Poundstock

Poundstock is a scattered rural parish about 4 miles south of Bude on the north Cornwall coast. The parish is notable for its medieval church and the adjacent 14th-century church house (guildhall), one of the best-surviving examples in the country. The church itself is dedicated to St Winwaloe and dates mainly from the 13th century, with a 15th-century tower added later.

In 1357, a gang of local pirates and thieves burst into the church and killed the assistant curate, William Penfound, at the altar. The raid, thought to be led by John Bevill and Simon de St Gennys, came in the last days of the year, at a time when piracy and smuggling were rife along this stretch of coast. Local tradition holds that Penfound’s ghost still kneels near the spot where he died, inside the church he never left.

The coastline in the parish includes Widemouth Bay, a broad sandy beach about 2 miles west that is popular for surfing. The South West Coast Path runs along the cliff tops. Bude is about 4 miles north, with its shops, restaurants, and a canal built between 1818 and 1825 to carry mineral-rich sea sand inland for farmland. The landscape here is rolling farmland dropping to dramatic cliffs, typical of the north Cornwall coast.