Churches2

Camelford Town

The official web site of Camelford Town Council

In earlier times there had been a church, dedicated to St. Thomas the Martyr and the Blessed Virgin Mary. It had been built near to the present river bridge in 1311 by the Burgesses of the town who paid for a priest to say mass daily. Subsequently abandoned in the reign of Henry VIII, its contents were confiscated in 1552, and by 1700 the chapel, now a shell, was being used as a store. Camelford had thus been without a church in the town centre since those times and the Anglican congregation had to walk three miles to Lanteglos to worship.
Work on a new church was started in 1937. It was built in the centre of town over looking the river Camel and constructed of stone with slate coming from the Delabole quarries. On August 6, 1938 the Church of St.Thomas of Canterbury was consecrated by the Bishop of Truro. Among gifts donated to the new church was an ancient font by the Cowlard family of Launceston. However, the church of St. Julitta at Lanteglos remains the Parish Church of Camelford

If Camelford for centuries was a town without a church, Advent is a church without a village. Endowed in the 1340 by the Earl of Cornwall, it is dedicated to St. Adwenna and is thought to have been founded originally by one of the daughters of Brecon of Wales. It lies just to the north-east of the hamlet of Tresinney and the many footpaths converging on it would suggest that it was a centre for worship for the outlying farms and hamlets. The church contains a circular Norman font and some ancient memorials. The lofty tower has four bells. The current building is constructed in the perpendicular style and comprises a chancel, nave, south aisle and two transepts. The north transept is early English, but has been entirely rebuilt, the old windows being replaced. There had been a south transept until about 1870, when the roof was destroyed by a fall of snow. An entrance arch was then built and the east window of this chapel placed in it. The church was rebuilt in 1847-8. The baptism registers date from 1709, the marriages from 1721 and the burials from 1718

Advent Church