St Levan's Church, St Levan

St Levan's Church, St Levan
St Levan's Church
Coordinates: 50°02′33″N 05°39′36″W / 50.04250°N 5.66000°W
OS grid reference	SW380222
Denomination	Church of England
Churchmanship	Broad Church
History
Dedication	Selevan, or Salomon
Architecture
Heritage designation	Grade I[1]
Designated	15 December 1988
Administration
Parish	St Levan, Penwith
Archdeaconry	Cornwall
Diocese	Truro
Province	Canterbury

St Levan's Church, St Levan is a parish church in the Church of England located in St Levan, Cornwall, United Kingdom. Until 1864 the church was a chapelry of the Royal Peculiar of the Deanery of St Buryan. It is now part of the united benefice of St Buryan and St Sennen.

History

The church of St Levan is medieval.^[2] It was heavily rebuilt in the twelfth century and extended in the fifteenth century.^[3] It was restored by J. D. Sedding. St Levan (properly Selevan, a Celtic form of Solomon) according to the Life of St Kybi was a Cornishman and the father of Kybi. In the department of Morbihan are four places probably connected to the same saint, who probably lived in the 6th or 7th century. On the cliff at St Levan is St Levan's Well and below it the probable remains of his chapel, which were described by William Borlase in his Antiquities.^[4] For more information on the saint see Salomon of Cornwall.

Bells

The tower contains three bells dating from 1641, 1754 and 1881.

Stone crosses

Langdon (1896) records six stone crosses in the parish, of which two are in the churchyard.

Media

St Levan's Church was featured in the first series of the BBC's Doctor Who.

References

1. Historic England. "Church of Saint Levan  (Grade I) (1143872)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 13 October 2015.
2. Parish Guide. n.d.
3. Pevsner, N. (1970) Buildings of England, Cornwall. Penguin Books
4. Doble, G. H. (1960) The Saints of Cornwall: part 1. Truro: Dean and Chapter; pp. 3-9