St Just in Penwith Parish Church is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activitie ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

located in

St Just in Penwith St Just ( kw, Lan(n)ust), known as St Just in Penwith, is a town and civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies along the B3306 road which connects St Ives to the A30 road. The parish encompasses the ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...

, UK.

History

The church is dedicated to St Just; in 1478 William of Worcester reported that the church enshrined the relics of Saint Justus the Martyr. Just, Justin or Yestin was a son of St

Geraint Geraint () is a character from Welsh folklore and Arthurian legend, a valiant warrior possibly related to the historical Geraint, an early 8th-century king of Dumnonia. It is also the name of a 6th-century Dumnonian saint king from Briton h ...

. The church of St Just is medieval. There are no remains of the early medieval church and only part of the chancel remains from the church built in 1334 which was dedicated on 13 July 1336 by the

Bishop of Exeter The Bishop of Exeter is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. Since 30 April 2014 the ordinary has been Robert Atwell.

John Grandisson The '' British Museum">John Grandisson Triptych'', displaying on two small escutcheons the arms of Bishop Grandisson. British Museum John de Grandisson (1292 – 16 July 1369), also spelt Grandison, was Bishop of Exeter, in Devon, England, from ...

. The current building dates from the 15th-century. In 1355 the church was given to

Glasney College Glasney College ( kw, Kolji Glasneth) was founded in 1265 at Penryn, Cornwall, by Bishop Bronescombe and was a centre of ecclesiastical power in medieval Cornwall and probably the best known and most important of Cornwall's religious institu ...

by Sir John de Beaupre together with the church lands of Lafrowda. Medieval chapels in the parish included a chapel of St Helen at

Cape Cornwall Cape Cornwall ( kw, Kilgoodh Ust, meaning "goose back of St Just") is a small headland in West Cornwall, UK. It is four miles north of Land's End near the town of St Just.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet 203 ''Land's End'' Until the first O ...

and a chapel of

St Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

Chapel Carn Brea Chapel Carn Brea is an elevated Hercynian granite outcrop, owned by the National Trust at the southern edge of the civil parish of St Just, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hill is south of St Just and east of Sennen Cove, and just to ...

Description

The church is large and built of regular granite blocks. Both the body of the church and the tower are of the 15th-century and the tower is of three stages. The aisles are built to the same design with alternating windows of two different patterns. The arcades have limestone piers. The font is modern but has been described as 14th-century in date. Two medieval wall paintings remain but they are both heavily restored; one portrays St George and the other a warning to breakers of the Sabbath.

Antiquities

The Selus Stone is thought to date from the late 5th or early 6th-centuries. It bears the Latin inscription ''Selus Ic Iacet'' (Selus lies here). This is thought to refer to Salomon of Cornwall, otherwise known as Saint Selevan. Arthur Langdon (1896) recorded the existence of seven stone crosses in the parish of

, including two in the vicarage garden and two at Kenidjack. Another cross has been built into the church wall; there are also crosses at Leswidden and Nanquidno. There is a Cornish cross in the vicarage garden of Pendeen.

Memorial

A memorial window to Owen Boyle, the 18 year-old lighthouse keeper, who lost his life at the

Longships Lighthouse Longships Lighthouse is an active 19th-century lighthouse about off the coast of Land's End in Cornwall, England. It is the second lighthouse to be built on Carn Bras, the highest of the Longships islets which rises above high water level. I ...

on 25 October 1877 was installed in April, 1879. Owen who was overwhelmed by a wave and swept into the sea was the fifth death since the lighthouse was completed in 1873. The glass was manufactured by Messrs Eardly and Powell of

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Gallery

File:StJustChurch2.JPG, The south porch and sundial File:StJustChurch4.JPG, The high altar with the

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular architecture, for ...

of alabaster with fourteen Cornish saints File:StJustChurch5.JPG, The Lady chapel in the south aisle File:StJustChurch6.JPG, The organ File:StJustSecco.jpg, A

Fresco-secco Fresco-secco (or a secco or fresco finto) is a wall painting technique where pigments mixed with an organic binder and/or lime are applied onto a dry plaster. The paints used can e.g. be casein paint, tempera, oil paint, silicate mineral paint ...

in St Just in Penwith Parish Church. This painting was created in the 15th century and depicts

Saint George Saint George (Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin: Georgius, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christian who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to tradition he was a soldie ...

fighting the dragon

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Just in Penwith, Saint Just in Penwith Church

St Just in Penwith