St Buryan's Church

St Buryan’s Church stands in the village of St Buryan in Cornwall. A church has occupied the site since at least the early 10th century, though the present building dates mainly from the late 15th and early 16th centuries. The tower was completed in 1501 and rises about 28 metres above the ground. It is built from granite quarried near Lamorna and has four stages with buttresses at each corner. An octagonal stair turret rises from the south-east corner of the tower. The church is a Royal Peculiar, meaning it was once directly under the English Crown rather than a local bishop. This unusual status led to disputes between the Crown and the bishops of Exeter for centuries. The parish was finally brought under the Diocese of Exeter in 1663 and now lies within the Diocese of Truro. It serves the surrounding parishes of St Buryan, St Levan, and Sennen. The church contains a renowned peal of six bells, the heaviest set of six bells in the world. Inside, the nave and chancel arcades have six bays with moulded piers and four-centred arches. Original wagon roofs survive throughout the building. Historic fittings include a late medieval font and fragments of a medieval rood screen. The churchyard contains several historic stone crosses and is the burial place of Augustus Smith, the first Lord Proprietor of the Isles of Scilly. The stained glass is mainly late-19th and early-20th century, designed in the Perpendicular style.