St Columba
St Columb Major, Cornwall
Our church, a fine Grade I listed building dating from the 14th century, contains 33 late medieval bench ends, including one depicting a dog preaching to a pig!
The church was devastated by fire in 1985, with only the tower and walls surviving, but has been completely rebuilt. Dedicated to St Denys the patron saint of Paris, some believe this name comes from the Cornish ‘dinas’ for hill fort. The church is Grade II* listed.
St Dennis sits high above Goss Moor and there are impressive views from every direction. The tower of the church is 14th century, the only part of the building dating to this time. It houses a peal of eight bells. The oldest bell in the peal is the 6th, which ‘Doves Guide to Church Bells’ suggests was cast around 1456 by William Chamberlain. The whole installation was overhauled by Taylors in 2024.
Either side of the internal entrance to the tower are a stone carved angel and a bishop both of which date to the 14th century.
The church, apart from the tower, was almost totally rebuilt in 1847 and provides a rectangular building under a single roof. The Victorians created a barn like structure with two chancel windows.
The windows are copies of the 1920 originals; one depicts Christ and his disciples, whilst the other is a World War I memorial.
After the fire of 1985, little was left untouched, apart from the walls and tower of the church and a cross above the high altar which miraculously survived the intense heat of the blaze. There is a description of the fire as you enter the church above the notice board on the right. The roof trusses needed to be lifted into place during the rebuild following the fire by a Sea King helicopter.
The font inside the church is Victorian but there is also a Saxon font outside of church to the left of the porch. This was used in the early church and was removed by the Victorians. In the early 20th century the Saxon font was again placed in the church. Following the fire in 1985 the Saxon font was again removed and was replaced by a Victorian one.
On the right hand side of the path leading to the church is a Cornish cross, dating to the 5th or 6th century, this illustrates how long Christianity has been practised at this site.