Get to know: St Anthony's Church, Roseland, Cornwall
In our most recent members' lecture, we heard from Michael Carter to talk about, Exploring Sawley Abbey with English Heritage. This lecture was recorded, and is now available for CCT members to enjoy on CCTdigital.com.
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Before we enjoyed a fascinating talk from Michael Carter, CCT members’ lecture host and historian, Victoria Jenner, explored the Cornish church built in the 11th century, St Anthony's Church, Roseland.
Scan the this QR code to enjoy a short video on Instagram highlighting some of the best features of St Anthony's Church.
The village of St. Anthony in Roseland is situated on the south side of St Mawes Harbour, on the Roseland Peninsula in southeast Cornwall. The village is known in Cornish as Sen Anta and Roseland is thought to mean 'the land of the promentory' - then Rhos is the old Cornish for 'Headland'.
Approaching St Anthony's - Place House
The church site is described by the British Publishing Company as ‘Place’ or ‘Plase’, translated as ‘palace’ in Cornish, and it really is just that. From the road leading down to Place Quay, or from the St Mawes estuary if you arrive by boat, one does not see a church at St Anthony but rather the long, white-painted house of Place, with stables and a cottage beside it. The house has a central carriage porch beneath a tall tower, which is itself topped by a spire which splays out at its base (known as a broach spire). The group of buildings forms an impressive ensemble, and it is only at a second glance that one notices a taller spire, also of the broach variety, rising just behind the house and shadowed by the thick woodland which climbs high above it. The reason for this self-effacing position of the church, almost hidden behind – and subordinate to – the big house, lies in its long history.
History of the site.
It is believed that the origins of St. Anthony’s Church may trace back to the 7th century, with a small chapel possibly founded by Celtic missionaries from Brittany and Ireland. By 933 BCE, following Saxon King Athelstan's invasion of Cornwall, it is likely that a modest church had already been established, as the Saxon Diocese of Crediton held land in the area.
In 1043, when the bishop relocated his seat from Crediton to Exeter, Cornwall fell under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Exeter, becoming one of several archdeaconries. The bishop managed a significant estate on the Roseland peninsula, centred at Tregeare, just north of Gerrans. Cornish historian Hals suggests that Bishop William Warelwast may have constructed a church at St. Anthony around 1124.
The first documented mention of the church appears in a charter by King Henry II, which notes that between 1138 and 1155, Bishop Robert Chichester granted the parish of St. Anthony, along with its land and tithes, to the Augustinian Priory of St. Mary at Plympton in Devon. The church, dedicated to St. Antoninus, King and Martyr, became a small daughter church of the priory, initially housing two 'black' canons.
A century later, in October 1259, the esteemed Bishop Walter Bronescombe visited his nearby manor of Tregeare and subsequently rededicated the church, renaming it St. Anthony-in-Roseland although Plympton Priory remained the patron.
From these humble beginnings, the small monastery grew gradually, reaching a value of £3 per annum by 1291. However, it faced adversity when French pirates attacked the church and its associated buildings in 1338 after landing at St. Mawes.
Bishop John Grandison promptly authorized their full restoration. Today, what stands before us is a cruciform church from the 13th century, notable for its short central tower, a departure from the typical tall west-end towers of the time.
The church features a charming Norman doorway, believed to have been brought from Plympton Priory. Despite an extensive 19th-century restoration by Samuel Spry, MP for Bodmin, Sir Nikolaus Pevsner praised the church as "the best example in the county of what a parish church was like in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries."
For the next two centuries, St. Anthony continued as a daughter house to Plympton Priory, a wealthy institution with extensive holdings in both Devon and Cornwall. Serving a small population, the church remained modest in size, though the number of canons gradually increased, leading to the development of a modest complex of monastic buildings. These provided accommodations for the priests, lay workers, and hospitality to seamen awaiting new passage at St. Mawes.
Mount and St Mawes Castle.
St. Anthony also offered support to pilgrims, possibly en route to St. Michael’s Mount. In 1435, Bishop Edmund Lacey granted a 40-day indulgence for pilgrims who visited St. Anthony and contributed to its upkeep.
However, the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century brought an end to this chapter. In 1538, the surrender of Plympton Priory led to the closure of its daughter house at St. Anthony. The land and tithes were seized by the Crown, and the priests were pensioned off.
In 1540, the lands surrounding the church were no longer retained by the manorial family and instead leased to a yeoman farmer. Part of the church and many of the domestic buildings were dismantled, with the stone repurposed to build King Henry VIII’s new castle at St. Mawes.
The remnants of the monastic buildings were transformed into the first Place House, situated to the north of the church. By 1597, this house, marked on maps as 'Mr. Davies House' after its tenant Nicholas Davies, had obscured the church from view. The house, with its subsequent alterations and expansions, continues to shield the church to this day.
Maritime history and Spry family graves.
Today we can see this tangible connection if we walk up to the church and pass the house. The Spry family were incredibly influential throughout Cornwall, particularly within the Roseland and their ownership of this house from 1547 is very obvious as you walk around the graveyard and inside the church.
The Spry family were the sole contributors to the restoration of the Church, which occurred in the nineteenth century, overseen by Reverend C W Carlyon. This included the rebuilding of the wooden roof, floor tiles and stained glass.
Upon arrival, you can see the graves of the members of the late Spry family as well as servants from former times.
Thomas Davy Spry, as another example, was very heavily involved in the capture of the Spanish vessel Diana, on 11 November 1779. Interestingly, on April 13 1779, an edition of the same newspaper states ‘The King hath been pleased to grant unto Thomas Davy, Esq: Captain to the Royal Navy…his Royal Licence and Authority to take and use the Surname and Arms of Spry.’
A tourist site for years?
Have you ever come across Edward Harte’s poetry? Well I wouldn’t be surprised if you hadn’t because it was published in a souvenir pamphlet in 1955. Harte sums up the general feelings surrounding this beautiful church in a thought-provoking tribute, rendering the site a ‘Paradise, this fairyland, of deep blue waters, sun-drenched sands.’ And it really does feel magical, nestled in woodland and so close to so many beautiful beaches.
Harte suggests this church as special and hence the only one that Henry VIII had restored in Cornwall. He also describes a compelling scene in the pamphlet:
‘Admiral Spry sailed out of Falmouth Harbour one morning to have a look at the coast from the sea to find which was the best way to defend it…he ran into the French fleet coming into sack Penryn. He wiped the lot up and scored the first great Naval Victory of Henry VIII days. This uplifted the morale of the Cornish people and made Henry popular. He knew that the Cornish were a religious race, and he cashed in on the fact. He ordered the Church to be restored and a roof to be put on it like the bottom of a ship to commemorate this victory, and so it is today.’
Harte captures the common belief amongst the Roseland peninsula and throughout Cornwall, that Jesus visited multiple churches with his uncle Joseph of Arimathea. According to legend, ‘the traders brought Joseph’s damaged boat into the bay by Place. While they were making it seaworthy, Jesus and Joseph had somewhere to stay as it was a trading post.’
St Anthony in Roseland costs us £4152 a year to maintain. Make a donation to this beautiful church on our website here, or text 'ROA' to 70191 to donate £10. Thank you.