Page:County Churches of Cornwall.djvu/14

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viii
PREFACE

Through force of circumstances, however, I cannot look upon myself as a stranger in Cornwall. My father's first exercise of his ministry was as curate-in-charge of St. Sennen and St. Levan, which were then (the "twenties" of last century) subservient to the Deanery of St. Buryan. From my earliest days I was accustomed to hear praises of the stern beauty of Cornish cliff scenery, and admiration of her sturdy fisher-folk. At a much later period, I was strongly pressed to begin my own ministry in the same county, and from the "sixties" of last century up to 1911, I have been a frequent and keenly appreciative visitor to different parts of Cornwall.

As to the old churches, I know something personally of them all, and many have been repeatedly visited. In the very few cases where I have not been able to see the churches since 1900, I have depended as to recent changes, restorations, or obliterations on the printed or written accounts of others. With all the care that has been taken, I am uncomfortably conscious that these pages are not free from mistakes and oversights. The knowledge of my own previous books, and my experience, of nearly forty years standing, as a reviewer of the books of others, leads me to expect at least some overlooked errors of printer or author, and most probably of both. For any corrections I shall be sincerely grateful.

The worst of writing one of these handy guides