Tallanus is thought to have been a Cornish saint. It is claimed that he was a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite ( adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a C ...

in the 5th century and lived at Talland between

Polperro Polperro ( kw, Porthpyra, meaning ''Pyra's cove'') is a large village, civil parish, and fishing harbour within the Polperro Heritage Coastline in south Cornwall, England. Its population is around 1,554. Polperro, through which runs the River P ...

and

Looe Looe (; kw, Logh, ) is a coastal town and civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, with a population of 5,280 at the 2011 census. Looe is west of Plymouth and south of Liskeard, divided in two by the River Looe, East Looe ( kw, links= ...

. The

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 ...

of Talland, which is believed to be a 5th-century foundation, is consecrated to him – the only one in Britain. One explanation of the word 'Talland' is that it is a derivation of the Saint's name. However, the name Tallanus first appears in documents in the 15th century and there is some evidence to suggest that he was an invention of that period. The first recorded reference to the church now dedicated to Saint Tallanus (the Latinised version of tallan) is in 1205 "the church at Tallan". Tal and Lan are Cornish. Tal = "brow of the hill" and Lan = "holy place" (or church). Together they perfectly describe the church that the Augustine monks of Launceston established at Tallan (between 1086–1205), and as with other Cornish churches all that seems to have happened is that "saint" has been put in front of a Cornish place name so as to tie that parish to a saint. There is no recorded reference to a Tallanus prior to 1452 and certainly no evidence that Tallanus was a saint.

Sources

Talland Church

Theological debate
{{authority control Medieval Cornish saints 5th-century Christian saints 5th-century English people