St Endellion

‘St Endellion! St Endellion! The name is like a ring of bells. I travelled late one summer evening to Cornwall in a motor car. The road was growing familiar, Delabole, with its slate quarry past, then Pendoggett. Gateways in the high fern stuffed hedges showed sudden glimpses of the sea. Port Isaac Bay with its sweep of shadowy cliffs stretched all along to Tintagel. The wrinkled Atlantic Ocean had the evening light upon it. The stone and granite manor house of Tresungers with its tower and battlements was tucked away out of the wind on the slope of a valley and there, on the top of the hill was the old church of St Endellion.’ So wrote Sir John Betjeman about his approach to this magical church. 

A mile from the sea and surrounded by fields. Betjeman observed that the church goes on praying even when there is no one in it, and it has a sense of spiritual community which affects so many who come here. For many of the members of the two annual St Endellion Music Festivals, who provide music at an international level, St Endellion is their spiritual home.

It takes its name from Saint Endelienta, one of the 24 children of Brychan who is said to have evangelized the district in the 5th century. Two wells near the church are associated with her.

The parish church of St Endelienta is close to the B3314 from Delabole to Wadebridge and is a large building of the 15th century in perpendicular style. It contains some fine examples of carving in stone and wood from various periods.