Cornish churches are not simple structures that nestle into the
landscape, but complex and little-understood buildings, with many never
being completed. The recurrent picture, from some of the best church
building accounts to survive in Britain, is that most Cornish churches
were building yards when Henry VIII became head of the Church of England
and set the Reformation in motion. This makes it hard to find perfect
examples for particular architectural periods. Pevsner notes that the
vast majority of church fabric is Perpendicular Gothic, with granite the
material of choice by the sixteenth century. Tin, trade and farming
fuelled this great rebuilding, with 140 of the 209 medieval Cornish
parish churches still having Norman architectural features. Earlier
Christian memorial stones and churchyard crosses were recycled as
foundations. Georgian vandalism of church fabric, especially window
tracery, is well documented, though Victorian restorations often went
too far in trying to put things right. In this book author Joanna
Mattingly explores a fascinating selection of churches from right across
Cornwall in both urban and rural locations. Those featured include all
Cornish dendro-dated churches and examples from each of the ten
deaneries. From St Allen and St Austell to Tintagel and Truro, the
author chronicles many engaging and insightful aspects of the county's
ecclesiastical, architectural and social history. Illustrated
throughout, Churches of Cornwall will be of immense interest to local
historians, residents and visitors to the county.
