Sir John Betjeman wrote: "St Endellion! St Endellion! The Name is like a ring of bells...".
St Endellion lies on the B3267 just past the turning to Port Isaac. There is a music festival here every Easter and Summer. There is a farm shop on the left just before you reach St Endellion, and look out for the famous 'Longcross' near the church.
St Endellion is also the place where the space-age looking mineral Endellionite (Bournonite) and also Bastowite were discovered.
St Kew is a tiny village which you can reach by winding lanes from either St Endellion or Pendoggett. It has an ornate church built on the site of a Celtic monastery that was destroyed in the Saxon invasion of Cornwall in the 10th century. Just opposite the church is the St Kew Inn which was built in the 1400's by the stonemasons to be their home whilst they constructed the Church of St James the Great, next door. The pub serves real ales straight from the cask in the bar and have a very good reputation for their food (you may need to book in advance during popular periods).
The church of St James the Great is mainly 15th century (with some older remnants). Inside the church is a particularly fine roof, and a beautifully restored medieval stained glass window, amongst other notable stained glass. There is also a stone inscribed with the old Irish Ogham script (possibly 5th century) with Latin translation, a rare 15th century lantern cross, and look out for a figure carved on the pulpit, thought to be King Charles hiding in an oak tree. By the entrance to the churchyard is a large specimen of one of Cornwall's iconic celtic Wayside Crosses.
Nearby are other churches of the Parish:
- St Minver church has an unusual, and slightly wonky spire. The churchyard is full of celtic crosses, and inside there is a carved 'pious bird' bowing before the altar.
- Atmospheric St Enodoc - the burial place of Sir John Betjeman and once so overtaken by sands that you could only enter via the roof (now reclaimed and restored).
