Church of St Hermes
CHURCH OF ST HERMES
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1136778
- Date first listed:
- 30-May-1967
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Hermes
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST HERMES
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2003-10-18
- Reference:
- IOE01/11437/17
- Rights:
- © Mr David Morphew. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1136778
- Date first listed:
- 30-May-1967
- List Entry Name:
- Church of St Hermes
- Statutory Address 1:
- CHURCH OF ST HERMES
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- CHURCH OF ST HERMES
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Cornwall (Unitary Authority)
- Parish:
- St. Erme
- National Grid Reference:
- SW 84646 49866
Details
ST ERME CHURCHTOWN SW 84 NW 7/95 Church of St. Hermes. 30.5.1967 --- II*
Anglican parish church within oval churchyard. C15 and 1819-20, by John Foulston, for the Rev. Cornelius Cardew. Killas rubble with granite quoins. Slate roofs. Tower of granite ashlar. Plan: C19 rebuilt nave with undifferentiated chancel. Aisles running full length and north and south (Truthan) transept chapels. C15 west tower. South porch added 1867; outer opening an early C17 doorway of granite moulded imposts and capitals carrying a 3-centred moulded arch, blind spandrels infilled with a ball. Windows all C19 in Perpendicular 3-light form., Buttresses crowned by stumpy crocketed pinnacles with cross terminals set on walls behind gutters, and similar spires to transept gables. Moulded C15 west door and 3-light window over set in 3 stage tower. Perpendicular bell openings and crenellated parapet. Stair in north-west angle. Interior: As rebuilt in early C19, unplastered. Wide nave continuous with chancel and reused C16 6-bay St Stephen's porcelain granite Cornish arcade, the roof higher than earlier nave, the creasing of which remains on tower. Panelled segmental barrel vaulted ceiling with reused carved bosses, and similar shallow vaults over aisles. Tower arch chamfered, with a chamfered inner arch dying into imposts. Two very large mask corbels reset above original roof line. Later C19 south door set where former window. Arches to transept chapels as nave arcade. Priest's door on south side of chancel tight between buttressces.
Fittings: Font, at west end of nave, a C13 basin on a single column, ornamented with tendril scroll around rim and leaf pattern on each side. Moulded octagonal base of later medieval date. Pulpit, a deeply carved oak memorial of 1903. Carved oak screens in easternmost bays of arcades. One pew of C15-early C16, altered, but retaining one carved end and one linenfold end.
Monuments: South aisle: (a) marble slab set flush in limestone frame, Latin inscription to Rev. Cornelius Cardew DD, died 1831, and wives. (b) White marble tablet on grey field. Tablet has cornice and splayed fluted ends, garland above, arms and corbel below. Pretty. To Mary Cardew, died 1808. In south transept (c) Corniced tablet on square grey field, by Stephens of Exeter. Mutules below. To Edward Collins of Truthan, died 1831. (d) White marble tablet with cornice, crest and arms, scrolled apron below, by W.Pearce of Truro. To Edward Collins, died 1833. In North Aisle (e) simple corniced marble tablet on grey slate, to George Simmons of Trevella, died 1854, also by Pearce. North transept: (f) Commemorative slab for the rebuilding of the church in 1820 at cost of £1,400. Richard Bevan, builder. The monuments are a group related in date to the rebuilding. Miscellaneous: Royal Arms of George IV dated 1827, painted on metal sheet. Lion and Unicorn partially emerging from behind an inclined oval shield with garter. Signed. Brass: Robert Trencreeke of Trencreeke. 1594. in civil dress, with wife and family. The earlier church had a large north chapel and, apparently, no aisles. The Hermes dedication dates from the rebuilding. St Hermes was martyred in Rome on 28th. August AD 116 or 117. (Lake's Parochial History of Cornwall. Vol I: 344-353. Pevsner. Buildings of England, CORNWALL. Dunkin, E.H.W. The Monumental Brasses of Cornwall, 1882. Colvin. H. 'Biographical Dictionary ' p. 318-9).
Listing NGR: SW8464649866
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 63934
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Dunkin, E H W, The Monumental Brasses of Cornwall, (1882)
Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Gloucestershire: The Cotswolds, (1970)
Colvin, H M, A Biographical Dictionary of English Architects 1600-1840, (1954), 318-9
Polsue, J, Lakes Parochial History of the County of Cornwall, (1872), 344-353
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 23-Jun-2026 at 23:44:43.
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