Churches of the British Isles

That first church was destroyed in a gale, to be rebuilt in the eighteenth century and again being destroyed. The third church was built by the islanders in the 1800s using the proceeds of the sale of a wreck, and the church bell was taken from that wreck. It is a Grade II listed building of roughly coursed granite rubble with a slate roof. Inside it has some charming modern stained glass, with one example depicting boats heading out to sea on an errand of mercy.

St Warna's Holy Well is just above St Warnas Cove in the south-west section of St Agnes. St Warna is said to have landed here in a coracle from Ireland, later becoming the patron saint of shipwrecks. The well is marked on old maps, probably an early medieval structure which now is Grade II listed. Later to be Christianised, it is the only holy well in Scilly. St Warna lived beside it, imparting her holiness to the place, potentially from a small hermitage-cum-chapel.

The Isles of Scilly attracted early Christian hermits, with chapels on St Helen's and Teän (see 'related links'). A Benedictine priory was founded on Tresco in the 1100s, and Henry I granted the islands to Tavistock Abbey. John Wesley visited during the course of his preaching. The Bible Christian missionaries arrived in the 1820s, potentially with Mary Ann Wherry, one of the early female itinerant preachers. All the island Anglican churches form a single ecclesiastical parish.

Two photos on this page kindly contributed by Douglas Law & Hornbeam Arts via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group, and two copyright © Peter Skynner & Johnathan Billinger via Geograph, reused under a cc licence.