Whether you’re religious or not, a trip to an old church can be a serene adventure filled with history and an appreciation of architecture. Spending an hour or two inside St Lalluwy and St Antonius Church certainly ticks those boxes.
St Lalluwy and St Antonius Church, in the village of Menheniot, which is just a couple of miles outside Liskeard, is filled to the brim with history. St Lallu was a Cornish saint, listed in the 10th century. There was a guild bearing his name in the county in the 15th century, with a holy well near the church being dedicated to the saint.
This church, which was consecrated in 1293, lies on a raised circular graveyard in the dead centre of Menheniot at the meeting of four roads. Its rare tower and spire date from around the 14th century and much of the stone that was used to construct the building came from local quarries. Many of the windows inside the church were installed in the late 18th and early 20th centuries as memorials to local people, including one that was created in 1998 by nationally celebrated artist David Peace.
There’s nothing ‘special’ per se about St Lalluwy and St Antonius Church but it is welcoming and tranquil and steeped in local history. Ask the locals about some of the old stories here. Plus, in the churchyard lies the tomb of John Richards Lapenotiere, the captain of HMS Pickle, which fought at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. The captain was the man who brought the news to England that the Royal Navy was victorious but that Vice Admiral Lord Nelson was dead. When it comes to history, there’s a little more than meets the eye at this church.