ST. SAVIOURS HILL, CAR PARK & 
THE BOUND

THE CHAPEL OF ST. SAVIOUR

The word Saint in this context means ‘blessed’ so St. Saviour is Jesus.
St. Wyllow was an obscure Celtic Saint whose name was associated with the site long before Augustine brought Christianity to these shores in 596 AD.

The Chapel of St. Saviour was built in the early medieval period, probably either 8th or 9th century. It would have been looked after by a Chaplain, whose duties would have been to act as a ‘Father’ to the inhabitants of Polruan, helping them with their problems both spiritual and physical. He would have been knowledgeable in the use of herbs and plants as medicines and would probably have been the only person capable of reading and writing.

​

The Chapel would have been the only place of worship and the only form of service would have been that of the Celtic Church. Visitors to the Chapel would have been common, since Polruan was near the south end of a Pilgrims' route which ran from Fowey up to near Padstow (The Saints' Way) a regular route from Ireland and vice versa. It was also a route of another Pilgrims' Way from Plymouth down to St. Michael's Mount near Penzance.

​

All that is left of St Saviour's is the ruin of a stone buttress, but the visitor can gain some impression of the prominence of its position. It is visible from far out to sea, and was used as a guide to mariners seeking the haven of the River Fowey. From his Chapel the Chaplain would be able to see invading fleets and run to warn the inhabitants of Polruan and Fowey. Later history tells of the bells of St Saviour's and we can assume that these would have then been used as the warning. Later still, bands of archers were placed along the cliff tops to deter invaders, but this seems not to have worked and so the blockhouses were built each side of the estuary with a chain linked between them to stop ships entering the river. The remains of the Fowey Blockhouse is still visible on the far bank, and the Polruan Blockhouse, one of the best surviving examples of its kind, has been restored and is to be found at the west end of West Street.

​

After the Norman invasion, grander churches were built all over the country and the first St Wyllow Church in the Parish Church of Lanteglos was one of them.

​

The first documentary evidence that exists about St Saviour's Chapel is from 1284 when it is recorded that the owner, Robert de Boyton, granted the Chapel together with the original Parish Church of St Wyllow to the Master and brethren of the Priory of St John the Baptist at Bridgewater. About ten years after this the first St Wyllow Church collapsed and for about 90 years it is likely that the inhabitants of Polruan worshipped at St Saviour's Chapel, and this may have caused friction between the Chaplain and the Vicar of the Parish over the extent to which the Chaplain took over the Vicar's duties within the town of Polruan. This seems to be confirmed by evidence from 1372 that the license to worship at St Saviour's was renewed, provided Polruan inhabitants attended the mother church on Sundays and Feast Days. The present Church of St Wyllow was completed by 1380. In 1455 there was an indulgence for all those who contributed to repairs to the Chapel of Holy Trinity at Polruan, probably this relates to the same Chapel as St. Saviour.

​

In 1488 Henry VII, who was anxious to unite the country, sent Sir Richard Edgcumbe from Cotehele in Cornwall to administer the Oath of Allegiance to the Irish Earls. He sailed from Polruan and Fowey with 500 local men in four ships all built in the already famous Polruan shipyards. The weather was foul and it took 27 days to make anchor at Kinsale from where they made their way to Dublin Bay. Obtaining the Oaths of Allegiance took longer than expected, and the ships lay in Dublin Bay for six to seven weeks. Their return journey was made in such awful conditions that the survival of the fleet was in considerable doubt. On his return to the safety of the River Fowey Sir Richard led his men and the townsfolk straight away- to St Saviour's Chapel to give thanks. The Chapel was far too small to house all of those wishing to get in, and Sir Richard later enlarged it as thanksgiving for his safe homecoming. The enlarged Chapel boasted a tower and three large windows. The Chapel is depicted on the map of around 1540 as a tower with crenulations, 

windows and a nave roof with three windows along the south side.

The effects of the Reformation were felt at St Saviour's in 1549 when the Regent for Edward V1 sent commissioners throughout Britain to prepare inventories of all church goods. In 1551 it was decided what each place of worship would be allowed to keep and the surplus was collected up. In 1554 it was decided that all the collected silver should go to London to be melted down. However, before this process was completed Edward VI died and Mary, a devout Catholic, came to the throne and reversed the process, ordering that the unmelted goods should be returned to the churches concerned. It is recorded that Lanteglos and Polruan received back their two chalices with patens. The 1549 inventory recorded that St Saviour's Chapel had two bells. These were eventually removed by Sheriff Mohun of Cornwall for his own purposes in 1572 and, despite the refusal of the Polruan people to cooperate, the bells were taken to the Sheriff's house in Bodinnick.

​

The Chapel fell into disrepair after this time and has slowly disintegrated into the ruin of today. On Buck's 1773 engraving of the tower it is shown as a ruin with only a part of the tower and the East wall with a window still standing. However in 1771 a map shows it with two end walls still standing and it is recorded that the tower fell in 1825. By the beginning of the 20th century there were still some remains of the walls visible. The remains are today in the ownership of Polruan Town Trust, itself an ancient institution which has maintained the ruin with valuable assistance from English Heritage. The ruin is still used by sailors as a guide to the mouth of the River Fowey.

​

The name of St Saviour's was used for a new church built in the village between I889 and 1891. This can be seen in the main street (Fore Street) up about 50 yards past the old Post Office. The Church of Lanteglos-by-Fowey Parish is still St Wyllow, situated about a mile out of the village, just off the road to Pont. It may be reached through the Hail Walk and by a diversion off the Coastal Footpath. A visit to this beautiful Church is well worth the effort of getting there.

​

A leaflet containing this information can be obtained from the Car Park Office, The Reading Room and the Winklepicker.