St Sennen's Church, Sennen

St Sennen’s Church stands at the western edge of Sennen village, a few hundred metres from Land’s End in Cornwall. The building is a medieval parish church dedicated to St Sinninus, a sixth-century Irish saint, though it has also been linked to St John the Baptist. Records show a church on this site since at least the 15th century, and in 1441 it was rededicated on the feast of the beheading of St John the Baptist. The present structure has a chancel, nave, south aisle and north transept, with a three-stage battlemented tower that holds three bells. The church is recognised as the parish church of Land’s End, and its patron is the Duke of Cornwall. Inside, restoration work in 1867 uncovered a wall-painting of two embattled towers, and a headless alabaster figure of the Virgin Mary stands in the transept. In 1889, five new bells were installed, cast by Whitechapel Foundry and bearing inscriptions that name the rector, wardens and donors. One bell serves as a memorial to the ministry of Rev R. J. Roe, who served from 1871 to 1886. Around the churchyard, five Cornish crosses from different sites have been gathered. One came from near the Giant’s Stone, another was moved from a footbridge near Trevear in 1878, and a fine cross in the cemetery was restored to its present position around 1890. The churchyard itself provides a quiet space beside the building, while the surrounding lanes lead down to Sennen Cove and the open Atlantic beyond.