Diameter: 27.5" Bell 1 of 1
1607
Dove Bell ID: 61272 Tower ID: 24212 - View Tower Listed: No Canons: Removed Cracked: No
Tresmere: St Nicholas
Diocese of Truro
Closed Church, 639241
This church is on the Heritage at Risk Register (verified 2024-11-14)
View more information about this church on the Heritage at Risk website
Overview
Grid reference: SX 233 874
From the exterior the nave and chancel are indistinguishable. They have one-, two-, and three-light windows, apparently reusing medieval masonry, each composed of lancets without a surrounding arch. The south porch is a small gabled structure with double-chamfered doorway. The vestry has a three-light window to the north and a two-light window to the west with trefoil heads. To the east is a shouldered doorway.
Visiting and facilities
Building is closed for worship
Building
Ground Plan Description and Dimensions
Ground plan:
West tower; nave and chancel with no structural division; vestry on north side of the chancel; south-west porch.
Footprint of Church buildings: 134 m²
Description of Archaeology and History
The site has high archaeological potential.
There are considerable burials from the 1830s to the early C21 throughout the churchyard.
There is little available research into the early history of Tresmeer. Launceston was a Celtic foundation of some importance by the arrival of the Normans. Robert of Mortain was made Earl of Cornwall in 1067 and built the first castle at Launceston, renewed in stone by Richard, the brother of King Henry III, in 1227. It was the only walled town in Cornwall and had a mint and an abbey. Tresmeer, like Launceston, stood close to the main road from Devon to Cornwall.
Tresmeer church began as a small Norman chapel managed by the Priors of Launceston, although partly endowed by the Prior of Tywardreath. Ownership passed to Sir John Molesworth and Francis Mannaton. It was dedicated to St Winwolaus in 1505, apparently a mistaken interpretation of Nicholas (by which the church was known by 1600).
The earliest built elements in the village are the C13 remains in the parish church – although rebuilt into the Victorian fabric of the nave and chancel. There is little to suggest this was a large building – all that survives are window mullions, a holy water stoup (possibly later) and a piscina. Preceding these, however, is the font, in a simple Romanesque design.
The next wave of building that can still be discerned is the west tower – an attractive unbuttressed structure, with pediment, plinth and spiral staircase.
The earliest monument dates from the end of C17 and may represent local growing prosperity as the area recovered from Royalist losses in the Civil Wars and Launceston grew into a prosperous market town. A wave of well-cut and handsome monuments can be found in the church from the late C18 (internally) and from the 1830s (externally). Wesley preached on numerous occasions here in the 1740s-50s.
The final major wave of building work at the church was carried out in 1879-81 by which time it was severely decayed and infestation. The total cost was £850 and several important furnishings were lost (although others, as noted, were retained in the new fabric).
Exterior Description
W tower, unaisled nave (3 bays), S porch, chancel, north vestry. It is a modest building in a gothic style and well suited to its attractive churchyard and rural surroundings.
The west tower is probably the most significant part of the church, probably dating from the late C15. It is unbuttressed, of two storeys with plinth and parapet. It has crocketted finials, a late-C15 west door arch with incised spandrels set in a rectangular headed hood mould with C19 door. The tower has a simple 2-light west window with round headed lights and incised spandrels and 2-light belfry openings with labels.
From the exterior the nave and chancel are indistinguishable. They have one-, two-, and three-light windows, apparently reusing medieval masonry, each composed of lancets without a surrounding arch.
The south porch is a small gabled structure with double-chamfered doorway.
The vestry has a three light window to the north and a two light window to the west with trefoil heads. To the east is a shouldered doorway.
Building Materials
Stone
Stone exterior and unpainted stone wall interior
Slate
Roof
Interior
Interior Description
The interior base of the tower is separated from the nave by a glazed timber screen of gothic design. There is a two light window to the west and monuments; it has a stone flagged floor. The upper storeys of the tower are accessible via a winding vice in the northwest corner of the tower.
The nave is unaisled with two windows to N and S. It has stone floors and a timber roof with collars on every rafter and arched braces to the principals. The windows are described in the previous section. The floor is composed of large, elegant dark slabs.
The chancel has a two-light window to the S and a doorway to the vestry to the N. The E window is of three lights set in a single arched embrasure. The chancel roof is a continuation of the nave roof but with arched braces to every rafter, with three purlins and foliate bosses.
Fixtures and fittings
Gravestone
17th Century One ledger stone records an intramural burial in the previous church building (it dates to c. 1687; the nave is of 1881).
Font (object)
c. 12th Century
Round bowl, with stem of only slightly lesser circumference, on a moulded base.
Altar
19th Century Simple timber frame table.
Pulpit
19th Century Plain, gothic pulpit.
Lectern
19th Century Simple brass lectern with decorative patterns.
Alcove
Medieval Large Norman font with cable moulding round the rim; Font cover; Font cover (on shelf in vestry)
Pew (object)
19th Century Plain timber pews on platforms in nave.
Altar Rail
19th Century Timber rail on decorative wrought iron supports
Organ (component)
19th Century Plaque on American Organ to Hayman & Son, Music Warehouse, Launceston.
Stained Glass (window)
19th Century Yellow stained borders to otherwise clear windows. The windows have very attractive decorative leading.
Bells
Portable Furnishings and Artworks
Registers: The Cornwall Record Office holdings: Baptisms 1625 - 1979, Burials 1673 – 1979; Marriages 1574 – 1908; Boyd's Marriage Index 1597 – 1673.
Churchyard
Grid reference: SX 233 874
Burial and War Grave Information
The church/building is consecrated.
The churchyard has been used for burial.
The churchyard is used for burial.
It is unknown whether the churchyard has war graves.
National Heritage record for England designations
Environment
Ancient, Veteran & Notable Trees
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
There are no records of Ancient, Veteran or Notable Trees within the curtilage of this site.
Renewables
| Renewable | Installed |
|---|---|
| Solar PV Panels | No |
| Solar Thermal Panels | No |
| Biomass | No |
| Wind Turbine | No |
| Air Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ground Source Heat Pump | No |
| Ev Charging | No |
Species summary
There are no records of species within the curtilage of this site.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
'Seek advice' Species
More information on species and action to be taken upon discovery.
Caring for God's Acre is a conservation charity working to support groups and individuals to investigate, care for, and enjoy the wildlife and heritage treasures found within churchyards and other burial grounds. Look on their website for information and advice and please contact their staff directly. They can help you manage this churchyard for people and wildlife.
To learn more about all the species recorded against this church, go to the Burial Ground Portal within the NBN Atlas. You can check the spread of records through the years, discovering what has been recorded and when, plus what discoveries might remain to be uncovered.
Further information
Sources
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