Church Of St Adwen

The parish church of St Adwen is built of local stone rubble, with the south porch and south aisle constructed of granite ashlar. The roof is slate, with nave and chancel in one. The church probably originates from the Norman period, evidenced by a Norman font. In the 13th century, a north transept and west tower were built. Around the 15th century, a five-bay south aisle was added, contemporary with a large chapel forming a type of south transept. The church underwent significant restoration in 1847–8, possibly during which the south chapel was demolished due to roof failure. The medieval windows and masonry were reused in rebuilding the south aisle wall. By the early 1870s the church was in poor condition. During subsequent restoration, the north walls of the nave and chancel and the walls of the north transept were rebuilt, with ancient windows re-inserted in the transept. The roof was largely replaced, except for the waggon roof in the south aisle, which was restored and repaired. A further restoration took place in 1975.

The unbuttressed west tower consists of three stages, each recessed. It has eight crocketted pinnacles at the corners and centres of each face. The two-centred west door was blocked when the ground was raised to the west. The door arch has multiple mouldings with granite jambs and a hoodmould, probably of Catacleuse stone. The tower contains a circa 17th-century rectangular three-light mullion window in a partly blocked two-centred arched opening, a lancet window above, and two-light belfry openings with slate louvres. The north wall of the nave has no window openings. The north transept contains three circa 13th-century lancet windows, reset during rebuilding. The chancel has a three-light window with restored or renewed Perpendicular tracery. The south aisle's east window is three-light with 19th-century restored curvilinear tracery of mouchettes in the central roundel. The south aisle has three three-light Perpendicular south windows; the central window was reused from the demolished south chapel, while the windows to east and west have been restored. A three-light west window with renewed Perpendicular tracery sits in an earlier opening. The south porch has a granite stilted arch with hollow chamfer and pyramid stops. The waggon roof to the south porch has been restored and the wall plate renewed on the west side. The porch features a crenellated cornice with moulded ribs and carved bosses. The Catacleuse stone four-centred arch to the south door has a deep cavetto moulding with carved floral motifs, a rectangular surround with incised spandrels, and a hood mould.

The interior walls were plastered in the late 19th century. There is no chancel arch. A simple unchamfered two-centred arch leads to the west tower. The ringing stage is reached by an enclosed stone staircase at the back of the nave on the north side, which has a cavetto moulded granite cornice and a three-centred arch hollow chamfered doorway with pyramid stops. An internal newel staircase in the tower leads to the belfry. The nave and chancel have a ceiled waggon roof with some re-used timbers from the circa 15th-century roof. The south aisle waggon roof dates to circa the 15th century, with a carved wallplate, moulded ribs and carved bosses. The five-bay south aisle has type A moulded piers (Pevsner classification), depressed four-centred arches with cavetto moulding, moulded bases and carved capitals. The north transept arch has similar moulding to the blocked arch originally serving the south transept chapel. The furnishings are mostly 19th and 20th century pitch pine. The Norman font has a round bowl, renewed octagonal stem and square base.

The church contains several monuments: to Elizabeth Bennet (1643), a monument dated 1667, to John Batten (1710), Edward Dinham of Newton, St Kew (1831), and a carved granite stone to William Michel (1650), his wife Agnis (1685) and their children Elizabeth, Anne, Margery and Grace.