“By Talland Church as I did go
I passed my kindred all in a row,
Straight and silent there by the spade
Each in his narrow chamber laid.”
Arthur Quiller-Couch 1863-1870 – Grandson of Jonathan Couch 1789-1870 a British Naturalist, Medical Doctor, Historian, trusted and respected by the residents of Polperro, Cornwall.
Recording Headstones at Talland Church
Talland parish church dates back to the 13th century, still burial registers weren’t introduced until 1538, and then with the briefest of information.
Generally, ledger stones, inside the church, were in use between 1625 and 1854; yet preparing for a burial was expensive, first of all you would have to be deemed worthy enough, virtuous and honourable, and there would be a fee attached to this service. The cost, amounting to the equivalent of thousands of pounds today, would also include digging the grave, ten feet deep, lining it with bricks and purchasing the ledger stone and paying for the dedication by each individual letter.
The John Bevill tomb is our oldest grave, dated 1589; the oldest of our 50 or so our ledger stones date back to 1621; our oldest chest tomb is 1746 and our oldest headstone is 1760.
The rural medieval church was extended in the late 15th and early 16th centuries and enjoys a beautiful position high on the Cornish coastal hillside. Today it has approximately 440 external grave markers, which equates to over 800 listings. A combination of Headstones, Chest Tombs and Crosses, follow the fashions of the time, and are made of local stone and slate. The vast majority of recorded dates belonging to the 1800’s, a time when Talland Parish stretched from West Looe River to the River Pol, of Polperro; when the boundaries were redrawn in 1875 the whole of Polperro became part of Lansallos Parish.
The gravestones and tombs help to tell the story of local people and the lives they lived.
Inside the church is the beautiful highly decorated slate tomb, a monument to John Bevill, who died in 1579 aged 61 years. He lived at Killigarth Manor; his documented ancestors were famous, courageous, and heroic.
Probably, the oldest stone in the graveyard today is of Thopson Rundle who was born in 1699 and died in 1760, nearly two hundred years after John Bevill, also aged 61 years. His headstone, originally upright, is lovingly decorated with winged angels; he was buried in a shroud made of British woollen cloth.
To help you explore the church graveyard, it has been divided into East, West & Higher areas. The ledger stones in the church have their own section and so too has the Tomb of John Bevill. On this website each area lists headstones by surname, in alphabetical order, as they are spelt on the stone.
With the exception of a few, each stone inscription records the death date of the parishioner and to confirm these dates and their ages, they were cross referenced with the Online Parish Clerk records to obtain the burial date, which was usually just a few days later.
Each headstone name has its own page; showing the details of the stone, dates, other names that appear on the stone, any details that are relevant from the Parish Records, burial & marriage dates, and some linked to other headstones in the graveyard or church. Also, there may be Will references and Grade II Listing information, together with photographs of the stones and their locations, which relate to either a numbered graveyard plan or a ledger stone location plan.
The website has a search button; remember, in some cases, the spellings of a few names maybe unusual, faithful to the headstones.
Please make contact if you find any mistakes or have further information to contribute; just use the link on a headstone page.
Enjoy your family history research at Talland Church.
Talland Church Headstones 