St Minver

The village is visited mainly because of St Menefreda’s Parish Church. A church certainly stood here in Saxon times, though the present one dates at least from the mid 13th century, when William of Saint Menefreda paid homage to the Prior of Bodmin. The slate pillars in the north aisle are Norman, and the granite pillars of the south aisle are 15th century. The bench ends date from the 15th century, and are the church’s greatest glory. One represents Adam and Eve, while another represents Henry II, the huge variety of these rich carvings are worthy of close study. The church also owns three ‘Vinegar Bibles’ printed in 1717, which, instead of having ‘The Parable of the Vineyard’ in Chapter 20 of St Luke’s Gospel has instead ‘The Parable of the Vinegar’. As the printer’s name was John Baskett, and there were many other misprints in this edition, it has been called ‘a Baskett full of errors’. The Vinegar Bibles can be viewed by arrangement.

An attraction that brings families to St Miniver is the Porteath Bee Centre. One of the simplest and pleasurable aspects here is that it gives you a chance to observe a swarm of bees going about their business. And best of all there is no risk of getting stung! The exhibition opens to the public from Easter to October.

Available Guidebooks for this region:

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