Page:The Cornwall coast.djvu/275

FROM HAYLE TO PERRAN 269 the year 1835 a shifting of sand revealed this earliest church, whose memory only survived in vague tradition ; the secret came to light after a burial of eight or nine centuries. The discovery made a considerable stir, and was announced to the public in books written by two clergy- men, W. Haslam and Trelawney-Collins, neither of whom, however, is a quite reliable guide. Mr. Collins used the occasion as an opportunity for proving that the Church in England was a Protestant Church more than nine hundred years before the Reformation ; while the zeal of Mr. Haslam led him to an unfortunate attempt at restoring the oratory. Then followed neglect, and the tourists who came hither were left to pilfer and carry away the sacred stones piecemeal ; now, when it is almost too late, such depredation is stopped. The church was a ruin when it was found ; it is something almost less than a ruin now. As revealed by the shifting sand, it presented an almost exact resemblance to the oldest oratories in Ireland ; its length was about 29 feet, its breadth 16 feet, with an arched doorway, and one little window, walled up, above the altar. The masonry was of the roughest description, the stones appearing to have been put together with little selection ; and the floor was a rude kind of concrete, china clay being used instead of lime. Some skeletons were found within the church, and many more without ; in fact, human remains are still cast up by the sands. Perhaps this was once a spot of thick population ; or, more probably, the fame of St. Piran may have rendered it a popular burying-ground. A notice has been placed here, warning against any disturbance of the soil or