St Columb Major
St Columb Major (
Cornish:
Sen Kolomm Veur) is a town in
Cornwall,
UK to the south west of
Wadebridge and east of
Newquay. It has a large church dedicated to
St. Columba featuring a four-tier tower and a wide through-arch.
The site of a
World War II prisoner of war camp, twice a year the town plays host to "
Hurling the Silver Ball", a medieval game once common throughout Cornwall but now only played in St. Columb and
St. Ives. It is played on
Shrove Tuesday and then again on the Saturday eleven days later. The game involves two teams of several hundred people (the 'townsmen' and the 'countrymen') who endeavour to carry a silver ball made of apple wood to goals set two miles apart.
Exterior
The tower is a fine example of a fifteenth-century building, consisting of four stages with
battlements and
pinnacles. It is 80 feet high and contains eight bells re-hung in 1950. In 1920 the chiming clock was added as a memorial to the men of St. Columb who died in the
Great War.
Interior
Some of the more interesting items include:
* Some fine
brasses, including Sir
John Arundell (died 1591) and his wife (died 1633).
* A fine wooden screen by the architect
George Fellowes Prynne [
1].
* A fine organ by Bryceston Bros. & Ellis of London.
* A "Letter of Thanks" to the
Cornish people sent by
Charles I in 1643.
* Some exceptional oak benchends, dating as far back as 1510.
* Two sculptures by the artist
Allan G. Wyon.
{| |-
- | Who | Image | lived | Famous for |
| - bgcolor="edf3fe" | John Nichols Thom | | born 1799 | Battle of Bossenden Wood, on May 31st 1838 in Kent, England.>- bgcolor="edf3fe" | Henry Jenner | | (1848-1934) | father of the Cornish language revival. Celtic scholar, Cornish cultural activist, and the chief originator of the Cornish language revival.>- bgcolor="edf3fe" | James Polkinghorne | | a champion Cornish wrestler. |
| Ralph Allen | | 1693 - 1764 | As a teenager he worked at St Columb Post Office. He moved to Bath in 1710 where he became a clerk in the Bath Post Office, and at the age of 19, in 1712, he became the Post Master of Bath. |
| Jack Crapp | | 1912 - 1981 | was an English cricketer who played first-class cricket for Gloucestershire County Cricket Club between 1936 and 1956, and played in the English cricket team on tour in the winter of 1948-49 |
| Richard Bullock | | 1847 - 1921 | became a legendary figure of the Wild West Cowboy era. His quick-shooting deeds working on the Deadwood stage gained him the nickname "Deadwood Dick". |
| Wilfred Theodore Blake | | 1894 - 1968 | Was a pioneer aviator, author and traveller.The man who led the first attempt to fly round the world in 1922. The pilot for this mission was Norman MacMillan. The aircraft was a de Havilland DH9A bought from the Royal Air Force. His ambitious round-the-world trip was cancelled after the first stage of the flight after it came to grief in Calcutta. |
| Dick Twinney | | | Renowned British illustrator and wildlife artist. |
