The Church
Anglican Parish serving Praze-an-Beeble, Leedstown, Nancegollen and Townshend near Camborne in Cornwall .
The parish church is dedicated to St Crewenna and is built of granite. The Latin name of the saint is first given as Crewanus in 1201 though later forms are in the feminine. The church is of the 15th century but was substantially restored in 1872.
There are numerous monuments to members of the St Aubyn family. The three St Aubyn brasses (c. 1420, c. 1490 & c. 1550) are however now at Clowance.
In some 18th-century documents there is evidence that the parish was called Uni-Crowan and this may be connected to the fact that the parish was in two parts, one in Penwith and one in Kerrier hundred. The Kerrier portion was once a separate chapelry and may have had St Uny as its patron saint. Crowan feast was observed on the nearest Sunday to the eve of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin Mary.
It comprises a chancel (without an east window), nave, north aisle, and a short south aisle. The chancel is separated from the north aisle by three small arches; the nave is separated from the same aisle by three large arches and one small one. The material is granite, and the pillars are monolith.
Beside the south porch, there are a priest's door and a blocked north door. The tower is of three stages, and is built of granite ashlar; it has pinnacles and has a battlemented parapet. The east end of the church was rebuilt in 1746 when the chancel window, and the east window of the north aisle, were blocked.
In the churchyard on the north side stands a lofty building of granite ashlar, with moulded gables. It was used for some time as a mausoleum for the St Aubyn family.
Crowan church still has parts that date to the reigns of Henry VIII & Elizabeth I, but the church was extensively restored in 1870-2. During that over-enthusiastic restoration amongst other things, a 17th-century arcade was replaced, an organ chamber added, old roofs and wooden carvings discarded and, in all probability, some of the more obscure plaques removed. Now virtually all the internal church memorials are to various members of the St Aubyn family; one is dated 1599.
The Cache
Parking is available in front of the church at the parking waypoint provided.
The headline coordinates will take you to a grave of Edward Williams and his wife Mary Ann - the grave is close to the entrance porch of the church.
From the grave you can obtain the following information:
Edward Williams of Trelabnas died on April AB ACBD in his BC year.
Mary Ann his widow died on March EE ACBA aged CC years.
The cache can be found at N 50 DB.C(C-A)C W 005 AC.DB(C-E)
The cache is of regular size click lock box in a camo bag under some stickoflage.. Please ensure that the cache is well hidden and make sure you are not seen at the cache site.
A short amount of bushwhacking is needed to get to the cache.
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For full information on how you can expand the Church Micro series by sadexploration please read the Place your own Church Micro page before you contact him at churchmicro.co.uk
See also the Church Micro Statistics and Home pages for further information about the series.
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