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Page 1 of 3 Katie Hill explores a village crammed with character I don’t have Sat Nav, and I’m useless at map reading so, unsurprisingly, my outbound journey to this little village was something of a mission. As I battled my way through the rush hour traffic in St Austell, my blood pressure began to rise and I feared for the unsuspecting Pelynt residents who would soon feel my wrath. As it happened, a friendly, happy journalist greeted them. On entering the village my mood had lifted; a blaze of colour from the well kempt gardens, beaming smiles from people walking along, and picture perfect buildings left no room for silly gripes with the journey. This village stops you in your tracks; the B3359 runs straight through it, but one cannot pass without it making an impact.  The focal point of Trelawny's parish, the beautiful Pelynt Church. Picture by Andy Bilewycz. Geoffrey Grigson, seventh son of the vicar in Pelynt, who has written many books on the area, puts it very well: “Take any of the roads and the village appears ahead of you as a full stop, an objective. The road may continue, it may go elsewhere, but it does not pass through indifferently and straight and contemptuously.” The first point of interest for me was the sign post welcoming people to the village; it read, ‘Pelynt, Welcome to Trelawny’s Parish’. Having only learnt of my trip the previous evening, I hadn’t done much research and couldn’t make the connection between this small Cornish village and a national hero. On reflection, I’m glad I hadn’t done my homework - it made for a fascinating morning. On entering the church, a beautiful building which makes its presence well and truly known sitting on much higher ground than the road running below it, I found a very old-looking wooden chair and a crook sitting beside it. On the chair was a plaque, which read: ‘This chair and crook belonged to Bishop Trelawny’. Jonathan Trelawny was one of the seven bishops to be imprisoned in the Tower of London after petitioning against James II’s Declaration of Indulgence and was the subject of Hawker’s famous ballad The Song of Western Men; he was born in Pelynt in 1650. Although moving around the country throughout his life, becoming Bishop of Bristol, Exeter and Winchester, strong family connections to Pelynt meant that when he died in 1721, his body was brought back to the village for burial. The South Transept is now referred to as the Trelawny aisle and contains the family vault. In 1833, the vault was opened; the plate which had been on Trelawny’s coffin had loosened with time and so was removed and can now be found on the wall above. The church itself is very impressive and very well looked after, with displays and decorations throughout reflecting just how much time and effort is invested in the building and its congregation. |
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