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Parish Church of:
Probus
The church of SS. Probus and Grace, made collegiate by King Athelstan A.D. 926, for a dean and four prebendaries, but dissolved at the reformation, is an edifice of stone in the Perpendicular style, consisting of chancel, nave of five bays, aisles, north and south porches and a tower containing a clock and 6 bells: the tower, regarded by some as the finest in Cornwall is constructed of St.Stephen's granite and is 108 feet high to the battlements, the angles are supported by double buttresses, embellished with embrasures, and above these rise 8 crocketed pinnacles 13 feet in height, each with 4 lesser pinnacles: the plinth, cornices and upper storey are ornamented with small figures, foliage, fleurs-de-lis, animals and other carvings, and on the north and south sides are three Gothic niches; in the Golden aisle is a brass with effigies to John Wulvedon, ob. 6th November, 1514, and Cecillia, his wife, ob. 20th April, 1512, and on the floor is a stone inscribed to
the Rev. William Cornish, 1789, and Jane, his wife, first cousin and heiress of John Kelly esq. of Exeter and Washbourne, in the county of Devon, 1773: in the chancel is a monument to Thomas Hawkins esq, J.P., M.P. who died in 1766: there are also various modern monuments ; the chancel screen formed of portions of the ancient screen and bench ends, is dated 1691, and bears an inscription as follows:- “Jesus, hear us, thy people, and send us grace and good for ever:” there are eight stained windows, chiefly memorials, including the east window, erected by the Rev. Prebendary Barnes, in memory of his parents, and the west window, erected in 1851 by the clergy of the neighbourhood, in memory of the Rev. Robert Lampen; a new stained window is now (1893) about to be placed in the Golden aisle to the memory of William Trethewy esq, of Tregoose, by the tenantry on the Trewithen estate; the font is a memorial to Sarah, wife of the Rev. William Stakchouse, ob. March 7th,
1845, and the pulpit of Caen stone to William and Mary Stackhouse, ob. 1830 and 1806: in the north wall remain the rood stairs , open and in good condition, and in a reliquary in the north wall of the chancel are preserved two skulls, supposed to be those of the patron saints of the church, and which were discovered under the altar during the restoration; a new organ was placed in the church in July, 1884, at a cost of £500, and in 1886 a reredos was erected and the roof of the chancel decorated, from designs by Mr J.P. St. Aubyn, architect of London, as a memorial to the Rev. Prebendary Barnes M.A. late vicar; the reredos was the gift of Mrs Barnes, and the cost of the chancel decorations were defrayed by the parishioners; in 1851 the church was partly rebuilt and thoroughly restored, under the direction of the late G.E. Street R.A. architect, at a cost of £1,500; in 1888 the roof of the north aisle and chancel were again restored, and the nave, south aisle and
porch re-roofed in 1893 at a cost of £250; there are 500 sittings. The register dates from the year 1644.
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