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Parish Church of:
Landulph
The church of St. Dilpe, standing close to the river, is a building of stone, in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, south porch and an embattled western tower with pinnacles, about 70 feet high and containing 6 bells, all cast in 1768: the chancel retains some good carved stalls: there is also the basement of a screen, and in the nave and north aisle are benches with ends boldly carved: the east window of the south aisle contains the shields of Archdeckne, Coryton and Lower: and the Clifton family seats erected in 1630 by Sir Nicholas and Lady Elizabeth Lower, bear the carved shields of more than twenty families: the rood stairs remain in the south wall: inside the church, over the vestry door is an inscription on brass, giving an account of the pedigree of Theodore Palaeologus of Pesaro, in Italy, a lineal descendant from "the last Christian Emporers of Greece", who died at Clifton in this parish, 21st January, 1636, and was buried in
a vault beneath the monument; the vault was opened about 1795, and an oaken coffin, discovered containing the body of Palaeologus, so perfectly preserved that the features, strongly marked by an aquiline nose, were clearly defined; the inscriptions records his descent from Constantine (Palaeologus) VIII. Emperor of the East, and above it is a double-headed eagle, surmounted by the imperial crown, and having each foot on an embattled gateway: on the wall over the Clifton pew are two mural brasses, with arms to Sir Nicholas Lower, kt. ob. 17 May, 1655, his wife Elizabeth (Killigrew), ob. 1638, and other members of the family, including Sir William Lower, kt. M.P. for Bodmin: in the south aisle is a massive tomb of marble to the same persons, and there are other memorials to Elizabeth Clarke, 1653; Edward Amerideth, rector, 1661; Alexander Moone, 1734, and various modern inscriptions; the communion plate includes a chalice, dated 1631, with cover dated 1641, both given
by Sir Nicholas Lower, and another dated 1641, given by Alexander Lower esq.; there are 200 sittings; in the churchyard is the shaft of a sun dial, with the date 1690. The registers date from the year 1540, and though defective are in a good state of preservation.
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