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The St Piran Project
St Piran is the patron saint of Cornwall, and the flag of St Piran is the Cornish flag - white cross on a black background symbolising the discovery of tin by the saint as the white metal flowed from black rock.
The Oratory of St Piran has a history spanning 1500 years. For a good many of those years, the Oratory has been buried under the sand in the dunes of Gear Sands near Perranporth. Its previous interments were from the natural movement of the dunes (towanow in Cornish), which make up one of the most ecologically sensitive sites in Europe. For the last 21 years it has been buried as the result of a human decision, ostensibly on the grounds that the only way to protect the Oratory was to bury it.
The St Piran Project has as one of its objectives to uncover the Oratory. The other objectives include preservation of the I2rh century church, and the general promotion of Cornish culture and history.
Why should the Oratory be uncovered?
But why should the Oratory be uncovered, if it is best preserved by leaving it under the sand? Surely, in view of the expense and complexity of preserving it, there is little justification for disturbing the site? The site is waterlogged for much of the year; it is difficult to keep secure and is vulnerable to vandals; it is not an interesting structure and not worth visiting; it will not be possible to secure its future - this question is sometimes asked, and must be answered.
First, why not? It is, in fact, an interesting structure with historical significance in terms of its construction. It is, after all, the oldest surviving (if burial under the sand can be so described) four-walled Christian edifice in the British Isles. Shouldn’t it be seen?
Second, its historical significance in terms of British history is considerable. It is part of Celtic Britain, and a part of the cultural and spiritual development of the British Isles that is often neglected in the education system.
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St Piran, or Perran. became an important figure in Cornish life. He was reputed to be the discoverer of tin, and became the patron saint of tin miners, who, their lives being hard, had a taste for drink: hence the expression 'as drunk: as a Piraner'. He was also believed to be a tolerant and convivial man: indeed, he is supposed to have died after failing into a well at the age of 250 having had too much ale. The Oratory was on the old pilgrim route from Padstow to Mousehole, thence to Santiago de Compostella in Spain, and the area surrounding the Oratory was a centre of Comish cultural heritage The flag of St Piran, symbolizing tin streaming from black rock, is the flag of Cornwall.
The chapel was built on sand, and over a spring. By the end of the first millennium it was being overwhelmed by the dunes. as were the hundreds of graves of parishioners buried there. A church was built in about I 150, higher in the dunes, but by the eighteenth century it too was under threat from the sand. In 1804 parishioners moved the stones of the tower, pillars, font and woodwork to the site of the present church.
The Oratory was rediscovered in the 1790s. and was engulfed by sand again soon after; was re-excavated in 1835, and then protected within a bunker made of cement blocks in 1910. It remained thus until 1980, when the decision was taken by the various bodies involved with its protection to rebury it because it could not otherwise be protected from despoliation by vandals, flooding and the weather. The 12th century church is also in a poor state. |
Third, and most important in Cornwall, is its meaning at a time of Cornish Renaissance. There is growing awareness in Cornwall of the intrinsic value of Cornish culture and identity; and culture and identity require symbols to focus them and give them substance. Such a symbol brings Cornwall closer to Cornish people outside Cornwall and in the Diaspora, and makes people think about what matters to them in respect of where they come from, and how they see the world. Over the
centuries the Oratory has been a focus for Cornish people; and the St Piran's Day processions and celebrations on the tawanow have been a focal activity for centuries.
So it is an interesting structure, and it symbolises much that is important in Cornwall. It is worth uncovering in order to preserve it properly. The second church must not be allowed to degrade further. And the contribution that the sites will make to the Cornish Renaissance will, we hope, be substantial.
Uncovering and preserving the Oratory and the Church
- where we are now
Since the last newsletter, progress has been slow, although perhaps in the context of I500 years of history, we can be patient for a few months! However, we hope that the funding for the Feasibility Study will be approved in the next 6 weeks or so at the latest, and that the selected consultants will be able to mobilise and begin work soon after that.
The Study will set out the options for uncovering the Oratory and evaluate the hydrological, geological, ecological and archaeological problems and risks, and responses to them.
Once these options are set out, we will discuss with all the interested parties and stakeholders how best to proceed. We will need to decide how the Oratory will be protected, and how to make its protection financially sustainable.
For example, once the site is drained, we could house the Oratory within a hollow artificial dome, and employ a caretaker to look after it. It would become a museum in its own right. The proposed St Piran Trust would ensure that the structure was maintained and guarded similarly; the second church needs protection and better preservation.
In order to do all this we will require finance. The Feasibility Study will be financed with assistance from the County Council, the Parish Council and English Heritage, which has promised a significant donation. We have already received generous help from various sources; including the County Council's Countryside Service; Penhale Camp; Haven Leisure; the St Piran's Day Dinner; and the Montana Cornish Cousins; as well as many smaller individual donations. We have also had sympathetic coverage in the West Briton, which has agreed to help us spread awareness of the project as necessary.
But once we have agreed how the Oratory and the Church will be developed, we will need considerable finance. We will probably have to raise money for an endowment fund, money that would be invested so that the interest would pay for the upkeep.
It would be wrong to proceed if we could not guarantee long term security for the sites: they can never again be permitted to fall derelict. They are, after all, at the heart of Cornish culture.
Friends of St Piran
We have established the Friends of St Piran, which is a group of subscribers who support us with contributions. To join the Friends you contribute an annual fee of £10 which we use to finance small items like this newsletter, educational visits to schools, our very meagre running costs, and larger ventures such as the video of Pol Hodge's play about the life of St Piran, filmed on the towans on St Piran's Day 2000 (available for £7 from Eileen Carter).
Perran Penrose
Chairman
St Piran Project
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