the Cornish style and a pre-Christian fissured fertility stone, probably the reason for this church being located here (just walk through it nine times and let us know if it works!). It is said that the rock was split by a blow from Selevan, who then uttered this prophecy about what would happen if the fissure should widen:

When with panniers astride,
 A pack horse can ride,
Through St Levan’s Stone,
The world will be done.

In William Borlase’s time the fissure was just a hand’s breadth wide. It has widened considerably since then, which is some cause for concern!

There is also a local tradition that Selevan used to like to sit on the stone to rest after a hard day’s fishing. We do not know if this had any effect on his fertility!

On entering the church you will see a fine 12th century font near the door and medieval pew ends featuring a pilgrim (note the shell in his hat), a shepherd, a jester and the two fish caught by Selevan. Various fantastic beasts adorn the remains of the medieval rood screen in true Celtic tradition (as seen on those at Sancreed and St Buryan churches).

Walk back up the road 100m and take the track off to the right sign posted ‘Porthgwarra’. Cross the steam and take the left fork, leading down the valley to the beach. There on the cliffs you will find the tiny baptistery and holy well in the most idyllic setting.

Walk down the ancient steps ahead of you and you will find the remains of what is thought to have been a two-roomed hermit’s cell by the emergency telephone. It is certainly very old and was excavated in 1931. Because of the east-west orientation of the room that is still accessible today, it is thought it might have once been a chapel.