Jubilation as Breage Church is awarded Heritage Lottery Funding

There is jubilation at Breage Parish Church. They have just been awarded £166,500 by the Heritage Lottery Fund to restore their famous tower and to create a Heritage Centre to celebrate the local Celtic Saints of West Cornwall.

The church has a rich history, with its tower providing a navigational focal point for ancient sailors in the sea to modern pilots in the air. Firmly planted as a place of worship in the 5th century by St Breaca, a Christian missionary who came over from Ireland with her brother St Germoe, the church, as it stands today, was built over 500 years ago.

A place amongst the Cornish Celtic Saints

St Breaca and St Germoe have a place amongst our Cornish Celtic Saints and, thanks to this Heritage Lottery Funding, will continue to be remembered through the Heritage Centre project. So too will the tower pinnacles and flagpole, which have been a significant part of the landscape for locals, tourists and navigators for centuries.

“We are thrilled to receive this support,” said Revd Dr Peter Johnson. “This Heritage Lottery funding means that the church, which also boasts some recently restored medieval wall paintings, can help others in the community and beyond to understand the significance of its heritage and connection to the nine other Celtic Saints in Cornwall.”

With pilgrimage becoming so much part of our local and tourist landscape, this money will help to ensure that those beginning their journeys at Breage Church,  will have an inspiring start to a pilgrimage of the churches of West Cornwall associated with the Saints.

The medieval paintings: On the left, St Christopher with Christ on his shoulder and on the right an image of the ‘Sabbath Christ’ to warn against working or gambling on the Sabbath.