page_title: St Petroc's Church, Bodmin
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: St Petroc's Church, Bodmin / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Victorian glasswork with Saint Petroc of Cornwall, at Bodmin church.
context_page_description: St Petroc's Church, Bodmin, also known as Bodmin Parish Church, is an Anglican parish church in the town of Bodmin, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.
  The existing church building is dated 1469–1472 and was until the building of Truro Cathedral the largest church in Cornwall. The tower which remains from the original Norman church and stands on the north side of the church was until the loss of its spire in 1699 150 ft high. The building underwent two Victorian restorations and another in 1930. It is now listed Grade I. Part of the church is the Regimental Chapel of the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry dedicated in 1933.
  The parish of Bodmin is now grouped with Lanivet and Lanhydrock parishes. There is a chapel at Nanstallon.
context_section_description: The early history of the monastic community of Bodmin is obscure; however the name "Bodmin" derives from the Cornish for "house of the monks" so the use of this name must have followed the establishment of the monastery. According to tradition, after founding a monastery at Padstow, Saint Petroc founded another monastery in Bodmin in the 6th century and gave the town its alternative name of Petrockstow. The legends of St Petroc associate him with monasteries in Padstow and Bodmin; but that at Bodmin may have been founded as a daughter house of Padstow (also called Petrockstow or Aldestow) after his death. St Guron is said to have preceded him here. The foundation of the monastery is also attributed to King Athelstan though it probably existed before his time, and was destroyed in a Danish raid in 981 AD. It must have been revived since it was a considerable landholder in the reign of Edward the Confessor.
  Domesday Book records that parts of its lands had been taken from it by the Count of Mortain while others had been retained. The holdings were mainly in the hundreds of Trigg and Pydar and at the time of Domesday the monastery still held 18 manors, including Bodmin, Padstow and Rialton. These three manors were held by the monastery itself as well as Ellenglaze, Withiel and Treknow; Nancekuke, Tregole and Fursnewth were let to separate tenants and Coswarth was held by the king. Robert, Count of Mortain held from the monastery the manors of Tywarnhayle, Halwyn, Callestick, Cargoll, Treloy, St Enoder and  Bossiney; lands in Tregona, Trevornick, Trenhale, Tolcarne, Tremore, Lancarffe and Treninnick were taken from the monastery by Count Robert and in 1086 they were held by his tenants.
  William Warelwast, Bishop of Exeter, established a house of regular Augustinian canons here ca. 1120. After St Petroc's relics were stolen in 1177 they were recovered and returned to Prior Roger (the ivory casket in which they were kept has survived to the present day). In the reign of King Henry VIII the priory was suppressed and the site granted to Thomas Sternhold. Until that time the choir had been used by the canons and the nave by the parishioners of Bodmin. In John Leland's Itinerary he records that "monkes, then nunnys, then seculare prestes, then monkes agayne, and last canons regular" had possessed the church. He reports that the priory buildings stood at the east-southeast end of the churchyard. Some fragments of stonework have been found and are preserved at Priory House.
  John Wallis
  John Wallis was Vicar of Bodmin from 1817 to his death in 1866; he served as mayor of Bodmin in 1822 and was the author of many topographical works. His works include The Cornwall Register: containing collections relative to the past and present state of the 209 parishes, forming the county, archdeaconry, parliamentary divisions, and poor law unions of Cornwall; to which is added a brief view of the adjoining towns and parishes in Devon, from Hartland to Plymouth (Bodmin: printed by Liddell & Son, 1847); which was preceded by The Bodmin Register: containing collections relative to the past and present state of the parish of Bodmin : and also, a statistical view of the twenty-eight parishes within a circle of eight miles round Bodmin church : together with many particulars and statistical tables concerning the county, archdeaconry, parliamentary districts, and poor law unions of Cornwall: with an appendix on the diocese of Exeter &c. (Bodmin: printed by Liddell & Son, 1838).
caption: Detail of stained glass window at Bodmin showing St Petroc
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