St Meubred the Martyr
Altar Rails – Chaytor (1990) Newspaper article (Western Morning News, 1921) E.H. Sedding architect; 1919/20
Cardinham church is mentioned in the list of churches in which V. Pinwill work may be found but no other information is given. However, Edmund H. Sedding undertook a restoration here in 1921 (Beacham & Pevsner, 2014), which must have been shortly before his death. In his obituary it states that he designed ‘altar rails in Cardynham Church in memory of two sons of the Vicar who made the supreme sacrifice’ (Western Morning News, 1921 p. 8). The rails are indeed dedicated to Lieuts Paul and Tom May, both aged 19 when they were killed in France in 1917 and 1918, respectively. A faculty was raised in December 1919 (Warner, 2022) and the rails were probably installed early the following year. There is a great similarity in design to the rails at Plympton St Mary, with bulky roundels and semi-kneeling angels in prayer.
Sources
Beacham, P. & Pevsner, N. (2014) The Buildings of England. Cornwall. Yale University Press, London.
Chaytor, E. (1990) Ermington Days. Melinga Publishing, North Cheam.
Warner, M. (2022) A Time to Build: Signposts to the Building, Restoration, Enhancement, and Maintenance of Cornwall’s Anglican Churches and Mission Rooms. Scryfa, Cornwall.
Western Morning News (1921) Mr. Edmund Sedding. Plymouth Architect’s Death in London. Work for Churches. 23 February p. 8.