Parish church

The church is medieval but has lost much of its interest due to later restorations.^[3] John Betjeman is less critical than Charles Henderson of the restoration of 1865 and remarks on the graveyard inscriptions.^[4] The tower, in three stages, is built of slate and has a datestone for 1326 which corresponds to the style of building (however the third stage is of a later date). The rest of the church was decayed by the 1860s so most of the present fabric is from 1865 (however certain parts show genuine 13th-century work). The north transept has an arch matching the arcade of the south aisle (six bays in granite, nearly semi-circular arches and standard piers with elaborate capitals). The bells were recast by Messrs Warner and Sons of London in 1881.^[5]

There are two notable monuments: to Samuel Thomas (d. 1796), the work of John Bacon, 1799, has two allegorical figures; the other is to Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds, from the studio of Micali, Livorno, and shows a young soldier and two women, the soldier points to a monument with a naval battle, above is the portrait medallion.^[6][7] The battle is probably the engagement with the Droits de l'Homme. Captain Reynolds commanded the frigate Amazon in the action of 13 January 1797 when, in company with HMS Indefatigable, the frigates engaged and drove ashore the much larger French ship of the line Droits de l'Homme. In the heavy storm in which the battle was fought, Amazon became unmanageable and was also wrecked, although the frigate was beached and all but six of her men survived, unlike her larger opponent which was run onto a sandbar and destroyed with hundreds of lives lost.^[8]

Cross in churchyard

The churchyard contains an inscribed stone cross: the first word of the inscription is perhaps isnioc (later opinion believes ignioc).^[3] The inscription is Ignioc Vitali fili Torrici (i.e. Ignioc son of Vitalus son of Torricus) and the dating is 5th to 7th century. Another inscription is in Ogham, perhaps partly in Irish.^[9] The inscriptions are both older than the carving of the upper part into a cross.^[10]

Penair House

The house was built by Rear-Admiral Robert Carthew Reynolds (d. 1811) and was the residence of his son Barrington Reynolds (1786–1861). This house replaced an older one at least going back as far as the 17th century.^[11]

Pencalenick House

Pencalenick House was a large country home on the banks of the Tresillian River. It was owned by a branch of the Vivian family from the 1700s. In 1797 John Vivian was the owner.^[12] By the 1870s, the house had passed to Captain J.C. Vivian the MP for Truro.^[13] In May 1879, a fire broke out in the vineyard and associated greenhouses.^[14]

The house, by then owned by Michael Henry Williams, was rebuilt by J P St Aubyn in 1881 and stands in historic parklands.^[15] In 1882, for local government payments, the house was rated at £300 per annum compared with the nearby Killiow mansion at £80 and the larger Tregothnan at £200.^[16] Williams died at Pencalenick aged 78 in 1902.^[17] In 1947, Cornwall County Council purchased Pencalenick House for £10,000 (equivalent to £384,312 in 2018), with the intention of using it as a school for "sub-normal children".^[18]

The land around and including Calenick Creek has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.