The Saint Carried His Decapitated Head To Where This Cornish Church Was Built

I mentioned in my previous post Magic Of The Fowey Hall Walk how we did a detour to visit the quiet church at Lanteglos-by-Fowey in Cornwall. The photo above shows the path we took to the church.

The patron of the church is St.Willow, though there is a bit of confusion over his name. He's also sometimes called Wyllow or even Wylloc. He seems an interesting sort of chap though.

St Willow is said to have been born in Ireland and he was 'piloted by helpful fish up to Pont Pill [mentioned in my previous post] where he established his hermitage. This is a lovely spot so I can understand why he wished to remain there.

But there was more to him than this! He supposedly got into some sort of argument and was beheaded by someone called Melyn.

The phrase Melyn ys Kyrede is often used. Translated this means Kindred of someone called Melyn. But, whatever, being slain wasn't the end of the matter. He simply picked up his head and headed - for want of a better word - to the place where he wished a church to be built in his honour. And his wish came true - as can bee seen from the photo below.

Most of the structure of the church dates from the 14th century but the porch and entrance is more likely to have been 16th century, though the masonry of the doorway is partly Norman. Carved into one of the door jambs are the letters 'XP' - the first two letters of Christ's name in Greek.

As you can see below there is a very old cross or stone pillar outside of the entrance porch ...

... but I can't find any information on this. There is a carving at the very top of what I presume is a mother and child.

In my previous post I wrote how I walked some of the paths King Charles I may have trod. Inside the church next to the main door is a plaque from 1668. This was presented to the parish by King Charles II for remaining loyal during England's Civil War. When doing some restoration work it was also discovered there were traces of another plaque underneath from King Charles I.

The wagon roofs have survived since the 16th century other than for some repair work.

And a few more photos from inside the church.

The old spiral stairs lead to the battlemented tower roof.

The church is mostly now famed as being where Daphne Du Maurier was married in 1932. She featured this in her first novel The Loving Spirit but renamed it as 'Lanoc Church'.

For walkers on the Hall Walk at Fowey it's worth a detour to take in this church.

See my previous post which ties in with this one:
Magic Of The Fowey Hall Walk Where King Charles I Narrowly Escaped Death - 30+ Exclusive Photos

Other Similar Cornwall Posts:
Menabilly Daphne Du Maurier's Manderley In Cornwall
Magical Walk With Daphne Du Maurier To The Gribbin
The Magic Of Fowey Cornwall

Magic Of The Fowey Hall Walk Where King Charles I Narrowly Escaped Death - 30+ Exclusive Photos

Yesterday we went on one of my favourite walks, known locally as the Hall Walk. For me it's very magical, to think that King Charles I trod the very same paths in the mid 1600s: during the civil war on 17th of August 1644 King Charles narrowly escaped death when a shot killed a poor fisherman who was standing where the King had stood but a short while before.

The walk is at Fowey, Cornwall and is about 10 miles from where I live. The photo above shows the banks of the river where the walk takes us.

CLICK ON THE PHOTOS TO MAKE THEM BIGGER

After parking the car we head straight to the road over looking the river ...

... and take in the views until we reach from what was once Sir Arthur Quiller Crouch's house - by the side of this is the small passenger ferry that will take us across the River Fowey to the small village of Polruan.

We didn't wait long for the ferry, they run quite frequently.

From the ferry there are good views. This old sailing boat was moored up.

Once at Polruan we pass the Lugger Inn on the small quay ...

... and then wind our way along the narrow street as we head for the hills along by the river.

We climb quite steadily but the views are magnificent once there is a break in the trees.

You never know what you might see on the wooded path. Goodness knows how this cockerel got there, but he didn't seem too bothered about us.

As we walk further along the path  we leave the villages behind and the part of the river we are now walking is a small tributary of the River Fowey called Pont Pill.

The tide is out so the river here is very low as we walked.

After quite a climb we see Pont below us and this is where we will cross Pont Pill.

First though we make a detour to visit the lonely church at Lanteglos-by-Fowey. I'll write more about the church another day (see The Saint Carried His Decapitated Head To Where This Cornish Church Was Built) but will just say for now that Daphne Du Maurier was married here in 1932. She renamed it 'Lanoc Church', and featured it in her first novel, The Loving Spirit.

We return to the walk and reach the tiny quayside hamlet of Pont. It's hard to imagine that this was once a thriving quay where sailing barges would unload coal, fertiliser and limestone.

It's now a lovely quiet spot and we had some lunch here - which we had brought with us - sitting by the wooden bridge.

There's a sign on the building from 1894 showing charges once made at this quay for discharging Grain, Timber, Manures, Coal and Sand. Today though we sit there completely undisturbed.

After our lunch, having crossed the Pont bridge, we head up the other side. The rocks can be quite slippery when wet but for us the sun was shining.

For a while a lot of the views are hidden by the trees.

We cross an old stone cattle grid ...

... and into a farmer's field where there is a 'right of way'.

Once out of the field and back on a path the views open up before us, showing the entrance to the River Fowey. On the hill to the right of the photo it's possible to just make out the Gribbin Beacon on Gribbin Head. This is where much of Daphne Du Maurier's book Rebecca is based and also the house Manderley. The Gribbin farmland is the location for the murderous avian attacks on The Birds.

Continuing the walk we can now see the small town of Fowey on the opposite of the river.

We leave the coastal path and head down a road to the Boddinick Ferry to make our way across the Fowey River once again.

We pass The Old Ferry Inn and ...

... wait for the ferry. This time it also transports cars as well as walkers.

Slap bang next to the ferry terminal is Ferryside the house where Daphne Du Maurier once lived. By a fluke the gate was open so I snapped a quick photo of the property.

On the ferry there is a frontal view of Ferryside.

Once off the ferry we make our way through the streets of Fowey ...

... but the river is always within reach.

We pass the shops ...

... a pub, of course ...

and the local Fowey church.

From here we head back to our car, once more taking in the river views.

It's not a long walk. I think we did about 6.5 miles by taking taking in the Lanteglos church as well.

Photos: © Mike Perry

Other Similar Cornish Posts:
Menabilly Daphne Du Maurier's Manderley In Cornwall
Magical Walk With Daphne Du Maurier To The Gribbin
The Magic Of Fowey Cornwall

Menabilly Daphne Du Maurier's Manderley In Cornwall

A sidetrack today as I continue my journey in Daphne Du Maurier country in Cornwall, near to where I live. In my post The Magic of Fowey there was a photo of Du Maurier's house Ferryside. Today I was in search of Manderley as featured in her book Rebecca, which starts: "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again."

Manderley was based on a house called Menabilly where Du Maurier lived from 1943 to 1969. Unfortunately the house is on a private estate, so no admittance to the public and can't be seen from the coast or from the road. Only the gatehouse of Menabilly (small photo right) can be seen. But I've dug out an old photo (below) of Daphne and her family at Menabilly house, taken while she lived there.

What I've tried to do is to give a flavour of the Menabilly area with the photos I have clicked. The picture at the top of the post shows some of the estate.

Fowey and Menabilly is somewhere that I love. As yesterday was a pleasant winter's day it was a pleasure walking the coast and area.

The Menabilly estate stretches right to the sea. Below is Polridmouth Cottage which incorporates an old watermill which once ground grain for the estate. This is situated by a lake and overlooks a small beach and the sea.

Next is the lake taken from the small beach ...

... and this is the seaweed strewn beach. A bit hazy in the distance but clear for this time of the year.

From here we headed along the coastal path which took us up Lankelly Cliff. In the distance was the ancient town of Fowey and where the River Fowey joined the sea.

With the sun now behind us the views inland were clear and bright. Good, green farming land.

When Daphne Du Maurier started Rebecca with the words, "Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again," it was like a cry from herself. Her husband had been temporarily posted to Alexandria, which she disliked. She longed to return to Menabilly, her Manderley, and to see the cliffs, sea and the wooded headlands. And who can blame her!

I came across this short video of Daphne Du Maurier at Menabilly when she was about 40.



See also other Fowey area posts:
The Magic Of Fowey Cornwall
The Tristan Stone And King Arthur And His Knights