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Parish Church of:
Liskeard
The church of St. Martin, the largest in the county except that of Bodmin, is a spacious embattled edifice, chiefly of granite, in the Decorated style, consisting of chancel, nave, aisles, an extra aisle or chapel on the south side, and an embattled western tower of four stages, 57 feet in height, and much earlier than the other portions of the building, the corbel-tables, windows, and the arch separating it from the nave being Norman; it contains 6 bells, dated respectively 1819, 1755, 1825, 1755, 1735 and 1753; the present entrance to the tower from the exterior is through a Perpendicular doorway (evidently an insertion), having on it the date 1627; the south aisle is relived by three square projecting bays, westernmost of which forms a porch: at the west of the north aisle is a low side window supposed to have been used for administering the sacrament to lepers and converted Jews: it consists of three small square-headed lights, each being 1ft. 5 in. in height
and 31/4 in. in width with the openings separated by mullions 5in. thick; externally , beneath the window, is a small holy water stoup: the outer doorway of the south porch is modern, the Pointed arch of the original doorway being still visible above; over the doorway, on the exterior, are three Gothic niches, once inclosing the sculptured images of the Virgin and two saints: the pulpit is of oak, beautifully carved, and dates from 1636: about the year 1793 the church underwent many alterations of the character common at that period; pews were then first erected, the open roof of carved oak plastered over, the rood screen destroyed, the chancel altered and a gallery erected in the extreme south aisle, called “the ladies gallery”; the screen was of oak and extended across the nave and aisles, separating them from the chancel; the turret leading to the rood-loft may still be seen nar the chancel door: the large pews have now given way to low open seats: in November
1844, an organ was erected by subscription at a cost of upwards of £400; within the communion rails there is a marble floor slab to Thomas Johnson major in the Duke of Albermarle's regiment of horse, and a Coldstreamer, buried there in May, 1666: in the body of the church is a memorial to Joseph Wadham, 1807, the last of the descendants of Nicholas and Dorothy Wadham, the founders of Wadham Colege, Oxford; other memorials in the church are inscribed to Dorothy, wife of Richard Roberts, mayor of Liskeard, 1697; Lieut. Joseph Hawkey R.N. of HMS “Implacable” killed in the Gulf of Finland 1809; Major-Gen. Eales H.E.I.C.S. 1819; Major William Rowe R.M. and mayor, 1829; Capt. John Rowe R.N. HMS “Trincomalee” 1799; Thomas Sampson, yeoman, 1607, and Robert, his son, 1600; on the exterior east wall is a tablet with quaint inscription to Mary Read, 1731; and the churchyard has monuments to the Cardew family, 1754-91; a handsome granite mausoleum was erected in 1843, by B.H.
Lyne esq of Wadham, over the vault of the Lyne family: the church was restored in 1879, at a cost of £3,832: a new vestry was erected in 1888 from designs by Mr. John Sansom, of Liskeard, and in 1889 the church was further restored and a new east window erected at a cost of about £1,500. The church will seat 1,200 persons. The register dates from the year 1539.
In connection with the parish church is a mission chapel at Lamellion, in which divine service is held once a month.
Dobwalls
The chapel of ease here, attached to Liskeard, is a building of stone in the Early English style, consisting of chancel and nave, and a turret containing one bell, and was opened for divine service in 1839 at a cost of £640, a portion of which, about £220, was raised by subscription, and the remainder defrayed by the Rev. James Roderick Todd, then vicar.
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