A Brief History of St. Winwaloe’s: From Norman Origins to Centuries of Worship

There is no record of exactly when Tremaine Church was built, we do know however that in 1160 William de Bottrell (Bottreaux) gave the chapel of Tremaine to Launceston Priory for the salvation of his soul and that of his wife Joan, his ancestors and successors. The Bottreaux family had come from Upper Normandy after the Norman Conquest and were given large areas of North Cornwall including the estate of Penheale, within which was Tremaine. It is likely that the dedication to St. Winwaloe is due to the Bottreaux family. St. Winwaloe, who had founded a monastery at Landévennec in Brittany, was a very popular saint in the area of Upper Normandy where the Bottreaux originated.

The Priory assigned a priest to the churches of Egloskerry and Tremaine. He was to live at Egloskerry and to hold services in the churches on alternate Sundays. For most of Tremaine’s history this pattern of two services a month has continued. Tremaine has always been a parish with separate boundaries even though it has never had a resident priest.

The church is very small, just twelve feet wide, and retains its Noman font with a cable edging and has a pre-Reformation bell inscribed with the phrase ‘Ave Maria, Gracia Plena’, the first line of the Hail Mary prayer – Hail Mary, full of grace. You can also see a set of steps built into the north wall thought to be the steps to a long-gone rood screen. It is difficult to visualise a rood screen in such a small church!