|
Parish Church of:
Bodmin
The priory church of St. Mary and St.
Petrock the largest parish church in Cornwall, is an edifice
of stone, chiefly the Perpendicular style, with some
portions of Norman and Early English work, and consists of
chancel and nave, together of nine bays, with aisles
extending the whole length of both, south porch with parvise
and an embattled tower of three stages on the north side,
with four tall pinnacles and containing a clock and 8 bells,
recast in 1767 it is 151 feet in length by 65 wide,
dimension which correspond as nearly as possible with those
given by the Chronicler William of Worcester; the tower was
originally surmounted by a spire, reaching a height.
together with the tower, of 150 feet, but this was destroyed
by lightning 9th December, 1699, and a sum of £227 was
expended in repairing the damage done to the fabric and
bells: the three easternmost bays are inclosed by wood
screens, constructed in part from the old bench ends: the
stained east window, presented in 1824 by Lord de
Duinstaville, has been removed for the insertion of a more
modern window: the south chancel aisle retains a piscina and
a priest's door, and there are traces of the rood loft
stairs: the rood screen was removed in 1775: in the north
chancel aisle is the tomb of Thomas Vivian, prior of Bodmin
and titular bishop of Megara, ob. 1st June, 1533; this altar
tomb, originally in the priory church, is of grey stone,
about 7 feet long by 3 in height, and bears a recumbent
effigy of the prior, vested, wearing a mitre and holding his
pastoral staff; at the corners are mutilated figures of
angels, and the panelled sides are enriched with figures of
the Evangelists and of angels bearing the arms of the priory
and those of Vivian; on the margin is an inscription in
Lombardic capitals; the monument, as recorded on an
inscribed brass on the top, was repaired in 1819 by Sir
Vyell Vyvyan bart. and again more recently by the present
Rev. Sir V. D. Vyvyan bart.: many ancient bench ends,
besides those incorporated in the screens, remain, and some
of these exhibit grotesque carvings: the pulpit and reading
desk are also finely carved, and some of this work appears
to have been executed in 1492, by one Matthy More,
carpenter: the church has wagon roofs, ribbed and plastered,
and adorned with carved bosses, executed 1469-72, and
exhibiting shields of arms and grotesques: the font is a
fine example of the Transition Norman style; a Gothic cross,
with a carving of the “Crucifixion” is also preserved: the
embattled south porch has parvise of two stories, about
11feet square and reached by a turret staircase on the north
side; on the south front of the porch are three canopied
niches: there are memorial windows in the church to the Rev.
John Wallis M.A. 49 years vicar, d.6th December, 1866;
William Robert Hicks esq, Mayor 1865-6 and two others,
erected in 1891-2 to the officers and men of
The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry, who fell in the Zulu
and Egyptian campaigns of 1879 and 1882-5: the church
contains a large number of monuments and inscriptions, many
being of early date: in the chancel is an ancient slab
bearing a floriated cross and a marginal inscription to
Thomas le Moyle, probably one of the mayors of that name ib
the first half of the 15th century; in the nave is a slab
with incised cross and initials, and round the verge an
inscription to John Vyvyan, ob. 9th March, 15455; next the
east wall is a slate slab inscribed to Richard Durant, mayor
in 1611 and 1624, ob. 20th May 1632, and Loveday (Mitchell)
. ob. 1589, and Katheren (Turny), ob. 1608, his wives, and
has 10 English verses and effigies of the wives and 20
children:
near the priors tomb is a stone with inscription to Thomas
Corye, mayor 1591, ob. Gebruary, 1592; a broken slab, with
parts of an achievement of arms, has also a mutilated legend
to William Kendell, ob. 17th December, 1604, and an epitaph
of 10 Latin lines: on the floor o the north aisle is a slab
with the arms of Maynard impalling Mitchell, probably
commemorating Nicholas Maynard and Jane (Mitchell); his
wife, ob. illa 1610: next it is another inscribed tp Philip
Michell esq, and Blanche (Carminow), his wife, ob. illa 13th
September 1673, ; there are mural slabs in the north aisle
surrounded with small shields of arms, to Bernard Flamank,
ob. 25th October 1658, and his wives Elziabeth (Rouse), ob.
1632, and Bridget (Tremayne); in the south chancel aisle is
a ledger of slate with the arms of the Merchant Adventurers,
and inscription to Peter Bolt, merchant, ob. 26th July,
1633;
here also is a mural tablet to Gicely (Ward), wife of
Bernard Achym, ob. 13th June 1639, with incised kneeling
effigy and 20 English rhyming lines, a shield of arms, and
emblems, and the fragments of another memorial cemented and
framed, with portions of an inscription to a lady of the
Achym family, ob. 1557 ; the south chancel aisle has a stone
to John Bullock, gent. ob.1658, and a marble slab to Charles
Blight, gent. mayor 1658 and 1677, ob 11th December, 1684,
and Elizabeth his Wife, ob. 1701; in the corresponding north
aisle is a monument to Edward Hoblyn, gent ob. 28th
December, 1688: there are besides a number of ancient
memorials in an imperfect condition, and those of modern
date record the names of four vicar. viz. Jasper Wood
M.A,37yrs, d. 1716; Anthony Hosken B.D. 36 years vicar,
d,a:et Novenaber, d. 21st November, 1766 ; John Wallis M.A.
mentioned above, and. John Pomeroy M.A. 35 years vicar, d.
17th August, 1813, as well as of the Gilbert, Moyle, Oakley,
,Liddell, Pennington and other families: the church was
partly rebuilt, 1469-72, and the west front in 1814 ; the
later restoration has been carried on, at intervals, from
about 1867 up to 1886, at a cost, Including windows and
other gifts of over £10,000; the organ was renovated in 1893
there are 7oo sittings: the church is surrounded by a
churchyard, at the east end of which, and adjoining the
vicarage garden, is the chantry chapel of St. Thomas the
Martyr, an elegant structure of the' Decorated period,
forming a parallelogram, the length internally being 44 feet
9 inches. and the width 18 feet, with a porch on the south
side: the east window has elegant tracery, and' in the south
waIl are triple sedilia and a piscina ; below 'the chapel is
a vaulted crypt; the building is now in a decayed state, and
overgrown with ivy: in the church was also a chantry
dedicated to St. John the Baptist, and endowed in 1474 by
Stephen Naylor, of Bodmin. The register of baptisms and
burials dates from the year 1558; marriages, 1559; all are
in an excellent state of preservation, and there is an index
Nominum compiled by Rev. J Wallis, a former vicar.
Links:
|
|
