St Enodoc Church

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The Church of St Enodoc is a chapel of ease in the village of Trebetherick, Cornwall. It lies in the parish of St Minver.

The church is situated in sand dunes above Padstow Bay, on the opposite side of the Camel Estuary to the town of Padstow itself. The wind has blown the sand to form banks that are almost level with the roof on two sides. From the sixteenth century to the late nineteenth century, the church was virtually buried by the dunes and was known locally as "Sinking Neddy". To maintain the tithes required by the church, it had to host services at least once a year, so the vicar and parishoners descended into the sanctuary through a hole in the roof. About 1870, it was finally unearthed and the dunes were finally stabilized.

Today, the church is surrounded by the Church Course of the St Enodoc Golf Club. [1]

The churchyard is the final resting place of Poet Laureate John Betjeman, and of Fleur Lombard, the first female firefighter to die on duty in peacetime Britain.

[edit] References

• Adam Nichiolson and Nick Meers, Panoramas of England, 1997, London: Orion (p. 57)