St Stithians Church and its churchyard have been a sacred space and place of pilgrimage since Celtic times. The present sanctuary area of the Church is thought to be built on a chapel of the 5th century. The church has under gone several major extensions and changes over the centuries and evidence of its history can be seen in its architecture.
St Stithian is thought to have been a female Celtic hermit or anchoress and was closely associated with the Holy Well known as Lady Well, traces of which can still be seen near the agricultural showground. Please note that this is private land and permission must be sought before entry.
The ecclesiastical Parish of Stithians includes the
The old churchyard is closed for burials and maintained by the local authority using a living churchyards scheme. This means that certain areas are left wild at certain times of the year to encourage the growth of wildflowers.
In the boundary wall on the north side of the church is the vicars gate which is capped by a lintel removed from the church in one of the earlier restorations. This gate provided access from the old vicarage garden where a similar, although blocked up gate can be seen.
The stone hut in the west wall is built of stone discarded from a restoration. The lower part of the churchyard adjoining the school is a relatively modern extension formerly known a Lower Butts. It has many mid and some late 20th century graves. Most burials post 1950 can be found in the new churchyard adjoining the cricket pitch.
Interesting graves and memorials
On approaching the churchyard by the main gate you cannot miss the war memorial a proud reminder of the fallen of the two world wars.
The first grave on your right as you enter the gate is a large granite box grave which marks the resting place of the Rev William Ralph Daine MA, vicar of Stithians until 1911. There is also a plaque to him on the north wall of the sanctuary.
In spite of extensive research it has not been possible to identify the large box tomb immediately outside the south door of the church.
Along the west boundary wall of churchyard are a number of older slate headstones removed from their original sites for health and safety reasons in the 1960s.
In the lower churchyard along the adjoining bank are a number of vaults or brick lined graves and not far from the steps leading down into the lower churchyard is a magnificent angel memorial.
Recent research has revealed that there were 218 interments within the church building between 1710 and 1751, nineteen of which were in the chancel.
Some village histories suggest the existence of a plague pit, probably outside the churchyard but to date this has not been located.