St. Clether

Clether

I had been to St. Clether, on the periphery of Bodmin Moor, back in 2007 but, on that occasion, had been interested not in the church but rather in St. Clederus Chapel and Holy Well, and Cornish Crosses at Basill, just below the village. Simon Jenkins, in his England's Thousand Best Churches, mentions St. Clether but only to disparage the church and praise the chapel and holy well. I think him a little harsh on what is a pleasant but unexceptional church, actually quite handsome from the outside, with its nave, south aisle, porch and three stage crenellated tower. St. Clederus Church is the first thing you come to on the right as you descend the hill from the north. Close to it is the Sunday School and the former Vicarage is across the road. A wheelchair ramp leads from the car park to the gate to the churchyard. You enter the porch by a waist-high red-painted divided gate. Inside, massive pillars separate the south aisle from the nave, their capitals fairly crudely carved. Pews are quite handsome but lack bench ends. There are box pews (not many left in Cornwall) in the south aisle and its chapel. The font is quite simple compared with many Cornish churches but clearly early. An unusual pulpit incorporates a lectern, an unexpected arrangement, possibly Victorian. From the church it is a walk of 500 yards or so over rough Moorland to St. Clederus Chapel and Holy Well

St. Clether Church

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