The church contains various monuments to the family of Kendall. This family were originally of Treworgy, in the parish of Dulo, but have long resided at Pelyn, in this parish. The house is beautifully situated in a small wooded valley, joining in a transverse course the river Fowey, about a mile below Lestwithiel. There appears to be a vague tradition of some religious establishment having existed here, dedicated to St. Chad, or Ceada, the patron of Lichfield, Worcester, and Shrewsbury. No trace, however, can be found of any such establishment; and it is probable that these tales frequently rest on no more solid foundation that the casual residence of some monk or anchorite, or perhaps on the dedication of a domestic chapel. There still exists at Pelin a small summer house, considered as under the protection of this saint; and an inscription records the festivities and friendly meetings of four gentlemen
annually on the 2d. of March, to commemorate the day, when, according to the legend, this Saint expired amid a company of angels, singing hymns for the solace of his dying moments, and for joy of such an accession to the heavenly mansions.
The inscription is as follows, under a portrait of the Saint:
Friend, within these walls St. Chad you see,
A place made sacred to his memory;
For here four friends did meet upon this day,
And heads, and hands, and hearts together lay;
And never dying friendship’s knot to tye,
And call this place St. Chad’s Society.
March 2, 1694.