Morwenstow ( kw, Logmorwenna) is a

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government below districts and counties, or their combined form, the unitary authority ...

in north

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

, England, United Kingdom. The parish abuts the west coast, about six miles (10 km) north of

Bude Bude (; kw, Porthbud) is a seaside town in north east Cornwall, England, in the civil parish of Bude-Stratton and at the mouth of the River Neet (also known locally as the River Strat). It was sometimes formerly known as Bude Haven.''Cornish ...

and within the

Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty covers in Cornwall, England, UK; that is, about 27% of the total area of the county. It comprises 12 separate areas, designated under the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 for s ...

(AONB). Morwenstow is the most northerly parish in

. As well as the churchtown (a hamlet called Crosstown), other settlements in the parish include

Shop Shop or shopping refers to: Business and commerce * A casual word for a commercial establishment or for a place of business * Machine shop, a workshop for machining *"In the shop", referring to a car being at an automotive repair shop *A wood s ...

Woodford Woodford may refer to: Places Australia *Woodford, New South Wales *Woodford, Queensland, a town in the Moreton Bay Region *Woodford, Victoria Canada * Woodford, Ontario England *Woodford, Cornwall * Woodford, Gloucestershire *Woodford, Greate ...

Gooseham Gooseham ( kw, Pras an Woodh) is a hamlet in northeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated six miles (11 km) north of Bude and is approximately one kilometre south of the border with Devon.Ordnance Survey: Landranger map sheet ...

, Eastcott, Woolley and

West Youlstone West Youlstone is a hamlet in north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It lies seven miles north north west of Bude and north of Kilkhampton along the A39 road. It belongs to the parish of Morwenstow, and lies to the east of it. East Youlstone is ...

. The population at the 2011 census was 791. Morwenstow parish is bounded to the north and east by parishes in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, to the south by

Kilkhampton Kilkhampton ( kw, Kylgh) is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in northeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is on the A39 road#Atlantic Highway, A39 about four miles (6 km) north-northeast of Bude. Kilk ...

parish and to the west by the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

. The

River Tamar The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. T ...

has its source at a spring on Woolley Moor, at , which is in the parish near the border with Devon. Morwenstow is the one-time home of the eccentric vicar and poet

Robert Stephen Hawker Robert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875) was a British Anglican priest, poet, antiquarian and reputed eccentric, known to his parishioners as Parson Hawker. He is best known as the writer of "The Song of the Western Men" with its chorus line of "An ...

(1803–1875), the writer of Cornwall's anthem '' Trelawny''. Hawker is also credited with reviving the custom of

Harvest Festival A harvest festival is an annual celebration that occurs around the time of the main harvest of a given region. Given the differences in climate and crops around the world, harvest festivals can be found at various times at different places. ...

Parish church

The

Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist, Morwenstow The Church of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist is the parish church of Morwenstow, north Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, the most northerly parish in Cornwall. The church is dedicated to Morwenna, a local saint, and to John the Baptist, and ...

is dedicated to Saints

John the Baptist John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...

and

Morwenna Morwenna is the eponymous patron saint of Morwenstow, a civil parish and village in north Cornwall, UK. Her name is thought to be cognate with Welsh '' morwyn'' "maiden", although the first name is also used in Brittany and said to be composed o ...

and is of the Norman period. The Vicarage was built for Hawker and has chimneys in the form of the towers of various churches associated with him. The nearby coast is hazardous to shipping and the corpses of drowned sailors were laid out in the churchyard and then buried. Hawker buried over forty who were washed up within the parish boundaries. One of the memorials in the churchyard was the white figurehead of the "

Caledonia Caledonia (; ) was the Latin name used by the Roman Empire to refer to the part of Great Britain () that lies north of the River Forth, which includes most of the land area of Scotland. Today, it is used as a romantic or poetic name for all ...

", a brig from

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

that sank on the perilous rocks of Higher Sharpnose in 1842. The captain and most of the crew are buried in the churchyard. In 2004 the figurehead was removed for conservation and is now displayed on the north wall inside the church. A resin replica of the figurehead stands in the churchyard.

History and description

A path leads from the church and down to the cliff edge, where the National Trust's smallest building, "

Hawker's Hut Hawker's Hut is an historic hut at Morwenstow, Cornwall originally built by the eccentric clergyman, poet and antiquarian, Robert Stephen Hawker (1803 – 1875), close to Higher Sharpnose Point. The hut is located approximately 1 mile from ...

", is built into the face of the cliff overlooking the sea out towards the island of

Lundy Lundy is an English island in the Bristol Channel. It was a micronation from 1925–1969. It forms part of the district of Torridge in the county of Devon. About long and wide, Lundy has had a long and turbulent history, frequently chang ...

. Here, Hawker spent many hours in contemplation, writing poetry, and smoking his

opium Opium (or poppy tears, scientific name: ''Lachryma papaveris'') is dried latex obtained from the seed capsules of the opium poppy ''Papaver somniferum''. Approximately 12 percent of opium is made up of the analgesic alkaloid morphine, which i ...

pipe. He also entertained guests here, including

Alfred Tennyson Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson (6 August 1809 – 6 October 1892) was an English poet. He was the Poet Laureate during much of Queen Victoria's reign. In 1829, Tennyson was awarded the Chancellor's Gold Medal at Cambridge for one of his ...

and

Charles Kingsley Charles Kingsley (12 June 1819 – 23 January 1875) was a broad church priest of the Church of England, a university professor, social reformer, historian, novelist and poet. He is particularly associated with Christian socialism, the working ...

. The holy well of St John on the glebe was mentioned in 1296. The so-called well of St Morwenna is on the cliff. There was a chapel of St Mary at Milton in 1407. The manor of

Stanbury Stanbury is a village in the Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury civil parish, and in the metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. The name Stanbury translates as ''Stone Fort'' from Old English. Geography The ...

in the parish is the birthplace of

John Stanberry __NOTOC__ John Stanberry (or Stanbury; died 11 May 1474) was a medieval Bishop of Bangor and Bishop of Hereford. He was the second son of Walter Stanbury of Morwenstow, Cornwall, by his wife Cicely, and the grandson of John Stanbury, esq. Stanb ...

Bishop of Hereford The Bishop of Hereford is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Hereford in the Province of Canterbury. The episcopal see is centred in the Hereford, City of Hereford where the bishop's seat (''cathedra'') is in the Hereford Cathedr ...

, who was made first Provost at

Eton College Eton College () is a public school in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name ''Kynge's College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore'',Nevill, p. 3 ff. intended as a sister institution to King's College, C ...

King Henry VI Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471, and disputed King of France from 1422 to 1453. The only child of Henry V, he succeeded to the English throne a ...

. Sir William Adams the

oculist Ophthalmology ( ) is a surgical subspecialty within medicine that deals with the diagnosis and treatment of eye disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a medic ...

was also born at Stanbury. The manor house was built in the 16th century. Nearby Tonacombe Manor has been described as the perfect Tudor manor. A round-headed Celtic cross was found here in the early 20th century; no round-headed cross was known north of Laneast before this one was found.''The Cornish Church Guide'' (1925) Truro: Blackford; pp. 167-68 A striking example of curved and contorted stratified rocks occurs at Stanbury Creek. Dark cliffs of folded, interbedded

shale Shale is a fine-grained, clastic sedimentary rock formed from mud that is a mix of flakes of clay minerals (hydrous aluminium phyllosilicates, e.g. kaolin, Al2 Si2 O5( OH)4) and tiny fragments (silt-sized particles) of other minerals, especial ...

s and

mudstone Mudstone, a type of mudrock, is a fine-grained sedimentary rock whose original constituents were clays or muds. Mudstone is distinguished from '' shale'' by its lack of fissility (parallel layering).Blatt, H., and R.J. Tracy, 1996, ''Petrology. ...

s form wave-cut platforms.

GCHQ Bude GCHQ Bude, also known as GCHQ Composite Signals Organisation Station Morwenstow, abbreviated to GCHQ CSO Morwenstow, is a UK Government satellite ground station and eavesdropping centre located on the north Cornwall coast at Cleave Camp, betwee ...

, a satellite ground station stands on the cliffs of Cleave and its array of dishes is visible for miles around.

Cornish wrestling

Cornish wrestling Cornish wrestling ( kw, Omdowl Kernewek) is a form of wrestling that has been established in Cornwall for many centuries and possibly longer. It is similar to the Breton Gouren wrestling style. It is colloquially known as "wrasslin’"Phillipps, ...

tournaments, for prizes, were held at an Inn that used to adjoin Morwenstow church.Cornubian and Redruth Times, 27 March 1885.

Literary associations

Morwenstow and its surroundings feature heavily in the plot of the mystery thriller novel ''Set in Stone'' (1999) by the British author

Robert Goddard Robert Hutchings Goddard (October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945) was an American engineer, professor, physicist, and inventor who is credited with creating and building the world's first Liquid-propellant rocket, liquid-fueled rocket. ...

. ''The Wreck at Sharpnose Point'' by Jeremy Seal (June 2003) is a novel based on the wrecking of the 'Caledonia' (first published in New York, 2001 ).

Notable people

*Sir William Adams the

was born at Stanbury *

Michael Axworthy Michael George Andrew Axworthy (26 September 1962 – 16 March 2019) was a British academic, author, and commentator. He was the head of the Iran section at the British Foreign & Commonwealth Office between 1998 and 2000. Personal life and fam ...

, historian and commentator * Sally Axworthy, diplomat *

, poet and priest *

, who was made first Provost at

, was also born at Stanbury * Jonah Barrington, international squash player and coach *

Adelaide Phillpotts Mary Adelaide Eden Ross (née Phillpotts; 23 April 1896 – 4 June 1993) was an English novelist, poet and playwright. She married at the age of 55 leaving behind her father who had controlled their incestuous relationship. Life Phillpotts was ...

, writer, is buried here

References

External links

Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for Morwenstow
{{authority control Villages in Cornwall Civil parishes in Cornwall Populated coastal places in Cornwall