St Nicholas

It has a peculiar history having been at various times a town hall, school, court and prison! One of its stained glass windows depicts a person with two left feet!

Dedicated to St Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, the 4th century Saint who is probably more famously known as Santa Claus, St Nicholas church, West Looe, was built sometime in the 13th or 14th centuries of ‘shelled rubble’ and has had a varied history, originally being part of the Parish of Talland.

During the Commonwealth the church was desecrated and became the Guildhall of the borough of West Looe.

However, during the restoration of the monarchy, in the reign of Charles II, it was again used for divine worship. Subsequently it reverted to secular use and was again used as the Guildhall and also as a prison, replete with a ‘scolding cage’.

Eventually, in the 19th century, the building was passed to the Church Commissioners and underwent numerous modifications and restorations to its interior and exterior.

In 1978 the Church of St Nicholas, West Looe, was united with the Parish of St. Martin’s, East Looe. The Millennium brought to fruition the reinstatement of a working clock in the clock tower. The original had been removed for repairs in the early 1900’s, but unfortunately was mistakenly sold for scrap some time afterwards!

Pews carved by Miss Violet Pinwill (1874-1957), who has carvings in Truro Cathedral, feature seahorses and fish in borders around the edges of the ends.