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St Enodoc Church, below Brea Hill, was, for many years, quite literally buried in the sand, which may explain why it is relatively unknown, even today. It stands above Daymer Bay on a stretch of the Cornish coast that the late Poet Laureate John Betjeman (1906–84) loved above all others. Indeed this is where he is buried. Daymer Bay is a mass of child-friendly rock pools and wide skies – it is also popular with surfers.

The coastal path between St Enodoc and Polzeath is – unlike most of Cornwall’s coastal paths – suitable for everyone, from the fittest to those who use wheelchairs. Yet it still offers the sort of fabulous scenery that nowhere else in the world can quite match.

St Enodoc is basically 12th century. When restoration work began in 1912 the sand was so high around the church that it was almost impossible to get in. When the restorers finally cleared a path into the church they found that the pews and other woodwork had turned green with mould. The £600 spent on restoration cleaned the place up, repaired the windows and let the sun shine in once more. The isolation of the church from any village or hamlet is one of the great mysteries about it, and it may be that the church was built on a site of pagan worship, as many early churches were. It was as if those early church builders had to replace every pagan shrine, however inconvenient its location. ‘Replacing’ quite literally meant putting the Christian edifice on top of the pagan building – the Christians were clearly intent on suppressing the old faiths literally as well as metaphorically.

SECRETS

While you’re there

Nearby PORT ISAAC is a picturesque fishing village with narrow winding streets. The remains of a pier dating from the reign of Henry VIII are still visible.

Secret place to stay

ST ENODOC HOTEL, Rock (enodoc-hotel.co.uk). In the heart of Rock, a summertime mecca for sailing and waterskiing, the hotel is set within the most beautiful and dramatic scenery that Cornwall has to offer.

St Enodoc Church is utterly unspoilt.