Many centuries ago beautiful woman attended services at St Senara's church in Cornwall. No one knew who she was or where she came from, but she enchanted all with her beauty and the sweetness of her singing. She became interested in a man called Matthew Trewella, who was the best singer in the choir. One day he followed her over the cliffs and they were never seen again.
Shortly afterwards fishermen from the village were approached by a mermaid who asked them to lift their anchor as it was blocking the door to her home and preventing her from reaching her children. The villagers concluded that the mermaid was their mysterious lady and that she had enticed Matthew to live with her beneath the waves. They commemorated the phenomenon by carving one end of a bench in the church with this beautiful tableau:
