A plain late 1960s church primarily of interest for its furnishings, including dalle de verre glass by Dom Charles Norris OSB.

Like many others in Cornwall, the Tintagel parish was developed and served by the Canons Regular from Bodmin. The church was built in 1968 from the designs of Vyvyan Salisbury FRIBA, architect of Wadebridge. The contractors were A. Nute & Sons of Delabole.

Description

The building is a simple square on plan, with a pyramidal roof, projecting glass-fronted and flat-roofed porch/narthex and linked flat-roofed parish hall. The walls are of white painted rendered blockwork with slate trim and facing in the narthex and attached hall. The roof is of Delabole slate, with a spike at the apex.

The interior is a simple space with a canted ceiling, with the sanctuary recessed on the (geographical) south side. The church contains a number of notable artworks, chief amongst which is the glass, made for the church in 1967-8 under the direction of Dom Charles Norris OSB of Buckfast Abbey. They are in his trademark dalle de verre technique. Working clockwise from the left, these depict Calvary, the spear of Longinus and the Grail; in the sanctuary there are two coats of arms, one showing the Five Sacred Wounds (used on the banner of the Cornish rallying in defence of the Mass in 1549), the second that of the pre-Reformation Priory of Augustinian Canons, adopted by the Canons Regular of the Lateran. The windows on the right depicts St Michael’s church tower on Glastonbury Tor and the miracle of the loaves and fishes. To the left of the sanctuary is a mosaic of St Paul, made in Zurich by Hanspeter Steiner (1993). Over the sanctuary entrance hangs an oil painting of the Last Supper by Nicholas St John Rosse, a local artist (2008). Information on other furnishings is given on the parish website.

Heritage Details