Lydford Church
The first Christian church in Lydford was a wooden structure built c. 650 AD. It is probable that this church was burnt down by the Vikings in their raid of 997 AD.
The dedication of the parish church to St. Petrock would seem to indicate that it was built on the site of an existing British settlement.
The church was later rebuilt in the perpendicular gothic style, and although ostensibly Norman, some of the architectural furniture, for example the font, were of the Anglo-Saxon style (or at latest, early Norman), thus it would appear that the church was rebuilt upon the site of the earlier building.
The church was enlarged in the 13th century, the tower being added in the 15th century. A further enlargement occurred c. 1890 with the addition of the vestry and northern aisle.
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Famous quotes containing the word church:
“The church is a sort of hospital for men’s souls, and as full of quackery as the hospital for their bodies. Those who are taken into it live like pensioners in their Retreat or Sailor’s Snug Harbor, where you may see a row of religious cripples sitting outside in sunny weather.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)