Missionary, parish priest, tale collector 1879-1957
Born in Worcester, the son of a vicar, Henry Arden Lewis was educated at Oxford and Leeds, and ordained as a Church of England priest in 1904. The following year he travelled to South Africa as a missionary, followed by spells as a missionary in Canada and Nigeria.
He came to South East Cornwall in 1929 as Vicar of St Cleer, on the edge of Bodmin Moor, then moved to Talland Church, near Looe, in 1933.
He first heard the tale of Christ in Looe from his friend Kenneth Croft Andrew, fellow member of the Looe Old Cornwall Society. They were both involved in archaeological excavations at Lammana, which uncovered the site of the mediaeval priory chapel on the hill overlooking Looe Island, a priory linked to Glastonbury and hence grail legends. He heard tales from his parishioners about how boy Jesus had visited Looe with his uncle, and how a bit of Jesus’s burial shroud could be found at Porthallow, near Polperro, then found other stories of Christ in Cornwall. He gave talks and wrote articles on these tales.
From 1944-51 Lewis was priest at St Mary’s on the Scilly Isles, where he was involved in archaeological excavations, and barded. He retired to Penzance.
'The Child Christ at Lammana, a legend of Looe and Talland,' 1934. Pamphlet of a transcript of a talk given to Looe Old Cornwall Society, reprinted by the Cornish Times.
'Christ in Cornwall?: legends of St .Just-in-Roseland and other parts' J.H. Lake & Co: Falmouth, 1939
St Martin's, St Helen's and Tean (Isles of Scilly) in legend and history, 1945
Photo of Lammana priory ruins overlooking Looe Island: Anna Chorlton
