Paul Parish Church

Paul Parish Church is a parish church in the Church of England Diocese of Truro located in Paul, Cornwall, UK.

History and description

The church is said to have been founded in 490 by Paul Aurelian, a Welsh saint. The church building is medieval but was largely destroyed in a raid by the Spanish in 1595.^[1] It was rebuilt by 1600.^[2]

The parish tower is constructed of granite with double buttresses. It is 89 ft tall and is surmounted with a turret 20 feet (6.1 m) tall, which serves as a daymark for shipping. The tower contains six bells: three by Abraham Rudhall date from 1727, and three from 1950.

There is a stained glass window in the chancel by Robert Anning Bell, 1917.^[3]

Memorials and burials

The Cornish language writers Nicholas Boson, Thomas Boson and John Boson are all buried in the churchyard, and a monument in the church by John Boson (to Arthur Hutchens, d. 1709) is the only surviving lapidary inscription in traditional Cornish.^[4] Within the village churchyard there is a memorial to Dolly Pentreath, reputedly and disputedly the last native speaker of Cornish. The memorial was placed there by Louis Lucien Bonaparte, a relative of Napoleon Bonaparte, and the Vicar of Paul in the 19th century. There is a monument to Capt. Stephen Hutchens (died 1709).^[5]

Gallery

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  Exterior south side

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  Chancel and sanctuary

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  Nave

References

Sundial, south side