Church of Saint Sennen is a Grade II* listed building in the Cornwall local planning authority area, England. First listed on 15 December 1988. Church. 1 related planning application.

Church of Saint Sennen

WRENN ID
heavy-terrace-russet
Grade
II*
Local Planning Authority
Cornwall
Constituency
St Ives MP: Andrew George (LD)
Country
England
Date first listed
15 December 1988
Type
Church
Address
Church of Saint Sennen, TR19 7AD
OS grid reference
SW 357 255
Coordinates
50.07088, -5.69494
Source
Historic England listing

Also on this page: related consents · flood risk · radon risk · weather exposure · detailed attributes ↓

Description

The Church of Saint Sennen is a parish church located in Sennen. It dates back to the 13th century, with extensions made in the 15th century and restoration occurring in 1867. The church features a granite ashlar tower and a south aisle, while the rest of the structure is built with rubble granite dressings. The roofs are covered with concrete tiles and have gable ends.

The church's layout includes a nave and chancel, along with a north transept that retains walls from the 13th century. The west tower, south aisle, and south porch were added in the 15th century. During the 19th century, the church was re-roofed, and much of the window tracery was replaced.

On the exterior, the 15th-century west tower is unbuttressed and consists of three stages, featuring embattlements and pinnacles at the corners. There is a blocked original doorway with a four-centred arch, a two-light window above it, and traceried two-light louvered windows in the upper stage. The south aisle retains its original 15th-century windows, while the chancel's east window is a 19th-century example in the Perpendicular style.

Inside, the church has a pointed tower arch from the 15th century supported by corbels. The five-bay arcade features roll-moulded piers with fillets between them, supporting four-centred arches over moulded capitals. There is also a 15th-century four-centred arch between the nave and the north transept, and a mural from the same period at the east end of the chancel. Most other interior features, including wall plaster and roof structures, are from the 19th century.

Notable fittings include a possibly 13th-century moulded round font bowl on a likely 15th-century octagonal shaft and moulded base dated 1448, a 13th-century statue of the Virgin and Child at the east end of the south aisle, and a 15th-century bench end, likely from the Church of Saint Levan. There is also a 17th-century copy of a letter from Charles I dated 1643, a poor box from 1732 near the south doorway, and most other fittings are from the 19th or 20th centuries. The church also contains a wall monument to James Trembath, who died in 1867 at the age of 64, located on the west wall of the north transept.

Local climate

Church of Saint Sennen sits in a wetter-than-average part of the UK, with an average of 980 mm of rain a year. This makes it wetter than 78% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is greater than that of 97% of listed buildings.

It averages fewer than one freeze-thaw cycle a year. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.2°C per decade since 1991.

Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.

More on this building

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  • No EPC on record for this property
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  • Related listed building consents — 1 application
  • Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
  • Flood risk assessment
  • Radon risk assessment
  • Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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