Old buildings, I feel, always have a certain presence but ruined places somehow even more so. There is a special kind of mystery in a ruined place and I find myself drawn in and pisky-led. My rather over-active imagination can fill these ivy-clad, tumble-down spaces with life and lives that are entirely of my own invention. Maybe that is their attraction.
The church of St Cohan at Merther is one of those places. To begin with to find this little nowhere place leads you down a long, winding and dead-end lane. I saw a grazing deer on the road here once, that is how infrequent the traffic is. When you step out of the car there is no sound but the wind and the birds (maybe a tractor).
The tiny hamlet stands at the far reaches of St Clements Creek just a few miles from the buzz of Truro though you would never know it. The original building on this site is said to date to around 1370 but it was only named for Saint Cohen (Coan) in about 1480 when the poor chap was murdered in his hermitage near here during King Athelstan’s conquest of Cornwall.
And after that, well, it seems the life of the church continued peacefully as with each generation birth was followed by marriage, followed by death, followed by birth.
According to Henderson’s Cornish Church Guide Merther church fell into disrepair in the 1920s when a larger, smarter church was built at Tresillian a couple of miles away. Eventually that church took Merther’s 3 bells and its statue of Saint Cohen and the building was left to crumble.
But if you are looking for somewhere to take a walk with ghosts or perhaps get some atmospheric photographs then find Merther on a map (or try your Sat Nav but I am not promising) and hunt it down.
For another atmospheric ruin try: Those Ruined Places : The Vacant Farm
For more tales of ancient places try: A Lostwithiel home: Yours for 3000 years! or The Singular Mr Daniel Gumb & his house of rocks
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What an amazing place, I would love to walk into your photos and wander there.
Thanks for this lovely post. I do like your adjective ‘pixie-led’ – but surely you mean ‘pisky-led’? 🙂
Thank you Barbara, I did think the same and then I wondered if anyone would understand what I meant!? I have changed it now! Thank you for all your lovely feedback, it means a lot to know people enjoy what I do!
While colour is merely interesting, black and white always creates a sense of mystery and foreboding.
This is gorgeous. I love ruined churches there’s always so much atmosphere and memory tied up there. Beautiful pics.
Great post. I love churches and graveyards, I never find them morbid either. The atmosphere in these photos is wonderful.
A wonderful spot and one of my favourite.