Minster Church
Click photo for larger image
1 View of Minster
particularly fine
with its yellow
daffodils. The western face of the tower has an inscribed sissor shape - no
one knows why.
2 Cotton family memorial
dated 1656. note the
kneeling figures, typical of
the period, and the text
beneath.
3 Minster view of inside.
You can just see the Cotton
memorial through the first
Arch by the window.
4
Font with its diagonal
criss cross lines. Its well
worth
standing here and
reflecting on what
St Aubyn removed.
Minster
set remarkably within the folds of the valley becomes ablaze at springtime
with yellow daffodils giving way to white aconites and aromatic wild garlic,
can be approached on foot via the Valency Valley or by car by taking the
first lane to Home Farm.
Minster is unusual
as its tower has a saddleback roof instead of battlements and its setting
different from
the group of 7 churches as it stands below road level.
The original church was Norman and erected by William de Bottreaux, Lord of
the manor in 1150. Little remains of the original church. In 1507
restoration was undertaken, adding the south aisle and rebuilding the porch
and upper part of the tower. By the 19th century the church fell into
St. Merthiana
There has been a religious foundation on this site
since
about the year 500 AD when Madryn, a Welsh princess settled in this
valley to give healing by prayer and water. St Merthiana - as she is now
known - died here and is said to be buried in the chancel of the church.
She also became the patron of the daughter church of St Materiana at
Tintagel.
decay and in 1869 the roof collapsed. In 1871
it reopened having undergone
a transformation
by J.P St Aubyn. This restoration saw much of
the interior removed. The barrel vault roof with
its carved images, box
pews, beautifully carved
bench ends and singers gallery in the west end
were
burnt, sold or given away. A couple of
bench ends were saved and used to form part
of the altar at Forrabury (St Symphorian) - so
some idea of the quality of the carvings
destroyed can still be seen.
The name Minster (Latin:
monasteritim) suggest that at one time a monastery stood here.
"The Minster of the trees! A lonely dell
Deep with grey oaks, and 'mid their quiet shade
Grey with moss of years, yon antique cell!
Sad are those walls: The cloister lowly laid
Where passing monks at solemn evening made
Their chanted orisons: and as the breeze
Came up the vale, by rock and tree delay'd,
They heard the awful voices of many seas
Blend with the passing hymn - thou Minster of the Trees"
Rev. R S. Hawker's description of Minster Church.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Extracts taken from 'CHURCH
TRAILS IN CORNWALL' pack produced by North Cornwall Heritage Coast &
Countryside. Original text by Jeremy Dowling
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