The Church
The site of the original Celtic church is claimed to be at Trungle and would have been a simple wooden oratory in a round enclosure. That the present church site has a Celtic foundation is strongly suggested by the finding in 1954 of the top of a granite churchyard cross built into the wall of the vicarage. The Christ figure is depicted wearing a tunic showing it to be early ‘Byzantine’ design (perhaps 9th century). It is now kept in the church window by the font.
The present church contains built-in Norman fragments of about 1200 AD, the base of the font in the dogstooth design and a man’s head, also two nuns’ heads on the West tower wall and two dogs’ heads on the North porch.
The oldest part of the church is the North aisle built with eight columns of smooth elvan stone. The next oldest is the chancel where you can see two faces on the columns on each side of the ‘decorated’ window of the late 13th Century. The elvan columns and carved capitals may be 14 Century, some with angels wearing interesting hats and holding shields, and one with St.Gwinear’s stag. The granite columns and carved capitals in leaf design are a little later.
The tower was built in three sections with a spiral staircase and lantern turret which, it is claimed, lighted ships to safety in Hayle harbour.
The chancel has a 15th century wagon roof with carved bosses. The bowl of the font is dated 1727.
The windows and the blocked priest’s door on the South side are 15th-16th century. The North and blocked South doors are ‘2-centred’ 16th century with Tudor Rose designs. The porch and Arundel aisle beside it, and the unusual little door in between, are 16th century. Other windows, restored in the 19th century, are in perpendicular style.
The roodscreen base is Tudor. A few original carved Jacobean bench-ends survive only in the 19th century pulpit and the latiny desk.
A monument to Elizabeth Arundel, who died in 1683 and whose family built much of the church, is on the South wall. The large memorial to John Harvey, famous 19th century engineer of Hayle and his family, is just outside the North porch.
The early 19th century stained glass windows by the font depicts Jesus the Good Shepherd in the centre, John the Baptist on the left, and St.Gwinear on the right. The great East window which lights up at sunrise, shows in the centre, Jesus crucified and two of his apostles on either side of him. The symbols of the four gospel writers appear above them. The Good Samaritan window on the South side is late 19th century.
The letter of thanks from King Charles I to the Cornish people has hung, painted on wood, since the Restoration in 1643. A list of names of Gwinear’s vicars from 1258 is recorded up to 1976 when Gwinear Parish was united into a Benefice with the Parish of Phillack with Gwithian, whose incumbent it shares. In 1996, the Godrevy Team Ministry was inaugurated, composed of the Parishes of Phillack with Gwithian, Gwinear, St.Elwyn’s and St.Erth.
Parish registers are complete from 1560. The people are largely mining families, many of whom emigrated to America, South Africa or Australia when Herland Mine closed in the last century.
The Cache
The headline coordinates will take you to the entrance to the church grounds, and a war memorial.
The number of men who lost thier lives in the 1914 - 1919 war = A (look on both sides)
The number of men who lost thier lives in the 1939 - 1945 war = B (Count A.C.Perry.J.J.Hampton as one name)
At stage 2 - N50 11.280 W005 22.287
Dedicated to Mark Davis (Trilby) With Love Tragically Killed By Cliff Fall On His CDth Birthday EFth August 19GH
The cache can be found at:
N50 (B-F)((A/C)-D).FE(B-H) W005 (G-D)(F/C).(C+E)(FxC)(H+E)
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