Churches of the British Isles

The Parish Church of St Enoder (St Enodorus) sits at 1 Narrow Lane in St Enoder, a little over two kilometres west of Pedna Carne along the A30. While the church is clearly visible on the northern side of the A30, an exit at Penhale or Summercourt is required to reach it. Dedicated to St Enodorus, the first chapel here (foundations survive) may have been built on the site as early as the fifth century. The dedication is uncertain as Enoder is not a well known Celtic saint.

That early chapel was later extended to create a separate nave. Both that and the chancel remained small, built of uncut stone and either with a thatched or, more likely, turfed roof. The old nave now extends westwards to the third pew from the front of all of the pews. Much of the current building dates to the 1400s, although the tower had to be rebuilt after collapsing in 1684 (finished in 1711). The church had an earthen floor as recently as 1823, apparently clean and tidy.

Penhale Round sits immediately south of St Enoder's Church (see above, with the round highlighted here in transparent red). This is the site of an ancient Christian settlement, one of several settlements which date to the Bronze Age and Iron Age periods. The causeway which linked them has more recently been known as Penhale. The first Christian missionaries in the area established a sanctuary on the round's northern flank which later housed the church.

Summercourt Bible Christian Chapel sits on the northern side of Saint Austell Street, a little over three hundred metres south-east of the School Road junction in the heart of the village. It was established as a Bible Christian chapel by the late 1870s and was still noted as such on maps of the 1960s. Then it became a barn for Hope Farm, and a local clearly remembers it being a cow byre with names for the cows on the wall. By 2021 it was serving as a storage unit.

Summercourt United Methodist Church sits on the northern side of School Road, opposite the Summercourt DIY entrance, close to the village centre. Also known as School Road Methodist Church, it was built as a United Methodist Church in 1912 with a Sunday school at its back. In 1932 it became Summercourt School Road Methodist Church, but it closed and was sold in 2008. It was up for auction again in 2014, and building work was ongoing in 2020.

Three photos on this page by Jo Lewis, and one kindly contributed by Roy Reed via the 'History Files: Churches of the British Isles' Flickr group.