BREAGE CHURCH HISTORY

The History of Breage Church

The present church was dedicated to St Breaca on 26 December 1456, but the first church on the site was built almost 1,000 years earlier, by St Breaca herself.

Early churches in Breage

St Breaca and her brother St Germoe were Christian missionaries who came to Cornwall from Ireland in the late 5th or early 6th century. Her earliest building was a tiny wooden oratory housing an altar near a preaching cross where converts would gather to worship in the open air.

St Breaca’s oratory was ultimately succeeded by a Norman church in the early 12th century, of which very little now remains. The church was completely rebuilt in the mid 15th century and the present church as viewed from the exterior is much as it was over 500 years ago.

St Breaca’s church today

The church is well known for its wall paintings, most of which are as old as the building itself. The Godolphin Chapel commemorates Margaret Godolphin, who is buried in the church. She was the wife of the 1st Earl of Godolphin, Lord Treasurer and First Minister under Queen Anne. The North Chapel houses the Willis organ built for Thomas Robins Bolitho at Trengwainton, given to Truro Cathedral on his death and moved to its present site in 1967.

This small Cornish village is fortunate to have such a fine and historic church. Its preservation is due in no small part to the generous support of visitors and of Breage and Cornish families now spread all over the world.

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