St Senara's Church, Zennor

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

St Senara's Church is the parish church of Zennor, a village in Cornwall, England. It is dedicated to Saint Senara and is believed to be more than 1,400 years old. The present building is partly Norman and partly from the 13th and 15th centuries, including a north aisle from the 15th century and a west tower. The 13th-century octagonal font is inside.

The church stands on the site of a church connected with Saint Senara and her son, who was a bishop, when they founded Zennor.

Inside the church, one of the two remaining bench-ends shows the Mermaid of Zennor looking at herself in a mirror. This “Mermaid Chair” also has fish carvings and is thought to be at least 600 years old.

The church was fully restored and reopened on 10 December 1890 by George Wilkinson, Bishop of Truro. On the outside wall near the south porch is a brass memorial to John Davy, dated 1891, noted as the last person whose first language was Cornish.

The churchyard around the church is circular and has existed since Bronze Age times. It has many graves from over centuries, including those of artists Bryan Wynter and Patrick Heron, who lived in Zennor.

A local legend says that a cow once ate the bell-rope, a tale also linked to the nearby Morvah church.

The tower has six bells in the key of G. Four of these were cast in 1926 by Gillett & Johnston to join two older bells. In 2019 the bells were repaired by John Taylor & Co to allow change ringing again.

St Senara's is the parish church for Zennor, mainly serving Zennor village (often called Zennor Churchtown) to distinguish it from the wider parish. It is still used for Sunday services and for weddings and funerals. The current priest is Revd Elizabeth Foot.