Like the majority of Cornish Churches the Parish Church of St Columb is dedicated in the name of a Celtic Saint-Columba the Virgin. She was a holy women who probably came from Ireland to preach the Gospel to fellow Celts here and in Brittany. According to tradition Columba was pursued up the river by a heathen tyrant who wished her to marry his son, and was martyred at Ruthvoes, about 2 1/2 miles from St Columb Town. (Columba in Latin means a Dove- the emblem of tenderness and purity.)
The church occupies a splendid position at the head of the Vale of Lanherne. The site was quite possibly a large tumulus or burying place in pre-Christian times. but we know that a church has occupied it for at least 1000 years.
1427-Sir John Arundel founded a College.
1500's-The consecration cross on the East side of the doorway. The cross probably made by John Grandison Bishop of Exeter who re-consecrated the church.
Under the tower from North to South you will notice a plain doorway covered by a porch over which there is a parvise or priest's chamber which was reach by a circular stairway.
1510-The bench ends added there are now only 38.
15th Century The "Cradle" roof was built.
The Tower was also built during this century consisting of four stages with battlements and pinnacles, it is about 80 feet in height.
As you pass under the Tower from South to North you will notice good windows made of dark cataclewse stone of this period.
Beyond the Transept on the outside of the church we reach the North Chancel Aisle with its fine windows of Pentewan Stone, the drip stones end in grotesque heads. There is also a priests door. If you walk westward through the Lady Chapel and down the steps to the South Transept which early in the 15th century became a private chapel known as the Jesus Chantry; it was founded by Sir Emanual Esaymus who probably lived at Trengoose. A chaplain once said Mass here three times a week, and after the dissolution, the transept came back to the church. In recent years it has been restored with an alter and above it a figure of "Christ the leader" by Alan Wyon.
On the panelling forming the reredos the following coats of arms are illuminated, reading from left to right as follows.
1. The province of the See of Canterbury.
2. The See of Exeter.
3.The arms of Bishop Henry Philpotts who divided Cornwall from the Diocese of Exeter.
4. The first arms of King Arther.
5.The later coat of King Arther quartered with Uther Pendragon,
King of Britain, his father, and incorporating the Vision he had at Glastonbury.
6.The See of Truro.
7.The Penpons coat of arms.
8.The Arms of the Arundells.
1842-August 9th Bishop Philpotts confirmed 400 school-children, at that time, he was recovering from an accident and had to be conveyed to St Mary's church in Truro in a sedan chair. It may be hard to see the relavance of this to St Columb church but please read the note below.
Note
Bishop Philpott had long advocated the formation of a Cornish see and the experiance of 1842 must of influenced him to make a definite proposal that this should be done. His efforts resulted in Lord John Russell putting forward a bill for the creation of four new dioceses of which Cornwall should be done. This did not pass through parliament but a Royal Commission was appointed to investigate the matter thus shelving it for the time being.
Meanwhile a healthy rivalry had grown up between Bodmin and Truro as to which should be the bishops seat and was further complicated when the commissions report was finally published. This certainly recommended a see for Cornwall but suggested St Columb as its base. This was due in some measure to Dr Walker vicar of St Columb who being wealthy, offered his vicarage (built ata cost of £7,000 ) and the avowson of the living estimated at £1,600 per annum. The bishop of Exeter went along with this with £500 a year of his income (he would save that on travel anyway) plus his Cornish patronage. Lord Palmerston, the prime Minister, however, turned down the whole idea in 1860 refused to consider it further, adding that modern communications made it easier for the bishop to travel and visit his diocese.
1845-The old rood screen still in position.
1903-The church was restored and the figures on the wall plates of the roof were added carved by local craftsmen.
The Rood Screen figures were added by the Rector, Mr E J Walker, in memory of his parents.
Above the screen in accordance with medieval tradition is a canopy of honour.
The pulpit was also replaced this year. It is hard to understand why the fine 16th century one was replaced, one of the panels was discovered in a house at Newquay, and forms the front of the credence table.
Note
Access is gained by means of a staircase in the masonry on the North side of the choir entrance, but there were steps which have been walled up in the South side, and it was here that a supply of gunpowder was kept for the purposes of defence; in 1676 some youths set fire to the magazine with disastrous results, for they themselves were killed, and the church was seriously damaged.
Most people are intrigued by the passage, wide enough to admit carts . which passes beneath the tower from the North to the south. the explanation most probably is that until 1820 the land on the three sides of the Tower did not belong to the church. Here stood the buildings of the College founded by Sir John Arundel in 1427, and probably the buildings approached the church so nearly that the parishioners could only find space to build their tower by allowing a right-of -way beneath it, for the members of the College. It was not until a little over the last century that the surrounding land was purchased by the churchwardens and added to the churchyard.
Beneath the Tower are two granite slabs, probably grave coverings, the one with a floriated cross being from a grave of a former Rector.
The East Windows and the Arundel Chapel.
The window of the South Transept we may well pause for here we see a very good example of Geometrical style of architecture dating from the early 14th century. the next window is also worthy of notice.
The South Porch of the same date as the South Transept Window with "Ball-Flower" mouldings a typical 14th century device of a pointed arch having at the terminals the heads of a man and a woman. Although "Ball-Flower" ornament is frequently found in other parts of England it is exceedingly rare in Cornwall.
What is now the Choir Vestry and the organ chamber is one of the most interesting parts of the church.
Until 1545 this was the chantry Chapel of the Guild of the Holy Trinity which probably consisted of the chief men of the parish, who after the dissolution of their chantry were cited "Twelve Men" and governed the affairs of the parish until the establishment of the parish council. The famous Green Book of St Columb was their minute book.
The South Chapel or Lady Chapel - in the Middle Ages the thought of death played a very dominant part in peoples lives, and the rich built churches or endowed chantries in existing churches where priests might intercede for them and their families; people of smaller means formed gilds in order that chantries might be established, and we know that there were three such gilds in St Columb during the 15th century. At Lanherne in St Mawgan was the home of the Arundells who were centuries one of the chief families in Cornwall, and were probably responsible for the re-building of the South Chancel on the condition that it might be used as their private chapel and burial place. In 1427, Sir John Arundell established there the Chantry of Our Lady with a college of five priests to serve it, by saying Masses for the souls of the departed Arundells. the priests had a dwelling near the west end of the church which was known as the college. the foundation was terminated (as were the others in the church)by the passing of the Chantry Act of 1545, although the priests received pensions.
The explosion of 1676 was responsible for the destruction of several monuments including the founder of the Chantry Sir John Arundell. On the right side of the Alter is a fine brass memorial of a later Sir John a man of great eminence. On the left side of the alter is a fine double brass in memory of Sir John Arundell who died in 1591, after a life in which he suffered much for the Roman Catholic faith to which the family adhered after the Reformation, and of his son John Arundell who died at Chideock Dorset. For many years of his life he was subject to a fine of £240 per annum for failing to attend service in the Church of England. In addition to the brasses there are some excellent slate memorials on the floor of the Lady Chapel: the first commemorates Sir John Arundell who was knighted by Charles I for his support he outlived both his sons, and died 1701 having left his estate to his elder daughter, the wife of Sir Francis Bellings. The second is to Sir Richard Bellings, the third to Mrs Ann Arundell the wife of Sir Richards grandson, who with accordance of the wish of his grandfather assumed the name of Arundell, and the fourth to Lady Frances Bellings who died in 1723.