William Haslam

© 2008 Chris Wright

Morwenstow

Problems with St Piran!

If Haslam could not be trusted to tell the truth about his work in St Piran’s Oratory in 1843, it would surely mean that his accounts of later events in other places would have to be regarded with suspicion. Because of this, I have done a large amount of research, going back to the original sources. It has taken me 9,000 words to write a full defence of Haslam and his work at Perranzabuloe. Everything is in Haslam’s Journey, in a detailed Appendix - and worth the price of the book alone!

Fans of William Haslam do not need to hang their heads in shame whenever the name of St Piran’s Oratory comes up. Much disparaging nonsense against Haslam’s excavation of the Oratory has been written over the past hundred and twenty years, mostly be people who have never bothered to examine the original sources. A simple check as to what Haslam and others actually wrote and claimed at the time should be enough to silence the critics. For instance, Haslam does not claim to have discovered the Oratory in 1843 - he writes about the things he discovered inside - things that he obviously knew would be there because he was following up William Michell’s excavation just eight years earlier in 1835.

Why Haslam got the orientation of the altar wrong - assuming he did - is a mystery but not a serious error. William Michell was very confused in the notes he made of it’s dimension when he discovered it in 1835. Anyway, it was smashed within weeks as the locals dug for buried treasure. Later, Haslam wrote that William Michell was there in 1843 when he rebuilt it, and raised no objections. Is that a surprise to some readers? His critics have concealed material that would rebuff their attacks. This material is in my book.