Talland Church is a

Grade I listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

located on the cliff-top at

Talland Talland (, ) is a hamlet and ecclesiastical parish and former civil parish, between Looe and Polperro, now in the parish of Polperro, in the Cornwall district, on the south coast of Cornwall, England (the parish includes the eastern part of the ...

near

Looe Looe (; , ) is a coastal town and civil parish in south-east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, 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 () a ...

in Cornwall. It is dedicated to St Tallanus and was built by Augustinian monks from Launceston. 1140743-St-Tallanus-ViewFromClifftops

The

altar An altar is a table or platform for the presentation of religion, religious offerings, for sacrifices, or for other ritualistic purposes. Altars are found at shrines, temples, Church (building), churches, and other places of worship. They are use ...

of the present-day church is situated on the site of the original

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

altar. The altar of the church is said to date from the time of Tallan and was built at the junction of ley lines. However, St Tallanus's existence is disputed and ley lines cannot be proved to exist either. The church celebrated its 500th anniversary in 1990. Part of the nave and the first stage of the tower probably remain from a 13th-century church: the remainder must be late 15th century and is in typical Cornish Perpendicular style. Unusually it has a detached bell-tower on the south side which was only joined to the main body of the church in the 15th century. Inside the church is the headstone of Robert Mark although there is some confusion over exactly who he was. Killed in 1802, some accounts say that he was a Polperro smuggler shot at sea, others that he was a revenue collector killed on duty. His tablet reads: "In prime of life, most suddenly, Sad tidings to relate, Here view my utter destiny, And pity my sad state. I by a shot which rapid flew, Was instantly struck dead." There is old woodwork in the fine wagon roofs and the many benchends (partly ca. 1520, the rest ca. 1600) are of the usual Cornish type and among the finer examples of these.Allsopp, E. G. (1979) A Guide to Talland Parish Church

References

* Talland Church 500 Celebrations: Souvenir Programme (1490-1990).

External links

{{Commons category, St Tallanus' church, Talland *https://www.tallandchurch.co.uk/ Official Talland Church Website