The Church
This is a beautiful small church - some of the pews in the south aisle have very old oak ends and seats. The patina on them indicates long use.
In the floor there are many 17th Century gravestones.
The Church is dedicated to St. German, the fighting German Bishop who is supposed to have landed nearby when he came to England to suppress the Pelagian Heresy in AD 400.
From the carved tympanum (a semi circular door head) mounted in one wall, we know there was an earlier Norman church which pre-dates the present building, which was enlarged and rebuilt in the 13th Century. It was re-dedicated by Bishop Walter de Bronescombe on October 15th 1259. The slender unbuttressed tower with its broached spire (an unusual feature in a Cornish church), the north wall, windows and the chancel are all probably of this date.
Transepts were probably added by about 1320, with the south aisle replacing the south transept about 200 years later. Aisles were used for parish processions before services on Sundays and Feast days. 150 years later there was a larger reconstruction with a new south aisle and arcade
The south aisle wagon roof is original and some pews survive from the 16th Century, with Devon-style tracery on the surviving pew ends. There were restorations in 1848 and 1886.
The unfinished screen, the curious broom-stick candle holders, the hand pumped organ and the removal of the plaster from the walls date from the incumbency of Canon Robert Ekins, 1900 – 1939.
The church has no modern utilities such as electricity, gas or water and is still lit by candles during services.
The Cache
There is room to park 1 or 2 cars outside the church on the roadside.
The headline coordinates take you to the entrance porch of the church.
The last gravestone on the left of the path before reaching the entrance porch is dedicated to Elizabeth Edwards.
Elizabeth Edwards died on A of April BCDA aged EF years
John Edwards died BC November BCGE aged DE years
The cache can be found at N 50 B(A+F).EEE W 004 BB.(B+C)GD
You are looking for a small cam'd tube about 10 cms long and 3 cms in diameter.
It is a medium walk away or a short drive - there are other caches nearby - the views from the GZ are spectacular.
You may need tweezers to extract the log and please Bring Your own Pen
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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.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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