St Goran Church – Gorran Churchtown
Churchtown is a name given to the group of habitations and businesses which cluster around a parish church. St Goran is said to have come from Wales via Ireland and Brittany before settling in Bodmin where he was known as St Wron. He was befriended by St Petroc who persuaded him to move on and he finally settled at Polgorran (Goran’s Pool) which is thought to have been in the gardens of the old vicarage just down from the church.
The church stands on the site of a Norman cruciform building but little remains of the original. The 90 ft granite tower is the most striking external feature – this dates from the early 1600’s when it was rebuilt in its current form after the collapse of an earlier steeple built in the late 1400’s. The tower is visible from a great distance including from the sea where it was used as a daymark for boats coming into Gorran Haven. At one time the church had substantial amounts of stained glass but this was all destroyed in the Commonwealth period – only a few fragments have been found.
The church is large and airy and is much bigger than one would expect for the small community that it served. Inside, at the base of the tower is a display of clappers and bell furniture dating from 1775 which were all found under debris during a more recent restoration.
This church was another one of the many in Cornwall that were restored in the 19th century by Piers St Aubyn. His, often over-enthusiastic, restorations resulted in the loss of many of the original wood carvings and benches. In this case many of the original bench ends have been used to form the back panel of the back row of the nave pews.
On the north wall opposite the entrance porch is a memorial to Richard Edgcumbe of Bodrugan who died in 1604. The Bodrugan estate was centred upon Bodrugan Farm – a few miles away on the top of the hill between Portmellon and Gorran.
This well appointed, significant parish church is well worth a visit and is open during the daytime throughout the year.
The Cache
The headline coordinates take you to the War memorial just outside the Church.
Stage 1 – On the memorial it states “How many of this parish went to serve in the Great War” – Answer ABC
Stage 2 – Enter the church grounds through the main gate and bear right along the gravel path.
At N 50° 14.799 W 004° 48.436 you will find a memorial plaque on the ground opposite the main entrance to Jack George Bustin – How old was he when he died – Answer = DE
Stage 3 – Carry on along the path until you reach N 50° 14.807 W 004° 48.419. Here you will find the grave of Petronella Grose wife of William Jenkin. On which day and year did Petronella die? – Answer May C AFBG
Stage 4 – Walk on to the rear of the church and at N 50° 14.835 W 004° 48.445, locate the grave of Kenneth Frederick Pike – his name is picked out in gold lettering on his gravestone.
The date of his death gives you AH June JBBK
You now have all you need to locate the final cache which can be obtained using:
N 50 AH.ECE W 004 HD.CFK
The cache is a short walk away past a hostelry and onto a marked footpath. Take care with kids and geohounds on the first stretch of the road – it gets busy. The cache is a tubular container about twice the size of a 35mm film pot in a camo bag.
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro@gmail.com.
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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