St Crida
Pulpit – Photograph (PWDRO 244/4 & 244/5) Plan (CRO X272/15/1); 1913
The photograph in PWDRO shows this piece prior to dispatch and it is merely annotated ‘Creed Ch Pulpit’. At Kresen Kernow, however, there exists a plan with several annontations, one of which says ‘carving to be like screen’. This refers to the base of an early rood screen that sits just behind and comparison with the pulpit reveals similarities in both style and designs. Although the plan is signed ‘R. Pinwill’, the annonations are in at least two hands and the designer may have been Edmund H. Sedding. The finished piece is exquisitely carved and comparable to C14/C15-style pulpits made for other churches in Cornwall that were designed by Sedding and/or carved by the Pinwills. A faculty for the pulpit was raised in June 1913 (Warner, 2022).
To add to this, a newspaper report from November 1913 came to light not only confirming that the inspiration for the carving on the pulpit was the adjacent rood screen but also revealing that it was the gift of Mr Lewis Lugg, of Grampound (WMN, 1913). It was described as being an ‘exceedingly handsome pulpit in carved oak… fumed a rich brown colour’.
Sources
Kresen Kernow X272/15/1 Plan. Creed. Pulpit.
PWDRO 244/4 Photograph Album. Various. Woodcarvings.
PWDRO 244/5 Photograph Album. Various. Woodcarvings.
Warner, M. (2022) A Time to Build: Signposts to the Building, Restoration, Enhancement, and Maintenance of Cornwall’s Anglican Churches and Mission Rooms. Scyfa, Cornwall.
Western Morning News (1913) Creed Church. Gift of a New Pulpit. 17 November p. 5.