St Sampson's Church and Well, Golant

The Cornish Saints Way passes directly through Golant, a 27-mile pilgrimage from Padstow to Fowey that takes in St Sampson’s Church near the end of the trek

Highlights

• Churchyard holy well
• Images of St Samson in church

To the untrained eye, this wellhouse looks a bit like a coalshed leaning against the wall of Golant’s church. You have to struggle at arm’s length to touch the holy water it contains. Yet the church has a timeless feeling of peace about it, outstanding even in Celtic Cornwall.

It is rare to find a holy well built into the structure of a church. The architects clearly considered it important, inserting a narrow walkway in the porch to encourage direct access to the wellhouse. Only the shallow depth of water in the chamber makes it difficult to lay a finger on St Samson’s holy source.

The current church was built in 1509 on the site of an early Celtic monastery. St Samson is said to have founded it in the mid-6th century while travelling from Wales to Brittany. The well arose where he struck his staff on the ground, a common miracle among Celtic saints. The water is still used for baptisms in the church font. At the back of the wellhouse an indistinct and dark carved figure is said to portray the saint.

A much clearer carving of St Samson can be seen inside the church. The front of the 15th-century pulpit depicts him with an early type of bishop’s crook. The north window of the chancel has medieval scenes of the saint’s life. There is also a Victorian stained-glass window depicting him looking rather emaciated in his episcopal finery. The artist clearly did his homework. The saint’s life, an early text possibly written in the 7th century, describes how St Samson fasted so severely at Golant that he became dangerously weak.

There is a cave just beyond the southern end of Golant village also featuring in the saint’s life. A local king asked St Samson to drive out a snake that was terrorizing the villagers. He tracked it down to a cave and strangled it with his girdle. He then used the cave for temporary accommodation before heading uphill to found his monastery.

You would have to walk along a working railway line to reach the cave now, risking a fine of £1,000, a criminal record, and a fatal accident. You can however see the cave entrance if you walk along a narrow path on the opposite side of the railway line, as described in the directions below.

St Samson appears in the Wales section of this book, as abbot of Caldey Island and at Llantwit Major. The Oxford Dictionary of Saints says he was arguably the most important British missionary of the 6th century. He is unarguably among the most widely traveled, ending up as bishop in France. Even one of the Scilly Isles is named after him. His saint’s day is 28 July.

Directions‍

St Samson’s Church, Church Hill, Golant PL23 1LB

www.achurchnearyou.com/church/2475

W3W: float.sonic.mixture GPS: 50.3662N 4.6441W church

W3W: entire.bulge.pies GPS: 50.3598N 4.6390W cave

St Samson’s Church is on the north side of Golant, down a side road to the left as you approach the main village, marked with a sign and a blue ‘Unsuitable for long vehicles’ warning. The church is unlocked during the day.

To see the cave, drive to the far end of Golant and park by the quay, where there is a pay car park. Walk over the level crossing and turn right to follow the fence outside the railway tracks. You walk past a small, disused platform. About 80m after the level crossing you can just make out the cave entrance, beside a wooden telegraph pole, on the opposite side of the tracks. The railway is used to transport china clay and trains still run.