Church Of St Enodoc

Church of St. Enodoc

This is a Grade I listed church, the chapelry of St. Minver, dedicated to St. Enodoc (also known as St. Guinedoc). The building has origins dating to around the 12th century, with the walls of the nave, chancel, north transept, and lower stage of the north tower possibly incorporating some early masonry from this period. A 12th-century font survives. The second stage of the north tower and its spire date to around the 13th century. The south chancel aisle was added in the 15th century.

The church was significantly restored by the architect J.P. St. Aubyn in 1863-4. It is constructed of stone rubble with regular slate roofs, with the nave and chancel roofed as one.

The original 12th-century church likely comprised a nave, chancel, north and south transepts, and possibly a north tower. Around the 13th century, a broach spire was erected on the north tower at the north end of the transept. In the 15th century, the three-bay south chancel aisle was constructed, probably absorbing the south transept, and a south porch was added. By the 18th century, the church had become partially buried under sand. By the 1850s, the clergyman was annually admitted through a skylight in the north transept to perform a service to secure the church's privileges.

The 1863-4 restoration by J.P. St. Aubyn included partial rebuilding of the external walls to the nave, chancel, south chancel aisle, and porch; renewal of tracery in the nave and two windows in the south chancel aisle; and renewal of the roofs and roof structure in the nave, chancel, south chancel aisle, and north transept.

Exterior features include the nave with 19th-century tracery to the west of the porch, with a west window of 19th-century geometric tracery of two lights. The south chancel aisle has a partially rebuilt south wall, a 19th-century 2-light window with cusped head, and two circa 15th-century windows with hollow chamfered jambs and cusped heads. The east gable end is partially rebuilt. The chancel, built on bed rock, has an east window of four lights with cusped tracery. To the north, the low north transept is pierced by a small lancet east window. The north tower has two stages and is surmounted by a low broach spire of stone rubble with small trefoil-headed belfry openings on four faces. A gabled south porch features a 19th-century 2-centred arched opening. The south door has a circa 14th-century 2-centred arched opening with moulded jambs.

The interior contains roofs replaced in 1863-4. The circa 15th-century three-bay arcade to the south chancel aisle has moulded type B granite piers (to Pevsner's classification), 4-centred moulded arches, and moulded bases and caps. Most furnishings were replaced in 1863. The base of a circa 15th-century rood screen survives, though restored and regilded; the uprights are moulded and carved with floral trails, and the restored panels are decorated with blind tracery. A granite font of circa 12th-century date features a round bowl with a shaft carved with cable moulding and a round base. The bowl is lead-lined and the plinth has been restored. A carved chest to the north of the font is mentioned in the church inventory of 1613. A Catacleuse holy water stoup has been reset in the south wall with a 15th-century arch above. A leger stone of John Mably from 1687 lies in the south porch. A memorial to Ernest Edward Betjeman of Undertown, father of Sir John Betjeman, is on the south wall (dated 1872-1934). In the churchyard is a collection of mortars gathered during excavations of the surrounding area. A medieval granite wheelhead cross with a Maltese cross carved in relief has been resited in the south porch.

The church was historically known as "Sinkininny Church" owing to its apparent sinking into the sand. A detailed account of the restoration was written in 1919-21 by Mr. Hart Smith Pearce, son of the vicar responsible for the restoration. The church is closely associated with Sir John Betjeman, Poet Laureate from 1972, who is buried in the churchyard close to the lych gate.