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Morwenstow
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  Morwenstow Location withinCornwall | |
| Civil parish |
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| Unitary authority | |
| Ceremonial county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Police | Devon and Cornwall |
| Fire | Cornwall |
| Ambulance | South Western |
| UK Parliament | |
| 50°54′32″N4°33′11″W / 50.909°N 4.553°W /50.909; -4.553 | |
Morwenstow (Cornish:Logmorwenn)[1] is acivil parish in northCornwall, England, United Kingdom. The parish abuts the west coast, about six miles (10 km) north ofBude[2] and within theCornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB).
Morwenstow is the most northerly parish inCornwall.[3] As well as thechurchtown (a hamlet called Crosstown), other settlements in the parish includeShop,Woodford,Gooseham,Eastcott,Woolley andWest Youlstone. The population at the 2011 census was 791.[4] Morwenstow parish is bounded to the north and east by parishes inDevon, to the south byKilkhampton parish and to the west by theAtlantic.[5] TheRiver Tamar has its source at a spring on Woolley Moor,[6] at50°55′25″N4°27′44″W / 50.9235°N 4.4622°W /50.9235; -4.4622, which is in the parish near the border with Devon.
Morwenstow is the one-time home of the eccentric vicar and poetRobert Stephen Hawker (1803–1875), the writer of Cornwall's anthemTrelawny. Hawker is also credited with reviving the custom ofHarvest Festivals.
TheChurch of St Morwenna and St John the Baptist, Morwenstow is dedicated to SaintsJohn the Baptist andMorwenna 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", a brig fromScotland 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.[7]
A path leads from the church and down to the cliff edge, where theNational Trust's smallest building, "Hawker's Hut", is built into the face of the cliff overlooking the sea out towards the island ofLundy. Here, Hawker spent many hours in contemplation, writing poetry, and smoking hisopium pipe. He also entertained guests here, includingAlfred Tennyson andCharles Kingsley.[8]
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.[9]
Themanor ofStanbury in the parish is the birthplace ofJohn Stanberry,Bishop of Hereford, who was made first Provost atEton College byKing Henry VI.Sir William Adams theoculist was also born at Stanbury. The manor house was built in the 16th century.
Nearby Tonacombe Manor has been described as the perfectTudor 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.[10]
A striking example of curved and contortedstratified rocks occurs at Stanbury Creek. Dark cliffs of folded, interbeddedshales andmudstones form wave-cut platforms.
GCHQ Bude, a satellite ground station stands on the cliffs of Cleave and its array of dishes is visible for miles around.
Cornish wrestling tournaments, for prizes, were held at an Inn that used to adjoin Morwenstow church.[11]
Morwenstow and its surroundings feature heavily in the plot of the mystery thriller novelSet in Stone (1999) by the British authorRobert Goddard.
The Wreck at Sharpnose Point byJeremy Seal (June 2003) is a novel based on the wrecking of the 'Caledonia' (first published in New York, 2001ISBN 0-330-37465-6).
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