St Clement, Cornwall

Village in Cornwall, England

St Clement is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated southeast of Truro in the valley of the Tresillian River. Other notable villages within the parish are the much larger Tresillian 1.4 miles (2.3 km) to the north east of St Clement village itself and another village at Malpas to the south of the parish. The urban part of the parish of St Clement was incorporated into Truro in 1895. The remainder of the parish had a population of 1,064 at the 2011 census. From 2009 to 2021, St Clement was covered by the Ladock, St Clement and St Erme division. From the 2021 local elections, it will be within the Truro Tregolls division. St Clement is attractive for tourists: aside from the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside they come to see the village church and its associated conservation projects that are maintained by members of the local community. Unlike some other villages in the district, the village of St Clement has changed very little in recent times. The parish of St Clement lies within the Cornwall Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). The Tresillian River includes many scenic paths leading to a walkway owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

The old name of this place is Moresk ( Sea water[s]) and there was a castle here in Norman times. The manor of Moresk was one of the seventeen Antiqua maneria of the Duchy of Cornwall. There was also an electoral ward of the former Carrick District called Moresk. Malpas is nearer the Truro River: a road journey there means going via Truro (3.3 miles).

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.

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. By the 1870s, the house had passed to Captain J. C. Vivian the MP for Truro. In May 1879, a fire broke out in the vineyard and associated greenhouses. The house, by then owned by Michael Henry Williams, was rebuilt by J P St Aubyn in 1881 and stands in historic parklands. 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. Williams died at Pencalenick aged 78 in 1902. In 1947, Cornwall County Council purchased Pencalenick House for £10,000 (equivalent to £10000.0 in 1947 is equivalent to about <calculated amount> in recent years in 2018), with the intention of using it as a school for "sub normal children". The land around and including Calenick Creek has been designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Malpas ferry is associated with the legend of Iseult and Tristan as a point on Iseult's journey. W. J. Burley's Wycliffe and the Last Rites is set in a Cornish village called Moresk.