Kilkhampton

Kilkhampton, or ‘Kilk’ as the place is known locally, sits 600 feet above sea level, and claims to be Cornwall’s most northerly village of any size. Sitting astride the A39, it is thought to have been an important settlement in Saxon times, as the surrounding area is littered with ancient burial grounds. The village’s tall and elegant St James’s Parish Church was built in the 15th century on the site of the previous Norman church, of which only the splendid doorway remains. St James’s Day (July 25th) is still celebrated in the village. The church contains many monuments to the local Granville family, many of them made by Michael Chuke, a local man and a pupil of Grinling Gibbons. Equally notable are the magnificent carved bench-ends, and the organ is the one played by Purcell when it was in Westminster Abbey. The Granvilles (who also used the surname Grenville) at one time lived in the very grand Stowe House, which no longer stands but is described vividly by Charles Kingsley in his Westward Ho!