St Buryan Church

St Buryan TR19 6BA 

 

 

South Porch

The south porch should be noticed as one of the best examples of its type and it shows how the workers of those days could turn out an effective piece of work in granite. 

Beginning at the base, there is a bold plinth, then a string course carried round the buttresses; above this the buttresses have a plain set off and finish with characteristic capping cubes with their angles beveled, thus presenting five triangular surfaces.

From this rises a pinnacle, panelled and crocketed.  These crockets are peculiar: there is no attempt at a real crocket, a budding leaf, because moor stone will not allow this; they are merely billets showing the good sense of the designer. The graceful flowing lines produced in free stone could not be rendered in granite, so the mason stopped when it was unsafe to go further.

Within the porch there are stone and slate benches on either side. Over the door remains the bracket for the figure of the Patron Saint and on the east wall the mutilated holy water stoop can still be seen.

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