St Fimbarrus Church, Fowey

Things to do · Fowey

About St Fimbarrus Church, Fowey

St Fimbarrus is the parish church of Fowey, standing in Church Square between the town's narrow main street and Place, the Treffry family house. Vicars are recorded from the 1260s and the present building was re-dedicated in 1336 after a rebuilding, then remodelled, extended and re-roofed in the 15th century and restored in 1876; it is Grade I listed. The tall tower rises in four stages with decorative bands and crocketed pinnacles and carries the badge of the Earl of Warwick on the outside, with an 18th century ringers' board inside. From the Norman church only the font survives, a round bowl carved with palmette leaves and star motifs typical of 11th and 12th century work in south Cornwall and Devon. The carved oak pulpit is dated 1601, and the walls carry an unusually rich set of monuments to the Rashleigh, Treffry, Kempe and Graham families, including one of 1624 to John Rashleigh, plus two floor brasses and a grave slab of knights in armour. The novelist Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch, Fowey's most famous resident, died in the church in 1944. It is a working Church of England church with Sunday services, and a visit of twenty minutes slots easily into a wander between Town Quay and the Esplanade.

Good to know

• Grade I listed; present church re-dedicated 1336, remodelled in the 15th century, restored 1876
• Norman font with palmette and star carving is the only survivor of the earlier church
• Carved oak pulpit dated 1601
• Wall monuments to the Rashleigh, Treffry, Kempe and Graham families, including John Rashleigh 1624
• Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch died in the church in 1944
• Active Church of England parish church with Sunday services

Address: Church Square, Fowey, Cornwall PL23 1BU.

Official site: St Fimbarrus Church, Fowey website.