St Olaf King & Martyr
Poughill, Cornwall
The churchwarden’s records for this church are particularly detailed and enable precise dates to be given to many features in the church.
St Michael & All Angels was built in 1835 and donated as ‘a gift to the people of the place’ by the Lord of the Manor, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland.
Bude, Cornwall
It was designed by the Welsh architect George Wightwick (who built many other buildings in Bude). St Michael's was originally built as a Chapel of Ease to nearby Stratton church, and only later became the parish church of Bude Haven as the town expanded with the advent of the London and South Western Railway in the 1890s and its new found popularity as a holiday resort, somewhat sharply described by John Betjeman as ‘an East Anglian resort facing the wrong way’.
There are no printed records earlier than the third incumbency, but it is clear that the liturgy at St Michael always embraced the fullness of English traditional worship which is so cherished here today.
The church has many interesting features which have to be seen to be appreciated. The sanctuary light in front of the high altar indicates that the Blessed Sacrament is reserved. As many visitors have testified, the church is filled with the tangible Presence of Christ and his Peace. St Michael is blessed with many beautiful stained-glass windows.
The magnificent east window above the high altar depicts, centrally, Christ the King, with Archangels Michael and Gabriel beneath. In the children’s chapel the three small windows depict the Nativity, Christ’s Presentation in the Temple, and Christ teaching in the Temple.
Notable among the ornamental features are the 14 Stations of the Cross. The pulpit is a memorial to the fourth Vicar, Henry Owen Hall, its base is of Cornish granite and Polyphant stone, the top being of richly carved oak. The lectern, a carved oak eagle was also a memorial to Fr Hall.
The graveyard is testimony to this treacherous coast on which St Michael is placed, which has always had a fearful reputation among mariners. Over the centuries, the sheer cliffs and jutting reefs have wrecked hundreds of vessels and claimed countless seafarers, some of whom are buried here.
Poughill, Cornwall
The churchwarden’s records for this church are particularly detailed and enable precise dates to be given to many features in the church.
Stratton, Cornwall
There are some fascinating items to spot in the parish church of St Andrew, including the old town stocks and the stoutly studded door from Stratton Gaol, with iron nails outlining the word CLINK!
Launcells, Cornwall
Famously described by Sir John Betjeman as the ‘least spoilt church in Cornwall’, the building dates back to the late 15th century, with fragments of an earlier 14th century church incorporated into the current structure.