Recently our church received a beautiful quilted banner from South Hill Piece Makers of St Sampson, the patron Saint of our Church, but who was he? Why is this church dedicated to him? We know a few things basis in historical fact.

Of all the so-called ‘Cornish’ saints, Sampson is the only one for whom there appears to be documentary evidence written at the time he was alive: there is a reference to a bishop, probably our St Sampson signing his name with other bishops who attended a church council in Paris in 562. Sampson also has the distinction of being the only ‘Cornish’ saint whose biography, was written less than 200 years after his death.

Sampson was the son of a noble family from South Wales, born in the early 500s. He was regarded as a miraculous child because he was born when his parents had long given up hope of having a child and was named after the Biblical Samson in the book of Judges.  He was educated in a monastery at Llantwit Major where he eventually became ordained.Sampson generally seems to have been regarded as a very holy and special person from an early age. He apparently performed various miracles, including rescuing a friend from a wild beast and healing his father of a fatal illness. He travelled for a while as a missionary in Ireland and on his return to Wales lived as a hermit before becoming abbot of the monastery at Llantwit Major.

After some years as abbot, it is said that Sampson experienced a vision in which God called him to travel as a missionary to Europe. At that time, the normal way to get to Europe from Wales was to travel by sea to north Cornwall, cross Cornwall and then sail to Brittany from somewhere like Fowey. In obedience to God’s call, Sampson set out by ship with his father and others and is believed to have landed somewhere along the Camel estuary.  He visited a monastery called Docco, which is known to have existed at the time at St Kew, but the local monks refused to let him stay with them because his standards were too high for their Cornish way of life.  Sampson and his party travelled east from St Kew until, at a place unspecified, they came across a group of people involved in games around a stone pillar or image of an idol.  During the games, a young man fell from his horse and appeared to have been killed but Sampson apparently healed him.  As a result, the group leader, named Vedianus asked Sampson to baptise them all.  The story goes that Vedianus asked Sampson’s help with a huge serpent which was living in a nearby cave and terrorising the neighbourhood.  Sampson of course managed to kill the serpent and subsequently went to live in the cave where a spring of water gushed out in response to his prayers.  He founded a monastery nearby, to be run by his father, Amon, and his cousin Henoc.

Sampson moved on through Cornwall and sailed to Brittany where he founded another monastery at Dol and remained there until his death in the late 570s or early 580s, allegedly on 28th July.

Whatever the truth of the stories about Sampson, he appears to have existed and to have spent a short time in Cornwall, almost certainly founding at least one monastery here. Archaeological evidence has shown that the site of this church has been a place of Christian worship since before the 1100s and probably earlier.  The presence of the very rare sixth century Christian memorial stone (which stands at the entrance to the churchyard) means that there must have been Christians here at around the time of St Sampson and gives weight to the argument that South Hill may have been the place where he converted local people to Christianity and founded a monastery.

Sampson really seems to have existed and to have been a pilgrim and a true disciple. Someone like that must have come to the area we now call South Hill and spread the word of God, or there would not have been a church on this site long ago, this church would not have been built and our congregation would not be here today.  It is believed by many that person was probably Sampson.