Trebetherick

The beach at Trebetherick is well known for its fine bathing and excellent surfing. Few people are tempted away from the sand and sea to visit the 13th century St Enodoc Parish Church, which stands, enigmatically, among the sand dunes above Daymer Bay. So invasive were the surrounding sand dunes that it was often necessary to enter through the roof for services, as a result of this, the church was once known locally as ‘Sinking Neddy’, though some say that this is no more than a fanciful tale. The sand was finally cleared away in the 1860s, when the church was restored, and the bell in the tower, which came from an Italian ship that was wrecked nearby, was added in 1875. The beautiful churchyard contains many graves of shipwrecked mariners who came to grief on the local sandbank known as Doom Bar or at other treacherous places along this stretch of coast.

What draws most people to the quiet place of Trebetherick is Sir John Betjeman’s Grave, just inside the gate. The fondly remembered Poet Laureate spent many of his childhood holidays in the villages and coves around the Camel Estuary and his affection for the local people and the surrounding countryside was the inspiration for many of his works. One of his most famous poems, simply called Trebetherick, recalls his boyhood days spent here.

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