Gwinear can be characterised by the Church of Saint Winnear and several medieval cross monuments in Gwinear Churchtown. The parish church is Grade I listed. These architectural and stone monuments bring different aspects to the fore: architecture, religious imagery and the history of individual relocations. The church combines structural elements from several centuries; the crosses stand out for their forms, types of stone and respective locations.
Landscape and Church Architecture
Green, enclosed fields surround Gwinear Churchtown. From the highest point in Gwinear, the Atlantic Ocean and the English Channel are visible. The landscape therefore provides a different focus from the church’s stone and wooden details. Two documented aspects of the place can thus guide your choice of travel focus: the architectural heritage around the parish church and the rural surroundings of Churchtown.
Norman fragments dating from around 1200 AD are built into the Church of Saint Winnear. The north aisle is constructed with eight columns of smoothly worked elvan stone. In the chancel, the roof structure dates from the 15th century, with carved bosses complementing the construction. These details point to different architectural periods and forms: older fragments within the church, a row of eight stone columns and carved details on the roof.
The church interior also includes the base of a rood screen, with intricately carved symbols of the Passion of Christ. Since its restoration in 1643, a letter of thanks from King Charles I to the people of Cornwall, painted on wood, has hung in the church. The lantern at the top of the tower is said to have guided ships safely into Hayle Harbour. This last detail is explicitly presented as a supposition, whereas the architectural elements and objects described are concrete historical features of the church.
Medieval Crosses in Gwinear
East of the church lies a fragment of a medieval wayside cross. Its round wheel head has a diameter of 0.52 metres and features a Gothic-style motif. The combination of a clear circular form and a Gothic motif makes this rare wheel-headed cross a distinctive example alongside the cross monuments in the churchyard.
North of the church, in the churchyard, stands the Polmenor Cross, a medieval wayside cross made of Pentewan stone and shaped as a wheel-headed cross. It was moved to Gwinear churchyard in 1984. Its material and form give the cross a different emphasis from the fragment to the east, whose precise diameter is specified.
A wayside cross five metres north of the Church of Saint Winnear is a monolithic granite wheel-headed cross with a short shaft. Its features include a rare figure-of-Christ motif on one side and a relief Greek cross on one face of the head. This cross thus bears two different religious motifs, alongside the simple description of its form and material.
A cross 15 metres north of the tower probably predates the Norman Conquest; it was moved to its present location in 1958. The crosses can therefore be distinguished by their motifs, stone, form and dating. While the eastern fragment stands out for its measurements and Gothic motif, Pentewan stone and the 1984 relocation are defining details of the Polmenor Cross. The early dating of the cross north of the tower remains explicitly probable.
Discover more destinations: Saint Just in Roseland, Lelant, Saint Cleer, Portloe, St Columb Major, Morval, Gwennap, Colan
For the main travel overview: Cornwall.
