Church of St Stephen, Saltash
Grade I listed church in Saltash, United Kingdom
The Church of St Stephen, also known as St Stephens-by-Saltash, is a Church of England parish church in Saltash, Cornwall. The church is a grade I listed building, and dates from the 15th century.
History
There was originally a 13th-century church on the same site; it had been consecrated in 1259. The present church dates to the 15th century. The church building itself consists of three aisles, five bays, and a three-stage tower. The slate roof is dated to 1866.
Inside the church, there is a square font dating to the Norman period of a similar style to others in Cornwall. Behind the high altar, is a seven-bay, Gothic style reredos.
On 17 January 1952, the church was designated a grade I listed building.
In the churchyard is a Gothic lantern cross.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Church of St Stephen, Saltash” is grade I listed church in Saltash, United Kingdom. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Church, Stephen and Saltash, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “grade I listed church in Saltash, United Kingdom” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Maps, plans, fabric surveys and administrative records can establish how the site’s name, extent and function changed over time. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q17529074. Authority coordinates are 50.404, -4.229. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1259, 1866 and 1952.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Church of St Stephen, Saltash”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Church of St Stephen, Saltash primary sources, Church of St Stephen, Saltash archive and Church research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Church of St Stephen, Saltash”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Church of St Stephen, Saltash” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.