Tallanus

Saint Tallanus is venerated as a hermit of the fifth century who is said to have lived at Talland, between Polperro and Looe in Cornwall. The parish church of Talland, believed to be a fifth-⁠century foundation, is dedicated to him; it is the only one in Britain with this dedication.

The sources, however, raise a question mark: the name Tallanus appears in documents only in the fifteenth century, and the first mention of the place is in 1205, "the church at Tallan". Tal means in Cornish "brow of the hill" and lan "holy place" or church; it seems that the place-⁠name was later taken for the name of a saint, as in other Cornish churches. Before 1452 there is no mention of a Tallanus, so it cannot be proved that he was a man of holy life. He is a saint of the undivided Church, honoured locally.