Fowey Parish Church

Truro Diocese

A warm welcome awaits you at St Sampson’s Church every Sunday. 

Morning Services are followed by coffee and refreshments.

May 31st          PENTECOST       9.30 am      Holy Communion & choir   Rev C Sargisson

 June 7th          Trinity Sunday      9.30 am      Holy Communion              Rev C Sargisson

June 14th          Trinity 1               9.30 am      Holy Communion & choir  Rev C Sargisson

June 21st          Trinity 2               6.00 pm      Evensong                        Wendy Earl

June 28th          Trinity 3               9.30 am      Holy Communion & choir  Vicar

 
 
Vicar’s letter

Dear Friends How I Caused the Credit Crunch  “It was me.” That’s what a bright, young, Eton- and Oxford-educated former banker called Tetsuya Ishikawa, who spent seven years at the forefront of the credit markets, admits about himself. During a banking career within some of the world’s major banks, he structured and sold subprime securities to global investors. Now he confesses all in the form of a novel that is taking the bestseller lists by storm.                  The title of his book, How I Caused the Credit Crunch, is as intriguing as its contents. During the current financial crisis the emphasis has been mostly on the technical problems of risk management, and on what technical fixes now need to be imposed. Ishikawa’s book provides, in contrast, a vivid reminder that financial markets are not the workings of cold mechanical forces, but of people. Reflecting human choices, they have innate moral dimensions.

 When we try to operate markets with the suspension of moral judgement,  economics and business are forced into a moral vacuum that eventually suffocates them. Markets are essentially about relationships (think of the medieval marketplace...), they therefore need sound morals to survive. In this vein, the credit crunch is a wake up call. When morals go wrong, destruction follows. However, the fix for the banking industry, as for the reputation of parliament, will not come from the imposition of codes or standards. Instead it will need to be from the heart and it’s happened before: The values that arguably made Britain ‘great’ in the 19th century, had their roots in the evangelical revival of the 18th century. While his spotlight is on bankers, Ishikawa insists that ‘we are all responsible in our small way’ and that ‘the arrogance of the [banking] industry has gone out. There is a greater sense of humility’.  A similar recognition and humility inspired Mel Gibson to ask the camera crew of his blockbuster The Passion to film his own hand as that of the centurion holding the nails that were driven through Jesus’ wrists. Were we all to embrace such humility, there might be real change in our nation and the green shoots of recovery might be sooner to appear.

 With every blessing Philip de Grey-Warter

_____________________

Philip de Grey-Warter

Vicar of Fowey & Golant

The Vicarage, Fowey

Cornwall PL23 1BU

01726 83 35 35

vicar@foweyparishchurch.org

www.foweyparishchurch.org

The Church in late autumn  viewed from the South

Cornwall has more saints than any other county! Saint Sampson is the only one whose life was recorded in some detail (Vita Saint Sampson c610-615AD). Many of the Cornish saints and others who travelled to Brittany and beyond landed from Ireland but mainly from Wales somewhere on the north coast of Cornwall and walked the " Saints Way" from north to south often stopping on the way to attempt to convert the heathen to Christianity. (The Saints Way from Padstow to Fowey via Golant is a popular route for walkers today who frequently make reference to their journey in the visitors book in the Church). St Sampson stayed sometimes in Golant and legends about him are depicted in some stained glass in the Church. He later travelled to Brittany ( see picture below taken from window by organ ) and eventually became Archbishop of Dol and the chief of the Seven Saints of that province.

Water flows continually into his Holy Well  near the entrance porch which is sheltered by a rude arch of stonework, apparently of great antiquity; the water drawn from the well is still used today for baptisms.

The church has a star rating in Simon Jenkins book 'Englands Thousand Best Churches' which he describes as 'warm and welcoming'. Both the  nave and south aisle have beautiful wagon roofs and are divided by clustered arcading. (since the book was published the plaster ceiling in the nave has been reinstated). Three granite arches in the nave are thought to be the remains of the original oratory. The pulpit, reading desk, bishops chair and a screen are superb examples of early 16th century carving depicting Saints  and coats of arms of local families. A restoration and some rebuilding took place in 1842 at a cost of £534 when the screen which formed the chapel and the chancel at the east end was removed. The organ was installed about 10 years ago in 1992 and is a hybrid using some of the pipes from the two organs which were originally in St Michaels Church, Newquay during the 20th century. On the north wall is a huge coat of arms of James II  in recognition of the Royalist sympathies which existed in this part of the county. The building is faced with granite and the battlement two stage tower is of the same material.

The stained glass is relatively modern except for two small portraits in medieval glass(St Sampson and St Anthony) in the north wall by the nave altar. Sir John Betjeman judged the pews in the nave to be the most uncomfortable in Cornwall!

Some of the real life drama of the love triangle of King Mark, Princess Isult(Isolde) to whom he was betrothed and his nephew, Tristan, was played out in the area and it is recorded that Isult attended the church and gave her wedding dress to be made into a priest's chasuble.

The South Aisle     East Window

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