St Petroc's Church

The existing St Petroc's Church is dated 1469–1472 and was until the building of Truro Cathedral the largest church in Cornwall. It was originally a Roman Catholic church, but became an Anglican church as a result of the English Reformation. The tower which remains from the original Norman church and stands on the north side of the church (the upper part is 15th century) was until the loss of its spire in 1699 150 ft high. The building underwent two Victorian restorations and another in 1930. It is now listed Grade I.

The parish of Bodmin is now grouped with Cardinham, Lanivet and Lanhydrock parishes. There is a chapel at Nanstallon.

There are a number of interesting monuments, including the black Delabole slate memorial to Richard Durant, his wives and twenty children, carved in low relief. There is also a twelfth-century ivory casket which is thought to have once contained relics of St Petroc. 

The font of a type common in Cornwall is of the 12th century: large and finely carved. The type may also be found at Altarnun and elsewhere but Bodmin's font is the largest and most highly ornamented of any of this type.

The churchyard is extensive and on a slope: the Chapel of St Thomas Becket is a ruin of a 14th-century building in the south-east of the churchyard. St Guron's Well is a small building of granite at the western entrance to the churchyard.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Bodmin, United Kingdom

Details

Founded: 1469-1472
Category: Religious sites in United Kingdom