Breage Parish Church is the Anglican

Church of England

The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...

 parish church of the parish of Breage

Breage, Cornwall

Breage is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated three miles west of Helston....

, Cornwall

Cornwall

Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. It is dedicated to Saint Breage

Breage

Breage, also known as Breaca, Briac, etc., is a saint venerated in Cornwall and southwestern Britain. According to her late hagiography, she was an Irish nun of the 5th or 6th century who founded a church in Cornwall...

 or Breaca, said to have been an Irish nun who came to Cornwall in the 5th century.

Description

The church was built of granite in the 15th century: it has two aisles separated from the nave by granite arcades of standard design. On the north wall are five medieval wall paintings: four saints are portrayed, Ambrose, Christopher, Corentin

Corentin

Corentin is a name of Breton origin. It is the name of a saint, Corentin of Quimper. It can also refer to:Places*St. Corentin's Cathedral, Quimper*Corentin Celton *Corentin Cariou People*Corentin Corre, Breton cyclist...

e and Hilary

Hilary of Poitiers

Hilary of Poitiers was Bishop of Poitiers and is a Doctor of the Church. He was sometimes referred to as the "Hammer of the Arians" and the "Athanasius of the West." His name comes from the Latin word for happy or cheerful. His optional memorial in the Roman Catholic calendar of saints is 13...

 (there are fragmentary ones also), and the Warning to the Sabbath-Breakers. A Roman milestone of the 3rd century is preserved in the church and in the churchyard there is an unusual Hiberno-Saxon cross head . The inscription on the milestone is: IMP [C] DO NO MARC CASSI: this incomplete text refers to the Emperor (Marcus Cassianus) Postumus

Postumus

Marcus Cassianius Latinius Postumus was a Roman emperor of Batavian origin. He usurped power from Gallienus in 260 and formed the so-called Gallic Empire...

, 258-68 AD (Collingwood, RIB no. 2232).

History

In the 12th century the Earl of Gloucester

Robert, 1st Earl of Gloucester

Robert Fitzroy, 1st Earl of Gloucester was an illegitimate son of King Henry I of England. He was called "Rufus" and occasionally "de Caen", he is also known as Robert "the Consul"...

 (Lord of the manor of Binnerton) gave the church to the abbey of Tewkesbury

Tewkesbury Abbey

The Abbey of the Blessed Virgin Mary at Tewkesbury in the English county of Gloucestershire is the second largest parish church in the country and a former Benedictine monastery.-History:...

 but in this he exceeded his legal power and after eighty-six years the Earl of Cornwall

Richard, 1st Earl of Cornwall

Richard of Cornwall was Count of Poitou , 1st Earl of Cornwall and German King...

 intervened and bestowed it on the abbey of Hailes

Hailes Abbey

Hailes Abbey is two miles northeast of Winchcombe, Gloucestershire, England.The abbey was founded in 1245 or 1246 by Richard, Earl of Cornwall, called "King of the Romans" and the younger brother of King Henry III of England. He was granted the manor of Hailes by Henry, and settled it with...

. The parish of Breage had until the 19th century the unusual feature of dependent parochial chapels at Germoe

Germoe

Germoe is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, United Kingdom. Germoe village, the parish's principal settlement and church town, is situated approximately five miles west of Helston and seven miles east of Penzance. The A394 Penzance to Helston road runs along the southern boundary of the...

, Cury

Cury

Cury is a civil parish and village in southwest Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated approximately four miles south of Helston on The Lizard peninsula. The parish is named for St Corentin and is recorded in the Domesday Book as Chori....

 and Gunwalloe

Gunwalloe

Gunwalloe is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is situated on the Lizard Peninsula three miles south of Helston and partly contains The Loe, the largest natural freshwater lake in Cornwall.-History:...

, the last two being added to it in 1246 by the Earl.