St Veep Church & Parish

St Veep Parish is two thousand five hundred and fifty acres (gross rent in 1839: £556.4s.6d) The 1839 tithe map shows the shape of the parish, with the village of Lerryn bisected by the river, and thereby the south bank is in St Veep, while the north is part of St Winnow.

The parish church was originally dedicated to Saint Veep, of whom nothing is known - not even whether male or female; the building was cruciform in design and in 1269 belonged to Montacute Priory in Somerset. Nothing remains of the church from this period.

It was rebuilt in 1336 and rededicated to Saint Cyricius and Saint Julitta. The west tower appears to date from this rebuilding, but the rest of the church is late 15th century or early 16th century. Dendrochronological dating suggests c. 1460 for the nave and chancel roofs, but as late as 1540 for the north aisle roof.

Following the Prayer Book Rebellionof 1549, a number of well-known Cornish figures and priests were murdered or hanged in Cornwall. These included Richard Bennet, vicar of St Veep, under the direct orders of Anthony Kingston, Provost Marshal serving under King Edward IV.

Valuable church silverware, which had been deposited with Lloyds Bank of St. Austell and subsequently lost, was rediscovered in 2015 at a storage facility near Glasgow. Items included a chalice (dated 1579), silver flagon tankard (1737) and a silver plate (1738).

Discover more resources

Around the church

The present church features a chancel, nave, north and south aisles, porch and west tower of two stages. The tower, south doorway and south arcade date from the 14th century. The north arcade with floriated capitals is about a century newer, though the responds are earlier.

The tower has unusual corner buttresses, in a transitional style between the simple ones at Pelynt and the elaborate ones at Duloe. It has an embattled parapet on top, but without pinnacles

The church was (over) restored in the 19th century, with all the original woodwork swept away except five pews with carved bench ends in the south aisle.

The plain Georgian pulpit is adorned with roof carvings from Oxford colleges.

The blocked-up entrance to the rood loft stairs is obvious in the east wall of the north aisle, and next to it is a "squint" giving a view to the altar from what would have neem the north transept.

The font is octagonal, with carved details, and dates from the 14th century.

The parish stocks are housed in the church, and are unusual in having five holes. You can read more about this form of punishment here: What Were the Stocks & Why Were They Used? - RuralHistoria

There are two panels of Royal Arms; when the panel of George II was taken down for cleaning in the 1970s, the earlier panel of Charles II was discovered behind it.

The south porch has a lovely wooden ceiling and an initial memorial to William Penwarne, former vicar of St Veep.

There are some fine gravestones both inside the church and in the graveyard. On the floor of the north aisle there is a stone dated 1611: "Here lies the bode of Nicholas Milrome of Tregarre at Manelye".

Just outside the church is a stone commemorating William Truscott who was killed at the siege of Sebastapol in the Crimean War. He was wounded by a splinter from a bombshell in the trenches on September 5th 1855 and died on the 9th aged 24.

On the eastern edge of the graveyard there is a much decayed wooden headstone, whose inscription is sadly lost to the ravages of time.