Morwenstow

Tucked into Cornwall’s northwest tip, Morwentstow has an appealing end-of-the-road feel to it. This isolated hamlet is surrounded by windswept cliffs and fields, and, though at times rather storm-lashed, this is a marvellous place from which to watch the changing moods of the ocean. Not surprisingly, shipwrecks have been common down the ages along this stretch of coast and, though many floundered as a result of storms, it was also not unknown for local criminals to lure unsuspecting ships on to the rocks by lighting lanterns from the cliff tops or the shore.

One of the first people to show concern for the number of merchant vessels that were coming to grief along this perilous stretch of coastline was the Reverend Hawker, who spent much of his time monitoring the sea and would often climb down the cliff to rescue shipwrecked crews or recover the bodies of those who had not survived. He insisted on giving shipwrecked sailors a churchyard rather than a traditional beachside burial, with the result that forty mariners now repose here. In the graveyard, look out for a white figurehead commemorating a tragic shipwreck. The shipwreck was that of the brig, Caledonia of Arbroath, which was lost with all hands - apart from one crew member - in 1842. Celebrations in 2008 marked the completion of a four-year restoration of her historic figurehead, a famous relic of the days of sail.

Hawker’s lasting credit to the church was introducing to England the custom of the Harvest Festival in 1843 and his most famous poem is the rousing Cornish anthem, The Song of Western Men, which contains the well-known line ‘And shall Trelawney die?’ It was first published anonymously in a Plymouth newspaper. Many people thought it was a traditional Cornish song composed in the 17th century about Bishop Jonathan Trelawney, imprisoned with six other bishops during the reign of James II. Eccentric to the end, Hawker became a Roman Catholic on his deathbed, even though he had written an anthem to Trelawney, who was a staunch Protestant. Interestingly 100 years later, Michael Ramsey, the retired Archbishop of Canterbury, preached at an ecumenical service in his honour. Ramsey described Hawker as ‘a beyond man in a beyond place’, to whom all English Christians should be grateful. While visiting the area try the award-winning Rectory Tearooms located in the Rectory Farmhouse run by the National Trust.

Welcombe and Marsland Valleys Nature Reserve, set in the forested valley slopes, is a haven for butterflies. At Higher and Lower Sharpnose Points, to the south of Morwenstow, the erosion caused by the constant bombardment of the sea can be seen clearly as there are boulders strewn along the bottom of these crumbling cliffs; some of the outcrops of harder rocks have begun to form tiny islands. The rugged coast on either side of Morwenstow makes for strenuous but exhilarating walking.