St Clement, Cornwall
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St Clement () 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. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...
and village in
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
, England, United Kingdom. It is situated southeast of
Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...
in the valley of the Tresillian River. Other notable villages within the parish are the much larger Tresillian 1.4 miles (2.3 km) to the north east of St Clement village itself and another village at Malpas to the south of the parish. The urban part of the parish of St Clement was incorporated into Truro in 1895. The remainder of the parish had a population of 1,064 at the 2011 census. From 2009 to 2021, St Clement was covered by the Ladock, St Clement and St Erme division. From the 2021 local elections, it will be within the Truro Tregolls division. St Clement is attractive for tourists: aside from the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside they come to see the village church and its associated conservation projects that are maintained by members of the local community. Unlike some other villages in the district, the village of St Clement has changed very little in recent times. The parish of St Clement lies within the
Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty The Cornwall National Landscape (formerly the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) covers in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom; that is, about 27% of the total area of the county. It comprises 12 separate areas, designated under the Na ...
(AONB). The Tresillian River includes many scenic paths leading to a walkway owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.


History and antiquities

The old name of this place is Moresk ( Sea - water and there was a castle here in Norman times. The manor of Moresk was one of the seventeen
Antiqua maneria The Antiqua maneria (ancient manors), also known as assessionable manors, were the original 17 manors belonging to the Earldom of Cornwall. After March 1337, these manors were transferred to the new Duchy of Cornwall created by King Edward III ...
of the Duchy of Cornwall. There was also an electoral ward of the former Carrick District called Moresk. Malpas is nearer the Truro River: a road journey there means going via Truro (3.3 miles).


Parish church

The church is medieval but has lost much of its interest due to later restorations.''Cornish Church Guide'' (1925) Truro: Blackford; pp. 73–74
John Betjeman Sir John Betjeman, (; 28 August 190619 May 1984) was an English poet, writer, and broadcaster. He was Poet Laureate from 1972 until his death. He was a founding member of The Victorian Society and a passionate defender of Victorian architect ...
is less critical than Charles Henderson of the restoration of 1865 and remarks on the graveyard inscriptions. The tower, in three stages, is built of slate and has a datestone for 1326 which corresponds to the style of building (however the third stage is of a later date). The rest of the church was decayed by the 1860s so most of the present fabric is from 1865 (however certain parts show genuine 13th-century work). The north transept has an arch matching the arcade of the south aisle (six bays in granite, nearly semi-circular arches and standard piers with elaborate capitals). The bells were recast by Messrs Warner and Sons of London in 1881. There are two notable monuments: to Samuel Thomas (d. 1796), the work of John Bacon, 1799, has two allegorical figures; the other is to Rear-Admiral
Robert Carthew Reynolds Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds (''bap.'' 30 July 1745 – 24 December 1811) was a long serving and widely respected officer of the British Royal Navy who served in four separate major wars in a 52-year career. During this time he saw only ...
, from the studio of Micali,
Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
, and shows a young soldier and two women, the soldier points to a monument with a naval battle, above is the portrait medallion. The battle is probably the engagement with the ''Droits de l'Homme''. Captain Reynolds commanded the frigate ''Amazon'' in the
action of 13 January 1797 The action of 13 January 1797 (known by the French as the Naufrage du ''Droits de l'Homme''; "shipwreck r sinkingof the ''Droits de l'Homme''") was a minor naval battle fought between a French ship of the line and two British frigates off the c ...
when, in company with HMS ''Indefatigable'', the frigates engaged and drove ashore the much larger French
ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...
''Droits de l'Homme''. In the heavy storm in which the battle was fought, ''Amazon'' became unmanageable and was also wrecked, although the frigate was beached and all but six of her men survived, unlike her larger opponent which was run onto a sandbar and destroyed with hundreds of lives lost.James, Vol. 2, p. 17 ;Cross in churchyard The churchyard contains an inscribed stone cross: the first word of the inscription is perhaps ''isnioc'' (later opinion believes ''ignioc''). The inscription is ''Ignioc Vitali fili Torrici'' (i.e. Ignioc son of Vitalus son of Torricus) and the dating is 5th to 7th century. Another inscription is in Ogham, perhaps partly in Irish. The inscriptions are both older than the carving of the upper part into a cross.


Penair House

The house was built by Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds (d. 1811) and was the residence of his son Barrington Reynolds (1786–1861). This house replaced an older one at least going back as far as the 17th century.


Pencalenick House

Pencalenick House was a large country home on the banks of the Tresillian River. It was owned by a branch of the
Vivian family Vivian may refer to: *Vivian (name), a given name and also a surname Places * Vivian, Louisiana, U.S. * Vivian, South Dakota, U.S. * Vivian, West Virginia, U.S. * Vivian Island, Nunavut, Canada * Ballantrae, Ontario, a hamlet in Stouffville, On ...
from the 1700s. In 1797 John Vivian was the owner. By the 1870s, the house had passed to Captain J.C. Vivian the MP for
Truro Truro (; ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England; it is the southernmost city in the United Kingdom, just under west-south-west of Charing Cross in London. It is Cornwall's county town, s ...
. In May 1879, a fire broke out in the vineyard and associated greenhouses. The house, by then owned by Michael Henry Williams, was rebuilt by J P St Aubyn in 1881 and stands in historic parklands. In 1882, for local government payments, the house was rated at £300 per annum compared with the nearby Killiow mansion at £80 and the larger
Tregothnan Tregothnan is a country house and estate near the village of St Michael Penkivel, southeast of Truro, Cornwall, England, which has for many centuries been a possession of the Boscawens. Geography Location Tregothnan is located on a hill overl ...
at £200. Williams died at Pencalenick aged 78 in 1902. In 1947, Cornwall County Council purchased Pencalenick House for £10,000 (equivalent to £ in 2018), with the intention of using it as a school for "sub-normal children". The land around and including Calenick Creek has been designated an
Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB; , AHNE) is one of 46 areas of countryside in England, Wales, or Northern Ireland that has been designated for conservation due to its significant landscape value. Since 2023, the areas in England an ...
.


Notable residents

*
Condor of Cornwall Condor (also Candorus, Cadoc and other variants) was a legendary Cornish nobleman. The first known mentions of Condor are from heralds and antiquarians in the late sixteenth century, who recorded claims that he had been earl of Cornwall at the ...
(), Earl of Cornwall, according to William Hals may have been born or lived here * Francis Jenkins (1756–1839), Vicar of St Clement for over fifty years"Before its Forgotten"; by D. C. Jenkins, in: ''The Carmarthenshire Historian''; vol. 11
*
Lilian Knowles Lilian Charlotte Anne Knowles (née Tomn; 9 October 1870 – 25 April 1926) was a British historian and Professor of Economic History at the London School of Economics (LSE). She was the first female Dean of the Economic History Faculty in th ...
(1870–1926), economic historian and scholar (LSE), was born in St Clement * Jessica Mann (1937 – 2018), writer and novelist * Sir Barrington Reynolds, Admiral in the Royal Navy *
Robert Carthew Reynolds Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds (''bap.'' 30 July 1745 – 24 December 1811) was a long serving and widely respected officer of the British Royal Navy who served in four separate major wars in a 52-year career. During this time he saw only ...
, Rear-Admiral in the Royal Navy * Charles Thomas, historian and archaeologist * John Vivian MP, the grandfather of
Herbert Vivian Herbert Vivian (3 April 1865 – 18 April 1940) was an English journalist, author and newspaper owner, who befriended Lord Randolph Churchill, Charles Russell, Baron Russell of Killowen, Charles Russell, Leopold Maxse and others in the 1880s. H ...
, writer, journalist and newspaper proprietor * John Laskey Woolcock, Australian barrister and judge


Literary associations

Malpas ferry is associated with the legend of
Iseult Iseult ( ), alternatively Isolde ( ) and other spellings, is the name of several characters in the legend of Tristan and Iseult. The most prominent is Iseult the Blonde, or Iseult of Ireland, the wife of Mark of Cornwall and the lover of Trista ...
and Tristan as a point on Iseult's journey. W. J. Burley's ''Wycliffe and the Last Rites'' is set in a Cornish village called Moresk.


References


External links


Cornwall Record Office Online Catalogue for St Clement

GENUKI website; St Clement

Website for the Parishes of St Paul, Truro, St Clement, St George, Truro, and St John, Truro (united benefice)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Clement Villages in Cornwall Civil parishes in Cornwall Manors in Cornwall