Details
SW 62 NW SITHNEY CHURCHTOWN, Sithney
7/274 Church of Saint Sithney
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10.7.57
GV I
Parish church. Norman font, C15 church, the tower circa late C15 or early C16.
Granite ashlar tower, otherwise granite rubble walls with dressed granite doorways, windows and other architectural details. 3 parallel roofs, the nave roof taller, north and south transept and porch roofs all with granite coped gable ends. The nave and south aisle roofs are concrete tiles, otherwise dry Delabole slate.
Plan: nave and chancel under 1 roof, west tower, north and south transepts and south porch; all C15 and probably built in the following sequence: nave/chancel, north aisle and north transept, south aisle and south transept, south porch and finally the tower. The east end of the chancel is probably from the pre-C15 church. Mainly reroofed in circa the late C19 and replastered, the C15 roofs and most of the original fittings presumably removed at this time. 3-stage west tower with plinth, strings dividing stages of diminishing width and cornice under embattled parapet with slender corner pinnacles with carved statue of Saint Sithney under the south-east pinnacle. Chamfered 4-centred arched west doorway
with square hoodmould and 3-light C15 Perpendicular window over. The second stage is blind. The upper stage has a 3-light traceried Perpendicular window to each side with slate-louvred lights. The north aisle has C15 Perpendicular windows and doorway. The west window is 3-light with tracery, original coped gable over. The 4 north windows each have 3 trefoil headed lights under a basket arch, 2 windows left of the north transept and 2 windows flanking the blocked north doorway to the right. The doorway is moulded and has a steep 4-centred arch and a square hoodmould above, with weathering for former gable-ended porch over. There is ashlar masonry between the windows left of the transept. The east gable of the aisle and north gable of the shallow north transept are similar, both with original C15 copings and similar 5-light traceried C15
windows. The trefoil-headed lights and tracery have bulbous cusps, the aisle window has a hoodmould. The gable end of the chancel projects slightly and stands on probably pre-C15 plinth: C19 5-light traceried window with hoodmould in Perpendicular style and C19 gable coping. The south aisle has all its original C15 3-light Perpendicular windows. The gable end windows are traceried and the gable copings are original including a moulded kneeler stone to the east gable. The windows of the south wall are similar to those of the north wall except for a 2-light window at the far right. There is a window to either side of the south porch and 2 to the right of the south transept. There are traces of a former priests doorway, now blocked, between the 2 right hand windows. South transept: south gable is partly of ashlar with 4-light C15 traceried Perpendicular window. Under the window is a slate to : Edward Coode of Treesa, died 1662 aged 63, and over the window a sundial: restored 1897 in memory of Richard Reed Russel, churchwarden 1854-1864 and 1872-1982; original but probably rebuilt C15 gable
coping over. In the east wall is a 2 light C15 Perpendicular window with quatrefoil tracery; the west wall is rubble and blind. The south porch is virtually unaltered since the C15: granite ashlar front original moulded gable coping with moulded kneelers; fine basket arched doorway with octagonal panelled jambs, and inside :stone benches on either side and a moulded waggon roof with a carved boss. 2 Norman fragments with chevrons in the south-east corner. The inner south doorway is moulded with 4-centred arch and carved spandrels.
Interior : C15 6-bay standard A (Pevsner) arcades flanking the nave/chancel, with
basket arches over moulded capitals to the south and centred arches over moulded and carved capitals to the north; C15 4-centred arch over standard A (Pevsner) responds to the north aisle, the aisle slightly built to the right (east) to give room for the C15 rood stair; C15 basket arch over standard A (Pevsner) responds to the south aisle and a C15 tower arch. A roll-moulded arched piscina in the south wall of the chancel may be insitu from the pre-Cl5 church. The tower has a C19 ceiling with chamfered and stopped wooden beams and newel stair in the north-east corner. The vestry in the tower has some old glass resited (not inspected). The east window of the north aisle has moulded and carved granite rear arch and panelled intrados with quatrefoils and Tudor roses. The roofs of the nave/chancel and aisles are C19: waggon roofs over the nave/chancel and north aisle and roof with cusped bracing over the south aisle.
Fittings: Norman font with slightly irregular rounded granite bowl with chevron
carved rim and cable moulding under the font is carried on a turned freestone shaft with moulded base, all standing on a probably C19 granite plinth, beside the south doorway a single carved C15 or C16 bench end; hanging under the north aisle roof are 4 panels with painted texts on one side and a painted letter from Charles I on the other side; most of the other fittings are C19; the pulpit is 1921 given as a memorial to those who died in the 1914-18 war.
Monuments: wall monuments in the south transept: a marble medallion to Richard Hoblyn Esq. and Anne (Carew) his wife, both died in 1691; another medallion with coat of arms with 5 doves and a new moon to John Arundel, died 1671; a tapered marbel monument with pedimented head to Christopher Wallis Esq., of Trevarno, died 1826 aged 82, Philippa his wife and others, and inside the north doorway the granite lid of a coffin with a flared Latin cross, said to be from the coffin of one of the priors of St John's hospital of Sithney parish (Kelly's Directory).
The plan of this church is almost identical to that of the Church of Saint Breaca qv. also mostly C15. Here at Sithney the granite ashlar is used more sparingly but the original C15 architectural features are very fine and mostly survive.
Listing NGR: SW6365128993
This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Register. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 13 December 2016.
