St Just in Penwith Parish Church is a

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), 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 com ...

in the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the State religion#State churches, established List of Christian denominations, Christian church in England and the Crown Dependencies. It is the mother church of the Anglicanism, Anglican Christian tradition, ...

located in

St Just in Penwith St Just (), also known as St Just in Penwith, is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies along the B3306 road which connects St Ives, Cornwall, St Ives to the A3 ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

, UK.

History

The church is dedicated to St Just; in 1478

William of Worcester William Worcester (c. 1415 – c. 1482) was an English antiquary, author, and historian known for his detailed writings on medieval England. He served as the secretary to Sir John Fastolf, a prominent military commander during the Hundred Year ...

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 (officer), ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Exeter in the Province of Canterbury. The current bishop is Mike Harrison (bishop), Mike Harrison, since 2024. From the first bishop until the sixteent ...

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, f ...

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

Glasney College Glasney College () 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 institutions. History T ...

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 and a chapel of

St Michael Michael, also called Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel and the warrior of God in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second- ...

on Chapel Carn Brea.

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 Salomon (also known as Selyf, Selevan) was a late 5th century Cornish 'warrior prince', possibly a King of Cornwall. His feast day takes place on the 18 October. He was the father of the Cornish bishop Saint Cybi. Narrative According to Sabine ...

, 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 Pendeen (from meaning "headland fort", previously known as , meaning "Caswal's high dwelling") is a village and ecclesiastical parish on the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, England. It is north-northeast of St Just and west of Penzance. I ...

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, Cornwall, Longships islets which rises above ...

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 is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

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 (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

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 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 (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...

fighting the dragon

References

External links

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

St Just in Penwith