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St Sampson, South Hill, Cornwall

Location
(50°31′46″N, 4°21′29″W)
South Hill
SX 32959 72624
pre-1974 traditional (England and Wales) Cornwall
now Cornwall
medieval Exeter
now Truro
  • Richard Jewell
  • Phil Jell
18 Jan 1992 (RJ)

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Feature Sets
Description

South Hill is a hamlet in east Cornwall, 7½ miles S of Launceston. The church stands in the centre of the settlement and is substantially 14thc with 15thc additions. It was restored in 1871. The font is the only Romanesque feature.

History

In 1066 South Hill was held by Aethelhelm, and in 1086 by Count Robert of Mortain in demesne. It was assessed for geld at ½ a ferding. After Robert's son William was dispossessed of his lands in 1106 for his part in the rebellion against Henry I, they passed to the king, and ultimately to the Earldom of Cornwall held by Reginald de Dunstanville, an illegitimate son of Henry I from 1141, and the Dukedom first held by the Black Prince from 1337. In the Taxatio of 1291 the patron of the church was Reginald de Ferrers.

Features

Furnishings

Fonts

Comments/Opinions

The font is an early example of the suspended bowl type, misleadingly called the Bodmin type as is can be dated to the mid-12thc.: at least a generation before the production of the core Bodmin group of fonts. It is very similar to the fonts at St Austell, Luxulyan, Tregony and Kea. Sedding dates it c.1150-80, and the present authors consider it to belong to the early end of this range. Unlike the Bodmin core group of fonts the corner heads are not winged, and the Tree of Life appears on two opposing faces, while the other two show dragons, cats and a bird. Sedding interprets the beasts as symbolizing 'the evil spirits which are cast out at the rite of Baptism'.

Bibliography
  1. F. Arnold-Forster, Studies in Church Dedications or England’s Patron Saints, 3 vols, London 1899, vol.3, 259.

P. Beacham and N. Pevsner, The Buildings of England. Cornwall, London and New Haven, 2014, 618-20.

C. Henderson, The Cornish Church Guide and Parochial History of Cornwall, Truro, 1925, 178.

Historic England Listed Building. English Heritage Legacy ID: 61458

N. Pevsner and E. Radcliffe, The Buildings of England. Cornwall, London, 1970, 214

E. H. Sedding, Norman Architecture in Cornwall, London, 1909, 359.