Today we visited Rame, which contains a small church and much larger churchyard.
Rame means ‘rams head’ and there is also the tiny St Micheal’s chapel at the summit of Rame Head, a further 800 metres along the promontory. Rame Head’s chapel was first licenced for mass in 1397 although the original hermit site is much older. Looking at the area above, it is also has amazingly good natural fortifications and there are signs of an ancient village on the furthest outcrop - perhaps a place for retreat in times of trouble?
The lookout at Rame was maintained from around 1486 and a watchman would help ships find their way into Plymouth. The nearby villages of Cawsand and Kingsand were also known as smuggling villages however, so maybe the lookout was sometimes missing the full view. Nowadays there is also a coastguard station set further back in the area, with high powered radar, telescopes and a suitably enquiring mind about any vessels pulling alongside one another.
Our visit to the churchyard was somewhat personal although to what must be one of the most spectacularly sited churches in England. Originally from 1259, the church was originally built in a cross shape, but later extended in the fifteenth century. Some of the 16th century pews still survive to this day. Like several of the churches in this area, there is no electricity and the church is lit by candles. We spent a happy hour or so wandering about before moving on in our relaxed viewing of this unspoilt part of Cornwall.
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