The spire of Towednack Church

Towednack church, not far from St Ives, has a very low tower, almost squashed. The story goes that it was the devil himself was who prevented the tower being taller. Apparently after each day's work by the medieval stonemasons, the devil would came in the night and removed the stones that they had added that day. In the end they gave up the struggle, and capped off the tower at the low height you can see today.

Another, unrelated tradition at Towednack is the annual Cuckoo Feast on April 25th. It all goes back hundreds of years to a man putting a log on his fire, and out flew a cuckoo from a hole in the log. He caught and kept the bird, and apparently resolved to commemorate the event with a cuckoo feast each year.

Poundstock and its Pirates

The church of St Winwaloe in Poundstock, near the coastal village of Widemouth Bay, has had more than its fair share of rogue vicars. In the 14th century, the curate was a member of a gang of pirates who attacked ships sailing off Widemouth Bay. This Rev William Penfold fell out with the gang, and in 1357 the gang tracked him down to the church, and burst in while he was holding a service. Penfold was brutally murdered at the altar, and his ghost still haunts the church.

A later vicar was sentenced to life imprisonment for complicity in a murder, and yet another hanged for leading a revolt in Tudor times against the changes being made in the Book of Common Prayer.

St Catherine's Church at Temple on Bodmin Moor

Before the passing of the Marriage Act of 1753, which forbade clandestine marriages, St Catherine's had a dubious reputation. It is a tiny church, built in the 12th century by the Knights Templar. it was designed as a refuge on Bodmin Moor for travellers going to the Cornish ports further west. The church was granted the right to conduct marriages without the need for Banns to be read. This led to the church being used for marriages of convenience, and it developed a very bad reputation.

Boscastle,s Ghostly Bells

There are no bells in the tower of Forrabury Churchin Boscastle, but it is said that they can be heard ringing beneath the waves where they came to rest. Three bells were ordered by William, Lord of Bottreaux Castle, to ward off the plague in the Middle Ages. The bells never reached the church, as the ship carrying them sunk in the bay just offshore. Lord William was struck by the plague and died. And the ghostly sound of the bells can still be heard when a storms sweeps across the bay.