St Piran (or Perran)

The most important of Cornish saints. Legend tells us that St Piran, the patron saint of the tin miners, sailed to Cornwall from Ireland on a millstone. Originally it had been tied around his neck and he had been cast into the Atlantic by people jealous of his power to heal and work miracles. As he was thrown off the cliff there was a bolt of lightning and a terrible crash of thunder, but as he reached the sea the storm suddenly abated, the sun came out and St Piran could be seen seated peacefully on the millstone which was now floating on the surface of the water. It bore him safely across to Cornwall and he landed between Newquay and Perranporth at Perran Beach, to which he gave his name.

Piran built himself a small chapel in Penhale sands and his first disciples were said to be a badger, a fox and a bear. He lived a good and useful life, surviving to the ripe old age of 206!

It's claimed that a huge skeleton unearthed near Perranzabuloe (which means Sands of St Piran) could be his, and the remnants of his chapel were discovered in the sand during the last century, but sadly they have now been reburied to protect them from vandals.

Piran is said to have tapped the earth with his staff and revealed tin against the black rock. This is commemorated in the colours of the Cornish national flag - also known as the 'Flag of St Piran'. (Note: some also claim that the colours symbolise the Christian faith shining over lies, good over evil.)

His Feast Day is the 5th March and this is celebrated in Cornwall as a national saint's day much like St David's Day in Wales, St Andrew's in Scotland, St George's in England and St Patrick's in Ireland).

St Mawes

St Mawes was the tenth son of an Irish king and his name is revered not only in Cornwall but in Brittany too, where he is known as St Maudez and, possibly, St Malo. His stone chair is still preserved in the wall of a house in St Mawes village.

One day, so the legend goes, he was sitting there preaching when a noisy seal came out of the sea and interrupted him with its barking. After a while he became impatient, picked up a large rock and threw it at the animal. It missed, but legend tells us that the rock still remains where it fell, wedged on top of the Black Rocks halfway across Falmouth Harbour.

St Petroc

St Petroc, who gave his name to Padstow (Petrocstow originally) and several local villages (Little Petherick, Trebetherick) arrived by more conventional means, but to a hostile welcome. Landing at Trebetherick, he asked some unfriendly locals for a drink and they refused him. Undeterred, Petroc simply tapped his staff on the ground and a spring of fresh water appeared. The hostile group were instantly converted to loyal disciples.

After his death his relics were taken to Bodmin to be housed in an ivory casket decorated with brass and gold, where they remained undisturbed until 1994, when the casket was stolen from the church by thieves. Fortunately for the people of Bodmin who were distraught by the theft, the thieves were apparently unable to find a market for one of the most priceless reliquaries in Britain, and it was recovered shortly afterwards and returned to its display case in the church.

St Levan

Close by Land's End lies the church of Levan. Levan was an enthusiastic fisherman and on his return from fishing rips would sometimes rest on a rock at he south side of the church, to the left of the porch.

It is said that before he died he decided to leave a reminder of himself for future generations, and so he struck the rock with his fist and it split open. The stone bears a prophesy, for St Levan is supposed to have prayed over it and pronounced that when a pack horse with panniers astride it can be ridden through the split in the stone the world will end.

St Neot

St Neot was known as The Pygmy Saint, for he was apparently only mere 15 inches high. He used to spend much of his day immersed up to the neck in his well during his devotions. He became an advisor to King Alfred the Great and it is in a book about St Neot that we read about King Alfred burning the cakes when hiding from the Danes at Athelney. St Neot travelled to Cornwall where, seeking a life of solitude, he started a hermitage - a monastery where monks each lived alone in their rooms.

Neot had a strange way with animals and birds and worked miracles with them, as depicted in the beautiful stained glass window of his church in the East Cornwall village named after him.

St Gundred

St Gundred, one of Cornwall's lesser known saints, was, so legend tells us, a very holy and virtuous lady whose father was a leper, (though there are no records of her and she may be confused with the male saint St Gonand). It is said that she lived in the remarkable chapel which stands on the top of Roche Rock, near St Austell, tending to her sick father's needs. The Roche Rock chapel also features in the Cornish legend of 'Jan Tregeagle' and is one of the most curious religious monuments in the whole country. The ruined chapel of St Michael stands on the edge of china clay country at Roche, near St Austell and is easily accessible by means of a steel ladder screwed to the rockface.

St Ia

Like St Piran, St Ia, founder of the town of St lves, arrived by unusual means. A woman of noble birth, she is said to have floated over from Ireland on a leaf which she had increased to a huge size by touching it with her staff.

St Austell

St Austell was known to the people of the moorlands for his wide brim hat that had a pointed top that was flattened, and his large walking staff made from a branch from a hawthorn. These were the only possessions St Austell had. He enjoyed and took many walks across the desolate moorland, greeting the people and telling them about his God.

As legend goes, St Austell was returning to his shelter one evening from one of these walks. As he made his way through the moorlands he was unaware that he was being watched by the ol' devil himself, Old Scratch. Well Old Scratch decided he would stir up some trouble so he summoned up a storm. The wind begin to blow, stronger and stronger it blew. St Austell fighting to walk through the wind held on to his hat tightly so that he not lose it to the wind. Then the rain came, it fell hard and hit his face and hands piercing his skin.

Suddenly as if the wind and the rain was not enough, there came a gust of wind stronger then any St Austell had felt before and away with his hat it went, into the darkness. St Austell helplessly watched one of his only possessions be lost in the darkness. St Austell set off right away to search for his hat. But with the weather, the approaching darkness, and the soft turf of the moorland St Austell soon found his staff was not helping and only getting in the way. St Austell thrust his staff deep into the soft turf of the moorland, and he thought to himself "I will return later to retrieve this."

But before Austell could do anything about finding his hat, the full night had came and with the wind still whipping about, and the rain piercing his flesh St Austell soon became disorientated in the middle of the moorland in the total darkness. St Austell know that he was going to have a hard time finding his way home and had better forget about his hat until the next day when it turned light It was a stoke of luck that St Austell managed to find his way back to his shelter. There has been many souls lost in the moor and I hear they still wander aimlessly at night, in the moor to this day.

The next day the storm had passed and Austell set out to find his hat and his staff. Over the downs he went up and down this way and that. And finally Austell found his hat and his staff, but to his surprise the devil had turned them into huge solid stone, so huge that St Austell could not retrieve them. These stones were so large that later generations would say that they belonged to a giant and that's how one of the stones got the name of "The Giant's Hat". Years later The Giant's Hat was broken up because the people feared it would bring bad luck.

But St Austell's staff can still be seen to this day, no longer on the Down where it remained for many centuries, but now it is in Roche, and known as "The Long Stone".

St Agnes

The Giant Bolster must have been a truly enormous figure, since he could plant one foot on Carn Brea (the high hill just outside Camborne) and the other on the cliffs outside St Agnes - some six miles away as the crow flies. Bolster was a bad tempered and violent brute who terrorised the countryside and struck fear into the hearts of ordinary folk, but he met his match in the pious and chaste St Agnes. He fell in love with her and pursued her relentlesly, but St Agnes wanted none of it.

Sick of his constant attentions, St Agnes told him to prove his love for her by filling up a hole in the cliff at Chapel Porth with his own blood. To Bolster that was an easy task. After all, he'd never miss a few gallons - but St Agnes knew that the hole was bottomless and led into the sea below. He stretched out his arm, plunged a knife into it and lay down to wait for the hole to fill up. It never did, of course and eventually Bolster lost so much blood he died. Thus, St Agnes was rid of his unwanted attentions and the cliffs at Chapel Porth to this day still bear a red stain, said to be from where his blood ran down into to sea.

St Brychan

Said to have arrived from Wales with 3 wives, 12 sons and 12 daughters (including Endillion (Endelienta), Issey, Kew, Mabyn, Minver (Menefreda) and Teath, who all became saints themselves)

St Keyne

St Keyne (Keyna or Cain) was one of the twenty-four children of King Brychan of Brecknock, Wales. She refused several suitors' offers of marriage and became a hermitess on the banks of the Severn River in Somersetshire, England. After living there for several years, during which she traveled widely, she was persuaded by her nephew, St. Cadoc, to return to Wales, though exactly where she spent her last days is not known. During her travels, she founded numerous churches in South Wales, Cornwall, and perhaps Somerset.

For a while she lived near Liskeard and there is a well nearby on which she put a curious spell. She said that whichever drank first of the water of this well, a man or his wife, would be master for life.

St Budoc

Arrived in Cornwall floating in a barrel.

St Fingar

Arrived from Ireland with his brothers St Breaca, St Euny and St Erc. His sister, Ia, arrived separately floating on an ivy leaf.

St Keverne and St Just

Gained a reputation for being aggressive rivals

St Germanus

St Germanus was elected Bishop of Auxerie, France, in 4l8 CE at the time that the Roman Empire was falling apart. He was twice sent to Britain to argue against the false teachings of Pelagius. On his second visit there was an attack by a group of pagan raiders, he encouraged the defenders to shout 'Alleluia' loudly. The attackers thought they were out numbered and ran away. St Germanus taught St Patrick (Patron Saint of Ireland) and founded a monastery and church at St Germans, which came to serve as Cornwall's cathedral for many years. He also visited the shrine of St Alban's to pray.

St Cleer (or Clara)

St Cleer was an Englishman who came to Cornwall in the 8 th or 9 th century (between 700 and 900 CE). He preached and built a church on the edge of Bodmin moor - today's village of St Cleer. The village also has a holy well and two ancient Celtic crosses.
The nearby Doniert Stone is the remains of another cross put up by King Doniert 'for the good of his soul' around the time of St Cleer.
St Cleer was a monk devoted to a life of celibacy, but a local chieftainess fell in love with him and pursued him. When he fled to a lonely hermitage in France, the lady was furious and had him murdered.

St Sampson

St Sampson was the son of a Welsh Chieftain who became Abbot of Caldey Island near Tenby and visited Ireland before being ordained a Bishop by St Dubricius. At Easter time St Sampson saw an angelic vision who told him to leave the country and cross the sea. Travelling with three cousins and other friends he crossed Cornwall, coming to a monastery at Lau Docco and then on to Fowey.

Wherever he went he was said to have 'by God, given sight to the blind, healed many lepers, cast out devils and saved many wandering in error'.
Passing through the Hundred of Trigg he came across a group of people worshipping an idol with music and dancing. He converted them to Christianity through his words and a miraculous healing and they were all baptised. His biographer wrote about the place where it happened. 'On this hill I have myself stood, and worshipped; with my fingers I have traced the sign of the cross which Saint Samson by his own hand carved with an iron tool on a standing stone'.

Saint Sampson stayed there some time, living in a cave from which a spring of water flowed. He started a monastery there, which he left in the care of his father. He travelled on to Brittany, where he founded another monastery and church, which became the Cathedral of Dol.

St Ronan

St Ronan preached throughout his part of the Celtic Christian world, particularly in Cornwall and Brittany.

St Salom

St Salom, a Cornish saint, was a King who succeeded his cousin, Mark, as King of Cerniw in the early 6th century. He was a younger son of King Erbin of Dumnonia and married Saint Wenna, the daughter of an Irish Prince who had settled at Caer-Goch near Mynyw. Their son was the famous Saint Cybi.
Little is known about his reign, though he has been recorded as holding the post of Chief Military Officer of the British. Saint Salom, considered a holy man himself, founded the Church of Lansalos in Cerniw. His memorial may be the Chi-Rho inscribed stone to be seen at Saint Just-in-Penwith recording "Selus lies here".

Geraint of Dumnonia

Geraint was a King of Dumnonia who ruled in the early eighth century. During his reign, it is believed that Dumnonia came repeatedly into conflict with neighbouring Anglo-Saxon Wessex who started to control what became the county of Somerset after a series of battles that culminated in a victory of the West Saxons and South Saxons under Ine in AD 710.

A letter survives addressed to him from Aldhelm on the Easter Problem. It is clear that in the later seventh century the British in Cornwall and Devon still observed Easter on the dates that the Celtic church had calculated, at variance with Catholic practice.

Geraint is venerated as a saint, and appears in the Welsh language classic "The Mabiginion". He was the last recorded king of a unified Dumnonia, with subsequent kings (eg Doniert, Huwell) reigned over a reducing area of influence that eventually encompassed only a part of Cornwall.

St Just

Seems to be derived from one of the many French Saint Justs

St Ursula

Her legend, probably non-historical, is that she was a British princess who, at the request of her father King Donaut, set sail to join her future husband, the pagan Governor Conan Meriadoc of Armorica (Brittany), along with 11,000 virginal handmaidens. However, a miraculous storm brought them over the sea in a single day to a Gaulish port, where Ursula declared that before her marriage she would undertake a pan-European pilgrimage. She headed for Rome, with her followers, and persuaded the Pope, Cyriacus (unknown in the pontifical records), and Bishop of Ravenna, Sulpicius, to join them. After setting out for Cologne, which was being besieged by Huns, all the virgins were beheaded in a dreadful massacre. The Huns' leader shot Ursula dead, supposedly in 383.

St Wenna

St Wenna was the daughter of Lord Cynyr Ceinfarfog of Caer Goch, the wife of King Salom of Cerniw (corresponding to modern Cornwall) and the mother of Saint Cybi. She founded the churches of Sant Wenn and Saint Morval in Cerniw. She died in Cerniw.

Some other saints we've yet to pin down:

Saint Marwenna
Saint Menfre
Saint Morwenna
Saint Ouine
Saint Constantine
Saint Gerren