Egloskerry: Church, History and Gardens

Church of St Keria and its architecture

The Church of St Keria stands on a rise in the centre of the village of Egloskerry and was consecrated in 1222. A Norman tympanum depicting a dragon swallowing its own tail is set above the blocked north doorway of the nave. The nave is the elongated main part of a church; a tympanum is a decorated panel in the upper part of a portal. Here, the dragon motif is therefore part of the nave’s doorway. The year of consecration, the location and the image motif are three distinct features of the building.

Name and tradition

The name Egloskerry is Cornish for “church of Keri”. According to tradition, Saint Keria is said to have been one of the 24 children of the Welsh king Brychan. Two cultural points of reference thus come together: the linguistic meaning of the name and a traditional story about the saint. The local history thereby connects a specific name with a religious tradition.

Egloskerry and railway history

Railway history is also part of the village’s historical context. In 1891, the village of Egloskerry was marked on the national railway map in connection with the construction of the railway line from Launceston to Padstow. Compared with the consecration of the Church of St Keria in 1222, 1891 marks a different point of reference: the village’s appearance on the map during the construction of the line. The two dates therefore place different aspects of local history in context, without combining them into a single development.

The gardens of Penheale Manor

The gardens of Penheale Manor are private and occasionally open on selected days throughout the year for charity. To the west of the house is a sunken parterre with nine square beds. Box hedging borders the beds; gravel paths separate them. These elements create a clearly structured layout: the square shape is repeated in the beds, while the paths run between them as dividing lines. If you are planning a visit, check the selected opening days before you travel.

Landscape and other local points of reference

When considering geographical details, it is important to distinguish between the village and the parish. The church stands in the centre of the village; the parish of Egloskerry is bordered to the north by the River Attery (Ottery). The first detail describes a location within the village, while the second describes the parish’s northern boundary. These different scales help distinguish the village centre from the parish area.

Egloskerry’s playground is maintained for visitors from the surrounding areas. This is an explicitly visitor-focused feature, adding a different kind of local point of interest to the historical topics. If a playground is one of the things you are looking for when choosing a destination, you can consider this local feature alongside the church, railway and garden.

For the main travel overview: Cornwall.